Spring 2023 Dharma Series: The Writings of Eihei Dogen

Practice Center
Date / Time
Apr 1, 2023 / 8:30am - Jun 29, 2023 / 6:00pm
Event Type
Classes & Extended Courses
Description

All three classes are offered online; the June class is also offered onsite at Green Gulch Farm. Register for each class through the Register Online link on the individual webpage.


About this Series

During this three-month spring series, three San Francisco Zen Center teachers will be offering classes and lectures on the writings of Eihei Dogen Zenji (1200 – 1253 CE), who left Japan to study in China and then brought Zen Buddhism back to his own country. The seminal philosophical force of Japanese Soto Zen, Dogen Zenji is revered today for the clarity of his insights, for his passion, and for his poetry (biography courtesy of Tricycle).

April 1 – 15 (three Saturdays) — The Treasure Store Will Open of Itself or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Dogen (an introductory series) with Shundo David Haye

May 2 – 23 (four Tuesdays) — Dogen's Shoji: Birth and Death with Shinshu Roberts

June 8 – 29 (four Thursdays) — Dogen’s Ryugin: Dragon Song with Kokyo Henkel; hybrid offering Online and Onsite at Green Gulch Farm


The Treasure Store Will Open of Itself or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Dogen

This three-week introductory class will be offered in April by Shundo David Haye, who will guide us through Dogen's life; his formative questions as a young monk, which underpinned his practice and understanding; his monastic writings as he set out to establish his own community in Japan; and his more expansive works, instilling confidence to read and learn from them.


Dogen's Shoji: Birth and Death

In May, Shinshu Roberts will offer a four-week class on Dogen’s fascicle Shoji (Birth and Death). Dogen taught that we cannot escape, nor should we want to, this life that we are living. It is only within the context of our current circumstances that we will find nirvana. Many of Dogen’s key teachings, such as practice-realization, will be explored by studying this text.


Dogen’s Ryugen: Dragon Song

In June, Kokyo Henkel will offer a class that investigates Dogen Zenji’s essay Shobogenzo Ryugin (Dragon Song), about the lively creative expressions of truth that naturally emerge from the silent stillness of zazen and letting go of the illusion of separate self.