In this series of 10 talks, an introduction to Zen Buddhism, with a particular emphasis on the Soto tradition, ideas and practices firmly located within the historical development of Buddhism in India, China and Japan, including the revision and revitalisation of Buddhist ideas and practices by interaction with Daoist teachers and practitioners

1. Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, the legends that surround his life. ‘Dharma,’ the insights of aniccā – impermanence; anattā – the absence of an independent self; and pratītyasamutpāda – ‘dependent origination’

2. How impermanence, the absence of an independent self, dependent-origination and causality informed the Buddha’s understanding of human suffering and how to deal with it. Introducing Theravada and Mahayana. The concepts of karma (causality), dukkha (suffering), karuna (compassion), metta (true friendliness) and ahimsa (non-violence)

3. How these concepts inform the ethical and social teachings of the Buddha

4. Śūnyatā (emptiness) and tathatā (suchness) in relation to Buddhism and Zen, how Zen teachers and poets have used these terms

5. The Daoist worldview and its connections to Zen

6. How Buddhist ideas migrated and converged with those of Daozism. ‘Satori,’ or awakening; Zen Buddhist views of the mind; the ideas of Huineng, the sixth Zen patriarch

7. Hongzhi, Eihei Dogen and Keizan Jokin's contributions to Soto Zen

8. Zen practice and the art of poetry

9. Practical guidance on how to practice zazen rooted in Dogen’s short essay on zazen, the Fukanzazengi

10. Zen teachers, their writings and ideas, a variety of perspectives on the practice of zazen, and on the Zen view of the self and of mind

John Danvers