Includes references and index.

The name Dogen and the term "Dogen Zen," often used to refer to his distinctive method of introspective teaching, conjure somewhat conflicting feelings for many students of Japanese religious philosophy and practitioners of Zen. These feelings range from a profound sense of exhilaration concerning Dogen's lofty theoretical ideals and powerful emphasis on a rigorous technique of "just sitting" (shikan taza) to a deep uncertainty or frustration in trying to decipher his dense and perplexing writings. Dogen's works are famously replete with intricate rhetorical flourishes and wordplay crossing between Chinese and Japanese pronunciations and grammatical constructions, which make his texts quite difficult to comprehend or translate"