Dōgen
Archetype: Quietist of Virtue
1200 to 1253 · Kyoto and Echizen, Japan
“To study the self is to forget the self.”
Do you think like Dōgen? Answer 44 to 132 statements and find out who, among 130 thinkers, has the way of thinking closest to yours.
Who was Dōgen
A Japanese monk who traveled to China to deepen his studies and, on returning, founded the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. He taught that seated meditation is not a means of reaching enlightenment but is already enlightenment in action. His work Shōbōgenzō is considered one of the most profound texts of Japanese philosophy.
Core ideas
- Sitting in meditation is already enlightenment, not merely a path to it
- Being and time are inseparable: each moment contains all of existence
- Studying oneself leads to forgetting the self and opening to all things
The tradition: Zen Buddhist
Zen Buddhism is a branch of Buddhism that values meditation and direct experience above doctrine. Dōgen founded the Sōtō school and is one of its greatest masters.
Learn more: Wikipedia
Books by Dōgen
Three ways in. Start with the first.
Where Dōgen stands on the 11 axes
Each axis runs from the first pole (−1) to the second (+1). These are the positions the test compares with your answers.
