Wholehearted Way: A Translation of Eihei Dagen's Bendowa, With Commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi

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Tuttle Publishing, Dec 20, 2011 - Religion - 224 pages
The Wholehearted Way is a translation of Eihei Dogen's Bendowa, one of the primary texts on Zen practice. Transcending any particular school of Buddhism or religious belief, Dogen's profound and poetic writings are respected as a pinnacle of world spiritual literature. Bendowa, or A Talk on the Wholehearted Practice of the Way, was written in 1231 A.D. and expresses Dogen's teaching of the essential meaning of zazen (seated meditation) and its practice.

This edition also contains commentary on Bendowa by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, a foreword by Taigen Daniel Leighton, and an Introduction by Shohaku Okumura, both of whom prepared this English translation.
 

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About the author (2011)

Shohaku Okumura is a priest and dharma successor of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. He has practiced at Antaiji and Zuioji in Japan; the Pioneer Valley Zenda in Massachusetts; and the Kyoto Soto Zen Center. His six previously published books of translations are Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A Translation of "Eihei Shingi"; Opening the Hand of Thought; Shikan Taza: An Introduction to Zazen; "Shabagenza Zuimonki": Sayings of Eihei Dogen Zenji; Dogen Zen; and Zen Teaching of "Homeless" Kodo. Okumura Sensei, formerly head teacher at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, is currently the Director of the North American Soto School in Los Angeles.

Taigen Dan Leighton is a priest in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. He has practiced at the New York and San Francisco Zen Centers, was head monk at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and practiced for two years in Japan. He is co-translator of Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi; Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A Translation of "Eihei Shingi"; and Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dagen; and is author of Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides to Awakening and Their Modern Expression. Leighton currently teaches at the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Muir Beach, California, and at the Institute of Buddhist Studies of the Berkeley Graduate Theological Union.

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