Dogen

19 January 1200 – 22 September 1253

Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) was a Japanese Buddhist monk, writer, and philosopher who founded the Soto school of Zen in Japan. After studying Chan Buddhism in Song China, he taught the practice of shikantaza ('just sitting') and composed the Shobogenzo, regarded as one of the masterpieces of Japanese religious and philosophical literature.

Comparing
Compare

Lived at the same time

Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Dogen.

Life events

Born in Kyoto
19 January 1200

Dogen was born into an aristocratic family in the capital, Kyoto, traditionally said to be descended from the Koga branch of the Minamoto clan.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Orphaned in childhood
c. 1207

Dogen lost his father and then his mother by about the age of seven, an experience traditionally linked to his early awareness of impermanence.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Personal ✓
Ordained as a Tendai monk on Mount Hiei
1213

Dogen entered monastic life in the Tendai school on Mount Hiei, where he was troubled by the question of why practice is necessary if all beings possess Buddha-nature.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Education ✓
Traveled to Song China to study Chan Buddhism
1223 – 1227

Dogen sailed to China with his teacher Myozen and visited several Chan monasteries in search of authentic Buddhist practice.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Relocation ✓
Received Dharma transmission from Tiantong Rujing
1225

Under the Caodong master Rujing at Mount Tiantong, Dogen experienced awakening described as 'dropping off body and mind' and received formal Dharma transmission.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Returned to Japan and began teaching zazen
1227

Back in Japan, Dogen wrote the Fukanzazengi, a universal manual of seated meditation, and began attracting students to his practice-centered Zen.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Founded Kosho-ji and composed the Shobogenzo
1233

At Kosho-ji near Kyoto, Dogen established an independent Zen community and wrote many of the essays later gathered into his masterwork, the Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye).

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Founded Eihei-ji in Echizen province
1244

Dogen moved his community to the remote mountains of Echizen and established the monastery Eihei-ji, which remains a head temple of Soto Zen.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Died in Kyoto
22 September 1253

Suffering from illness, Dogen entrusted Eihei-ji to his disciple Koun Ejo and traveled to Kyoto seeking treatment, where he died in 1253.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