Just Sitting and Just Saying: The Hermeneutics of Dōgen’s Realization-Based View of Language
Religions January 29, 2021 Steven Heine
This paper explicates the complex relationship between contemplative practice and enlightened activity conducted both on and off the meditative cushion as demonstrated in the approach of the Sōtō Zen Buddhist founder Dōgen (1200–1253). I examine Dōgen’s intricate views regarding how language, or what I refer to as just saying, can and should be used in creative yet often puzzling and perplexing...