Sokushin zebutsu (Japanese: 即心是佛), rendered in English as Mind is Itself Buddha, is a book of the Shōbōgenzō by the 13th century Sōtō Zen monk Eihei Dōgen.
[2] The title Sokushin zebutsu is an utterance attributed to the 8th century Song Dynasty Zen monk Mazu Daoyi in a well known kōan that appears most notably as Case 30 in The Gateless Barrier, although Dōgen would have known it from the earlier Transmission of the Lamp.
In addition to this book of the Shōbōgenzō, Dōgen also discusses the phrase Sokushin zebutsu in several of his formal Dharma Hall Discourses, namely numbers 8, 75, 319, and 370, all of which are recorded in the Eihei Kōroku.
[3] Dōgen's book Sokushin zebutsu lays out his understanding of this phrase, rendered in English as mind is itself Buddha.
He quickly notes that he views as incorrect the interpretation that the "ordinary thoughts and awareness of sentient beings" are already Buddha.