The Wind of Eranos — With Toshihiko Izutsu
Overview
Drawn by the “wind” that led me to Ascona, I stayed at Eranos — a place of silence — where I quietly listened to some of the writings of Toshihiko Izutsu and reflected on the themes of “emptiness” and “symbol.”
Through an imagined dialogue between D.T. Suzuki, Jung, Corbin, and Izutsu, I attempt to touch on the “Word before words.” This is also a small gesture toward a renewed development of East-West comparative philosophy.
Eranos Conference
Following the wind, I arrived in Ascona, Switzerland, after less than a two-hour drive from Milan, and stayed at Eranos as if carried by the breeze.
According to Izutsu, Eranos originally means a kind of distinctive “banquet” in Classical Greek. It refers to an elegant gathering where each participant brings their own prepared food, shares it with others, and engages in refined conversation — a truly Greek-style symposium of intellect and grace.[1]
In 1933, the Dutch-British mystic Olga Fröbe-Kapteyn, prompted by the German historian of religion Rudolf Otto, formed a group that became the Eranos Conference. It began that same year at her private villa near Ascona on the northern shore of Lake Maggiore. For over 60 years, until 1988, thinkers from various fields gathered annually to engage in discussions on new themes centered on human spirituality.[2]
Around the Round Table
“Every year at the end of August, about ten like-minded scholars and thinkers — many accompanied by their spouses — gathered and spent ten days together around a large stone table placed on the ground overlooking the lake. At Eranos, this was called the ‘round table’ (table monde). During this time, each participant presented the results of their studies or reflections prepared in their own field. As long as the content didn’t stray too far from the year’s common theme, the presentations were completely free. The lecture venue, aligned with the house where the ‘round table’ stood, was located by the lakeside, and the audience listened to the talks accompanied by the sound of waves as background music.”[3]
Izutsu and Eranos
The audience included around 400 people from across Europe each year. The official languages of presentation were English, German, and French. Presenters used one of these, and many attendees were multilingual, fluent in at least two languages. The participants included scholars, students, university professors, renowned physicists, mathematicians, aestheticians, painters, musicians, and even aristocrats like English countesses — an impressively diverse group.[4]
The first participant from Japan was D.T. Suzuki (1965). Toshihiko Izutsu was invited the following year alongside Suzuki. He continued to lecture almost every year for the next 15 years, speaking on topics such as Zen, Daoist metaphysics, Confucian semantics, Vedanta philosophy, Huayan and Yogācāra ontology and theories of consciousness, the semiotics of the I Ching, Song dynasty philosophy as represented by Zhu Xi, and the shamanism of the Chuci (Songs of the South).[5]
Looking back, Izutsu described this period as “a time that seems like a dream — immeasurably rich and fruitful for the development of my scholarship.”[6]
In the Year of the Iranian Revolution (February 1979)
“I sometimes recall what Professor D. Lauf passionately whispered to me at the Eranos table three summers ago. ‘We Westerners must now understand Eastern wisdom from the inside. A completely new horizon of knowledge lies hidden there.’”[7]
That same table remains at Eranos, still resting beneath the rustling leaves carried by the wind.
Izutsu continued: “I found Professor Lauf’s stance quite fascinating — trying to grasp Eastern thought from within, existentially, while maintaining his identity as a Westerner. Hearing his words, I thought that we, Easterners ourselves, must make the effort to understand our own philosophical traditions from within, in a subjective and existential manner.”[8]
He went on: “This is not merely an academic or philological study of Eastern thought. We must take it one step further — internalizing the traditions of Eastern philosophy into our own consciousness, and within the magnetic field formed therein, begin the creative task of producing new philosophy in a global context.”[9]
Back to the Round Table
At the round table now, there are no seats. Not even the absence of seats remains. And yet, if you listen carefully, the wind seems to carry voices discussing emptiness.
Jung says, “We can only grasp the self through symbols, and in the depths of the human psyche, there are universal structures — archetypes.”
Corbin responds, “Archetypes are manifestations of the divine. Symbols exist so that we may encounter them in the imaginal world.”
D.T. Suzuki adds, “You speak of archetypes and symbols, but in Zen, we blow them away with a single shout. Emptiness transcends all symbols, gods, and words — an explosive leap into silence.”
Then Izutsu replies, “What you three are speaking of is the Word before words. Emptiness is the silent depth before Being begins to speak its meaning. The zero-point of existence. For me, emptiness is the epicenter where meaning generates from zero. It is the silent voice that trembles in the depths of Zen’s non-verbal insight, Jung’s symbols, and Corbin’s imaginal realm.”[10]
Toward a Renewed Understanding
The “Orient,” increasingly remote from modern Japan, is centered around the Qur’ān — a divine Word revealed in Arabic, a language now ever more difficult to grasp.
Yet the door remains open to scholarly endeavors that attempt to read the trembling silent voice of the sacred, using the language of emptiness itself.
Thus the wind passed through — like salt falling gently to the earth — leaving behind a quiet trail of thought.
Footnotes
[1] Toshihiko Izutsu, “On the Publication of the Eranos Series: A Note from the Supervisor,” The One and the Many I, supervised by Izutsu, Kaneshige Ueda, and Hayao Kawai (Heibonsha, August 1991), p. 17.
[2] “Eranos Conference,” Wikipedia.
[3] Izutsu, ibid., p. 17 and following.
[4][5][6] Izutsu, ibid., p. 18.
[6] Izutsu, ibid., p. 19.
[7] Toshihiko Izutsu, Afterword, Consciousness and Essence, Iwanami Bunko, 1991, p. 411 ff.
[8][9] Izutsu, ibid., p. 412.
[10] Imagined roundtable dialogue with D.T. Suzuki, Jung, Corbin, and Izutsu, co-edited with ChatGPT-4o.
Addendum
A Trial of Synchronic Structuring
“Even if ‘Japanese spirit with Chinese learning’ becomes ‘Japanese spirit with Western learning,’ the pattern by which the Japanese form their culture does not change. I believe that it is precisely in rethinking and re-evaluating the ‘Eastern’ from this East-West coordinate consciousness that we find the contemporary significance and challenges of Eastern philosophy for Japan.” (p. 414)
“The way modern Japanese think is deeply influenced by the Western context. In philosophy especially, the Western academic legacy colors our intellectual activity. Yet, because we live through Japanese language — ordering existence, parsing meaning, and shaping reality through its unique structures — we cannot be fully Westernized at our core.
In other words, our very being as modern Japanese already contains a fusion and blending of East and West, structured through both the surface and depths of consciousness.” (p. 414)
“And even without consciously comparing East and West, when a contemporary Japanese person takes up an Eastern philosophical theme and explores it within the horizon of modern consciousness, the encounter between East and West naturally arises as an existential experience. A kind of comparative philosophy between East and West emerges spontaneously. Consciousness and Essence is a small attempt in that direction.” (p. 414 ff.)
Special Thanks
To “The Wind,” the Eranos Foundation, and ChatGPT-4o
Title Image:
The round table at Eranos still awaiting communal meals. (Photographed by the author, May 2025)
Translation Supported by ChatGPT-4o
