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The Zen Master's Dance

A Guide to Understanding Dogen and Who You Are in the Universe

Published by Wisdom Publications
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

Zen Master's Dance makes some of Zen’s subtlest teaching deeply personal and freshly accessible.

Eihei Dogen—the thirteenth-century Japanese Zen Master of peerless depth and subtlety—heard the music of the universe that sounds as all events and places, people, things, and spaces. He experienced reality as a great dance moving through time, coming to life in the thoughts and acts of all beings. It is a most special dance, the dance that the whole of reality is dancing, with nothing left out. All beings are dancing, and reality is dancing as all beings.

In The Zen Master’s Dance, Jundo Cohen takes us deep into the mind of Master Dogen—and shows us how to join in the great and intimate dance of the universe. Through fresh translations and sparkling teaching, Cohen opens up for us a new way to read one of Buddhism’s most remarkable spiritual geniuses.

About The Author

Jundo Cohen is a Zen teacher and founder of the Treeleaf Zendo, a Soto Zen community using visual media to link Zen practitioners around the world. Treeleaf serves those who cannot easily commute to a Zen center due to health concerns; age or disability; living in remote areas; or work, childcare, or family needs; and provides zazen sittings, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Zen Buddhist sangha, all fully online without thought of location or distance. Jundo was born and raised in the United States but has lived in Japan for more than half his life. He was ordained and subsequently received Dharma transmission from Master Gudo Wafu Nishijima and is a member of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Wisdom Publications (October 20, 2020)
  • Length: 200 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781614296461

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Raves and Reviews

"The Zen Master’s Dance creatively and authentically opens us to the heart of Dogen’s seemingly obscure teachings. Jundo Cohen makes them understandable and immediately applicable for anyone wanting to dance with the Universe."

– Rev. Eric Daishin McCabe, Teacher at Zen Fields

"Jundo’s love of the practice is evident on every page. He has done an outstanding service to those of us who want to better understand Dogen."

– Arthur Braverman, author of Living and Dying in Zazen and The Grass Flute Zen Master

"An excellent translation and a unique and interpretive commentary. A joyful and informative read. Highly recommended."

– Daitsu Tom Wright, Senior Buddhist priest, Soto Zen School

"Jundo Cohen offers a personal interpretation of Dogen’s teachings that brings them directly into our lives with clarity and grace, without diminishing their meaning or complexity."

– Tonen O'Connor, Resident Priest Emerita, Milwaukee Zen Center

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