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In this podcast, Buddhist chaplain, Zen practitioner and artist, John Danvers, explores the wisdom and meditation methods of Zen, Buddhism and other sceptical philosophers, writers and poets - seeking ways of dealing with the many problems and questions that arise in our daily lives. The talks are often short, and include poems, stories and music. John has practiced Zen meditation (zazen) for over sixty years.
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Send us a text The brevity of life and the nature of time are topics that humans have puzzled over for at least two thousand years – and probably for as long as our species has walked the earth. In this episode I want to offer a few thoughts on these matters and on the mysterious phenomenon we refer to as ‘the present moment.’ What I have to say is rooted in my experience of zazen, Zen meditation, and in my study of Buddhist thought and other philosophical traditions. The practice of zazen is...
Send us a text In this extended episode I suggest a few avenues of exploration concerning the arts as agencies of dialogue and how the arts can offer a model for how inter-religious dialogue might be developed and maintained. I offer some examples of the ways in which artworks and approaches to artmaking and appreciation can be considered as modes of conversation and as vehicles for sharing religious insights and experiences. I also introduce Edmund Burke’s ideas about the ‘sublime’ and sugge...
Send us a text In this extended episode, I talk about the ideas and insights of two thinkers, David Hume who lived in the eighteenth century, and Isaiah Berlin, who died in 1997. They both offer us interesting thoughts about human nature, what we mean by ‘the self’ and how to enshrine multiple personal freedoms and rights within a vibrant society. Both writers argue for tolerance and benign scepticism. I also suggest some connections between their ideas and those of Gotama Buddha.
Send us a text In this episode I explore some of the issues surrounding educational methods and processes in contemporary Buddhism and suggest changes in perspective and practice that can lead to a more empowering experience for students (and teachers). It seems to me that in the development of secular approaches to Buddhist practice there is much to be learnt from the creative, transformative and egalitarian modes of learning employed within the education of artists. My comments about art ed...
Send us a text In this episode I talk about the American poet, essayist and translator, Kenneth Rexroth. Like Gary Snyder, who I will speak about in a future episode, Rexroth explores the natural world – both literally, as a hiker through the American landscape, and in his poetry and other writings. Rexroth belongs to the generation immediately prior to Snyder though they did know each other well in the 1950s. I will touch on various strands of his work and point out a few parallels with Budd...
Send us a text In this episode, somewhat longer than usual, I explore some of the relationships between mindful meditation and creativity – what we might call ‘creative awareness.’ I begin by examining what we mean by creativity and go on to suggest that there is a close affinity between paying attention and the development of a creative engagement with the world. I argue that letting-go and unlearning, and the making of connections, are important aspects of both mindful meditation and creati...
Send us a text In this special episode I interview, Mike Slott, about his new book titled, Mindful Solidarity: A Secular Buddhist Democratic Socialist Dialogue. Mike is the founder of the Secular Buddhist Network – an organisation that has done a lot of work advocating for a secular approach to Buddhist ideas and practices, and in helping to link together secular Buddhist individuals and groups from around the world. In his book Mike argues for a dialogue between secular Buddhists and ...
Send us a text In this extended episode I explore some of the main ideas and beliefs of Daoism (also known as Taoism) - highlighting aspects of Daoist philosophy that have a particular connection to the development of Zen. I also describe the way in which Daoism is complemented by Confucian ideas in the history of Chinese culture. It seems to me that there are many things we can learn from the ways in which Daoists think about change, uncertainty, the natural world and finding harmony within ...
Send us a text In this extended episode I share some thoughts on a strand of philosophy known as ‘pragmatism’ as realized in the work of one of its key exponents, John Dewey – who was born in 1859 and died in 1952 at the ripe old age of ninety-three. Here and there I will point out parallels between Dewey’s ideas and the ideas and practices of other Buddhist and non-Buddhist thinkers I have mentioned in earlier talks. Over Dewey’s long life he had a profound influence on American philosophy a...
