Zen and the art of disorganization: sitting in a body without organs
摘要
This article brings Zen Buddhist meditation into dialogue with Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the Body without Organs (BwO) to reconsider contemplative practice and subjectivity. Rather than approaching zazen as a technique of self-discipline or transcendence, I argue that it operates as a practice of disorganization that reconfigures the conditions through which one’s capacities to relate to others, to time, and to oneself are amplified and/or diminished. Through engagement with Zen sources and Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy of immanence, the paper shows how zazen meditation suspends action and meaning-making, allowing for a mode of being rooted in affective intensity. The convergence of these two frameworks challenges dominant cultural narratives of productivity and coherence, offering instead a vision of practice as openness to what arises when form is suspended. By reframing meditation as a practice in dis-organization, this study contributes to interdisciplinary debates on embodiment, immanence, and affirmative social theory.