Bernd Kaponig Bernd Kaponig and Cristina Pecchia, two of the four founders of the new German language Secular Buddhism website, join us to speak about their work with communicating Secular Buddhism to the German speaking world. As the concepts and practices of secular Buddhism become more widely known, both for what they are and as [...]
That’s the colloquialism: we don’t have problems with something nowadays, we have “issues”. “Issues” doesn’t mean we’re fed up, but there’s something there that’s just not right. There’s something that needs dealing with, working out. I have two main issues with the Buddha’s notion of nibbāna. But let me preface this by saying that since [...]
Jennifer Niedzielski Jennifer Niedzielski joins us to talk about her work and joys with Mindful Moms Network. Hi, everyone, and happy Mothers’ Day. We’re going to talk about mindfulness and how it relates to motherhood, one of the most challenging, stressful, meaningful, and rewarding efforts anyone can do. For all the mothers out there who [...]
The Shorter Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra (Heart Sutra) When Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva was practicing the profound Prajñāpāramitā, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they were all empty, and crossed over all suffering and affliction. “Śāriputra, form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form. Form itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself [...]
On Sunday 5 May 2013, progressive Christian churches worldwide were celebrating ‘Pluralism Sunday’. I was asked by the Minister of St Andrew’s on The Terrace here in Wellington, New Zealand, to talk about my ‘faith journey as a secular Buddhist’. Unsure how to approach the issue of ‘faith’, I posted some questions on the blog [...]
According to the tales in the Pali Canon, the very first teaching Gotama gave after his awakening was what we have come to know as the Four Noble Truths. This concept is foundational to all traditions that we call Buddhism, Secular Buddhism included. To the extent that newcomers to dharma practice know any Buddhist doctrine [...]
Bhikkhu Sujato Bhikkhu Sujato joins us to speak about the ordination of women in the Theravada tradition, and his work with canonical veracity in The Authenticity Project. How do we know for sure what Gotama said? We probably can’t, and we can further muddy the waters with unsupportable assertions about the perfection of the Pali [...]
The Eightfold Path is common to most Buddhist traditions, and secular Buddhists consider the Eightfold Path to be the heart of practice. The Eightfold Path, or path as it’s called, is a guide for areas to explore and practice. There is great wisdom in this path, all of which can be tried out and tested [...]
The early Canon gives us two very different pictures of the Buddha, reflected in his early life. The first I will term the “human Buddha”: it’s a narrative of a real person, Siddhatta Gotama, and his path to enlightenment. The second I will term the “divine Buddha”: it’s a narrative of a superhuman being. These [...]
David Webster Author and teacher David Webster joins us to speak about his book, Dispirited: How Contemporary Spirituality Makes Us Stupid, Selfish and Unhappy. What happens when we have the ability to pick and choose components from various religious traditions, and try to integrate them into our practice? This cafeteria spirituality as it’s sometimes called, [...]
This is to be done by one skilled in aims Who wants to break through To the state of peace: . . . As a mother would risk her life To protect her child, her only child, Even so should one cultivate a limitless heart With regard to all beings. Khuddakapatha 9, trns Thanissaro Bhikkhu [...]
I’m struggling with aversion. In recent years, I’ve become really bothered by how humanity has just taken over the planet without regard to habitats, and the needs of other animals. I’ve noticed this more because of my photography hobby, where I get out to take nature photos and pix of animals. A few years ago, [...]
I had an email exchange recently with a gentleman who asked some very good questions, and thought it might prompt some helpful discussion here on the site. Names and identity details were removed. Email One To: Webmaster I just got through listening to your interview on Books and Ideas podscast. I … attended the local [...]
The Three Marks of Existence is important in Buddhism, because it means we start to see things, situations as they really are. Everything is impermanent, suffering is a part of existence (for living things anyway), and nothing exists in and of itself, without dependencies. The three marks of existence is not an idea or theory [...]
The concept of authority in Buddhism shouldn’t be complicated — yet it is. Many of us are already familiar with the Kalama Sutta‘s talk about how we shouldn’t rely on outside authorities but weigh what we’re told against our own experience. For many here this was one of the first reasons we became interested in [...]
The Three Marks of Existence is important in Buddhism, because it means we start to see things, situations as they really are. Everything is impermanent, suffering is a part of existence (for living things anyway), and nothing exists in and of itself, without dependencies. The three marks of existence is not an idea or theory [...]
This week William Irvine, a philosophy professor in at Wright State University in Ohio, wrote a short piece for TIME magazine on insults (he is the author of a book on the topic). The premise is relatively simple: we are social animals driven by desires to reach the top and, of course, to hold back others who [...]
I recall when I first started studying Buddhism how surprised and unsettled I felt at all the talk of dispassion and letting go.
Ethan Nichtern Ethan Nichtern speaks with us about The Interdependence Project. Taking new forms. Neither Buddhism, nor any religious form, is immune to the process of evolution. And what forms will those take in our contemporary culture? Much of that is based on communication, conveying messages across different media, and using technology to support that [...]
Mark Knickelbine SBA Board Member Mark Knickelbine speaks with us about secular approaches to a contemplative practice, and the new Practice Circle. There are many ways to approach secular practice. You might, for example, come to Buddhism from a different religious tradition, and find that the teaching is helping you, but the supernatural assertions as [...]
Brad Warner Zen teacher Brad Warner speaks with us about his new book, Hardcore Zen Strikes Again. Zen stories are filled with teachers doing odd things. Their behaviors, their words, can often rub people the wrong way as the softness of social constraint gives way to pointing out the realities we often lose sight of, [...]
Thupten Lekshe Thupten Lekshe joins us to provide insights and companionable discussion on the potential benefits and challenges to secular Buddhism. There are a lot of discussions online lately, about a wide variety of topics. And it seems that, for some reason, very few of them are in the polite tone we use face to [...]
Everything is process. Tony explore Buddhist without the ideas of mind-reading, reincarnation, etc. From dharmaseed.org
Ted Meissner is the host of The Secular Buddhist podcast and the Executive Director of the Secular Buddhist Association. In this episode with host Vincent Horn chief geek at Buddhist Geeks, Ted shares examples of secular Buddhism, why he is skeptical but not cynical about religion, and he stresses what he thinks is the importance of [...]
An introduction to and overview of the concept of secular Buddhism. From Dharmaseed.org
There are precise and profound parallels between what Buddhism says about our individual predicament and our collective predicament today in relationship to the rest of the biosphere.
A conversation between secular Buddhist teacher Stephen Batchelor and Christian theologian Lloyd Geering, held at St Andrews on The Terrace in Wellington, New Zealand in November 2010.
Linda Blanchard has a YouTube series of talks on Skeptical Buddhism that is invaluable to someone seeking a less religious view of early Buddhist practice. Click Read More to see the entire series . . .
Scott Lohman from The Humanists of Minnesota interviews Ted Meissner on “Humanism and Buddhism”. Learn about the many commonalities between Humanism and Secular Buddhism.
From the QualiaSoup series of videos, this is a terrific examination of Critical Thinking.
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