When most people think of Zen they picture gardens consisting of monks in orange robes silently meditating. The prevalence of this image is due largely in part to Dogen, a patriarch of Zen Buddhism and the creator of Soto Zen Buddhism. Soto Zen Buddhism varies from other forms of Buddhism in its intense focus on meditation. It is typically best described as sitting in deep thought about nothing in particular or stated conversely sitting in deep thought about the entirety of everything. Practioners are encouraged to let thoughts come to them but not to hold onto any one thought in particular. So if the basis for Soto Zen Buddhism is essentially just sitting idly then how can anything let alone enlightenment be gained? The answer lies in the …show more content…
What he is saying here is that following the Dharma way is the process of awakening. Dogen saw it as a form of self-awakening, in the same sense of self-reflection. He equated self-reflection and self-awakening. So in essence, he is insinuating that enlightenment and dharmahood may be attained by simply sitting in zazen meditation is a rather radical concept. So what makes sitting in zazen so great a tool for reaching realization? Zazen is not some mystical means of channeling spiritual power or anything remotely similar. It is however a means of realization and through that realization it becomes a further call to practice. Dogen's zazen is a ritual expression and celebration of awakening already present. He repeatedly emphasizes the oneness of practice-realization, in which practice does not lead through one's own efforts to some subsequent realization. Dogen says, “The realm of self-enlightenment qua enlightening others is originally filled with the characteristics of realization with no lack of whatsoever, and the way of realization continues on unceasingly,” (Dogen 2002, 13). The practice of sitting in zazen yields realization for the practioner no matter how disciplined or naïve that they may be. This is