Can Zen and Neoplatonism Solve the Meaning Crisis? Vervaeke and Hsieh

Can the meaning crisis be addressed by transforming how we perceive reality rather than what we believe about it?

In this episode, John Vervaeke and Ethan Hsieh introduce the course Between East and West, which explores Zen Neoplatonism as a dialogical framework integrating Eastern and Western traditions. The course is designed not as a system of belief but as a training in perception, participation, and understanding.

Zen offers a path of intimacy, presence, and immanence, while Neoplatonism provides intelligibility, transcendence, and coherence. Together, they form a stereoscopic vision that allows for a renewed encounter with meaning and the sacred.

The discussion reframes mysticism, philosophy, religion, and spirituality, while confronting the meaning crisis and the limitations of modern categories. It proposes a shift beyond theism and atheism toward a participatory understanding of reality grounded in insight and practice.

Ethan Hsieh is a writer, educator, and dialogue facilitator working across philosophy, cognitive science, and contemplative practice, helping to bridge theory and lived experience.

Guest Links
Ethan Hsieh: https://sg.linkedin.com/in/ethan-hsieh-828a63240

Join the full course Between East and West
https://lectern.johnvervaeke.com/courses/between-east-and-west

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00:00 Welcome to the Lectern
01:00 What is Zen Neoplatonism
05:00 Silk Road origins and Pyrrho
07:00 Mysticism, philosophy, and religion
11:30 Religion as dynamic ecology
12:21 Christianity as a family resemblance network
16:30 Spirituality and the meaning crisis
21:00 Religious philosophy gray zone
26:30 Synergy not syncretism
30:30 Course overview and proposal
32:00 Zen and Neoplatonism stereoscopic vision
38:30 Aporia, koans, and Socrates
44:30 Accessibility beyond East and West
50:30 Sacredness demands accountability
51:00 Singapore religious caution
51:30 Religion and war myths
52:30 Pluralism without conversion
53:30 Attachment theory and faith
57:00 Self versus others in religion
01:00:00 From substance to community
01:05:00 Do I even need this
01:08:30 Fear of losing meaning
01:12:30 Beyond theism and atheism
01:18:00 Meaning beyond morality
01:21:30 Goodness and self transcendence
01:26:00 Neoplatonic ladder
01:27:00 Logos and agape
01:30:00 Practice, way, and identity

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