OK, this is new to me. Thank you for shedding some light, Anders. I have some more questions about Dokun, though, so can we split this thread off (maybe starting from Richard's comment a while back)?
First, I was never aware until now that Dokun can have two meanings. If I understand Anders correctly, it can mean either the single passage entitled "Dokun" or the collected set of recitations minus the Raihaishi. If that is the case, is there any easy way to distinguish which meaning is intended? It seems very problematic.
As for the Dokun (single item) being part of chinkon for all shibu, I am VERY surprised. As Anders says, it is not in English Tokuhon. If that is an accident, it is a very serious one; if it is not an accident, what are we to conclude? Is it an accident that it appears in the Japanese edition? Alarm bells are ringing here.
Furthermore there is the issue of religion. Raihaishi is clearly religious since it's very name means "words of worship." But how the heck can the Dokun (single item) not also be called religious?!! It's first words are, "The Way is/was born of Heaven"!
Somebody make sense of this for me. I am much perturbed.
Colin May
Bellevue (next to Seattle), U.S.A.
Shorinji Kempo Seattle Branch