SO TO ZEN - Shasta Abbey

e. The Religion of Great Masters Dōgen and Keizan 131teach the laity and the monks alike with a view to inspiring inthem the spirit of Zen training. His stay in Ky‡to covered morethan ten years. During this time his practical achievements weregreat. Finally, he agreed to the supplications of HatanoYoshishige and at the age of 44 moved to Echizen in the presentFukui Prefecture where he founded the Eihei-ji Temple. Hecontinued his pious labors there for ten years until his death atthe age of 53.He transmitted the True Law to all sincere seekers whocame to him, thus laying a solid foundation for the SereneReflection Meditation School, accounting for its present daygreatness. We can say briefly that the greatness of D‡gen isthreefold: first, the depth of his thought; second, the totalcommitment to religious training as he saw it; and third, theloftiness of his character. His principal work is known as theSh‡b‡genz‡, literally The Eye and Treasury of the True Teaching,which consists of ninety-five chapters. It is written in thecolloquial Japanese, not the classical Chinese which was sopopular during D‡genÕs day. It has a powerful style, at onceconcise and profound. Its sharp logic and deep theory place it inthe forefront of Japanese philosophy which is sincerely tryingto find some common ground between East and West. It is,therefore, not at all strange to hear a scholar not of the S‡t‡School proclaim: ÒThe essence of Japanese culture cannot beproperly grasped without an understanding of the ideas of