Important principles in Shobogenzo (13) Den-e

When we read Shobogenzo (13) Den-e, we can find that the contents of (13) Den-e is almost the same as the contents of (12) Kesa-kudoku. Furthermore, at the end of Den-e we can find the date of having written Den-e, which is completely the same as the date of of written in the case of (12) Kesa-kudoku. In short, the date of the written in the case of (13) Den-e is completely the same as the date of the written as (12) Kesa-kudoku.

In the case of (12) Kesa-kudoku, the date of preaching is as follows.

Preached to the assembly at Kannon-
dori-kosho-horin-ji temple, on the
1st day of winter (164), in the 1st year of
Ninji. (165).

(164) The 1st day of winter means the 1st day of the 10th lunar month.
(165) 1240


In he case of (13) Den-e, the date of writing is as follows.

The 1st day of winter, in the 1st year of Ninji.(45)

Written at Kannon-dori-kosho-
horin-ji temple - a Shuramanya who
entered Sung [China] and received
the transmission of Dharma, Dogen.

(45) The 1st day of the 10th lunar month, 1240.


Reading those descriptions of the preaching dates and the date of writing, the actual dates of writing draft and preaching are completely the same.

And supposing the real situations, I decided that it might be sufficient for me to check only one chapter between the two. Because we can think that Master Dogen finished writing the draft on the 1st day of the 10th lunar month, 1240, and just on the same day he preached the lecture of (12) Kesa-kudoku. Therefore I thought that it was permissible for me to pass through the explanation of the one between the two.

In Shobogenzo we can find an almost the same example between the two chapters of (18) Shin-fukatoku [The former] and (19) Shin-fukatoku [The latter].

The End of (13) Den-e