p.33

Japanese Buddhism has been enriched  by the lives of a goodly
number  of dynamic, perceptive, often dramatic  and sometimes
erratic  saints.  I think there is little doubt that the most
gifted mind among them was that of Doogen Kigen, who lived in
the first half of the thirteenth century.
  The son of a notable family (his mother was descended  from
the  Fujiwara   clan) ,  Doogen  enjoyed   a  sound  literary
education.  He  began  to devote  his  attention  to Buddhism
nevertheless  while  still very young.  In 1223 he sailed  to
China, like many another  young  monk, to pursue  his studies
and his quest  for understanding, and he remained  there  for
about  four  years, So far  there  is nothing  remarkable  or
unusual  in his story, but a fact which does distinguish  him
from  most  religious  pilgrims  is that  he returned  to his
homeland eventually without a collection  of exotic religious
artifacts  to flourish, yet with a profound  apprehension  of
the meaning  of Zen and a gentle  zeal  to share  widely  and
freely what he had discovered.
  Doogen is frequently  referred  to today as the founder  of
the Soto school  of Zen Buddhism  in Japan, which is entirely
accurate  but, at the same time, a little ironic.  He did not
wish to be thought  of as sectarian;  he had truths  which he
regarded  as Buddhist  rather  than  merely  Zennist, and  he
ardently advocated a method for seeking enlightenment  which,
he felt, was the prerogative  of all Buddhists and not merely
adherents of Soto. His.method was preeminently zazen (his way
is sometimes  called  the way of "zazen-only").  He felt that
the  cross-legged  position  in  which  one  sits  for  zazen
represented  the ideal  unity  of body  and mind  and was  in
itself, fherefore, a step toward the realization of the unity
of all things.
  Doogen  fourided  the Eiheiji  temple  of the Soto  sect in
Echizen  Province, and this remains a center of the sect just
as his method and his spirit remain the heart of Soto to this
day. But his importance transcends his influence in Soto, and
he can  reasonably  be claimed  as the greatest  intellectual
figure  in  Japanese  Zen.   It  is,  consequently,  a  grave
deficiency that very little of his writing has been published
in European  languages  and  that  there  are  few  secondary
sources  available  to Western scholars.  which do justice to
his life or thought.  At the end of this essay is appended  a
bibliography of materials fairly readily available.  The very
brevity of this list should be regarded as a cry for help!
  Doogen's  great work the Shooboogenzoo  is without question
one of Buddhism's  finest  treasures.  It deals  with  a wide
range  of subjects, but  in a style  which  at  times  almost
defies  translation, or even comprehension.  The title of the
work itself, for instance, is formidable. Rather literally it
seems  to  mean  something   like  "The  Correct  Dharma  Eye
Storage," and attempts  to rephrase  it meaningfully  include
such  suggestions  as "A Treasury  of the (Mind's) Eye of the
True  Dharma," "A Treasury  of Knowledge  Regarding  the True
Dharma," and "The Principles  of a Correct  Understanding  of
the Dharma."

p.34

  In any case, the purpose  of the present  paper  is to take
one section  of this work (that entitled  Shoakumakusa) which
is concerned  with  a Zen approach  to ethics  and to see how
Doogen relates  the typical  Zen subjectivism  and Mahaayaana
ontology  to  two  primary  ethical  questions: Whence  comes
value? and What  is the relation  of being  and doing? I must
acknowledge   at  the  outset  that  I  am  indebted  for  my
translation  of Doogen's  material, as well as for much else,
to Professor Hiroshi Sakamoto of Otani University.(l)
  Two qualities distinguish Doogen's intellectual  life.  The
first is a profound dedication  to the experience of dhyaana,
the gathering  and intensifying  of one's  mental  powers  in