Dōgen

Dōgen Zenji was ordained in Kyoto's Tendai School but found it hollow, so in his twenties he left for China to find what he considered authentic Buddhism. He trained for four years under Tiāntóng Rújìng, a master of the Cáodòng Chan lineage, then returned to Japan and began teaching zazen — sitting meditation — through works like Fukanzazengi and Bendōwa. Tensions with Tendai forced him out of Kyoto; he moved to what is now Fukui Prefecture and founded Eihei-ji, which became one of the two head temples of the Sōtō school he established. His Shōbōgenzō, a sprawling treatise considered his maste…