was a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sà Âtà  school of Zen in Japan. He is also known as Dà Âgen Kigen (), Eihei Dà Âgen (), Kà Âso Jà Âyà  Daishi (), and Busshà  Dentà  Kokushi ().
Originally ordained as a monk in the Tendai School in Kyoto, he was ultimately dissatisfied with its teaching and traveled to China to seek out what he believed to be a more authentic Buddhism. He remained there for four years, finally training under TiÃÂntóng Rújìng, an eminent teacher of the Cáodòng lineage of Chinese Chan. Upon his return to Japan, he began promoting the practice of zazen (sitting meditation) through literary works such as Fukanzazengi and Bendà Âwa.
He eventually broke relations completely with the powerful Tendai School, and, after several years of likely friction between himself and the establishment, left Kyoto for the mountainous countryside where he founded the monastery Eihei-ji, which remains the head temple of the Sà Âtà  school today.
Dà Âgen is known for his extensive writings like the Shà Âbà Âgenzà  (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, considered his magnum opus), the Eihei Kà Âroku (Extensive Record, a collection of his talks), the Eihei Shingi (the first Japanese Zen monastic code), along with his Japanese poetry, and commentaries. Dà Âgen's writings are one of the most important sources studied in the contemporary Sà Âtà  Zen tradition.
Dà Âgen was probably born into a noble family, though as an illegitimate child of Minamoto Michichika. His foster father was his older brother Minamoto no Michitomo, who served in the imperial court as a high-ranking . His mother, named Ishi, the daughter of Matsudono Motofusa and a sister of the monk Ryà Âkan Hà Âgen, is said to have died when Dà Âgen was age 7.
In 1212, the spring of his thirteenth year, Dà Âgen fled the house of his uncle Matsudono Moroie and went to his uncle Ryà Âkan Hà Âgen at the foot of Mount Hiei, the headquarters of the Tendai school of Buddhism. Stating that his mother's death was the reason he wanted to become a monk, Ryà Âkan sent the young Dà Âgen to Jien, an abbot at Yokawa on Mount Hiei. According to the Kenzeiki (), he became possessed by a single question with regard to the Tendai doctrine:
This question was, in large part, prompted by the Tendai concept of original enlightenment ( hongaku), which states that all human beings are enlightened by nature and that, consequently, any notion of achieving enlightenment through practice is fundamentally flawed.
The Kenzeiki further states that he found no answer to his question at Mount Hiei, and that he was disillusioned by the internal politics and need for social prominence for advancement. Therefore, Dà Âgen left to seek an answer from other Buddhist masters. He went to visit Kà Âin, the Tendai abbot of Onjà Â-ji Temple (), asking him this same question. Kà Âin said that, in order to find an answer, he might want to consider studying Chán in China. In 1217, two years after the death of contemporary Zen Buddhist Myà Âan Eisai, Dà Âgen went to study at Kennin-ji Temple (), under Eisai's successor, Myà Âzen ().
In 1223, Dà Âgen and Myà Âzen undertook the dangerous passage across the East China Sea to China (Song dynasty) to study in Jing-de-si (Ching-te-ssu, ) monastery as Eisai had once done. Around the time the Mongol Empire was waging wars on the various dynasties of China.
In China, Dà Âgen first went to the leading Chan monasteries in ZhèjiÃÂng province. At the time, most Chan teachers based their training around the use of gà Âng-àn (Japanese: kà Âan). Though Dà Âgen assiduously studied the kà Âans, he became disenchanted with the heavy emphasis laid upon them, and wondered why the sutras were not studied more. At one point, owing to this disenchantment, Dà Âgen even refused Dharma transmission from a teacher. Then, in 1225, he decided to visit a master named Rújìng (; J. Nyojà Â), the thirteenth patriarch of the Cáodòng (J. Sà Âtà Â) lineage of Zen Buddhism, at Mount TiÃÂntóng's ( TiÃÂntóngshÃÂn; J. Tendà Âzan) TiÃÂntóng temple in NÃÂngbà Â. Rujing was reputed to have a style of Chan that was different from the other masters whom Dà Âgen had thus far encountered. In later writings, Dà Âgen referred to Rujing as "the Old Buddha". Additionally he affectionately described both Rujing and Myà Âzen as .
