Nibbling On Asian History and Philosophy Series:
Source: Who Is Dogen Zenji?
Illumination From Our Feet
Arranging our shoes neatly, we bring harmony to our minds,
when our minds are harmonious, we arrange shoes neatly.
If we arrange shoes neatly when we take them off,
our minds won’t be disturbed when we put them on.
If someone leaves shoes in disarray,
let us silently set them to order.
Such an act surely will bring harmony
to the minds of people around the world.
Available on Amazon.com (click photo)
Hermit Poet’s notes: The writing above is from a small booklet titled (Who is Dogen Zenji?) that I purchased when visiting Eihei-ji. The temple was founded in 1244, by Dōgen Zenji.
Dogen is also the founder of Soto Zen. Eihei-ji is located in the mountains of Fukui Prefecture, Japan. I was at the temple during the winter time. The weather was very cold and the temple was surrounded by snow. Absolutely beautiful!
