Re: NEXT BOOK FOR TREELEAF BOOK CLUB ...
Hi.
I think Dirk (Shohei) is wise on this. That is why, when I do any talks on Shobogenzo (I am thinking to start Bendowa on the Sit-a-Long next week) I always post up on the blog two or three different translations, and from them maybe "triangulate" Master Dogen's original intent. He was like a free Jazz player sometimes, and I even think that (in the wilder portions of Shobogenzo) perhaps sometimes even he did not know where the music was taking him! But most of his writings are quite penetrable, although having the "opinions" of two or three great translators helps.
Awhile back, I did ask the noted Dogen scholar, Steve Heine:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url ... en&x=0&y=0
(1) of all the Shobogenzo translations out there, which is the most "accurate" from the point of view of Buddhist scholarship and translation (i.e., most faithful to what Dogen actually wrote)? (2) which is the most readable by the non-specialist, while still being as faithful as possible to Dogen? I told him not to be polite to my teacher, Nishijima Roshi, in answering.
He said that, as far as Shobogenzo translations, Waddell/Abe, is perhaps the most "accurate" even though out of date in some ways (it is a reprint of renderings done in the 1970s). Tanahashi's several books are always very very good, and perhaps the most accessible to a non-scholar (at the intersection of literal accuracy and readability). He highly recommended those. Nishijima/Cross, he said, is the best of the complete translations, but it has many problems in grammar, typos and other small quirks (due to my teacher's limited English abilities and some peculiarities about Mike Cross' style and personal philosophy) that it is best for serious students who can pick out the minor problems and see the underlying strength.
The Soto Text project promises someday to be the best overall, but is coming out in small doses, still spotty and not quite living up to potential yet. Nishiyama/Stevens and Yokoi are to be avoided. Cleary, Masunaga, and Shasta all have some strengths, but are not nearly as good as the first sets above.
That is from a Dogen scholar's point of view.
Gassho, Jundo
Hi.
I think Dirk (Shohei) is wise on this. That is why, when I do any talks on Shobogenzo (I am thinking to start Bendowa on the Sit-a-Long next week) I always post up on the blog two or three different translations, and from them maybe "triangulate" Master Dogen's original intent. He was like a free Jazz player sometimes, and I even think that (in the wilder portions of Shobogenzo) perhaps sometimes even he did not know where the music was taking him! But most of his writings are quite penetrable, although having the "opinions" of two or three great translators helps.
Awhile back, I did ask the noted Dogen scholar, Steve Heine:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b?url ... en&x=0&y=0
(1) of all the Shobogenzo translations out there, which is the most "accurate" from the point of view of Buddhist scholarship and translation (i.e., most faithful to what Dogen actually wrote)? (2) which is the most readable by the non-specialist, while still being as faithful as possible to Dogen? I told him not to be polite to my teacher, Nishijima Roshi, in answering.
He said that, as far as Shobogenzo translations, Waddell/Abe, is perhaps the most "accurate" even though out of date in some ways (it is a reprint of renderings done in the 1970s). Tanahashi's several books are always very very good, and perhaps the most accessible to a non-scholar (at the intersection of literal accuracy and readability). He highly recommended those. Nishijima/Cross, he said, is the best of the complete translations, but it has many problems in grammar, typos and other small quirks (due to my teacher's limited English abilities and some peculiarities about Mike Cross' style and personal philosophy) that it is best for serious students who can pick out the minor problems and see the underlying strength.
The Soto Text project promises someday to be the best overall, but is coming out in small doses, still spotty and not quite living up to potential yet. Nishiyama/Stevens and Yokoi are to be avoided. Cleary, Masunaga, and Shasta all have some strengths, but are not nearly as good as the first sets above.
That is from a Dogen scholar's point of view.
Gassho, Jundo
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