Meeting the Myriad Things: A Zen Practitioner's Guide to Dogen's Genjokoan

(Paperback)

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A guide to awakening buddha mind for the contemporary Zen practitioner. A guide to awakening buddha mind for the contemporary Zen practitioner. In the words of Eihei Dogen, the thirteenth-century Buddhist monk who introduced the Soto school of Zen to Japan, "To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things." Centuries later, these enigmatic words from his seminal "Genjokoan" ("Actualizing the Fundamental Point") are still studied in Zen communities the world over. But what did Dogen really mean when he encouraged studying the self to forget the self In this clarifying new commentary, esteemed Zen teacher Shinshu Roberts takes readers on a journey to understand Japan's great Buddhist philosopher. Roberts applies her deep familiarity with Dogen's work to illuminate the text as a unified story in which Dogen reveals the nondual nature of reality. In addition to a full translation of Dogen's "Genjokoan," this book includes the commentary Okikigakisho ("Notes of What Was Heard and Extracted"), written by two of Dogen's direct students-the first time an English translation of this highly influential work has appeared in print.

Reviews

This is an important book. Dgen Zenjis writing can be puzzling, as he seems to shift rapidly from speaking about the relative (aspects of daily life) to the absolute (the transcendent). However, Shinshu Robertss lucid writing and understanding of Dharma open up the treasure house of Dgens teaching, making it accessible to all students of Zen. The addition of commentaries by two of Dgen Zenjis students, Senne and Kyg, is a rare glimpse into how students who lived with the master understood his teaching. Meeting the Myriad Things should be in the library of every teacher of Zen.
Jan Chozen Bays, co-abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery and author of Mindfulness on the Go

Though it is inspiring, Meeting the Myriad Things is not an inspirational book; though it is enormously informative, its purpose is not to inform. With the blend of scholarship, painstaking attention to detail, and compassionate care for the actual condition of contemporary practitioners that characterizes her previous work, here Shinshu Roberts gives us a full and precise commentary to Dgens most famous essay, Genjokoan, his most lofty work. This is an important book for anyone who wants to engage in serious Dgen study.
Norman Fischer, Soto Zen priest and poet, author of When You Greet Me I Bow and Selected Poems 1980-2013

Shinshu Roberts leads us into Dgens world as she models persistent care in listening to his heart pulsing through the words. Respecting him as a profound Dharma teacher, she fearlessly faces what appears to be impenetrable terrain in the landscape of his words, determined to mine their compassionate wisdom. Her success is our boon, enabling us to commune with Dgen and the Dharma in our midst.
Paula Arai, author of Women Living Zen, Bringing Zen Home, and Painting Enlightenment

Shinshu Roberts brings Dgens Genjkan into the contemporary spiritual culture. A wonderful book of American Zen for American practitioners.
Shohaku Okumura, author of Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogens Shobogenzo

A unique treatment of one of the most celebrated works of St Zen, combining the authors close study of the text with a translation of the earliest Japanese commentary. A major contribution to the English-language literature on Dgen.
Carl Bielefeldt, author of Dgens Manuals of Meditation

Author Bio

SHINSHU ROBERTS is a Dharma Heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. She received her priest training at San Francisco Zen Center and from the North American branch of the Japanese Soto School. She has been appointed Kokusaifukyoshi (International Dharma Teacher) by the Shumucho (Japanese Soto Administration). She cofounded Ocean Gate Zen Center in Capitola, CA with her spouse Jaku Kinst. She is the author of Being-Time- A Practitioner's Guide to Dogen's Shobogenzo Uji.