William Marvin Bodiford (born December 3, 1955^[1]) is an American professor and author. He teachesBuddhist Studies and religion in the cultures of Japan and East Asia at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles.^[2]

In his section "Acknowledgments" in his bookSōtō Zen in Medieval Japan, Bodiford thanks the monks of theEihei-ji temple in Japan who "kindly broke the rules" to teach him, before his university education began, aboutSōtō Zen andJapanese beer.^[3]

Bodiford earned his PhD in Buddhist Studies atYale University and did additional graduate training at theUniversity of Tsukuba andKomazawa University.^[4]

Before moving toUCLA, he taught atDavidson College, theUniversity of Iowa, andMeiji Gakuin University in Tokyo andYokohama, Japan.^[4]

Bodiford's bookSōtō Zen in Medieval Japan (1993 and 2008) began as hisdissertation written at Yale (1989) under Stanley Weinstein.^[3]Fabio Rambelli, who reviewed the book in 1994 forThe Journal of Asian Studies, writes that the author delivers an alternative to the "traditional dichotomy between 'pure' Zen and 'popular' religion".^[5] Christopher Ives writes in theJournal of Japanese Studies that the book is the "most important English work on Sōtō Zen to date".^[6]

He presented his paper on the birth of Ise Shinto at the 2008 annual meeting of theAssociation for Asian Studies (AAS) in a session organized by Rambelli.^[7] In 2009, Bodiford participated with Shoji Yamada ofInternational Research Center for Japanese Studies in Japan and William R. Lafleur of theUniversity of Pennsylvania in a panel at the AAS annual meeting.^[8]In 2011, he sat on a panel^[9] withSteven Heine,Taigen Dan Leighton,Shohaku Okumura and others for a conference on DogenZenji organized by Heine's school,Florida International University.^[10] In May 2023, he gave a lecture on "Buddhist and Samurai Views of the Japanese 'Watery Moon' Motif" at UC Santa Barbara.^[11][12]

Bodiford researches Japanesehistory from medieval times to the present.^[4] He has published works on theTendai andVinaya Buddhist traditions, onShinto, and other subjects. He is an associate editor ofMacmillan Reference USA'sEncyclopedia of Buddhism.

• Bodiford, William M. (2008) [1993].Sōtō Zen in Medieval Japan. University of Hawaii Press.ISBN 978-0824833039.
• Bodiford, William M. (2005).Going Forth: Visions of Buddhist Vinaya. University of Hawaii Press.ISBN 0824827872.
• Bodiford, William M., ed. (2005)The UCLA Guide to East Asian Buddhist Studies: Reference Works.
• Buswell, Robert E. Jr., ed. (2003).Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Bodiford, William (associate editor). Macmillan.ISBN 0028657187.

