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Meeting the Myriad Things

A Zen Practitioner's Guide to Dogen's Genjokoan

Author Shinshu Roberts
Contributions by Shohaku Okumura, Zuiko Redding
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Paperback
$29.95 US
Shambhala
6.02"W x 8.98"H x 0.85"D   | 17 oz | 20 per carton
On sale Aug 19, 2025 | 312 Pages | 9781645472728
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A guide to awakening buddha mind for the contemporary Zen practitioner.

In the words of Eihei Dōgen, the thirteenth-century Buddhist monk who introduced the Sōtō school of Zen to Japan, “To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.” Centuries later, these enigmatic words from his seminal “Genjōkōan” (Actualizing the Fundamental Point) are still studied in Zen communities the world over.

But what did Dōgen really mean when he encouraged studying the self to forget the self? In this clarifying new commentary, esteemed Zen teacher Shinshu Roberts takes readers on a journey to understand Japan’s great Buddhist philosopher. Roberts applies her deep familiarity with Dōgen’s work to illuminate the text as a unified story in which Dōgen reveals the nondual nature of reality.

In addition to a full translation of Dōgen’s “Genjōkōan,” this book includes the commentary Okikigakishō (“Notes of What Was Heard and Extracted”), written by two of Dōgen’s direct students—the first time an English translation of this highly influential work has appeared in print.
“This is an important book. Dōgen Zenji’s writing can be puzzling, as he seems to shift rapidly from speaking about the relative (aspects of daily life) to the absolute (the transcendent). However, Shinshu Roberts’s lucid writing and understanding of Dharma open up the treasure house of Dōgen’s teaching, making it accessible to all students of Zen. The addition of commentaries by two of Dōgen Zenji’s students, Senne and Kyōgō, is a rare glimpse into how students who lived with the master understood his teaching. Meeting the Myriad Things should be in the library of every teacher of Zen.”
—Jan Chozen Bays, co-abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery and author of Mindfulness on the Go

“Though it is inspiring, Meeting the Myriad Things is not an inspirational book; though it is enormously informative, its purpose is not to inform. With the blend of scholarship, painstaking attention to detail, and compassionate care for the actual condition of contemporary practitioners that characterizes her previous work, here Shinshu Roberts gives us a full and precise commentary to Dōgen’s most famous essay, “Genjokoan,” his most lofty work. This is an important book for anyone who wants to engage in serious Dōgen study.”
—Norman Fischer, Soto Zen priest and poet, author of When You Greet Me I Bow and Selected Poems 1980-2013

“Shinshu Roberts leads us into Dōgen’s world as she models persistent care in listening to his heart pulsing through the words. Respecting him as a profound Dharma teacher, she fearlessly faces what appears to be impenetrable terrain in the landscape of his words, determined to mine their compassionate wisdom. Her success is our boon, enabling us to commune with Dōgen and the Dharma in our midst.”
—Paula Arai, author of Women Living Zen, Bringing Zen Home, and Painting Enlightenment

“Shinshu Roberts brings Dōgen’s ‘Genjōkōan’ into the contemporary spiritual culture. A wonderful book of American Zen for American practitioners.”
—Shohaku Okumura, author of Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen’s Shobogenzo

“A unique treatment of one of the most celebrated works of Sōtō Zen, combining the author’s close study of the text with a translation of the earliest Japanese commentary. A major contribution to the English-language literature on Dōgen.”
—Carl Bielefeldt, author of Dōgen’s Manuals of Meditation
SHINSHU ROBERTS is a Dharma Heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. She received her priest training at San Francisco Zen Center and from the North American branch of the Japanese Soto School. She has been appointed Kokusaifukyoshi (International Dharma Teacher) by the Shumucho (Japanese Soto Administration). She cofounded Ocean Gate Zen Center in Capitola, CA with her spouse Jaku Kinst. She is the author of Being-Time: A Practitioner’s Guide to Dogen’s Shobogenzo Uji.
Shinshu Roberts View titles by Shinshu Roberts

About

A guide to awakening buddha mind for the contemporary Zen practitioner.

In the words of Eihei Dōgen, the thirteenth-century Buddhist monk who introduced the Sōtō school of Zen to Japan, “To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things.” Centuries later, these enigmatic words from his seminal “Genjōkōan” (Actualizing the Fundamental Point) are still studied in Zen communities the world over.

But what did Dōgen really mean when he encouraged studying the self to forget the self? In this clarifying new commentary, esteemed Zen teacher Shinshu Roberts takes readers on a journey to understand Japan’s great Buddhist philosopher. Roberts applies her deep familiarity with Dōgen’s work to illuminate the text as a unified story in which Dōgen reveals the nondual nature of reality.

In addition to a full translation of Dōgen’s “Genjōkōan,” this book includes the commentary Okikigakishō (“Notes of What Was Heard and Extracted”), written by two of Dōgen’s direct students—the first time an English translation of this highly influential work has appeared in print.

Praise

“This is an important book. Dōgen Zenji’s writing can be puzzling, as he seems to shift rapidly from speaking about the relative (aspects of daily life) to the absolute (the transcendent). However, Shinshu Roberts’s lucid writing and understanding of Dharma open up the treasure house of Dōgen’s teaching, making it accessible to all students of Zen. The addition of commentaries by two of Dōgen Zenji’s students, Senne and Kyōgō, is a rare glimpse into how students who lived with the master understood his teaching. Meeting the Myriad Things should be in the library of every teacher of Zen.”
—Jan Chozen Bays, co-abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery and author of Mindfulness on the Go

“Though it is inspiring, Meeting the Myriad Things is not an inspirational book; though it is enormously informative, its purpose is not to inform. With the blend of scholarship, painstaking attention to detail, and compassionate care for the actual condition of contemporary practitioners that characterizes her previous work, here Shinshu Roberts gives us a full and precise commentary to Dōgen’s most famous essay, “Genjokoan,” his most lofty work. This is an important book for anyone who wants to engage in serious Dōgen study.”
—Norman Fischer, Soto Zen priest and poet, author of When You Greet Me I Bow and Selected Poems 1980-2013

“Shinshu Roberts leads us into Dōgen’s world as she models persistent care in listening to his heart pulsing through the words. Respecting him as a profound Dharma teacher, she fearlessly faces what appears to be impenetrable terrain in the landscape of his words, determined to mine their compassionate wisdom. Her success is our boon, enabling us to commune with Dōgen and the Dharma in our midst.”
—Paula Arai, author of Women Living Zen, Bringing Zen Home, and Painting Enlightenment

“Shinshu Roberts brings Dōgen’s ‘Genjōkōan’ into the contemporary spiritual culture. A wonderful book of American Zen for American practitioners.”
—Shohaku Okumura, author of Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen’s Shobogenzo

“A unique treatment of one of the most celebrated works of Sōtō Zen, combining the author’s close study of the text with a translation of the earliest Japanese commentary. A major contribution to the English-language literature on Dōgen.”
—Carl Bielefeldt, author of Dōgen’s Manuals of Meditation

Author

SHINSHU ROBERTS is a Dharma Heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. She received her priest training at San Francisco Zen Center and from the North American branch of the Japanese Soto School. She has been appointed Kokusaifukyoshi (International Dharma Teacher) by the Shumucho (Japanese Soto Administration). She cofounded Ocean Gate Zen Center in Capitola, CA with her spouse Jaku Kinst. She is the author of Being-Time: A Practitioner’s Guide to Dogen’s Shobogenzo Uji.
Shinshu Roberts View titles by Shinshu Roberts

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