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Did Dogen Go to China?: What He Wrote and When He Wrote It

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Zen master Eihei Dogen (1200-1253)has been widely acclaimed as Japan's finest religious writer. This is a major biographical study, cutting through the traditional hagiography that has clouded standard accounts of Dogen's life and writings. Heine does much to illuminate the rich and sometimes subtle contours of Dogen's intellectual and social context and the evolution of his mind. He also brings English-speaking readers up to date on the complexities of recent Japanese historical-critical scholarship on this pivotal figure in the Zen tradition. Dogen was a brilliant bridge builder who adapted the Chinese Ch'an Buddhist traditions to Japan to create what we now know as Zen. Heine highlights Dogen's many-sided literary genius, as well as the many-sided ways Dogen appealed to China as a way to craft his unique vision of Buddhist life. Lucid and insightful at a variety of levels.

If you want to know about the life and Zen teachings of Eihei Dogen, all of Steven Heine's books are a must. Did Dogen go to China? Of course he did, but there is more to the story--much more.

Steven Heine has once again dipped into the his massive reservoir of knowledge and come up with some very refreshing, insightful, and often surprising information on the life and teachings of Eihei Dogen.

Did Dogen Go To China? Get this book and resolve this and many more important questions.

Besides, just the pictures are worth the price of the book!