About this episode
David Robert Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He is a prolific author, whose essays and books have been translated into many languages. His articles appear regularly in the pages of major journals and Buddhist magazines. He is on the editorial or advisory boards of the journals Cultural Dynamics, Worldviews, Contemporary Buddhism, Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, and World Fellowship of Buddhists Review. He is also on the advisory boards of Buddhist Global Relief, the Clear View Project, Zen Peacemakers, and the Ernest Becker Foundation.” For more details about his teachings, visit his website or his YouTube channel. He also has an extensive audio/video library on his website. Books: A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern World The World Is Made of Stories Lack and Transcendence: The Problem of Death and Life in Psychotherapy, Existentialism, and Buddhism Money, Sex, War, Karma: Notes for a Buddhist Revolution Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy The Great Awakening: A Buddhist Social Theory Awareness Bound and Unbound: Buddhist Essays A Buddhist History of the West (Suny Series in Religious Studies) A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency Transcript of this interview Previous Batgap discussion involving David. YouTube Video Chapters: 00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump 00:03:58 - A Spiritual Journey from Zen Monasteries to the US 00:07:55 - Integration and Embodiment in Spiritual Practice 00:11:22 - The Buddhist Concept of Not-Self and Indra's Net 00:15:03 - Evolution and Understanding God from a Buddhist Perspective 00:19:00 - The Deeper Meaning of Myth and the Cosmos as an Organism 00:22:59 - The Cosmos as a Self-Organizing Organism 00:26:51 - The Mystery of the Universe 00:30:29 - The Devaluation of the Material World 00:34:35 - The Tension Between Cosmological Dualism and Non-dualism 00:38:16 - Letting go and Opening up 00:42:05 - The stages of awakening and glimpses 00:45:51 - Glimpsing the Tree in the Fog 00:49:37 - The Feedback Loop of Karma 00:53:23 - Structural and Institutional Forces 00:57:16 - The Environmental Crisis and Self-Destruction 01:01:11 - Integration of Spiritual Practice with Engagement in the World 01:04:46 - Tapping into Intelligence and Creativity 01:08:28 - A Turning Point in Human History 01:12:05 - Galvanizing the Buddhist Community 01:15:47 - The Three Poisons and Institutionalized Greed 01:19:35 - The Need for Wars and Bombing 01:23:44 - A Turning, an Awakening, a Shift 01:27:26 - The Thinning Membrane and the Connection Between Activism and Spirituality 01:31:20 - The Tension Between Cosmological Dualism and Non-Dualism in Buddhism and the Need for Clarification 01:35:07 - Transcendence and Motivational Shifts 01:38:59 - Experiencing the World as a Manifestation 01:42:53 - Relating to the Biosphere 01:46:21 - The Spiritual Crisis and Its Solutions 01:49:57 - Radical Transformation in Buddhism 01:53:41 - Website and YouTube Notifications Save