Genjōkōan
Often treated as the gateway to the Shōbōgenzō, Genjōkōan unfolds practice and realization as inseparable. The term itself—“actualizing the fundamental point”—captures Dōgen’s invitation to discover awakening in each moment, whether sweeping the floor or sipping tea. Every gesture, he insists, already embodies the Buddha way. This fascicle resonates today as mindfulness and presence saturate popular culture, reminding seekers that enlightenment isn’t a distant summit but the very breath underfoot.

Uji (Being-Time)
Here, “being” and “time” entwine so deeply they become indistinguishable. Dōgen portrays existence as a vast tapestry of moments, each one containing the whole. This radical vision has struck chords across disciplines—from ecological ethics urging a more fluid relationship with nature, to physicists intrigued by parallels with quantum entanglement. Uji continues to spark fresh dialogues on how dwelling fully in now can reshape personal and planetary well-being.

Bendōwa (On the Endeavor of the Way)
Regarded as Dōgen’s first Japanese sermon, this treatise lays out zazen (seated meditation) as the essence of Buddhist practice. It champions zazen as an end in itself, not merely a path to something else. In an era flooded with quick-fix spirituality, Bendōwa’s clear, earnest exhortation to “just sit” feels surprisingly radical and necessary.

Busshō (Buddha-Nature)
Exploring the notion that every being already possesses the awakened mind, Busshō dismantles any gap between seeker and enlightenment. It’s a potent antidote to modern anxieties of “not enough,” aligning well with current movements in positive psychology that emphasize inherent worth over constant self-improvement.

Shinjin Gakudō (Learning the Truth with Body and Mind)
This text dives into wholehearted commitment—body and mind—as the gateway to authentic understanding. With renewed interest in embodied cognition, Shinjin Gakudō offers a bridge between ancient insight and contemporary explorations of how the body shapes thought.

Together, these fascicles form the beating heart of Dōgen’s vision: practice inseparable from realization, each moment complete in itself.