• Bodiford, William M. 2023. “La relecture des écritures bouddhiques en Chine et chez Dōgen” (“The Re-reading of Buddhist Scriptures in China and in Dōgen,” translated by Frédéric Girard), in L’identité du japonais face aux traductions: les cas du bouddhisme, de la philosophie et dukanbun (special issue).Des mots aux actes 12: 163–192.
• Bodiford, William M. 2020. "Shamon Dōgen at Ninety".Annual Report of the Zen Institute, n.32 (2020.12), pp. 59–86.
• Bodiford, William M. 2019. "Rewriting Dōgen".International Zen Studies, pp. 219–302.doi:10.34428/00012065
• Bodiford, William M. 2018. "Lives and Afterlives ofBushidō: A Perspective from Overseas".Asian Studies 6(2): University of Ljubljana, pp. 33–50.doi:10.4312/as.2018.6.2.33-50
• Bodiford, William M. 2018. “Anraku Ritsu: Genealogies of the Tendai Vinaya Revival in Early Modern Japan.” The Eastern Buddhist 49, 1 & 2. pp. 181–210.JSTOR 48711043
• Bodiford, William M. 2015. "Keizan’sDenkōroku: A Textual and Contextual Overview." In Steven Heine ed.,Dōgen and Sōtō Zen. Oxford University Press, pp. 167–187.
• Bodiford, William M. 2012. "Remembering Dōgen: Eiheiji and Dōgen Hagiography". In Steven Heine ed.,Dōgen: Textual and Historical Studies. Oxford University Press, pp. 207–222.
• Bodiford, William M. 2011. "The Rhetoric of Chinese Language in Japanese Zen." In Christoph Anderl ed.,Zen Buddhist Rhetoric in China, Korea, and Japan, pp. 285–314. Brill.
• Bodiford, William M. 2010. "Zen and Esoteric Buddhism." In Orzech, Charles D. (ed).Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in Eastern Asia. Brill, pp. 924–935.
• Bodiford, William M. 2010. “The Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan – The Insider's View.” InBuddhist Monasticism in East Asia, edited by James A. Benn, Lori Meeks, and James Robson, 125–147, New York: Routledge.^[13]
• Bodiford, William M. 2008. "Dharma Transmission in Theory and Practice." In Steven Heine, Dale S. Wright ed.,Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice. Oxford University Press, pp. 261–331.
• Bodiford, William M. 2006. "When Secrecy Ends: The Tokugawa Reformation of Tendai Buddhism.” In Bernhard Scheid, Mark Teeuwen ed.,The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion, Routledge, pp. 309–330.
• Bodiford, William M. 2006. "Koan Practice" In John D. Loori ed.,Sitting with Koans: Essential Writings on Zen Koan Introspection, Wisdom Publications, pp. 77–96.
• Bodiford, William M. 2006.“Remembering Dōgen: Eiheiji and Dōgen Hagiography."The Journal of Japanese Studies, Volume 32, Number 1, pp. 1-21.
• Bodiford, William M. 2006. "Matara: A Dream King Between Insight and Imagination."Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, Vol. 16, pp. 233–262.JSTOR 44171457
• Bodiford, William M. 2005. "Zen and Japanese Swordsmanship Reconsidered." In Alexander Bennett ed.,Budo Perspectives. Auckland: Kendo World Publications, pp. 69–103.
• Bodiford, William M. 2005. "Bodhidharma's Precepts in Japan." In:Going Forth: Visions of Buddhist Vinaya. (Studies in East Asian Buddhism 18), University of Hawaii Press, pp. 185–209.
• Bodiford, William M. 2005. "A Chronology of Religion in Japan." In:Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions, pp. 395–432.
• Bodiford, William M. 2005. "The Medieval Period – Eleventh to Sixteenth Centuries." In:Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions, pp. 163–183.
• Bodiford, William M. 2003. "Monastic Militias." In Robert E. Buswell ed.,Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. 2 pp. 560–561. New York: Macmillan Reference.
• Bodiford, William M. 2002. "Soke: Historical Transformations of a Title and its Entitlements." In Diane Skoss ed.,Keiko Shokon. Classical Warrior Traditions of Japan, vol. 3, pp.129–143. Also available onkoryu.com
• Bodiford, William M. 2002. "Zen Buddhism." In Theodore A. Barryet al, ed.,Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume One: From Earliest Times to 1600, pp. 306–335.
• Bodiford, William M. 2001. "Written Texts: Japan." In Thomas A. Green, ed.,Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia Volume One: A–Q. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Abc-Clio.
• Bodiford, William M. 2001. "Religion and Spiritual Development: Japan." In Thomas A. Green, ed.,Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia Volume One: A–Q. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Abc-Clio, pp. 472–505.
• Bodiford, William M. 2000. "Emptiness and Dust – Zen Dharma Transmission Rituals." In David Gordon White, ed.,Tantra in Practice. Princeton University Press, pp. 299–307.
• Bodiford, William M. 1996. "Zen and the Art of Religious Prejudice. Efforts to Reform a Tradition of Social Discrimination."Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 23 (1–2).
• Bodiford, William M. 1994. "Soto Zen in a Japanese Town – Field Notes on a Once-Every-Thirty-Three-Years Kannon Festival."Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1994 21/1: 3–36.
• Bodiford, William M. 1993. "The Enlightenment of Kami and Ghosts – Spirit Ordinations in Japanese Sōtō Zen."Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, pp. 267–282.
• Bodiford, William M. 1992. "Zen in the Art of Funerals: Ritual Salvation in Japanese Buddhism."History of Religions 32, no. 2: 146–164.
• Bodiford, William M. 1991. "Dharma Transmission in Sōtō Zen. Manzan Dōhaku's Reform Movement."Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 46, no. 4: 423–451.
• Bodiford, William M. "Zen." Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zen.

