He is known for two major works. The first work, the massive Shobogenzo(Treasury of the True Dharma Eye), represents his early teachings and exists in myriad English translations; the second work, the Eihei Koroku, is a collection of all his later teachings, including short formal discourses to the monks training at his temple, longer informal talks, and koans with his commentaries, as well as short appreciatory verses on various topics. The Shobogenzo has received enormous attention in Western Zen and Western Zen literature, and with the publication of this watershed volume, the Eihei Koroku will surely rise to commensurate stature.

DOGEN'S EXTENSIVE RECORD is the first-ever complete and scholarly translation of this monumental work into English. This edition contains extensive and detailed research and annotation by scholars, translators and Zen teachers Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura, as well as forewords by the eighteenth-century poet-monk Ryokan and Tenshin Reb Anderson, former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center-plus introductory essays from Dogen scholar Steven Heine, and the prominent, late American Zen master John Daido Loori.

This lavishly-produced cloth-bound volume will be indispensable to students and scholars of Zen.

Click here for an extensive and detailed index not appearing in the hardcover edition.

Praise & Reviews “An excellent translation of Dogen's Eithei Koroku [. . .] Leighton and Okumura deserve praise for taking on the daunting task of translating this text and for their success in this endeavor. A close look at the original Chinese reveals that they have crafted a faithful translation. Accuracy is not the only virtue of their translation, however, for they have rendered Dogen's dense and idiosyncratic language in clear, lively, and engaging English. This is no small accomplishment. [. . .] A volume that serves scholars and Zen practitioners alike. [. . .] All readers will benefit greatly from this outstanding contribution to the study of Dogen and Zen Buddhism.”—Philosophy East & West "This massive work will be a valuable asset not just for students of the Zen teacher Dogen (1200-1253), but for all students of Zen and Buddhism in general. However celebrated his Shobogenzo might be, it presents only a partial Dogen. The Extensive Record covers Dogen's entire teaching career, especially the last ten years of his life, which he devoted wholeheartedly to training his successors. The translators, two Soto Zen teachers active in North America, have done an admirable job of rendering Dogen's thirteenth-century Chinese into modern English. The text is remarkably easy to read while also remaining faithful to Dogen's idiom. It is well annotated with footnotes, but not in an overly obtrusive manner. Lengthy indexes allow readers to find dates, names, Japanese pronunciations of Chinese names and so forth. A detailed bibliography of Chinese, Japanese and Western-language materials will assist readers who wish to consult other sources in their study of Dogen in particular or Buddhism in general. [. . . ] Three separate introductions provide so much supplemental information that no reader of this volume will be forced to turn elsewhere to make sense of it. [. . . ] In short, Leighton and Okumura's translation of Dogen's Extensive Record is a valuable contribution to the growing body of Zen literature available in English. It allows Western readers to discover a new side of Dogen, the side he presented to his own students on a daily basis. It will reward careful study."—William M. Bodiford, in Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly "The many hours of dedicated work [that produced the book] will be much appreciated by all of us now and in the future who value Dogen's inspired writing and talks."—Mel Weitsman, abbot of Berkeley Zen Center "This is a significant time in terms of understanding Dogen in the West, [with] Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura's translation of the Eihei Koroku coming out. People are going to see an entirely different style in this collection of Dogen's later teachings."—Steven Heine, Director of the Institute of Asian Studies an co-author of Buddhism in the Modern World, in the forum-style article, "Understanding Dogen," in Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly THE FOLLOWING is a redaction of Steven Heine's introductory piece to DOGEN'S EXTENSIVE RECORD, titled,"The Significance of Eihei Koroku and Its Translation": The publication of the long-awaited complete translation of the Eihei Koroku by Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura, which is thoroughly researched, thoughtfully conceived, and accompanied by detailed annotations, is a major event in the field of Dogen studies that is bound to have a long-lasting influence. The growing community of scholars, practitioners, and intellectuals ever intrigued by Dogen's writings will greatly enjoy and benefit from such a precise and clear rendering of this crucial text. The significance of the translation derives from two interrelated factors: one is the overwhelming importance of the text for understanding Dogen's life and thought, especially in his later period; and the other is the "underwhelming" way the Eihei Koroku has been received, particularly in Western works about Dogen that have focused almost exclusively on the Shobogenzo and other writings, thereby neglecting an equally important and representative record of his life, thought, and practice. The Eihei Koroku is one of the two main texts produced by Dogen (1200-1253), the founder of the Soto Zen sect in thirteenth century Japan, and the primary work representing the later period of Dogen's career. [It] is a collection of various kinds of verses and discourses, especially formal sermons composed in Chinese that are contained in the first seven of ten volumes. It was compiled by Dogen's disciples according to the model of the "recorded sayings" genre, or collected records of the great Chinese Chan masters of the Song dynasty. Until recently, the Eihei Koroku has received far less attention in Dogen studies than his other main text, the Shobogenzo. The Shobogenzo, a collection of informal sermons, is generally considered the first writing on Buddhism in the Japanese vernacular; it was the primary work of Dogen's earlier period, the ten years (1233-1243) he spent as abbot of Koshoji temple in the town of Fukakusa on the outskirts of Kyoto. The composition of the Shobogenzo was almost entirely completed by the time of the move to Echizen (currently Fukui) Province. Therefore, this work does not reveal Dogen's teachings or training style from the later period, although Dogen apparently continued to edit some of the Shobogenzo fascicles. It is ironic that Dogen is best known as abbot of Eiheiji but the most revered text is not the text from the time he was abbot there. One of the most intriguing and important aspects of the Eihei Koroku is the way so many passages reveal key aspects of Dogen's life that are not disclosed in other sources, as well as the way he presented his doctrines in the later period. Reading this work should be an eye-opener for all those interested in understanding and penetrating to the depths of Dogen's approach to Zen theory and practice. "This new and hefty volume represents the [previously unseen] other half of Dogen's teaching. We owe a great debt to Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura for this monumental translation, a labor of love and a generous offering to those who choose to wander beyond the beaten path."— Inquiring Mind

Taigen Dan Leighton, Translator Taigen Dan Leighton is a SotoZen priest and Dharma successor in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and the San Francisco Zen Center. Leighton began formal Soto practice in 1975 at the New York Zen Center with Kando Nakajima Roshi and graduated in East Asian Studies from Columbia College. He is author of Faces of Compassion and Visions of Awakening Space and Time: Dogen and the Lotus Sutra and is co-translator and editor of several Zen texts, including Cultivating the Empty Field, as well as The Wholehearted Way and Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community, both translated together with Shohaku Okumura. He currently teaches at the Institute of Buddhist Studies of the Berkeley Graduate Theological Union and leads the Ancient Dragon Zen Gate meditation group in Chicago. Shohaku Okumura, Translator Shohaku Okumura is a Soto Zen priest and Dharma successor of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi. He is a graduate of Komazawa University and has practiced in Japan at Antaiji, Zuioji, and the Kyoto Soto Zen Center, and in in Massachusetts at the Pioneer Valley Zendo. He is the former director of the Soto Zen Buddhism International Center in San Francisco. His previously published books of translation include Shobogenzo Zuimonki; Dogen Zen; Zen Teachings of Homeless Kodo; and Opening the Hand of Thought. Okumura is also editor of Dogen Zen and Its Relevance for Our Time; and SotoZen. He is the founding teacher of the Sanshin Zen Community, based in Bloomington, Indiana, where he lives with his family.