Buddhist Process Explorations: Dogen and Whitehead

A Six-Session Conversation on Zen and Process Philosophy

Today, many spiritual seekers are drawn to the writings of the thirteenth-century Zen master Dōgen. Rooted in the Sōtō Zen tradition, Dōgen’s reflections on time, awakening, body and mind, compassion, nature, and everyday practice inspire readers across religious and philosophical traditions. They are especially drawn to his emphasis on zazen, or Zen meditation, as an anchor for awakening in everyday life and for living in the world with wisdom and compassion.

Many seekers are also drawn to the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. His philosophy offers a vision of lived experience as consisting of moments in which the many of the universe become one in the immediacy of experience itself; an understanding that all moments are “present in” others even as they remain discrete; and a portrayal of the universe as a vast network of interdependent becomings, each possessing value and worthy of respect and care. These seekers sense that there is something “Buddhist” about Whitehead’s thought and perhaps also something “Whiteheadian” about Dōgen’s Zen.

This series brings these two visions into conversation. Using The Essential Dōgen(opens in new tab), edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt, each of the six online sessions will feature a selected passage from the book, a Whiteheadian commentary by Jay McDaniel, a response from Sōtō Zen priest Shōryū Bradley, and open discussion among all participants.