The Temple of Eternal Peace
There is a moment in every practitioner's life when the cushion stops feeling empty.
He Crossed the Ocean to Find the Dharma, Then Spent His Life Giving It Away Without Compromise. There is a moment in every practitioner's life when the cushion stops feeling empty. When the breath settles, the hall grows quiet, and something older than memory seems to sit beside you.
Read the full description
For countless students of the Sōtō Zen tradition, that presence belongs to one ancestor above all others: Dōgen Zenji, the monk who sailed to China with an unanswered question, returned with the whole of the Buddhadharma, and built a mountain temple so that every being who came after him could receive it freely. The Temple of Eternal Peace is a devotional account of that life, not a dry biography, not an academic survey, but a walking companion. It moves beside Dōgen through the fog of Hakata Bay, into the kitchens and dharma halls of Song-dynasty China, back across the water to a Japan that was not yet ready for what he carried. It sits with him through the founding of Eihei-ji , through the long seasons of writing the Shōbōgenzō , through the snow, the illness, and the final teaching left on the cushion for anyone willing to receive it.
Not sure yet? Begin free.
The Fire He Carried Home, a complete book about this life, free, kept in your own library here, read now; its narration joins free when it is finished.
Receive the free book
Lives that walk beside Eihei Dōgen Zenji, chosen for their likeness, not their fame.
