GENJO-KOAN. (Japanese) (roughly “Everyday Life is Enlightenment”). Essay by Dogen Zenji written originally for a lay student and later contained in his work Shobogenzo. Genjo-koan also refers to everyday life koans, questions or situations that naturally arise in one’s life that help bring one to realization.
JUKAI. (Japanese). The ceremony of receiving the bodhisattva precepts. Person receiving the precepts formally becomes a Buddhist and receives the Buddha’s robe (rakusu), a lineage chart, and a dharma name.
KOAN. A text or question—traditionally taken from, but not limited to, Zen literature—assigned to a student by the teacher. The student must then demonstrate a clear grasp of the essence of the koan.
LOTUS SUTRA. (Sanskrit) (Saddharmapundarikasutra, “Sutra of the Lotus of the Good Dharma”). One of the most important sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, particularly in China and Japan. In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha appears as a manifestation of true nature, with which everyone is fully endowed and can, therefore, awaken.
MAHAYANA. (Sanskrit) (lit. “great vehicle”). School of Buddhism that emphasizes that practice is not for oneself alone, but for the liberation of all beings.
NIRVANA. (Sanskrit) (lit. “extinction”). In Zen, a non-dualistic state beyond life and death. Also refers to a state of peace or bliss, which arises when one realizes the true nature of life and lives free from attachments.
RINZAI SCHOOL. One of the two most important schools of Japanese Zen, founded by Master Rinzai (d. 866 or 867). Rinzai Zen is characterized by its use of koan practice to attain realization of one’s own nature.
SAMADHI. (Japanese). State of mind characterized by one-pointedness of attention. Also a non-dualistic state of awareness, characterized by putting all of one’s self into each activity.
SELF-FULFILLED SAMADHI. (Japanese) (Jijuyu zanmai; roughly, “To receive yourself and use yourself freely”). State of total immersion in one’s life so that everything encountered is encountered fully as the natural functioning of oneself.
SHIKANTAZA. (Japanese) (lit. “just-sitting,” or “only sitting”). Practice of zazen itself without supportive devices such as breath counting or koans. Characterized by intense, non-discursive awareness; shikantaza is “zazen doing zazen for the sake of zazen.”
SOTO SCHOOL. One of the two most important schools of Japanese Zen, founded by Masters Tozan Ryokai (Tung-shan Liang-chieh, 809–869) and Sozan Honjaku (Ts’ao-shan Pen-chi, 840–901) and named by combining the first characters of their names. Introduced to Japan by Dogen Zenji. Soto Zen stresses “silent illumination Zen” without the use of koans and is characterized by the practice of shikantaza.
TATHAGATA. One of the ten titles of the Buddha, literally “the thus-come one” or “the thus-perfected one.”
THE TEN DIRECTIONS. In Buddhist cosmology the ten directions include the four cardinal directions, the four intermediate directions, the zenith, and the nadir.
TENKEI DENSON ZENJI. (1648–1735). The great Soto Zen teacher and scholar who wrote the first commentaries on Dogen’s Shobogenzo.
TEISHO. (Japanese). Formal presentation by a Zen master, usually on a koan or other Zen text. In strictest sense, a teisho is a living presentation of non-dualism and is thus distinguished from dharma talks, which are lectures on Buddhist topics.
THE THREE TREASURES. Three essential aspects of Buddhism: Buddha (the Awakened One), Dharma (the teachings of the Awakened One), and Sangha (community of those practicing Buddhism together).
VAIROCHANA BUDDHA. One of five transcendent buddhas identified as the embodiment of dharmakaya (unified existence beyond all duality). His mudra (hand position), used by many Zen practitioners during zazen, is that of supreme wisdom.
ZENDO. Place set aside to the practice of zazen.
ZENJI. Honorific title meaning “Zen teacher or master.” Often reserved for the abbots of Eiheiji and Sojiji, the main monasteries in the Japanese Soto school. Maezumi Roshi also used it for esteemed Zen ancestors.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cleary, Thomas, and J. C. Cleary, trans. The Blue Cliff Record. Boulder: Prajna Press, 1978.
Cook, Francis H., trans. The Record of Transmitting the Light: Zen Master Keizan’s Denkoroku. Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1991.
Cook, Francis H., trans. Sounds of Valley Streams. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989.
Cook, Francis Dojun. How to Raise an Ox. Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1979.
Dogen, Eihei. “Shobogenzo Genjo Koan.” Translated by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi and Francis Cook. In The Way of Everyday Life: Zen Master Dogen’s Genjokoan. Edited by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi. Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1978.
Kapleau, Philip. The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment. New York: Anchor, 1989.
Kim, Hee-Jin. Dogen Kigen, Mystical Realist. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1975.
Kim, Hee-Jin, trans. “Flowers of Emptiness: Selections from Dogen’s Shobogenzo.” Studies in Asian Thought and Religion. Vol. 2. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1985.
Maezumi, Hakuyu Taizan, ed. The Way of Everyday Life: Zen Master Dogen’s Genjokoan. Los Angeles: Center Publications, 1978.
Maezumi, Hakuyu Taizan, and Bernard Tetsugen Glassman, eds. On Zen Practice II: Body, Breath and Mind. Los Angeles: Zen Center of Los Angeles, 1976.
Nishijima, Gudo, and Chodo Cross, trans. Master Dogen’s Shobogenzo. London: Windbell Publications, 1996.
Nishiyama, Kosen, trans. Shobogenzo. Tokyo: Nakayama Shobo, 1983.
Tanahashi, Kazuaki, ed. Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen. San Francisco: North Point Press, 1985.
Waddell, Norman, and Masao Abe, trans. “Fukanzazengi: (The Universal Promotion of the Principles of Zazen) by Dogen Zenji.” In On Practice II: Body, Breath and Mind, edited by Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi and Bernard Tetsugen Glassman. Los Angeles: Zen Center of Los Angeles, 1976.
Yamada, Koun. The Gateless Gate. 2nd ed. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1990.
Sign up to learn more about our books and receive special offers from Shambhala Publications.
Or visit us online to sign up at shambhala.com/eshambhala.
Appreciate Your Life Page 16