Sam Dogen, the creator of Financial Samurai, made headlines when he announced his early retirement at 34 with a $3 Million net worth. He made headlines as an early pioneer for FIRE (financial independence retire early). But now he seems to be back at work without enough freedom or money.
Dogen spent 13 years in investment banking before creating his personal finance blog, Financial Samurai. He is based in San Francisco with his wife and children.
Table of Contents
How did Dogen get his name?
Dogen was born into a prominent family with a deep religious study tradition. Fluent in several languages and knowledgeable in numerous branches of Buddhist doctrines, he is best known for writing the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Shobogenzo), one of the world’s premier religious writings.
As a young man, he experienced profound sorrow when his parents died unexpectedly, prompting a profound loss that caused him to decide that society was no longer worth his while. So at age 24, he made a perilous ocean voyage to China and studied under Ju-using – the thirteenth Patriarch of the Ts’ao-Kung lineage of Zen Buddhism, later known as Soto.
Dogen established Eiheiji Temple in 1244 on a remote mountain near Kyoto to teach his unique approach to Buddhism – which still follows today. Additionally, Dogen wrote extensively for books and essays throughout his lifetime, becoming one of the world’s greatest philosophers and poets.
What is Dogen’s ethnicity?
Dogen Zenji (1200-1253), the founder of the Soto school of Zen, is widely revered as one of history’s greatest spiritual masters. Born to an elite noble family with access to education and cultural opportunities but suffering loss as life went through turbulent periods, Dogen experienced privilege and hardship.
His early experiences, spiritual awakening, and travels had a lasting impact on his teachings. He is best known for writing Shobogenzo (Zheng Fa Yan Zang – Treasury of the True Dharma Eye), a series of 95 installments on zazen, koans, Buddhist philosophy, and monastic practices.
In the 1240s, Dogen left Kyoto for Echizen’s remote mountain setting, where he established the Eiheiji temple and established his school of Buddhism characterized by monastic practice overlay practice while encouraging an awareness that reality was fundamentally shifting and uncertain through profound reflection on major-kan or impermanence.
What is Dogen’s religion?
Dogen’s teachings focused on developing a profound awareness of impermanence and the interconnectivity of practice and Enlightenment. His works, such as Kana Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye), were revered for their clarity and depth of thought.
Dogen was orphaned at an early age and took refuge in his uncle’s monastery on Mount Hiei, where he immersed himself in Buddhist studies and soon became a monk at twelve. However, religious doubts soon surfaced regarding original enlightenment – the belief that all beings have a Buddha nature.
At one point during a ceremony at Rujing’s zendo, Dogen fell asleep while circumambulating it. When Rujing criticized him for this, Dogen realized what had been achieved through dozing off. Rujing rebuked him, and this marked a turning point for Dogen: He moved away from Kyoto altogether and founded Eiheiji Temple in Echizen, Japan, where his assembly would remain until he died in 1253; afterward, his disciples established Soto Zen in America, where it remains to flourish today.
What is Dogen’s nationality?
Dogen founded Soto Zen, one of the significant branches of Japanese Buddhism. He is widely revered as one of Japan’s most influential figures during medieval Japan and is still highly regarded today.
Dogen was left orphaned early and taken in by an uncle with high social standing as an advisor to Fujiwara Emperor. This uncle ensured a good education, including advanced studies of Buddhist texts for Dogen.
He traveled to China in 1223 and studied Chan monasteries under Myozen’s tutelage before returning home in 1242 after Myozen died at age 41, carrying with him “only his sacerdotal role, genealogical documents of ancestral succession, his portrait, and an unfulfilled commitment to practice.” Dogen founded Eiheiji monastery, renowned for teachings that emphasize the unity of practice and enlightenment as well as its meditative practices such as zazen and koans; additionally, it has produced important works such as Shobogenzo (Treasure of the True Dharma Eye), containing talks and writings in ninety-five fascicles covering topics that ranged from zazen/koan practice/B Buddhist philosophy/monastic life, etc.
