* January 19 – Dogen Zenji, founder of Sōtō Zen ( d. 1253 )

Rational Zen: The Mind of Dogen Zenji.

* Who is Dogen Zenji?

* 1227: Dogen Zenji takes the Caodong school of Zen from China to Japan as the Sōtō sect.

* 1244: Eiheiji Soto Zen Temple and Monastery are established by Dogen Zenji.

Another key legend regards Dogen Zenji ( 道元禅師 ; 1200 – 1253 ), who brought the Soto Zen sect to Japan: After an extended visit to China for the purpose of studying Zen, on the night before his planned return to Japan, Dogen saw the Bìyán Lù for the first time, and stayed up all night making a handwritten copy of the book.

Thomas Cleary ; Rational Zen: The Mind of Dogen Zenji ; Shambhala, Boston ; ISBN 0-87773-689-8 ( 1st edition, hardback, 1992 ).

* Translation of Dogen Zenji commentary on head cook

* Translation of Dogen Zenji commentary on eating

Omori Roshi founded Daihonzan Chozen-ji, the first Rinzai headquarters temple established outside of Japan, in Honolulu ; under his students Tenshin Tanouye Roshi and Dogen Hosokawa Roshi, several other training centers were established including Daiyuzenji in Chicago.

* Dogen introduces Zen Buddhism into Japan.

Dogen did return from China with various koan anthologies and other texts, contributing to the transmission of the koan tradition to Japan.

This period saw the introduction of the two schools that had perhaps the greatest impact on the country: ( 1 ) the Amidist Pure Land schools, promulgated by evangelists such as Genshin and articulated by monks such as Hōnen, which emphasize salvation through faith in Amitabha and remain the largest Buddhist sect in Japan ( and throughout Asia ); and ( 2 ) the more philosophical Zen schools, promulgated by monks such as Eisai and Dogen, which emphasize liberation through the insight of meditation, which were equally rapidly adopted by the upper classes and had a profound impact on Japanese culture.

1227: Dogen introduces the Sōtō ( Caodong ) school to Japan.

First Introduction to Japan: Dogen ( 道元 ), 1227

Although Dogen was the first to implement many aspects of Chinese Ch ’ an monastic codes in Japan, his gogoku doesn ’ t contain any funeral sermons.

The progressive changes in Sōtō Zen funeral rites were not enacted by its founder, Dogen, but came about years later when Zen master Keizan encouraged Zen monks to go out into the countryside and perform funeral services for the laity.

Additionally, the Stanford-based Soto Zen Text Project, a project to translate Dogen and other Sōtō texts, has completed several fascicles, freely distributed in digital format.

Dogen learned Sōtō sect in China.

* January 19 – Dogen, Japanese founder of the Soto school of Zen Buddhism

Dogen taught a variety of Zen, based on a number of key concepts, which are emphasized repeatedly in his writings.

The Zen Poetry of Dogen: Verses from the Mountain of Eternal Peace.

Moon In a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen.

Synthespians () were coded from: the entire oeuvre of Bob Dylan, Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche, Sculpting in Time by Tarkovsky, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol by Drella, anecdotes by the 13th Century Zen master Dogen, male-female cybersex chat from Geisha, and visitors to the Stage, You_01-06.

In his Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation, Carl Bielefeldt acknowledges that Dogen likely took the title from Dahui for his first Shōbōgenzō koan collection and kept it for his following Shōbōgenzō commentary collection:

Thomas Cleary ; Shobogenzo: Zen Essays By Dogen ; U. of Hawaii Press, Honolulu ; ISBN 0-8248-1014-7 ( 1st edition, hardback, 1986 ).

Kazuaki Tanahashi ; Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen ; North Point Press, San Francisco ; ISBN 0-86547-185-1 ( hardback, 1985 ).

* Yuho Yokoi ; Zen Master Dogen ; Weatherhill Inc., New York ; ISBN 0-8348-0116-7 ( 6th edition, paperback, 1990 )

Nondual themes are very strong in the literary work of Dogen ( 1200 – 1253 ), who founded the Soto school of Japanese Buddhism.

The exact date the book was written is in dispute but Nishijima believes that Dogen may well have begun compiling the koan collection before his trip to China.

Though Dogen emphasised the importance of the correct transmission of the Buddha dharma, as guaranteed by the line of transmission from Shakyamuni, his own transmission became problematic in the third generation.

* Dogen.

Dogen and the Koan Tradition: A Tale of Two Shobogenzo Texts.

Eihei Dogen, Mystical Realist.

Dogen Studies.

* Leighton, Taigen Dan ; Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra.

* Dogen Translations Translations of Dogen and other works by Anzan Hoshin.

While each of these styles are commonly taught today, Master Dogen recommended only Kekkafuza and Hankafuza.

Dogen says, in his Shobogenzo, " Sitting fixedly, think of not thinking.

* Dogen.

Dōgen was succeeded around 1236 by his disciple Koun Ejō ( 1198 – 1280 ), who originally was a member of the Daruma school of Nōnin, but joined Dogen in 1229.

In 1267 Ejo retired as Abbot of Eihei-ji, giving way to Gikai, who was already favored by Dogen.

Though today Dogen is referred as the founder of Soto, for a long period Soto history recognized several important ancestors, next to Dogen.

In time this came to mean all the writings of Dogen, which thereby became the normative source for the doctrines and organisation of the Soto-school.