Dōgen’s 道元 main work, the Shōbōgenzō 正法眼蔵, contains many descriptions of the mind. Previous research on the mind as discussed by Dōgen has argued for a distinction between a delusional mind 妄心 and a true mind 真心. However, the word ‘delusion’ does not appear in Dōgen’s writings, and the word ‘true’ does not appear in any appropriate context. Therefore, this paper rejects the distinction made in previous studies between true and delusional mind. Furthermore, based on the definition of ‘true’ in previous research, we confirm that ‘true bringing forth of the mind of Bodhi’ 真発心 is what previous research refers to as ‘true’. We suggest that the mind of thinking 慮知心, which in previous research was considered delusional, is the true mind, and the distinction between this and the mind of discrimination 分別心, which previous research calls delusional, is not clear-cut.
We argue that the mind of thinking is basically denied with a negative modifier and that Dōgen considered the mind to be true, that is, true bringing forth of the mind of bodhi. It is not clear whether the mind of discrimination is a true mind or not. This further emphasizes that the definition of the mind that Dōgen uses positively is a bringing forth of the mind of Bodhi.