Under Rujing, Dà Âgen realized liberation of body and mind upon hearing the master say, "cast off body and mind" ( shÃÂn xën tuà  luò). This phrase would continue to have great importance to Dà Âgen throughout his life, and can be found scattered throughout his writings, asâÂÂfor exampleâÂÂin a famous section of his Genjà Âkà Âan ():
Myà Âzen died shortly after Dà Âgen arrived at Mount Tiantong. In 1227, Dà Âgen received Dharma transmission and inka from Rujing, and remarked on how he had finally settled his "life's quest of the great matter".
DÃ Âgen returned to Japan in 1227 or 1228, going back to stay at Kennin-ji, where he had trained previously. Among his first actions upon returning was to write down the Fukanzazengi (; Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen), a short text emphasizing the importance of and giving instructions for zazen (sitting meditation).
However, tension soon arose as the Tendai community began taking steps to suppress both Zen and Jà Âdo Shinshà «, the new forms of Buddhism in Japan. In the face of this tension, Dà Âgen left the Tendai dominion of Kyà Âto in 1230, settling instead in an abandoned temple in what is today the city of Uji, south of Kyà Âto.
In 1233, Dà Âgen founded the Kannon-dà Âri-in in Fukakusa as a small center of practice. He later expanded this temple into Kà Âshà Âhà Ârin-ji ().
In 1243, Hatano Yoshishige () offered to relocate Dà Âgen's community to Echizen province, far to the north of Kyà Âto. Dà Âgen accepted this offer to relocate, because of the ongoing tension with the Tendai community, and the growing competition of the Rinzai-school
His followers built a comprehensive center of practice there, calling it Daibutsu Temple (Daibutsu-ji, ). While the construction work was going on, Dà Âgen would live and teach at Yoshimine-dera Temple (Kippà Â-ji, ), which is located close to Daibutsu-ji. During his stay at Kippà Â-ji, Dà Âgen "fell into a depression". It marked a turning point in his life, giving way to "rigorous critique of Rinzai Zen". He criticized Dahui Zonggao, the most influential figure of Song dynasty Chán.
In 1246, Dà Âgen renamed Daibutsu-ji, calling it Eihei-ji. This temple remains one of the two head temples of Sà Âtà  Zen in Japan today, the other being Sà Âji-ji.
Dà Âgen spent the remainder of his life teaching and writing at Eihei-ji. In 1247, the newly installed shà Âgun's regent, Hà Âjà  Tokiyori, invited Dà Âgen to come to Kamakura to teach him. Dà Âgen made the rather long journey east to provide the shà Âgun with lay ordination, and then returned to Eihei-ji in 1248. In the autumn of 1252, Dà Âgen fell ill, and soon showed no signs of recovering. He presented his robes to his main apprentice, Koun Ejà  (), making him the abbot of Eihei-ji.
At Hatano Yoshishige's invitation, Dà Âgen left for Kyà Âto in search of a remedy for his illness. In 1253, soon after arriving in Kyà Âto, Dà Âgen died. Shortly before his death, he had written a death poem:
DÃ Âgen often stressed the critical importance of zazen, or sitting meditation as the central practice of Buddhism. He considered zazen to be identical to studying Zen. This is pointed out clearly in the first sentence of the 1243 instruction manual "Zazen-gi" (; "Principles of Zazen"): "Studying Zen ... is zazen". DÃ Âgen taught zazen to everyone, even for the laity, male or female and including all social classes. In referring to zazen, DÃ Âgen is most often referring specifically to shikantaza, roughly translatable as "nothing but precisely sitting", or "just sitting," which is a kind of sitting meditation in which the meditator sits "in a state of brightly alert attention that is free of thoughts, directed to no object, and attached to no particular content". In his Fukan Zazengi, DÃ Âgen wrote:
Dà Âgen also described zazen practice with the term hishiryà  (, "non-thinking", "without thinking", "beyond thinking"). According to Cleary, it refers to ekà  henshà Â, turning the light around, focussing awareness on awareness itself. It is a state of no-mind which one is simply aware of things as they are, beyond thinking and not-thinking - the active effort not to think. In the Fukanzazengi, Dà Âgen writes:<blockquote>...settle into a steady, immobile sitting position. Think of not thinking (fushiryà Â). How do you think of not-thinking? Without thinking (hishiryà Â). This in itself is the essential art of zazen. The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the Dharma-gate of repose and bliss, the cultivation-authentication of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the presence of things as they are.</blockquote>Masanobu Takahashi writes that hishiryà  is not a state of no mental activity whatsoever. Instead, it is a state "beyond thinking and not-thinking" and beyond affirmation and rejection. Other Japanese Dogen scholars link the term with the realization of emptiness. According to Thomas Kasulis, non-thinking refers to the "pure presence of things as they are", "without affirming nor negating", without accepting nor rejecting, without believing nor disbelieving. In short, it is a non-conceptual, non-intentional and "prereflective mode of consciousness" which does not imply that it is an experience without content. Similarly, Hee-Jin Kim describes this as an "objectless, subjectless, formless, goalless and purposeless" state which is yet not a blank void. As such, the correct mental attitude for zazen according to Dà Âgen is one of effortless non-striving, this is because for Dà Âgen, original enlightenment is already always present.
