Aug. 10, 2026
Why nothing excludes anything in Tiantai Buddhist thought | Brook Ziporyn, PhD
📚 Read the book: Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism by Brook A. Ziporyn
https://bookshop.org/a/130680/9780253021120
Browse all books by Thresholds guests:
https://bookshop.org/lists/thresholds-of-consciousness-book-list
I link to Bookshop.org rather than Amazon because purchases there support independent bookstores. I'm a Bookshop affiliate, so a small commission from your purchase also helps sustain this show, at no extra cost to you.
Brook Ziporyn, PhD, is the Mircea Eliade Professor of Chinese Religion, Philosophy, and Comparative Thought at the University of Chicago and a scholar of Chinese religion and philosophy. In this conversation, we explore Tiantai Buddhism, a school of Chinese Buddhist thought that developed a radically inclusive philosophy: the idea that nothing, not even delusion or evil, stands outside enlightenment.
We talk through the origins of Tiantai as Chinese Buddhists worked to reconcile centuries of contradictory Indian texts, the shift from two truths to three, and what it means to say a cup is only a cup because we're ignoring almost everything else it could be. We also get into the famous "three thousand realms in one moment of thought," and what it means for delusion and enlightenment to mutually include each other rather than one canceling out the other.
This is dense material, and Ziporyn expresses the depth and profundity of it.
Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism (Indiana University Press, 2016)
https://www.amazon.com/Emptiness-Omnipresence-Essential-Introduction-Philosophies/dp/025302112X
Experiments in Mystical Atheism: Godless Epiphanies from Daoism to Spinoza and Beyond (University of Chicago Press, 2024)
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo230169826.html
0:00 Cold open
0:53 Why Tiantai Buddhism is lesser known
6:50 How Tiantai emerged as its own school in China
9:15 Classification of teachings — reconciling contradictory texts
16:30 From two truths to three truths
19:41 The parable of the lost son & the middle truth
23:35 Local coherence — why a cup isn't just a cup
26:17 What Tiantai practice actually looks like
30:30 Three thousand realms in one moment of thought
41:05 Negation, agency, and continuity
46:52 Evil and inherent inclusion in Tiantai thought
55:04 Closing thoughts
Thresholds of Consciousness is a production of Madrone Hollow Productions
© 2026 Scott Menasco
All rights reserved.
scottmenasco.com
*The content presented on this channel is intended for educational, informational, and reflective purposes only and is not a substitute for medical, psychological, or psychiatric treatment, diagnosis, or professional advice. Views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host*
https://bookshop.org/a/130680/9780253021120
Browse all books by Thresholds guests:
https://bookshop.org/lists/thresholds-of-consciousness-book-list
I link to Bookshop.org rather than Amazon because purchases there support independent bookstores. I'm a Bookshop affiliate, so a small commission from your purchase also helps sustain this show, at no extra cost to you.
Brook Ziporyn, PhD, is the Mircea Eliade Professor of Chinese Religion, Philosophy, and Comparative Thought at the University of Chicago and a scholar of Chinese religion and philosophy. In this conversation, we explore Tiantai Buddhism, a school of Chinese Buddhist thought that developed a radically inclusive philosophy: the idea that nothing, not even delusion or evil, stands outside enlightenment.
We talk through the origins of Tiantai as Chinese Buddhists worked to reconcile centuries of contradictory Indian texts, the shift from two truths to three, and what it means to say a cup is only a cup because we're ignoring almost everything else it could be. We also get into the famous "three thousand realms in one moment of thought," and what it means for delusion and enlightenment to mutually include each other rather than one canceling out the other.
This is dense material, and Ziporyn expresses the depth and profundity of it.
Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism (Indiana University Press, 2016)
https://www.amazon.com/Emptiness-Omnipresence-Essential-Introduction-Philosophies/dp/025302112X
Experiments in Mystical Atheism: Godless Epiphanies from Daoism to Spinoza and Beyond (University of Chicago Press, 2024)
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo230169826.html
0:00 Cold open
0:53 Why Tiantai Buddhism is lesser known
6:50 How Tiantai emerged as its own school in China
9:15 Classification of teachings — reconciling contradictory texts
16:30 From two truths to three truths
19:41 The parable of the lost son & the middle truth
23:35 Local coherence — why a cup isn't just a cup
26:17 What Tiantai practice actually looks like
30:30 Three thousand realms in one moment of thought
41:05 Negation, agency, and continuity
46:52 Evil and inherent inclusion in Tiantai thought
55:04 Closing thoughts
Thresholds of Consciousness is a production of Madrone Hollow Productions
© 2026 Scott Menasco
All rights reserved.
scottmenasco.com
*The content presented on this channel is intended for educational, informational, and reflective purposes only and is not a substitute for medical, psychological, or psychiatric treatment, diagnosis, or professional advice. Views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host*