Rational Zen The Mind of Dogen Zenji

Zen has often been portrayed as being illogical and mystifying, even aimed at the destruction of the rational intellect. These new translations of the thirteenth-century Zen master Dogen-one of most original and important Zen writers-illustrate the rational side of Zen, which has been obscured through the centuries, tainting people's understanding of it.Rational Zenconsists of enlightening selections from Dogen's two masterworks, "Treasury of Eyes of True Teaching" (the famedShobogenzo, Japan's most sophisticated philosophical work) and "Universal Book of Eternal Peace," which until now has been unavailable in English. The translator also provides explanations of the inner meanings of Dogen's writings and sayings-the first commentaries of their kind of English. A compendium of authentic source materials further enhances the reader's insight into Dogen's methods, linking them to the great classical traditions of Buddhism that ultimately flowered in Zen.

Thomas Cleary holds a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University and is a former fellow of Kyoto University. Having published over forty volumes of Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian works, he is the most prolific translator of Asian spiritual classics today.