While DÃ Âgen emphasized the importance and centrality of zazen, he did not reject other traditional Buddhist practices, and his monasteries performed various traditional ritual practices. DÃ Âgen's monasteries also followed a strict monastic code based on the Chinese Chan codes and DÃ Âgen often quotes these and various Vinaya texts in his works. As such, monastic rules and decorum (saho) was an important element of DÃ Âgen's teaching. One of the most important texts by DÃ Âgen on this topic is the Pure Standards for the Zen Community (Eihei Shingi).
Dà Âgen certainly saw zazen as the most important Zen practice, and saw other practices as secondary. He frequently relegates other Buddhist practices to a lesser status, as he writes in the Bendà Âwa: "Commitment to Zen is casting off body and mind. You have no need for incense offerings, homage praying, nembutsu, penance disciplines, or silent sutra readings; just sit single-mindedly." While Dà Âgen rhetorically critiques traditional practices in some passages, Foulk writes that "Dà Âgen did not mean to reject literally any of those standard Buddhist training methods". Rather, for Dà Âgen, one should engage in all practices without attachment and from the point of view of the emptiness of all things. It is from this perspective that Dà Âgen writes we should not engage in any "practice" (which is merely a conventional category which separates one kind of activity from another).
Indeed, according to Foulk:<blockquote>the specific rituals that seem to be disavowed in the Bendowa passage are all prescribed for Zen monks, often in great detail, in Dogen's other writings. In Kuyo shobutsu, Dogen recommends the practice of offering incense and making worshipful prostrations before Buddha images and stupas, as prescribed in the sutras and Vinaya texts. In Raihai tokuzui he urges trainees to revere enlightened teachers and to make offerings and prostrations to them, describing this as a practice which helps pave the way to one's own awakening. In Chiji shingi he stipulates that the vegetable garden manager in a monastery should participate together with the main body of monks in sutra chanting services (fugin), recitation services (nenju) in which buddhas' names are chanted (a form of nenbutsu practice), and other major ceremonies, and that he should burn incense and make prostrations (shoko raihai) and recite the buddhas' names in prayer morning and evening when at work in the garden. The practice of repentences (sange) is encouraged in Dogen's Kesa kudoku, in his Sanji go, and his Keisei sanshiki. Finally, in Kankin, Dogen gives detailed directions for sutra reading services (kankin) in which, as he explains, texts could be read either silently or aloud as a means of producing merit to be dedicated to any number of ends, including the satisfaction of wishes made by lay donors, or prayers on behalf of the emperor. </blockquote>
The primary concept underlying Dà Âgen's Zen practice is "the oneness of practice-verification" or "the unity of cultivation and confirmation" ( shushà Â-ittà  / shushà Â-ichinyo). The term shà  (, verification, affirmation, confirmation, attainment) is also sometimes translated as "enlightenment", though this translation is also questioned by some scholars.
