About Busshō (Shōbōgenzō)

Busshō, or Buddha Nature, is the third book of the Shōbōgenzō by the 13th century Sōtō Zen monk Eihei Dōgen. It was written in the fall of 1241 at Dōgen's monastery Kōshōhōrin-ji in Kyoto. As the title implies, the work is a discussion of the concept of buddha nature, laying out Dōgen's unique viewpoint on what the term means. While more typical interpretations see Buddha-nature as the inherent prospect of becoming a buddha, or alternatively a sort of life force within us, in Busshō Dōgen interprets Buddha-nature simply as concrete reality itself. He presents this thesis in his characteristically difficult style using frequent allusions to and comments on classical Zen literature, as well as complex word play hinging on creative interpretations of Classical Chinese sentence structure.