Customer Reviews

Shobogenzo: Zen Essays

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Thomas Cleary, the well-known translator of Oriental texts, has been performing a valuable service for many years by placing before the Western reader many interesting texts, some of which might otherwise never have been translated. His translations, though they may serve the uncritical reader well enough for ordinary purposes, ought wherever possible to be supplemented by alternate translations as they cannot be relied upon for scholarly purposes. Cleary's work tends to be uneven, with some of his books being much better than others.

Dogen's Japanese is highly idiosyncratic and extremely difficult, so much so that some Japanese will claim that his language can't be considered Japanese at all. Think 'Finnegans Wake' and you will appreciate their perplexity. Given the difficulty of Dogen's language, and the profundity of his thought, it would seem to follow that only a lengthy immersion in, and deep pondering of, his text could result in an 'excellent' translation.

If you run an Amazon search for 'Thomas Cleary,' it will produce over 140 items. Now then, I could be wrong, but given the sheer massiveness of Cleary's output, one suspects a preference for quantity over quality, particularly if one considers that just one of these items is the incredibly long 1643-page 'Flower Ornament Scripture,' a translation that could have taken a 'lesser' man ten or more years.

I know that there are some good things in Cleary's edition, because I used to have the book. But before deciding, readers might care to look at the Dogen translations of Francis H. Cook - 'How to Raise an Ox' and 'Sounds of Valley Streams.' Cook's output, numerically, is nowhere near as impressive as that of Cleary, but in addition to being a Zen adept his scholarship is impeccable, and some readers may find his readings more to their taste.

Personally, I think it would be very hard to better Cook's translation of the 'Shobogenzo genjokoan,' of which the following is a brief extract:

"Conveying the self to the myriad beings to authenticate them is delusion; the myriad things advancing to authenticate the self is enlightenment" [Sounds of Valley Streams, page 66].

But whether you plump for Cleary, or Cook, or other translators such as Kazuaki Tanahashi or Gudo Nishijima, you should certainly get hold of somebody's reading of Dogen. You'll be impressed. He leaves most other thinkers behind in the dust.

Thomas Cleary has translated 13 of the 95 chapters of Dogens masterpiece, Shobogenzo, in this wonderful book. Besides the general introduction at the beginning of the book, he provides a modest but succinct introduction to each chapter, and footnotes at the end of each chapter. He has chosen 13 of the best chapters, including such classics as Genjokoan, and Uji. The only flaw is the fact that there now remain 82 chapters that must be read either in Japanese or by often less qualified translators. (Cleary has translated a couple other chapters in "Rational Zen", now out of print.)Anyone interested in Dogen will be happy to read and re-read this powerful collection of his writings. Tom, if you're listening, more, more...

Your options for studying Dogen's thought are few. I believe that this collection of essays compiled by Mr. Cleary is an excellent one. This work contains a much smaller number of essays than that of the actual Shobogenzo. I think that Mr. Cleary has done a good job with his selection of essays for this book. This book offers the reader a very nice cross section from the whole of the original work. I like his translations and his introductions before each essay are helpful.

Other options would be;
a translation of the "The Shobogenzo" by Nishijima Roshi and Cross. This four book set includes all of Master Dogen's 95 essays that make up the whole of The Shobogenzo. This is a wonderful resource for those looking to really dig into Master Dogen's Dharma.
Also, Rev. Shohaku Okumura of the Sanhin Zen Community is working on translating much of Master Dogen's writings and talks. Many of which are available.
Finally, I feel that if you are to truly to see what Master Dogen's is pointing to in his Shobogenzo you will need to have a solid foundation in a correct daily Zazen practice. The insight resulting from your efforts is the tool needed to clarify or even just to penetrate Master Dogens work.
One final thought, for those looking for a great book that is a "how to" of Zen practice, "The Three Pillars of Zen" by the late Phillip Kapleau has been a huge help to many.
Best Wishes.

A useful "best of" selection of Dogen's enormous masterwork. Cleary is generally dependable in this venture. While not as comprehensive as "Moon in a Dewdrop", the book has the virtue of fitting very neatly into a backpack. As 'wisdom imparts wisdom to wisdom', highly recommended.

For casual or beginning students, a very useful, selected 'best of', summary type of collection. Cleary appears dependable in this venture. Moon in a Dewdrop is more complete, but does not fit in the backpack nearly as well.

I agree with the previous reviewer, these translations are good-yet not as to the point as "Moon in a Dewdrop." For those of you unfamiliar with the book we are mentioning, I recommend purchasing it before this one. The reviewer prior to him mentioned Cook's translation of the Genjokoan, a text which some 20 years after Shobogenzo's completion was made the first chapter. Personally, not to play one-upmanship here, I find Taizan Maezumi Roshi's commentaries on Genjokoan as erudite as the original work itself. I recommend grabbing "The Teachings of the Great Mountain: Zen Talks by Taizan Maezumi." Very clear text it is. All in all this is a pretty good translation, while there are better out there frankly. The one I mentioned starting the review is the best I've found in the form of "best of" in terms of Dogen's work and even poetry. So buy this book to expand your horizons, and yes even learn some things. But be sure to continue your quest in understanding Dogen's crucial Zen more and more, because this isn't the best book out there on the subject. Having said all this, I think you'll really enjoy it. Take care!