Reddit mentions of Dogen on Meditation And Thinking: A Reflection on His View of Zen

I've read much of it, but I didn't "get it" until research led me to understand that Dogen's view of Zen is radically different than Chinese Chan Buddhists, e.g. Bodhidharma [1]. That understanding did help, but I'm still confused by Dogen's philosophy of practice-enlightenment (I don't find it as straighforward as Bodhidharma, for example), so I'm still researching occasionally as time permits. But honestly, I think Dogen just confuses things for me, and may be unneccessary.

[1] There are myriad Zen scholars that detail the idea that Dogen is different. Here are some starting points for anyone interested.

http://www.georgewrisley.com/The%20Buddha%20Still%20Rides%20a%20Bike-Wrisley.pdf

http://www.amazon.com/Dogen-Meditation-Thinking-Reflection-View/dp/0791469263

http://www.amazon.com/Dogen-Textual-Historical-Steven-Heine/dp/0199754470


Before you get mad at me for presenting a slanted view (i.e. that Dogen is a different brand of Zen), these authors are well respected and pro-Dogen.

Who Rules the World? – Noam Chomsky

Siddhartha– Herman Hesse

The Way of Zen– Alan Watts

Dropping Ashes on the Buddha

The Platform Sutra of Huineng

Dogen on Meditation and Thinking

Essays in Zen Buddhism by DT Suzuki

Lyrical and Critical Essays- Albert Camus

The Myth of Sisyphus- Albert Camus

The Metamorphosis- Franz Kafka

The Stranger- Albert Camus

The Rebel- Albert Camus

Man's Search for Meaning- Viktor Frankl

On The Advantages and Disadvantages of History for Life- Nietzsche

Frankenstein– Mary Shelley (Surprising, but highly existential)

Nausea– Jean-Paul Sartre

The Awakening- Kate Chopin

Candide- Voltaire

The Gateless Gate (Mumonkan)

Couldn't get all the PDF's at the moment, but just google the name of the book and then "PDF" for a potential online copy. Highly recommend all of these– Frankenstein and The Myth of Sisyphus are must in general. Alan Watts is great for synthesizing Zen thought as well.