Jan Reed

In our weekly meditation group we recite Dōgen’s, Rules for Meditation. In this there is a phrase which I have thought about and reflected on quite intently. The phrase is the one where reciters are exhorted to “cease from erudition”. This has puzzled and confused me; it is contrary to much of my life, including my working life. I looked at dictionary definitions of erudition, and found that it often meant ‘knowledge developed through scholarly study’. Erudition would therefore involve some study, and this might follow the conventions of academic inquiry.

Issue: only available as part of Journal, Autumn 2014 pdf to download

Published as part of the Journal of the OBC. Please ask permission to reprint. OBC Copyright Policy