Translations

• Foulk T. Griffith, William M Bodiford, Carl Bielefeldt, and John R McRae. 2021.Record of the Transmission of Illumination Volume 2: A Glossary of Terms, Sayings, and Names Pertaining to Keizan's Denkōroku. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
• 瑩山 1268–1325 T. Griffith Foulk (ed), William M Bodiford (trans.), Sarah J Horton (trans.), Carl Bielefeldt (trans.), and John R McRae (trans.) 2021.Record of the Transmission of Illumination. Volume 1 an Annotated Translation of Zen Master Keizan's Denkōroku. Tokyo Honolulu: Sōtōshū Shūmuchō; University of Hawai'i Press.ISBN 9780824890001
• In Donald S. Lopez Jr. ed. 2004.Buddhist Scriptures :
• Kyōkai's “Karma Tales.” pp. 24–33
• Genshin's “Avoiding Hell, Gaining Heaven.” pp. 69–77
• “Taking the Vinaya Across the Sea.” pp. 306–317
• "Zen for National Defence." pp. 318–328
• "A Zen Master Interprets the Dharma:Bassui Tokushō (1327–1387)." pp. 531–539
• “Colloquial Transcriptions as Sources for Understanding Zen in Japan.", by Ishikawa Rikizan.The Eastern Buddhist, Vol. 34, No. 1, 2002.
• "Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma – Book 31 – Not Doing Evils (Shoaku Makusa)", Dōgen'sShōbōgenzō. Introduction and translation by William M. Bodiford.Dharma Eye: News of Sōtō Zen Buddhism – Teachings and Practice. pp. 21–26, December 2002.
• "Kokan Shiren's “Zen Precept Procedures.” In Religions of Japan in Practice (1999) Chapter 8.
• "Keizan's “Dream History." in: Religions of Japan in Practice (1999) Chapter 44.
• "Chidō's Dreams of Buddhism." In Donald S. Lopez Jr. ed.,Religions of Asia in practice: an anthology. Princeton University Press, pp. 649–659, 2002.
• Takuan Soho's “Marvelous Power of Immovable Wisdom." InSources of Japanese Tradition, Volume 2: 1600 to 2000. Columbia University Press, pp. 527–531.

The Sōtō Zen Text Project

• Introduction to the Shōbōgenzō.” In Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, vol. 8, edited by Carl Bielefeldt.

• William Bodiford, UCLA,Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies
• Bibliographies:
  • East Asian Buddhist Studies:A Reference Guide
  • Suggested Readings on Women and Buddhism
  • Neo-Confucianism and the Japanese Martial Arts
  • Chronology of Religion in Japan: Explanatory Notes, Caveats, and Acknowledgements

• Living people
• American philosophy academics
• American religion academics
• American Buddhist studies scholars
• Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
• University of Tsukuba alumni
• Komazawa University alumni
• Davidson College faculty
• University of Iowa faculty
• University of California, Los Angeles faculty
• American Japanologists
• 1955 births
• Academic staff of Meiji Gakuin University

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from April 2012