Dogen come from either a noble personal & he quickly learned the meaning of the word "mujo" (impermanence). His parents died whilst he was however immature, & these are said that this early glimpse of impermanency inspired him to be the monk. He went 1st to Mt. Hiei, which was the headquarters of the Tendai school of Buddhism. At a immature age, he raised the wonder: "Both the esoteric and exoteric doctrines of the Buddha teach that enlightenment is inherent in all beings from the outset. If this is so, why do all the Buddhas, past, present, and future, seek enlightenment?" This doubt led him to study Buddhism under a Rinzai teachers Eisai (1141 - 1215) and Myozen for nine years.

Continuing his pursue a truth, he mass produced a risky ocean passage to China, accompanying his teacher, Myozen, at the age of Twenty-four. Fallowing camping many monasteries he come to survey using Ju-tsing (J. Nyojo), a Thirteenth Patriarch of the Ts'ao-t'ung lineage of Zen Buddhism in Mt. Tien-tung (J. Tendo). A lineage became known by its Japanese pronunciation, Soto, inside Japanese. Both years late, he realized liberation of person & mind.

Dogen come back to Japan when quaternity years overseas. Inside 1244 he established Eiheiji in Echizen, now Fukui, to spread his approach to Buddhism. A temple remains one of them head temples of the Soto sect in todays world. He spent a left over decade years of his life teaching & writing there. Dogen's masterpiece is the Kana Shobogenzo, lit. "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye", the collection of sermons on the Buddhadharma in 95 fascicles on topics ranging from conventual practices to the philosophy of language, existence, & period. He emphasized a absolute primacy of zazen, or seated meditation, & a inseparability of practice & enlightenment.

When it was customary for Buddhist works to exist as written around Chinese, Dogen typically wrote around Japanese, conveying the essence of his Zen thought around a style that was at when concise, compelling, & inspiring. An expert stylist, Dogen is noted non sole for his prose, however as well for his poetry (inside Japanese waka style and various Chinese styles). Dogen's utilise of language is improper by any measure. When Dogen scholar Steven Heine remarks: "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." (Heine, 1997, p. 67)

His virtually all notable successor was Keizan (1268 - 1325); together Dogen and Keizan come repute a founders of the Soto school.

A ensuing quote from either a Dogen's Genjokoan (lit. "Manifesting Suchness") fascicle is illustrative of his philosophy of practice: