web01.fireside.fm Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:20:27 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Weird Studies - Episodes Tagged with “Zen Buddhism” https://www.weirdstudies.com/tags/zen%20buddhism Wed, 30 May 2018 10:00:00 -0400 Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel host a series of conversations on art and philosophy, dwelling on ideas that are hard to think and art that opens up rifts in what we are pleased to call "reality." en-us episodic Art and philosophy at the limits of the thinkable Phil Ford and J. F. Martel Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel host a series of conversations on art and philosophy, dwelling on ideas that are hard to think and art that opens up rifts in what we are pleased to call "reality." yes weird, art, philosophy Phil Ford and J. F. Martel admin@weirdstudies.com Episode 16: On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan' https://www.weirdstudies.com/16 e3234773-0f70-46c5-ace1-01b34c3c084b Wed, 30 May 2018 10:00:00 -0400 Phil Ford and J. F. Martel 16 On Dogen Zenji's 'Genjokoan' full Phil Ford and J. F. Martel Phil and JF discuss a classic work of Zen metaphysics. 1:11:27 yes JF and Phil tackle Genjokoan, a profound and puzzling work of philosophy by Dogen Zenji. In it, the 13th-century Zen master ponders the question, "If everything is already enlightened, why practice Zen?" As a lapsed Zen practitioner ("a shit buddhist") with many hours of meditation under his belt, Phil draws on personal experience to dig into Dogen's strange and startling answers, while JF speaks from his perspective as a "decadent hedonist." "When one side is illumined," says Dogen, "the other is dark." For proof of this utterance, you could do worse than listen to this episode of Weird Studies. REFERENCES Dogen Zenji, [Genjokoan](http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/DogenTeachings/GenjoKoan8.htm)_ Shohaku Okumura (http://www.sanshinji.org/) and the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana Peter Sloterdijk, [You Must Change Your Life](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouMustChangeYourLife) Weird Studies, Episode 8 (http://www.weirdstudies.com/8): "On Graham Harman's 'The Third Table'" Gilles Deleuze, [Cinema 1: The Movement Image](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema1:TheMovementImage) Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, [In Praise of Shadows](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InPraiseofShadows)_ Thomas Aquinas, [Summa Theologica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SummaTheologica)_ Henri Bergson, [Matter and Memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MatterandMemory) Søren Kierkegaard, [Fear and Trembling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FearandTrembling) Joris-Karl Huysmans, À Rebours (Against Nature) (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/35341/against-nature/) Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (https://www.shambhala.com/cutting-through-spiritual-materialism-458.html) JF and Phil tackle Genjokoan, a profound and puzzling work of philosophy by Dogen Zenji. In it, the 13th-century Zen master ponders the question, "If everything is already enlightened, why practice Zen?" As a lapsed Zen practitioner ("a shit buddhist") with many hours of meditation under his belt, Phil draws on personal experience to dig into Dogen's strange and startling answers, while JF speaks from his perspective as a "decadent hedonist." "When one side is illumined," says Dogen, "the other is dark." For proof of this utterance, you could do worse than listen to this episode of Weird Studies.

REFERENCES

Dogen Zenji, Genjokoan
Shohaku Okumura and the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana
Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life
Weird Studies, Episode 8: "On Graham Harman's 'The Third Table'"
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement Image
Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory
Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling
Joris-Karl Huysmans, À Rebours (Against Nature)
Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

]]> JF and Phil tackle Genjokoan, a profound and puzzling work of philosophy by Dogen Zenji. In it, the 13th-century Zen master ponders the question, "If everything is already enlightened, why practice Zen?" As a lapsed Zen practitioner ("a shit buddhist") with many hours of meditation under his belt, Phil draws on personal experience to dig into Dogen's strange and startling answers, while JF speaks from his perspective as a "decadent hedonist." "When one side is illumined," says Dogen, "the other is dark." For proof of this utterance, you could do worse than listen to this episode of Weird Studies.

REFERENCES

Dogen Zenji, Genjokoan
Shohaku Okumura and the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana
Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life
Weird Studies, Episode 8: "On Graham Harman's 'The Third Table'"
Gilles Deleuze, Cinema 1: The Movement Image
Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, In Praise of Shadows
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Henri Bergson, Matter and Memory
Søren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling
Joris-Karl Huysmans, À Rebours (Against Nature)
Chogyam Trungpa, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism

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