The shushà Â-ittà  teaching was first and most famously explained in the Bendà Âwa ( A Talk on the Endeavor of the Path, c. 1231) as follows:
In the Fukanzazengi (Universal Recommendation for Zazen), DÃ Âgen explains how to practice zazen and then explains the nature of verification <blockquote>If you grasp the point of this [practice], the four elements [of the body] will become light and at ease, the spirit will be fresh and sharp, thoughts will be correct and clear; the flavor of the dharma will sustain the spirit, and you will be calm, pure, and joyful. Your daily life will be [the expression of] your true natural state. Once you achieve clarification [of the truth], you may be likened to the dragon gaining the water or the tiger taking to the mountains. You should realize that when right thought is present, dullness and agitation cannot intrude. </blockquote>
For Dà Âgen, buddha-nature or busshà  () is all of reality, "all things" (). In the Shà Âbà Âgenzà Â, Dà Âgen writes that "whole-being is the Buddha-nature" and that even inanimate objects (rocks, sand, water) are an expression of Buddha-nature. He rejected any view that saw buddha-nature as a permanent, substantial inner self or ground. Dà Âgen describes buddha-nature as "vast emptiness", "the world of becoming" and writes that "impermanence is in itself Buddha-nature". He writes in Busshà Â,
<blockquote>Therefore, the very impermanency of grass and tree, thicket and forest is the Buddha nature. The very impermanency of men and things, body and mind, is the Buddha nature. Nature and lands, mountains and rivers, are impermanent because they are the Buddha nature. Supreme and complete enlightenment, because it is impermanent, is the Buddha nature.</blockquote>Takashi James Kodera writes that the main source of DÃ Âgen's understanding of buddha-nature is a passage from the Nirvana sutra which was widely understood as stating that all sentient beings possess buddha-nature. However, DÃ Âgen interpreted the passage differently, rendering it as follows: <blockquote>All are () sentient beings, () all things are () the Buddha-nature (); the Tathagata () abides constantly (), is non-existent () yet existent (), and is change (). </blockquote>Kodera explains that "whereas in the conventional reading the Buddha-nature is understood as a permanent essence inherent in all sentient beings, DÃ Âgen contends that all things are the Buddha-nature. In the former reading, the Buddha-nature is a change less potential, but in the latter, it is the eternally arising and perishing actuality of all things in the world."
Thus for DÃ Âgen buddha-nature includes everything, the totality of "all things", including inanimate objects like grass, trees and land (which are also "mind" for DÃ Âgen).
DÃ Âgen taught that through zazen one could attain "great realization" or "great enlightenment" ( daigo-tettei), which is also called satori (, "understanding", "knowledge").
According to Ko'un Yamada, Dà Âgen "repeatedly emphasizes the importance of each person attaining enlightenment". Dà Âgen writes about this in a fascicle of the Shà Âbà Âgenzà  titled Daigo, which states that when practitioners of Zen attain daigo they have risen above the discrimination between delusion and enlightenment.
While Dà Âgen did teach the importance of attaining enlightenment, he also critiqued certain ways of explaining it and teaching about it. According to Barbara O'Brien, Dà Âgen critiqued the term "kenshà Â" because "the word kenshà  means 'to see one's nature', which sets up a dichotomy between the seer and the object of seeing." Furthermore, according to Bielefeldt, Dà Âgen's zazen is "a subtle state beyond either thinking or not thinking" in which "body and mind have been sloughed off". It is a state in which "all striving for religious experience, all expectation of satori (daigo), is left behind." As such, while Dà Âgen did not reject the importance of satori, he taught that we should not sit zazen with the goal of satori in mind.
Dà Âgen's conception of Being-Time or Time-Being (Uji, ) is an essential element of his metaphysics in the Shà Âbà Âgenzà Â. According to the traditional interpretation, "Uji" here means time itself is being, and all being is time." Uji is all the changing and dynamic activities that exist as the flow of becoming, all beings in the entire world are time. The two terms are thus spoken of concurrently to emphasize that the things are not to be viewed as separate concepts. Moreover, the aim is to not abstract time and being as rational concepts. This view has been developed by scholars such as Steven Heine, Joan Stambaugh and others and has served as a motivation to compare Dà Âgen's work to that of Martin Heidegger's "Dasein". Rein Raud has argued that this view is not correct and that Dà Âgen asserts that all existence is momentary, showing that such a reading would make quite a few of the rather cryptic passages in the Shà Âbà Âgenzà  quite lucid.
Another essential element of Dà Âgen's 'performative' metaphysics is his conception of Perfect expression (Dà Âtoku, ). "While a radically critical view on language as soteriologically inefficient, if not positively harmful, is what Zen Buddhism is famous for," it can be argued "'within the framework of a rational theory of language, against an obscurantist interpretation of Zen that time and again invokes experience.'" Dà Âgen distinguishes two types of language: monji , the first, â after Ernst Cassirer â "discursive type that constantly structures our experiences andâÂÂmore fundamentallyâÂÂin fact produces the world we experience in the first place"; and dà Âtoku , the second, "presentative type, which takes a holistic stance and establishes the totality of significations through a texture of relations.". As Döll points out, "It is this second type, as Müller holds, that allows for a positive view of language even from the radically skeptical perspective of Dà ÂgenâÂÂs brand of Zen Buddhism."
DÃ Âgen was sometimes critical of the Rinzai school for their formulaic and intellectual koan practice (such as the practice of the Shiryoken or "Four Discernments") as well as for their disregard for the sutras:
<blockquote>Recently in the great Sung dynasty of China there are many who call themselves "Zen masters". They do not know the length and breadth of the Buddha-Dharma. They have heard and seen but little. They memorize two or three sayings of Lin Chi and Yun Men and think this is the whole way of the Buddha-Dharma. If the Dharma of the Buddha could be condensed in two or three sayings of Lin Chi and Yun Men, it would not have been transmitted to the present day. One can hardly say that Lin Chi and Yun Men are the Venerable ones of the Buddha-Dharma.</blockquote>
DÃ Âgen was also very critical of the Japanese Daruma school of Dainichi NÃ Ânin.
Dogen's perspective of virtue is discussed in the Shà Âbà Âgenzà  text as something to be practiced inwardly so that it will manifest itself on the outside. In other words, virtue is something that is both internal and external in the sense that one can practice internal good dispositions and also the expression of these good dispositions.
While it was customary for Buddhist works to be written in Chinese, DÃ Âgen often wrote in Japanese, conveying the essence of his thought in a style that was at once concise, compelling, and inspiring. A master stylist, DÃ Âgen is noted not only for his prose, but also for his poetry (in Japanese waka style and various Chinese styles). DÃ Âgen's use of language is unconventional by any measure. According to DÃ Âgen scholar Steven Heine: "Dogen's poetic and philosophical works are characterized by a continual effort to express the inexpressible by perfecting imperfectable speech through the creative use of wordplay, neologism, and lyricism, as well as the recasting of traditional expressions".
Dà Âgen's masterpiece is the Shà Âbà Âgenzà  (, "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye"), talks and writings collected together in ninety-five fascicles. The topics range from zazen, koans, Buddhist philosophy, monastic practice, the equality of women and men, to the philosophy of language, being, and time.
The Shà Âbà Âgenzà  served as the basis for the short work entitled Shushà Â-gi (), which was compiled in 1890 by a layman named Ouchi Seiran (1845âÂÂ1918) along with Takiya Takushà « () of Eihei-ji and Azegami Baisen () of Sà Âji-ji. The compilation serves as an introductory compilation of key extracts from the Shà Âbà Âgenzà  which help explain the foundational teachings and concepts of Dà Âgen Zen to a lay audience.
Dà Âgen also compiled a collection of 301 koans in Chinese without commentaries added. Often called the Shinji Shà Âbà Âgenzà  (shinji: "original or true characters" and shà Âbà Âgenzà Â, variously translated as "the right-dharma-eye treasury" or "Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma"). The collection is also known as the Shà Âbà Âgenzà  Sanbyakusoku (The Three Hundred Verse Shà Âbà Âgenzà Â") and the Mana Shà Âbà Âgenzà Â, where mana is an alternative reading of shinji. The exact date the book was written is in dispute but Nishijima believes that Dogen may well have begun compiling the koan collection before his trip to China.
Although these stories are commonly referred to as kà Âans, Dà Âgen referred to them as kosoku (ancestral criteria) or innen (circumstances and causes or results, of a story). The word kà Âan for Dogen meant "absolute reality" or the "universal Dharma".
Lectures that Dà Âgen gave to his monks at his monastery, Eihei-ji, were compiled under the title Eihei Kà Âroku, also known as Dà Âgen Oshà  Kà Âroku (The Extensive Record of Teacher Dà Âgen's Sayings) in ten volumes. The sermons, lectures, sayings and poetry were compiled shortly after Dà Âgen's death by his main disciples, Koun Ejà  (, 1198âÂÂ1280), Senne, and Gien. There are three different editions of this text: the Rinnà Â-ji text from 1598, a popular version printed in 1672, and a version discovered at Eihei-ji in 1937, which, although undated, is believed to be the oldest extant version.
Another collection of his talks is the Shà Âbà Âgenzà  Zuimonki (Gleanings from Master Dà Âgen's Sayings) in six volumes. These are talks that Dà Âgen gave to his leading disciple, Ejà Â, who became Dà Âgen's disciple in 1234. The talks were recorded and edited by Ejà Â.
