Let us think for a while of a farmhouse in the Black Forest, which was built some two hundred years ago by the dwelling of peasants. Here the self-sufficiency of the power to let earth and heaven, divinities and mortals enter in simple oneness into things, ordered the house. - Martin Heidegger, "Building Dwelling Thinking" (1951) Schleiermacher's On Religion provided me a Continue Reading …
B.S. about Jesus and Buddhism
Could Jesus have been taken to India as a child and taught Buddhism? Hmmm? Hmmm? Here's something that apparently showed on the BBC at some point: Watch on youtube. OK, some silly speculation here (and more amusingly told in Christoper Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal),but a few points of comparison are made here between the teachings Continue Reading …
Glimpses of Zen: No Self vs. Big Self
As mentioned on the podcast, our original intention was to cover Zen, but that seemed difficult without covering some of the history. Nagarjuna was a big influence on Zen, particularly in the "Reasoning" reading where he urges disassociation from even Buddhist doctrine itself, i.e. the transcendence of all views. That's the kind of mind-bending apparent self-contradiction that Continue Reading …
Episode 12: Chuang Tzu’s Taoism: What Is Wisdom?
Discussing the "Chuang Tzu," (now transliterated as Zhuangzi) Chapters 2, 3, 6, 18, and 19. It's the second-most-famous Taoist text and the most humorous, with anecdotes about people singing at funerals and jumping out of moving coaches while drunk. What could it possibly mean to "make all things equal?" and how is the Taoist sage different from our other favorite paragons Continue Reading …
Episode 12: Chuang Tzu’s Taoism: What Is Wisdom?
Discussing the "Chuang Tzu," (now transliterated as Zhuangzi) Chapters 2, 3, 6, 18, and 19. It's the second-most-famous Taoist text and the most humorous, with anecdotes about people singing at funerals and jumping out of moving coaches while drunk. What could it possibly mean to "make all things equal?" and how is the Taoist sage different from our other favorite paragons Continue Reading …