Transcending Not Enoughness, the Fundamental Fear of Life & the Meaning Crisis | David Loy

David Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition who began Zen practice in 1971 and completed the formal koan curriculum in 1988. For many years he taught Buddhist and comparative philosophy at university level. Although retired from academia he continues to lecture internationally on the intersection of Buddhism and modernity. He is the author of many books including "Lack & Transcendence," "Ecodharma," and "Nonduality: In Buddhism and Beyond."In this conversation, we explore the fundamental problem of human existence — what David calls "lack" — and the unskillful ways we typically try to address it. We get into the distinction between the fear of death and the deeper fear of not being real, going beyond dualistic thinking, and how Freud, the existentialists, and Buddhism each diagnose the same fundamental problem differently.We also explore the limits of philosophy, integrating personal with collective transformation, the three poisons institutionalized in our economic and political systems, and how Buddhism can help address the meaning crisis.We close by exploring hope, despair, grief, love, and effective engagement, whether death is an illusion, how our experience of time relates to a sense of lack, and the questions David himself is still grappling with.🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗David's personal site Lack & Transcendence — David Loy Dogen Nisargadatta John Vervaeke Meaningness — David Chapman Stephen Jenkinson on Elevating Consciousness — Episode #9 Transcendent Naturalism series — John Vervaeke & Gregg Henriques🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️0:00 - Introduction3:08 - The fundamental problem of human existence7:24 - Unskillful ways of dealing with lack11:14 - The fear of death vs the fear of not being real14:04 - Going beyond dualistic thinking18:55 - The fundamental problem according to Freud and psychotherapy21:15 - The fundamental problem according to the existentialists22:40 - The limits of philosophy — teachings as a raft and a finger pointing to the moon25:45 - Integrating personal with collective transformation30:37 - The three poisons institutionalized35:07 - Addressing the meaning crisis45:00 - Hope, despair, grief, love and effective engagement52:11 - Opening up to the great mystery54:47 - Is death an illusion?1:00:35 - How our experience of time relates to a sense of lack1:09:27 - Has David resolved a sense of lack within himself?1:15:50 - Questions David is still grappling with*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast *Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional