Zuò chán zhēn 坐禪箴 (Japanese: Zazenshin)
Admonitions for Seated Meditation — the celebrated short Japanese Sōtō Zen text by Dōgen 道元 (1200–1253), the founder of the Japanese Sōtō school. Dōgen’s Zazen-shin is one of the core statements of his zazen doctrine — the uncompromising position that seated meditation is itself the full manifestation of Buddha-awakening, not a means-to-an-end. The text is classically dated to Ninji 仁治 3 = 1242.
About the work
A one-juan / one-fascicle short programmatic text on Sōtō Zen meditation-practice, G84 n2084 (Fojiao Canon / Gaoli Tripitaka Supplement). Non-commentary; commentedTextid omitted.
The received text’s core formulation: Fó fó yào jī, zǔ zǔ jī yào 佛佛要機祖祖機要 (“Buddhas’ essential hinge, patriarchs’ hinge-essence”) — invoking the paradoxical identity of all Buddhas and patriarchs through the seated-meditation posture. The text’s most famous lines: shuǐ qīng chè dì xī yú xíng sì yú, kōng kuò tòu tiān xī niǎo fēi rú niǎo 水清徹地兮魚行似魚，空闊透天兮鳥飛如鳥 (“Water clear to the ground — fish swim like fish; space vast through the sky — birds fly like birds”). This closing image articulates Dōgen’s doctrine of genjō kōan 現成公案 (“the kōan manifesting-as-present”) — the realisation that enlightenment is not attained but naturally manifest through seated meditation.
The text is part of Dōgen’s longer Shōbōgenzō 正法眼藏 collection (the specific fascicle “Zazen-shin” within the Shōbōgenzō), but here preserved as a standalone piece within the extended Chinese Buddhist canonical tradition.
Abstract
Dōgen 道元 (1200–1253): founder of the Japanese Sōtō school of Zen. Born 1200 in Kyoto to a noble family (the Murakami Genji line); lost both parents in early youth. Ordained at Tendai’s Enryaku-ji 比叡山延暦寺 at age 13; subsequently studied under Myōzen 明全 at Kennin-ji 建仁寺 (a Rinzai-tradition monastery). Travelled to Sòng China in 1223 with Myōzen, where he trained under the Cáodòng master Rújìng 如淨 (Tiāntóng Rújìng 天童如淨, 1163–1228) at Tiāntóngsì 天童寺, receiving dharma-transmission in 1227.
Returned to Japan in 1227 and founded successively several monasteries culminating in Eihei-ji 永平寺 in Echizen (modern Fukui-ken) in 1244 — the principal monastery of the Japanese Sōtō school to the present day. Died in 1253 at age 53.
Composition of the Shōbōgenzō: Dōgen’s major literary-philosophical opus, composed in Japanese (unusual for a Japanese Zen master of his era) across the 1230s–1250s. The Zazen-shin fascicle is classically dated to 仁治 3 (1242) at Kōshō-ji 興聖寺.
Dating: notBefore / notAfter both 1242 (per the standard Shōbōgenzō composition-chronology).
Translations and research
- Dōgen scholarship is enormous. Key English-language starting points:
- Tanahashi, Kazuaki (ed.). 2010. Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen’s Shobo Genzo. Shambhala. Complete English translation.
- Waddell, Norman and Masao Abe (trans.). 2002. The Heart of Dogen’s Shobogenzo. SUNY.
- Heine, Steven. Multiple monographs including 2006. Did Dogen Go to China?. Oxford.
- Leighton, Taigen Dan. Various translations and studies.
Other points of interest
The Zazen-shin’s inclusion in the Fojiao Canon (Fójiāo dà zàng jīng 佛教大藏經, also called the Gaoli Tripitaka Supplement — the Korean compilation including East Asian canonical-supplementary texts) — preserves this Japanese Zen classic within the broader Chinese-canonical Buddhist tradition, alongside other Japanese Zen contributions. It is one of several Japanese-authored texts preserved in the extended Sino-Korean-Japanese Buddhist textual corpus.
Links
- CBETA G2084
- Kanseki DB
- Parent work: Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō 正法眼藏 (Japanese canonical collection).
- Principal monastery: Eihei-ji 永平寺 in Fukui.
- Dōgen’s master: Rújìng 如淨 (Tiāntóng Rújìng 天童如淨) of Tiāntóngsì.