The Importance of Fukan Zazengi

During the 13 years I spent in Japan, endeavoring to learn how to practice Zazen, I was taught that the most important text of Japanese Zen Buddhism is Fukan-zazengi by Master Dogen. Zazen-gi means “rules for Zazen (sitting-meditation).” Fukan means “universally recommended,” i.e. recommended for everyone.

There are two extant versions of it, one that Master Dogen wrote straight after coming back from China, and a later, revised edition. The former is known as Shinpitsu-bon, lit. "True Brush Edition," the latter as Rufu-bon, "Popular Edition."

Anyone who has visited us at our house in Aylesbury will have seen hung on the wall a long facsimile of Shinpitsu-bon, thought to be in Master Dogen's own hand. It was given to me by an old Zazen practitioner called Mochizuki-san just before I left Japan in 1994. I went to visit him at his home in Ohito in Izu prefecture. He showed it to me, noticed my interest in it, and rolled it up and presented it to me as just a spontaneous gesture.

The fact that Master Dogen went back and re-wrote this text probably reflects how important he felt it was; it was an exhortation to practice not just for monks, scholars, or other members of the elite, but for the whole population.

Gudo Nishijima and I have also revised our translations of these texts several times, most recently in 2001 for Shinpitsu-bon and 2003 for Rufu-bon. Our translation work has always been guided by the principle of going as far as possible for literal English translation.

Going to the other extreme (the hallmark of the unenlightened being), in recent weeks I have endeavored to render what I understand to be the spirit of Fukan-zazengi into English in a way that might make it more readily accessible and memorable. Please don't laugh, but I have attempted to render it into verse.