Ep 54: Michael Downing on Zen in America, Shunryu Suzuki, and S.F. Zen Center

The Classical Ideas Podcast

EpisodeApr 20, 201859m

Ep 54: Michael Downing on Zen in America, Shunryu Suzuki, and S.F. Zen Center

The Classical Ideas Podcast

EpisodeApr 20, 201859m

Michael Downing teaches creative writing at Tufts University. This conversation features a deep dive into Michael's nonfiction book "Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center, hailed by the New York Review of Books as a 'dramatic and insightful' narrative history of the first Buddhist monastery outside of Asia, and by the Los Angeles Times as 'a highly readable book, important for the healing it invites in giving voice to the thoughts and feelings of Zen Center members who have remained silent until now.'" Visit: www.michaeldowningbooks.com for more information.

Top comments

Simply stated, religion matters. Religion matters not only for personal reasons, but also for social, economic, political, and military purposes. Unfortunately, studies suggest that religious knowledge and cultural literacy for any religious tradition is either in decline or is non-existent in the United States, despite being one of the most religiously diverse nation on earth. Today, religion is implicated in nearly every major national and international issue. The public arena is awash in religious explanations and arguments for nearly every issue. The goal of The Classical Ideas Podcast is to empower students with the core knowledge of major world religions...

classicalideaspodcast.libsyn.com/website

Switch to the Fountain App

Open in Fountain