A Primer of Sōtō Zen: A Translation of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki

Your options for studying Dogen's thought are few. I believe that this collection of essays compiled by Mr. Cleary is an excellent one. This work contains a much smaller number of essays than that of the actual Shobogenzo. I think that Mr. Cleary has done a good job with his selection of essays for this book. This book offers the reader a very nice cross section from the whole of the original work. I like his translations and his introductions before each essay are helpful. Other options would be; a translation of the "The Shobogenzo" by Nishijima Roshi and Cross. This four book set includes all of Master Dogen's 95 essays that make up the whole of The Shobogenzo. This is a wonderful resource for those looking to really dig into Master Dogen's Dharma. Also, Rev. Shohaku Okumura of the Sanhin Zen Community is working on translating much of Master Dogen's writings and talks. Many of which are available. Finally, I feel that if you are to truly to see what Master Dogen's is pointing to in his Shobogenzo you will need to have a solid foundation in a correct daily Zazen practice. The insight resulting from your efforts is the tool needed to clarify or even just to penetrate Master Dogens work. One final thought, for those looking for a great book that is a "how to" of Zen practice, "The Three Pillars of Zen" by the late Phillip Kapleau has been a huge help to many. Best Wishes.

A useful "best of" selection of Dogen's enormous masterwork. Cleary is generally dependable in this venture. While not as comprehensive as "Moon in a Dewdrop", the book has the virtue of fitting very neatly into a backpack. As 'wisdom imparts wisdom to wisdom', highly recommended.

For casual or beginning students, a very useful, selected 'best of', summary type of collection. Cleary appears dependable in this venture. Moon in a Dewdrop is more complete, but does not fit in the backpack nearly as well.

Thomas Cleary has translated 13 of the 95 chapters of Dogens masterpiece, Shobogenzo, in this wonderful book. Besides the general introduction at the beginning of the book, he provides a modest but succinct introduction to each chapter, and footnotes at the end of each chapter. He has chosen 13 of the best chapters, including such classics as Genjokoan, and Uji. The only flaw is the fact that there now remain 82 chapters that must be read either in Japanese or by often less qualified translators. (Cleary has translated a couple other chapters in "Rational Zen", now out of print.)Anyone interested in Dogen will be happy to read and re-read this powerful collection of his writings. Tom, if you're listening, more, more...