Welcome to Koanversation, a podcast unlocking the widsom and fun of the enigmatic Zen koan.
Koans are millennium-old anecdotes of moments between Zen masters and students that pose utterly baffling philosophical puzzles. No matter how hard you try, they defy logical explanation—and that’s the point.
They’re meant to get you out of your head and expand how you think.
If you want to think in a more creative, unexpected and playful way, this is the podcast for you.
Hosted by Sanj Krishnan, each episode of Koanversation takes one koan from 13th century anthology The Gateless Barrier by Wumen Huikai, and explores it with the help of a guest.
Episode 1: Joshu’s Dog
In this first episode, host Sanj Krishnan and guest Marco Benatar tackle the first and most elusive koan of all, "Joshu's Dog". You'll hear us fall into the very mental traps we claim to be able to avoid. And we do this with the help of Sanj's dog Indy.
A monk asked Joshu, a Chinese Zen master: "Has a dog Buddha-nature or not?"
Joshu answered: "Mu."
What on earth does that mean? That’s what this episode explores.
During the episode, you can hear Sanj’s creative response to the koan, a song entitled “Does a Dog Have (Mu)”.
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A little disclaimer: Zen is a 1500-year-old discipline to which many people devote their entire lives, with full-hearted dedication, humility and sincerity. This podcast is run by a relative newbie to Zen, certainly not a master or expert. It also has a playful, irreverent bent to it. It’s not intended to be disrespectful—but equally, Zen is not meant to be humourless. And Zen is not about deference to authority; it’s about finding your own answers.
Koanversation Ep. 1 - Joshu's Dog