Other notable writings of DÃ Âgen are:
Though Dogen emphasised the importance of the correct transmission of the Buddha dharma, as guaranteed by the line of transmission from Shakyamuni, his own transmission became problematic in the third generation. In 1267 Ejà  retired as Abbot of Eihei-ji, giving way to Gikai, who was already favored by Dà Âgen. Gikai introduced esoteric elements into the practice. Opposition arose, and in 1272 Ejà  resumed the position of abbot. Following Ejà Â's death in 1280, Gikai became abbot again, strengthened by the support of the military for magical practices. Opposition arose again, and Gikai was forced to leave Eihei-ji. He was succeeded by Gien, who was first trained in the Daruma-school of Nà Ânin. His supporters designated him as the third abbot, rejecting the legitimacy of Gien.
Jakuen, a student of Rujing, who traced his lineage "directly back the Zen of the Song period", established Hà Âkyà Â-ji, where a strict style of Zen was practised. Students of his played a role in the conflict between Giin and Gikai.
A notable successor of Dogen was Keizan (; 1268âÂÂ1325), founder of Sà Âji-ji Temple and author of the Record of the Transmission of Light ( Denkà Âroku), which traces the succession of Zen masters from SiddhÃÂrtha Gautama up to Keizan's own day. Together, Dà Âgen and Keizan are regarded as the founders of the Sà Âtà  school in Japan.
Several "miraculous experiences" and "auspicious signs" have been recorded in DÃ Âgen's life, some of them quite famous. According to Bodiford, "Monks and laymen recorded these events as testaments to his great mystical power," which "helped confirm the legacy of DÃ Âgen's teachings against competing claims made by members of the Buddhist establishment and other outcast groups." Bodiford further notes that the "magical events at Eiheiji helped identify the temple as a cultic center," putting it at a par with other temples where supernatural events occurred. According to Faure, for DÃ Âgen these auspicious signs were proof that "Eiheiji was the only place in Japan where the Buddhist Dharma was transmitted correctly and that this monastery was thus rivaled by no other."
In Menzan Zuihà Â's well-known 1753 edition of Dà Âgen's biography, it records that while traveling in China with his companion Dà Âshà Â, Dà Âgen became very ill, and a deity appeared before him who gave him medicine which instantly healed him:
This medicine, which later became known as Gedokuen or "Poison-Dispelling Pill" was then produced by the Sà Âtà  church until the Meiji Era, and was commonly sold nationwide as an herbal medicine, and became a source of income for the Sà Âtà  church.
Another famous incident happened when he was returning to Japan from China. The ship he was on was caught in a storm. In this instance, the storm became so severe, that the crew feared the ship would sink and kill them all. Dà Âgen then began leading the crew in recitation of chants to Kannon (Avalokiteshwara), during which, the Bodhisattva appeared before him, and several of the crew saw her as well. After the vision appeared, the storm began to calm down, and consensus of those aboard was that they had been saved due to the intervention of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshwara. This story is repeated in official works sponsored by the Sà Âtà  Shà « Head Office and there is even a sculpture of the event in a water treatment pond in Eihei-ji Temple. Additionally, there is a 14th-century copy of a painting of the same Kannon, that was supposedly commissioned by Dà Âgen, that includes a piece of calligraphy that is possibly an original in Dà Âgen's own hand, recording his gratitude to Avalokiteshwara:
Another miraculous event occurred, while DÃ Âgen was at Eihei-ji. During a ceremony of gratitude for the 16 Celestial Arahants (called Rakan in Japanese), a vision of 16 Arahants appeared before DÃ Âgen descending upon a multi-colored cloud, and the statues of the Arahants that were present at the event began to emanate rays of light, to which DÃ Âgen then exclaimed:
DÃ Âgen was profoundly moved by the entire experience, and took it as an auspicious sign that the offerings of the ceremony had been accepted. In his writings he wrote:
Dà Âgen is also recorded to have had multiple encounters with non-human beings. Aside from his encounter with the kami Inari in China, in the Denkà Ârou it is recorded that while at Kà Âshà Â-ji, he was also visited by a deva who came to observe during certain ceremonies, as well as a dragon who visited him at Eihei-Ji and requested to be given the eight abstinence Precepts: