IV, 1
“
Yet you must not cling to the words of the old sages either; they, too, may not be right. Even if you believe them, you should be alert so that, in the event that something superior comes along, you may follow that.
— Dōgen
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Yet you must not cling to the words of the old sages either; they, too, may not be right. Even if you believe them, you should be alert so that, in the event that something superior comes along, you may follow that." in the context of "IV, 1" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Dōgen" (Quotes, Shobogenzo Zuimonki (1238): Shobogenzo Zuimonki [Things Overheard at the Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma], a collection of Dōgen's teachings compiled by Ejō between 1236 and 1238, as translated by Reiho Masunaga. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press; New Ed edition, June 1975))
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Dōgen
Dōgen (道元; also Dōgen Kigen 道元希玄, Eihei Dōgen 永平道元, titled as Dōgen Zenji Zen Master Dōgen 道元禅師) (19 January 1200 – 22 September 1253) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher born in Kyōto, and the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.
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