The name “Eihei Dōgen” is composed of two elements, each rich with doctrinal and symbolic resonance. “Dōgen” (道元) is his religious name, formed from 道 (dō), meaning “Way” or “Path,” and 元 (gen), meaning “source,” “origin,” or “foundation.” Taken together, “Dōgen” signifies “Source of the Way” or “Way Source,” evoking the image of the Dharma arising from its very root. It suggests a practitioner and teacher whose life and realization are intimately identified with the origin-point of the Buddhist path itself.

“Eihei” (永平) designates his connection with Eihei-ji, the monastery he founded, and the term itself means “Eternal Peace” or “Perpetual Tranquility.” The characters 永 (ei), “eternal” or “everlasting,” and 平 (hei), “peace” or “tranquility,” together point to a peace not dependent on conditions, a stillness that does not waver. As a temple name, “Eihei” situates Dōgen within a specific institutional and geographical context, yet its meaning also gestures toward the timeless, unshakable equanimity that Zen practice seeks to embody.

Taken as a whole, “Eihei Dōgen” can be heard as “Dōgen of Eternal Peace,” a name that unites the image of the Way’s original source with the vision of enduring peace. It identifies a teacher whose realization of the Buddha Way is expressed through the founding of a community dedicated to that very peace. The name thus functions both as a biographical marker and as a concise spiritual teaching: the source of the Way is not separate from eternal peace, and the monastery of “Eternal Peace” is not apart from the living “Source of the Way.”