Over at the wonderful blog No Zen in the West, Zen priest David Rutschman has been reflecting on the nature of text and translation as it relates particularly to the writings of the great Zen master Eihei Dogen.
David has been doing some serious commuting, not only lots of time in transit, but also in delving into the writings of the old master.
As he says, “It’s taken me quite a bit longer than I hoped to find the time to sit and write up the next installment of the thoughts that are continuing to swirl around for me as I read Dogen on my commute.
“One of the threads I find myself returning to is the question of translation and how translation operates from language to language, culture to culture, generation to generation, and this meandering mind-detour takes me straight to Walter Benjamin, about whom I know very little, actually, expect for his 1923 essay, “The Task of the Translator,” about exactly this issue.”
I recommend, highly, reading the whole thing…
And, for visiting here, and at no extra cost, a brief excursion to the site where Dogen has his great awakening…
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