Dogen
1200–1253 · Japanese · Kamakura Period
Known for: Brought Soto Zen to Japan and taught that sitting meditation IS enlightenment — not a path to it, but the thing itself
Dogen Zenji founded the Soto school of Zen Buddhism in Japan after studying Chan Buddhism in China. His masterwork Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye) is one of the most profound and difficult texts in Buddhist philosophy, arguing that practice and enlightenment are identical — zazen (sitting meditation) is not a means to awakening but awakening itself.
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