Send us a text In this episode I share some more thoughts on global warming, climate action and eco-grief. This is a revised and extended version of Episode 3. I argue that we need to face up to the global challenge we face, however difficult this may be, and to do what we can, individually and collectively, to address issues raised by climate change and its causes. I also suggest some actions we can take to combat, or at least lessen, the increase in global warming and to transform potential...
Send us a text In Episode 21 I talked about existentialism and mentioned that while Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and other existentialist thinkers were agnostics or atheists, there were a number of influential Christian philosophers who developed forms of existential thinking. The earliest of these was the Danish theologian, Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), who lived in Copenhagen for most of his life. In this episode I share a few thoughts about Kierkegaard's ideas and life. Please kee...
Send us a text In this extended episode, I am going to talk about the notion of tathata, or ‘suchness,’ and relate this to the Zen practice of ‘bare attention.’ I will also say something about what is known as kensho in Japanese Zen – often translated as, ‘seeing into the nature of things.’ I will end by tracing a connection between these practices and the concept of Gelassenheit as used by the German philosopher, Martin Heidegger. I hope to show how this bundle of ideas and practices can hav...
Send us a text In this episode, I return to the question discussed in Episode 22, that is, what kind of ethical values may be necessary to the development of a just and peaceful society – describing in more detail what I have called ‘mindful ethics.’ In a sense what I say here is repeating what I had to say in Episode 7, though with some significant changes. In particular, I provide a slightly different way of articulating, and thinking about, the ‘Eightfold Path’ – one of the key features of...
Send us a text In this extended episode, I explore some of the ideas and values that inform and animate the work of the sixteenth-century French thinker, Michel de Montaigne, and the twentieth-century writer and playwright, Samuel Beckett. I suggest that in the work of both of these figures we find echoes of the ideas and values of earlier sceptics – particularly Pyrrho of Elis and Sextus Empiricus. If you haven’t already done so, it may be as well to listen to Episode 17 of this podcast befo...
Send us a text In this episode I talk about my many years of Zen meditation practice and relate my experience to the development of a sceptical, secular Zen that is rooted in contemporary western culture – with an emphasis on empirical investigation, naturalism rather than supernaturalism, and minimal ritual. I relate this development to the twin functions of teaching and learning - that is, transmission and transformation – as first suggested by the Brazilian philosopher of education, Paolo ...
Send us a text In this episode I talk about the relationship between body, mind and world from the perspective of someone who has been practicing zazen, a form of mindful meditation, since 1965. Zazen is a very simple practice but not always easy. It consists of sitting quietly, paying attention to whatever arises in my embodied mind and in the world immediately around me – without comment or judgment - expanding awareness outwards from my breath to encompass all that happens while I’m sittin...
Send us a text In this episode I suggest that the current neo-liberal forms of capitalism are unsustainable insofar as they are damaging to our planet and its life-supporting atmosphere, and as they generate, in the human realm, divisive and deeply inequitable social structures. I argue that we need to develop more beneficial modes of living, working and doing business, grounded in what I think of as mindful ethics – an ethics of compassion, clear-sightedness and sustainability.
Send us a text We each have to find, or maybe construct, a dharma road upon which we can walk in peace with care and attention – cultivating wellbeing and living a good life. The many forms of Buddhism offer possible dharma roads but there are also other routes that may be just as beneficial. The diversity of world religions and philosophies are testament to the variety of paths that have been, and are being, taken by dharma travellers. In this episode I am going to explore some of the ideas ...
Send us a text In this episode I share some thoughts about impermanence, clinging and the value of non-attachment. I also reflect on what it means to be here – the miraculous nature of being alive and conscious. I go on to say something about interdependence and the ways in which mindful meditation can help us to appreciate our daily lives and to learn how to let go rather than to hang on.
Send us a text In this episode I trace some parallels between Buddhist and ecological views of the world. We live in a universe of interwoven and interactive processes and energies – a universe in which things are actually events, with no fixed essences or identities. Everything is in flux, merging and mingling in changing patterns of dynamic kinship. We are relational beings in a relational universe. It is these characteristics of connectedness, intercommunication and change that form the fo...
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