23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A detailed background study., July 31, 2005
This review is from: Soto Zen in Medieval Japan (Studies in East Asian Buddhism) (Hardcover)
While a trifle dry in places, this book - 'Soto Zen in Medieval Japan' - sponsored by the Kuroda Institute, will nevertheless appeal to the general reader who wishes to know more about the historical background to a Buddhist tradition which is striking roots in the West. As Bodiford puts it:
The Soto school is the largest Buddhist organisation
in modern Japan. It ranks with the various Pure Land
schools as one of the most successful of the new
Buddhist denominations that emerged during the Kamakura
and Muromachi periods (roughly thirteenth-sixteenth
centuries).During this medieval period Soto monks
developed new forms of monastic organisation, new
methods of Zen instruction, and new applications for
Zen rituals within lay-life - many of which lie outside
our received image of Zen. . .Yet in spite of its
significance for enrichening our understanding of
Japanese religion, medieval Soto Zen has remained
largely unknown, even among specialists. Most Western
descriptions of Japanese Zen either ignore Soto
completely or equate Soto exclusively with the
teachings of Dogen (the school's nominal founder),
even though modern Soto practices continue many
medieval period elements unknown to Dogen or even
foreign to his teachings. . .this book attempts to
illuminate how Soto Zen (and rural Zen in general)
functioned as a religion within the context of
medieval Japanese society.
While we might question Bodiford's claim that Soto Zen has been 'ignored' in Western writings (when the first ed. of Bodiford's text appeared in 1993, a limited but reasonably well informed range of Western Soto studies were available, with others underway), he is certainly right in declaring that the extant studies placed almost exclusive emphasis upon Dogen,
neglecting other voices in the tradition. It is in this area that Bodiford's study repays careful reading. As such, it will prove challenging for readers espousing easy definitions of (neo) Soto 'orthodoxy.' To quote Bodiford again:
In the eyes of many devout Soto adherents the story
of early Soto communities begins with Dogen and ends
with Dogen. It is a simple story of how Dogen's
vision of pure Buddhism was establshed in rural Japan
and then lost. Later the story starts over again
with Keizan Jokin, who is credited with establishing
a new institutional form for Soto more compatible
with the simple religious sentiments of rural
Japanese...Summarised in crude terms, Dogen
provided high religious ideals while Keizan ensured
their survival by implementing practical means of
propagation - means which according to some
commentators often were at odds with Dogen's
ideals.
While Bodiford doesn't question the details, he does question the interpretation placed upon them, arguing that it reflects the outlook of Soto reformers from the 18th c. onwards, pushing a rather puritanical view of Early Soto Zen. Bodiford's study is too detailed to review at length here, but a list of chapter headings will give an idea of the main topics. For what it is worth, I have thrown in a few tentative remarks about certain key issues.
I. Introduction.
Part One. Early Soto Communities.
2. Dogen:The Founder of Eiheiji.
3. Giin. The Beginnings of Higo Soto.
4. Senne and Kyogo: Commentators on Dogen's Shobo genzo.
5. Gikai: The Founder of the Daijoji
6. Jakuen and Giun: Local Growth and Ties to Eiheiji.
7. Early Schisms: The Question of the Sandai Soron.
8. Keizan: The Founder of Yokoji.
Part Two: Regional Expansion.
9. Sojiji: The New Institutional Center.
10. The Popularisation of Soto.
11. Formation of the Soto Order.
Part Three: Soto Zen Practice.
12. Koan Zen.
13. Precepts and Ordinations
14. Zen Funerals.
15. Conclusion.
(Notes, Bibliography, Glossary, Index).
