Dōgen Zenji

Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師; Japanese pronunciation: [doꜜː.ɡeɴ, -ŋeɴ], 26 January 1200 – 22 September 1253) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. He is also known as Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄), Eihei Dōgen (永平道元), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師), and Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師). Originally ordained as a monk in the Tendai School in Kyoto, he was ultimately dissatisfied with its teaching and traveled to China to seek out what he believed to be a mo…