A long time ago in a galaxy far away… Zen master Gudō and his students from the village had just finished their weekly zazenkai and were enjoying some tea and biscuits. A student asked the master: “Master, I have a problem. I want to help sentient beings by working to improve society. But my mind […]
Read More Case #69: Gudō’s TeapotSeveral years ago I wrote a post about the expected scope of this research project. I wanted to clarify what kind of operation I was performing in studying the intersection of Buddhism and anarchism. In that post, out of a healthy abundance of skepticism, I concluded that a reasonable outcome would be to find an […]
Read More Nondominational Buddhism“The bodhisattva practices emptiness, but he does not realize emptiness…He considers peacefulness but does not seek extreme peace.” – Vimalakirti Sutra By way of (re)introduction Hello, my patient readers. Believe it or not, the work continues behind the scenes. It took me some time to come back around, but I am back on this project […]
Read More White lotus, red turbans, black flags: revolutionary buddhist hereticsThough this blog has been relatively inactive for the past few years, I still try to keep tabs on the subject while surviving and working on a book draft. Recently, the fantastic Insight Myanmar podcast, who I have had some dialogue with in the past, participated in a panel discussion in Chiang-Mai on the intersections […]
Read More Insight Myanmar podcast: “Zenarchism”Hein Htet Kyaw has been doing some much needed research and translation into contemporary Buddhist Anarchism in Myanmar. Ven. Nyar Na is an inspiring figure. The privileges many Western Buddhists take for granted (free-thought, atheism, scientific materialism, anti-clericalism, anti-authoritarianism, etc), the Ven. Nyar Na has been harshly persecuted by the Sangha for advocating. I would […]
Read More Venerable Nyar Na: The Monk in Sky Blue Robe & His Censored Buddhist Anarchism in BurmaOriginally posted on The inner Moon:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JMOIsnv7g4GZ4dHjAlKUX?si=63db22339ffa40c7 Here is the fourth episode of my Empty Notes podcast, which always seems to be changing its central purpose. In this case, I decided to go on a bit of a rant about the philosophical perspective I’ve been slowly distilling, a kind of ‘Three Teachings’ syncretism for a…
These quotations come from the article Buddhism and Marxism in Taiwan: Lin Qiuwu’s Religious Socialism and Its Legacy in Modern Times By Charles B. Jones, published in the Journal of Global Buddhism 1 (2000): 82-111. Lin Qiuwu’s ideas on the synthesis of revolutionary socialist and Buddhist ideology display a clear coherence which goes beyond mere […]
Read More Quotations fromm Lin QiuwuI found this video to be an excellent introduction to modern capitalism commodification of Buddhism. It doesn’t shy away from (and in fact encourages) a deep dive into the history and philosophy without shying away from any of the unpleasant aspects. As this critique of Buddhist capitalism becomes more accepted, we need to begin thinking […]
Read More McMindfulness: When Capitalism Goes BuddhistA friend of mine who teaches foreign language reminded me today of a curious problem in English. We don’t often take the time to understand what our compound words and prefixes do to the meaning of a term. For example, anarcho-communism is often used synonymously with anarchism, libertarian socialism and so on. However, the order […]
Read More Anarcho-Buddhism or Buddhist Anarchism?An Interview with Author & Activist William C. Anderson I recently picked up a copy of William C. Anderson’s new book, The Nation on No Map, an excellent and timely discussion on the history, theory, and practice of Black anarchism. I was a fan of his prior work with Zoe Samudzi in the essay The […]
Read More Zen and the Anarchism of Blackness
No Selves, No Masters 