Eihei Dōgen (1200–1253) was a Japanese Buddhist monk and philosopher who founded the Sōtō school of Zen Buddhism in Japan. Born into an aristocratic family in Kyoto and orphaned at a young age, he entered monastic life early, first within the Tendai tradition on Mount Hiei. Dissatisfied with the answers he found there, he turned to Zen, studying under teachers associated with what later came to be known as the Rinzai school. This early search already reveals a central thread in his life: a deep, existential questioning about practice, enlightenment, and the living reality of the Buddha’s teaching.

Seeking a more direct resolution to his doubts, Dōgen traveled to China in 1223. There he trained at Tiantong monastery under the Caodong master Tiantong Rujing, where he underwent a profound awakening and received dharma transmission. Returning to Japan a few years later, he began to articulate a distinctive vision of Zen that emphasized the inseparability of practice and realization. For Dōgen, practice was not a mere means to an end; it was itself the full expression of enlightenment.

This vision took concrete form in his teaching of *shikantaza*, often rendered as “just sitting.” Rather than focusing on objects of concentration or working through kōans, this practice invites a settled, open awareness in which nothing is rejected and nothing is grasped. In this way, Dōgen presented zazen as the direct manifestation of Buddha-nature, not a technique to acquire something lacking. All beings, in his view, already possess Buddha-nature, and dedicated practice allows this inherent reality to reveal itself in the midst of ordinary life.

Dōgen’s thought is preserved most famously in the *Shōbōgenzō* (“Treasury of the True Dharma Eye”), a collection of essays and discourses that explore meditation, non-duality, time, language, and everyday activity as expressions of the Dharma. These writings display both philosophical subtlety and a relentless concern with how the teachings are actually lived. Over time, his community grew, leading to the establishment of monasteries such as Kōshō-ji and later Eihei-ji, which became a principal temple of the Sōtō school. Through his life, practice, and writings, Dōgen offered a path in which enlightenment is not distant or abstract, but realized moment by moment through wholehearted sitting and conduct.