(Follow this link to see the September 2020 Priory Newsletter where this was originally published.)
Great Master Dogen was a monk who, in his search for a deeper answer to his own spiritual question, traveled from Japan to China around 1225. Having found his answer, he is credited with bringing the Soto Zen tradition back to Japan and establishing it there. He is credited with establishing a whole new approach to Buddhist meditation and practice in his native country and yet, when he was asked what he brought back from China, his response was, “a soft and flexible mind.”
Great Master Manzan Dohaku, a Soto Zen monk who lived from 1635 to 1715 and is credited with reforming and reviving our tradition, Dogen’s tradition, once said that “as long as bowing lasts, Buddhism will last… if this bowing should cease, Buddhism will cease.”
Each morning in a Soto Zen temple, Continue reading →