Bendowa 2 by Shohaku Okumura

In 1996, Shohaku Okumura Roshi founded Sanshin Zen Community in order to form and strengthen the network of various Zen groups and individual practitioners who are interested in his style of teaching and practice. At that time he also envisioned the establishment of a center where the teachings of Dogen Zenji could be studied deeply and put into practice. This vision became a reality in 2003 when Sanshiji, Sanshin Zen Community’s practice center, was established in Bloomington.

Sanshin Zen Community’s Genzo-e (literally, “Shobogenzo gathering”) Retreat is an important element in Okumura Roshi’s ongoing endeavor to present the profound and often difficult teachings of Dogen Zenji in a way that is accessible to English speakers. During these retreats, Okumura Roshi lectures extensively on one or more chapters of Dogen Zenji’s great foundational philosophical work, Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye Treasury). His lectures present insights received through years of study of this ancient text and a life devoted to the practice of its teachings. The Genzo-e lectures are a truly unique offering, opening doors to the teachings of one of the most important masters in the history of Japanese Buddhism.

This publication of Genzo-e lectures is one step in the continued effort to make Okumura Roshi’s work available. Many people have generously contributed their time and energy to this project and with continued support and interest we hope the audio project will flourish and evolve to help many people’s study of Dogen Zenji.

For information on how you can participate with the audio project or get involved at Sanshin Zen Community visit, www.sanshinji.org, or email admin@sanshinji.org.

Tracklist

1.	The Eighteen questions and answers in Bendowa	11:12
2.	Buddhism takes root in Japan (538-710)	15:41
3.	Buddhism during the Nara period (710-794)	10:24
4.	Buddhism during the Heian period (794-1192) - Tendai and Shingon	16:22
5.	Age of the last dharma / Social disorder in the latter half of the Heian period	17:04
6.	Pureland Buddhism	12:27
7.	Eisai and the introduction of Zen / The Dharma School (Dharmashu) / Story about Ejo and Dogen from Transmission of Light (Denkoroku)	16:21

8.	Questions	8:26
9.	Connection within time and space	8:28
10.	Bendowa Question One	11:28
11.	Bendowa Question Two	9:04
12.	Bendowa Question Three: doing something, doing nothing	10:24
13.	Bendowa Question Three: nembutsu	9:27
14.	Bendowa Question Three: self power, other power	11:31
15.	Bendowa Question Three: zazen and nembutsu, doing or non-doing	10:03
16.	Bendowa Question Three continued	12:22
17.	Questions	17:50
18.	Bendowa Question Four: Hokke and Kegon schools	16:57
19.	Bendowa Question Four: Kukai and the Shingon school	10:05
20.	Bendowa Question Four: Kukai's ten stages of mind	15:41
21.	Bendowa Question Four: Kukai's ten stages of mind continued	14:57
22.	Bendowa Question Four: Shingon school and Yoga Cara school	16:47
23.	Bendowa Question Four: Shingon school / symbols of wisdom	12:54
24.	Bendowa Question Four: Shingon school / symbols of wisdom continued	8:20
25.	Questions	8:22
26.	Bendowa Question Four: Hinduism and Buddhism / reading the Reply to Question Four	16:25
27.	Bendowa Reply to Question Four: "all the teachings are like yellow leaves"	13:49
28.	Bendowa Reply to Question Four: true words	14:26
29.	Bendowa Reply to Question Four: teachings are like reflections in a mirror / practice itself is the evidence	13:59
30.	Bendowa Reply to Question Four: a true teacher	14:24
31.	Bendowa Reply to Question Four: Dharma numbers and false understanding	5:01
32.	Bendowa Reply to Question Four: samsara within Buddhist practice	13:17
33.	Bendowa Question Five (Shoboji-bon): three kinds of Buddha	22:19
34.	Bendowa Reply to Question Five (shoboji-bon): Dogen and the "low class" Buddha	17:55
35.	Bendowa Reply to Question Five (shoboji-bon) continued	10:41
36.	Bendowa Question Five (rufu-bon): why establish meditation only as a school?	14:26
37.	Bendowa Question Five: origin of the name "Zen school" (reading from Shobogenzo Butsudo)	19:05
38.	Questions: dharma-transmission	18:40
39.	More questions	23:54
40.	Bendowa Question Five: the name "Zen school" / the "thing" which is transmitted	11:56
41.	Examples of form (/Question Five continued)	21:34
42.	Bendowa Question Six: why sitting? (reading from Shobogenzo Zanmai O Zanmai)	16:23
43.	Bendowa Question Six: Nyojo's saying / reading from Daichidorong	12:40
44.	Bendowa Question Six: the form of zazen / from Daichidorong, on form	20:23
45.	Bendowa Question Six: reading from Zanmai O Zanmai	5:30
46.	Bendowa Question Seven: why practice zazen after attaining enlightenment?	7:27
47.	Bendowa Question Seven: Mugaku Sogen's enlightenment experience	31:00
48.	Bendowa Question Seven: further on enlightenment in the Rinzai Zen tradition	7:41
49.	Bendowa Question Seven: Soto Zen approach to koan (reading from Shoyoroku)	14:26
50.	Bendowa Question Seven: Dogen's approach to koan (reading Shobogenzo Bussho)	19:10
51.	Questions	23:10
52.	Questions continued	15:21
53.	Bendowa Question Seven: practice and enlightenment are one	6:17
54.	Bendowa Question Seven: cause and result / story about wild fox	22:29
55.	Bendowa Question Seven: practice and enlightenment are one	18:54
56.	Bendowa Question Seven: examples from Heart Sutra, Genjokoan and poems on Mount Lu	17:21
57.	Questions	22:57
58.	Bendowa Question Seven: practice and enlightenment are one (reading the rest of the question)	9:10
59.	Bendowa Question Seven: true reality of all beings / ten suchness	18:43
60.	Bendowa Question Seven: a writing by Nagarjuna	13:06
61.	Bendowa Question Seven: back to the text of Bendowa	19:38
62.	Bendowa Question Seven continued	19:16
63.	Bendowa Question Seven: a different perspective on "practice and enlightenment are one" (reading from Shobogenzo Sesshin Sessho)	12:10
64.	Questions	7:11

Credits

released December 6, 2012

Shohaku Okumura is a Zen Buddhist priest who is recognized internationally as a leading authority on the teachings of the great Japanese Zen master Eihei Dogen. He travels widely offering retreats and lecturing on Dogen Zenji’s teachings. Okumura Roshi has translated many Buddhist teachings from Japanese, and his writings have appeared in various Buddhist periodicals. He is also the founder of Sanshin Zen Community, an international Buddhist Sangha headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana.

While he was a student at Komazawa University in Tokyo, Okumura Roshi was ordained by Kosho Uchyama Roshi in 1970 at Antaiji in Kyoto, Japan. In 1975 he traveled to the United States where he became a founding member of Pioneer Valley Zendo in Charlemont, Massachusetts. In 1981 he returned to Japan where he began his ongoing translation of the works of Dogen Zenji and Uchiyama Roshi, and he eventually served as teacher at the Kyoto Soto Zen Center. After returning to the United States with his wife and two children in 1993, he practiced as the head teacher of Minnesota Zen Center until 1996. After leaving MZMC, he founded Sanshin Zen Community in the same year. He worked for the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center (formerly the Soto Zen Education Center) as the director from 1997 to 2010. Okumura Roshi and his family now reside in Bloomington, Indiana.

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