Dōgen Zenji (💎 19 January 1200 – 22 September 1253), was a Japanese Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.

"But do not ask me where I am going, As I travel in this limitless world, Where every step I take is my home."
~ Dogen
"If you want to see things just as they are, then you yourself must practice just as you are."
~ Dogen
"Life and death are nothing but the mind. Years, months, days, and hours...Dreams, illusions, and mirages are nothing but the mind. The bubbles of water and the flames...The flowers of the spring and the moon of the autumn...Confusions and dangers are nothing but the mind." Dogen
"If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?"
~ Dogen
"Meditation is not a way to enlightenment,
Nor is it a method of achieving anything at all.
It is peace itself.
It is the actualization of wisdom,
The ultimate truth of the oneness of all things."
~ Dogen
"The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass."
~ Dogen
"Enlightenment is intimacy with all things."
~ Dogen
"Studying the Buddha way is studying oneself.
Studying oneself is forgetting oneself.
...is being enlightened by all things.
...is to shed the body-mind of oneself, and those of others.
No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment continues endlessly."
"A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it."
~ Dogen
"To start from the self and try to understand all things is delusion. To let the self be awakened by all things is enlightenment."
~ Dogen
"Just practice good, do good for others, without thinking of making yourself known so that you may gain reward. Really bring benefit to others, gaining nothing for yourself. This is the primary requisite for breaking free of attachments to the Self."
~ Dogen
"Truth is not far away. It is nearer than near. There is no need to attain it, since not one of your steps leads away from it."
~ Dogen
"There is no beginning to practice nor end to enlightenment; There is no beginning to enlightenment nor end to practice."
~ Dogen
"To be in harmony with the wholeness of things is not to have anxiety over imperfections."
~ Dogen
"Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself. Your body and mind will become clear and you will realize the unity of all things."
~ Dogen
The statue memorializing Dōgen's vision of Avalokiteshvara at a pond in Eihei-ji, Japan.

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I'll begin with the ancient history ... and it goes way back. Because modern humans - and before that, the ancestors of humans - almost certainly originated in Ethiopia. 🇪🇹 (sub-thread):


The first likely historical reference to Ethiopia is ancient Egyptian records of trade expeditions to the "Land of Punt" in search of gold, ebony, ivory, incense, and wild animals, starting in c 2500 BC 🇪🇹


Ethiopians themselves believe that the Queen of Sheba, who visited Israel's King Solomon in the Bible (c 950 BC), came from Ethiopia (not Yemen, as others believe). Here she is meeting Solomon in a stain-glassed window in Addis Ababa's Holy Trinity Church. 🇪🇹


References to the Queen of Sheba are everywhere in Ethiopia. The national airline's frequent flier miles are even called "ShebaMiles". 🇪🇹