This study covers a lot of ground, so compromises were inevitable. However, we might have expected more than the skimpy account of Dogen's life at the Koshoji, effectively the first Zen monastery in Japan with a proper Sodo or monks hall. Leaving the Kenninji (still a Tendai temple in Dogen's lifetime) and setting up at the Koshiji in Fukakusa, was a defining moment in Dogen's career and also a milestone in the history of Japanese Zen Buddhism. By the same token, we might have expected to hear a little more about the reasons for Dogen's rather abrupt departure from the Koshiji - and the move to Echizen (Fukui). Bodiford's discussion of this is squeezed into a few pages in the opening chapter titled 'Dogen: The Founder of Eiheiji.' Still, Bodiford does explore some of the factors cited (not least by Dogen himself) which possibly account for the move. Dogen claimed that he had been harrassed by Tendai monks from Mt. Hiei. But on the strength of contemporary records set down at Koshiji, even those written in the days shortly before the move to Echizen, the routine at Koshoji does not appear to have been marked by undue disturbance. That said, Tendai-shu documents would seem to substantiate Dogen's claims - but, in a cause-effect relationship, following Dogen's submission of a document or petition to the Emperor - the 'Gokoku shobogi' (Principles of True Buddhism for Protecting the State) which was, in effect, a plea for independence -and, as such, a rejection of the Tendai establishment. The move from Kenninji to Fukakusa had already marked a break with the Tendai-shu and it seems that Dogen's wish to consolidate his position - at the Koshoji, met with resistence. It is of note that - at this time, Enni Benen was setting up at the Tofukuji in Kyoto, roughly half way between the Kenninji and Koshoji. While Rinzai Zen was being taught at the Tofukuji, Enni Benen accommodated Tendai practices and thus remained on the good side of the Tendai prelates. Dogen wasn't prepared to accommodate Tendai practices - and, it seems, he had to pay the price for it.@The wish for independence does not necessarily signify or breed rivalry, but it all depends on how that wish is cast. In Eastern Japan, well away from Kyoto, the Hojo regents in Kamakura seemed rather keen to embrace Zen as an independent Buddhist school, free from the religious politics of Mt. Hiei. In retrospect, we might look back upon Kamakura Japan as a period of cultural refinement and deepening spiritual aspirations. But it was also murky, laden with intrigue and power struggles. In fact, not unlike medieval Europe, ridden with pestilence and wars, charged with apocalyptic visions. Seen in this light perhaps, Dogen's decision to move to Echizen seems more comprehensible.
Though plentiful references to him abound, it is surprising to find that Ejo - author of Shobogenzo Zuimonki, and responsible for copying and the initial editing of key elements of Dogen's own Shobogenzo, did not merit a chapter in this book - or least, a shared one. As a contemporary of Dogen, Ejo was in a priviliged position to share his master's thoughts and teaching. Of course, Ejo wrote and recorded what he deemed appropriate. Suffice it to say that the Dogen Ejo speaks of - is open-minded. He recognised the 'five houses of Zen,' and accorded full respect to lay-practicers - including women. The later, post Koshoji Dogen, stressed the Soto transmission, regarded monks as superior to laymen, men as superior to women. How we reconcile these different faces of Dogen - is a big question. It may well be that the narrower definitions of Dogen's thought are later interpolations. In other respects, Dogen's own outlook may have changed.
Among other topics, this study looks at the Nihon Daruma-shu, led by Dainichi nonin. Virtually dismissed in contemporary accounts as a minor school of little significance, Bodiford shows the close connections between Dogen and monks of this school, a number of whom comprised his earliest disciples. As Bodiford notes, Nichiren regarded the Daruma-shu as a major force in Kamakura Buddhism. However, like the Tendai prelates and secular authorities, Dogen took a dim view of the Daruma-shu per se - which allegedly taught antinomian doctrines.
