A blade of grass

This work provides the first complete annotated translation of Dôgen's collected Japanese poetry (waka) along with an analysis of the role of aesthetics in Dôgen's philosophical writings in light of medieval Japanese literature. It argues that Dôgen's approach to Buddhist thought is not characterized by a clear-cut and one-sided rejection of aesthetics. Rather, Dôgen's standpoint is based on a fundamental paradoxicality encompassing the interplay of religion and literature, didacticism and lyricism, and absolute and relative expressing a contemplative view of nature and impermanence that is compatible with traditional Japanese religio-aesthetics. This work also critically assesses recent Japanese scholarship on Dôgen's poetry in cultural history and textual studies, and examines the medieval and modern history of the waka collection text and commentaries.