Japanese · 1200–1253
Dōgen (1200-1253) was a Japanese Buddhist monk who founded the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. Born into an aristocratic family in Kyoto, he was orphaned young and entered monastic life on Mount Hiei. Dissatisfied with the teaching there, he traveled to Song China in 1223 and studied under the Chan master Rujing, whose teaching he took as his own. After returning to Japan, he taught in Kyoto and later founded Eihei-ji monastery in Echizen province. His main work is the Shōbōgenzō, a collection of sermons and essays written in Japanese rather than classical Chinese. He also wrote monastic rules, collections of Chinese verse, and the Eihei Kōroku. He taught that sitting meditation, zazen, is itself realization and not a means to it. His writing on time, being, and nature has drawn readers in philosophy as well as Buddhism, and the Sōtō school he founded remains one of the largest Zen schools in Japan.