Join us on an Untrodden Path through the Unfamiliar and the Weirdly Wonderful
“Thinking through language means to build a path.”
- Martin Heidegger
A unique Masterclass from Daniel Zaruba
and Dr Johannes A. Niederhauser
A meeting place between East and West
A time-space for dialogos
Reading Philosophy - Practicing DiaLogos together
Come with us on a journey to meet the Japanese House of Being and Thinking. Together we will read some of the most influential texts of the religious and philosophical tradition of Japan.
We will practice dialogos - together as a group and in our encounter with the Japanese ways of being. We will engage in "philosophical fellowship", dia-logos listening and mindfulness practice, but also in classical discussion seminars.
Daniel Zaruba and Johannes A. Niederhauser, who teach this course together, invite you on this dialogos path to encounter the unfamiliar and weirdly wonderful.
The Path
Our path will take us through medieval and contemporary Japanese thought. Our encounters with these unfamiliar texts are an invitation to engage in and practice dialogos.
We will read and also meet with: Dōgen Zenji (1200-1253), who is best known as the founder of Sōtō Zen.
The medieval poet Kamo no Chōmei (1155-1216). The revered author and essayist Tanizaki Jun'ichirō (1886-1965).
Nishitani Keiji (1900-1990) and Ueda Shizuteru (1926-2019), both from the Kyōto school.
We will begin our journey with a close reading and encounter of the Japanese ways of thinking with the guidance of Heidegger’s “A Dialogue On Language; between a Japanese and an Inquirer”.
Listening Again - Seeing Anew
In a world that runs fast and ever further away from listening, we need spaces in which we learn to listen and be thankful for the presence of the other.
This course invites us to learn to listen to unfamiliar ways of thinking, accept the unfamiliarity, dwell in it and hence also open us up to the unfamiliar in the other - and in ourselves.
Daniel and Johannes practice dialogos together and record dialogues on the proposed readings. During the group seminars we will invite you to lean into listening and dialoguing in a way that lets you practice your dialogical capacity.
Excerpt of Course Contents
What you can expect from us,
and what we expect from you
We are meeting as peers. We learn to trust and be mindful of each other, even if we disagree. You can expect from us that we engage profoundly with the study material while also listening to you and appreciating your thoughts and ideas.
We expect from you that you come prepared and are open to the process. We expect you to listen first, just as we will listen first before we speak.
There are here no learning "outcomes" because this is not a service or a product. We are each on a journey and here our paths will cross for a brief moment which allows us to spend time together in joy and awe in the face of the tempest of existence.
Your Teachers:
Daniel Zaruba and Dr Johannes A. Niederhauser
Daniel is a student and teacher of East Asian studies in Vienna and Headmaster of Japanese Thought at Halkyon. His academic interests include existentialism, nihilism, the condition of late modern subjectivity, religious philosophy and inter religious dialogue, and the conflict between science and religion. Daniel spent a year studying in Kyoto in Japan and speaks Japanese.
Johannes is founder and president of The Halkyon Thinkers Guild & Academy. He holds a PhD in philosophy from Warwick University (2018). His academic research has been published internationally, including a seminal study on death and being in Heidegger (Springer 2021).
Student Reviews for Daniel's Course on Nishitani
Mark Flashen
"Participating in the Religion and Nothingness Seminar was a rich and rewarding experience. The depth of inquiry amongst my fellow students combined with Daniels's encompassing knowledge and depth of understanding, had Nishitani's brilliance come alive. Indeed, participating in the seminar was an occasion for wonder. Beyond a simple knowedge of what Nishitani is pointing to, I left the seminar with a richer and deeper understanding of the "Self-realization" of life itself."
James LaDouce:
"Nishitani's book "Religion and Nothingness" has a reputation for being particularly difficult to understand. It was sitting on my bookshelf for a few years and when I saw that Daniel was teaching a course on it at Halkyon Academy, I decided to sign up.
Daniel's lecture material was really helpful with understanding some of the main points of each chapter without glossing over the nuance. The weekly meetings exceeded my expectations. The way Daniel was able to set the stage with helpful guiding questions to discuss with everyone revealed so much more to me about the text than I could have seen by reading it on my own. I am also really glad that he understood the importance of embodied practice enough to incorporate Zen meditation into the course. The intertwining of the readings, lectures, discussions, and meditation left me with a clearer picture of what it means to think philosophically and how it relates to the religious/existential life. This was the first course I took from at Halkyon and, because of Daniel, it certainly won't be my last."
Evan Gould
"Religion and Nothingness" by Nishitani Keiji is a singular work that seems to have arose necessarily, much like the necessity of original art. It was written because it needed to be written. And in a similar way, I think that only those for whom finding this book is a necessity, do eventually find it. The book opens with the observation that those who ask the question "What is the purpose of religion for us? Why do we need it?" are paradoxically the very persons for whom religion is a necessity. Paradox and necessity are central themes in this book. And in important ways, paradox is offered as part of the solution to necessity's biggest problem: nihilism. Yet this book is pretty difficult to read. And even though I maintain that those who seek, will find (this book), I count myself lucky to have found it in conjuntion with this Halkyon Academy course led by Daniel Zaruba, a person for whom discovering this book was also a necessity, and has obviously spent a great deal of time grappling with it. Daniel has ample familiarity with the book, and not only provides insightful introductory lectures for each chapter to set context, but is also able to guide fruitful group discussions. Participating in this seminar was a great joy. The discussions we had were deep, wide ranging, and sincere throughout. And fun as well. I had a great time with this course and recommend it to all those for whom it is a necessity.