The material dealing with Giin (1217-1300) - a former Daruma-shu monk should be of interest, for we tend to forget that the Soto-shu spread to Southern Japan, the so called Higo-Soto (Higo=Kyushu). Fittingly, we hear about Gikai, who completed the construction of Eihei-ji - still rudimentary in Dogen's lifetime, thus winning the title 'Eihei chuko' or the 'reviver' of Eiheiji. Rather touchingly, Gikai retired from Eiheiji to build a hermitage, where he looked after his ailing mother. He later moved to Kaga and the Daijoji temple, which flourished in his care. Keizan joined the community at Daijoji and soon became supervisor of the monk's hall. Strangely to say, when Gikai's health began to fail, he bequeathed to Keizan his Daruma-shu documents, as part of his Soto legacy. This raises the question of whether the teachings of the Daruma-shu were as decadent as some sources suggest. Daruma-shu monks had consulted the Surangama-sutra to consolidate their training |at all events, an unlikely source from which to cull antinomian doctrines. As Dogen saw it, the Daruma-shu monks who had taken up his teaching had done so on the understanding that they were relinquishing their former views and practices. Perhaps, at bottom,...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most extensive and informative English language book on the formation and development of Soto Zen to date. A+, January 15, 2009
William Bodiford's "Soto Zen in Medieval Japan" (Studies in East Asian Buddhism) paints an extraordinarily clear picture of the history of Soto Zen in Japan.
No matter what view you may have of the transmission of Zen (any school, not just Soto) from China to Japan, reading this book is bound to alter that view dramatically! If you believe a more accurate understanding is an improvement, then the your "altered" view will be a grand improvement.
One of the more "unorthodox" discoveries that William Bodiford uncovered in his massive study was the role of Zen Koan literature in the earliest years of Soto Zen. While the role of koans in the Soto sect has often been characterized as minimal, or even non-essential, "Soto Zen in Medieval Japan" affirms that nothing could be further from the truth. While the founder of Soto Zen in Japan, Dogen, has often been portrayed as unconcerned with the Zen Koan literature, Bodiford bluntly reports different, stating:
"...there is no doubt that Dogen himself trained in and taught his students systematic methods of koan investigation. His teachings cannot be comprehended without intimate knowledge of Chinese koan..."
Not only does this remarkable scholar recognize that for Dogen a thorough grasp of the classic Zen koans was considered essential, he raises the purpose of Zen koans to a whole new level. Defined by uncomprehending scholars and pseudo-Zen adherents simply as "devices" or "riddles" aimed at some kind of "experience" brought on by psychological frustration, koans have been widely misunderstood. In his masterful study Bodiford resurrects many of the true, multifaceted and profoundly versatile uses and meanings of these unique literary expressions of enlightened wisdom. For instance, Bodiford states:
"Medieval Soto monks and nuns mastered the depths of Zen enlightenment, the trivial moments of daily life, and the routine activities of monastic training through the language of the Chinese Ch'an patriarchs as recorded in koan texts. This specialized idiom allowed Zen teachers and students to describe different approaches to practice, various states of meditation, and fine distinctions between points of view or levels of understanding. More important, koan study--like ordination rituals and funeral ceremonies--encapsulated Zen transcendence in tangible forms, expressed it in concrete performances, and allowed it to be communicated easily to monks, nuns, and laypersons. For clerics and villagers alike this body of Zen praxis fused together the symbolic transmission of the Buddha's enlightenment, its embodiment in the words and actions of the Zen master, with the worlds lived and imagined, both inside and outside the monastery. While koan training, ordination rituals, and funeral ceremonies comprise only three of the Zen practices performed by medieval Soto monks, each proved indispensable for the rapid growth of Soto institutions and the religious efficacy of these institutions within rural
society."
Exploring the masterful ingenuity of Soto Zen's brilliant and charismatic founder (Eihei Dogen) and his relatively few, but dedicated disciples through the early and extremely challenging decades of Japan's 13th century, Bodiford reveals the unique forces that catapulted Soto Zen into Japan. It is no wonder that Soto Zen Buddhism is easily the most powerful force of Buddhism in Japan to this very day.
Not only is this book easily the most extensive and informative English language book on the formation and development of Soto Zen to date, its illumination of the lives and teachings of Japan's early Zen master's (including Eihei Dogen) is astonishingly rich. Moreover, Bodiford's revelations concerning the early Japanese history of both Rinzai Zen and Darumashu Zen are profoundly intriguing.
William Bodiford's "Soto Zen in Medieval Japan" destined to stand as essential reading for serious Zen students/practitioners for many decades to come.
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