Archive for January 2012
On "Nutriment" and Life As Process
One of the many little things I have discovered while studying the Pali texts over the last several years is that the people of the Buddha’s time were obsessed with food. You may laugh, if you like, but this is actually important. I hear all the time that, in interpreting these texts, we need to…
Read MoreEarly Buddhist Discourses (Book Review)
If you are curious to read where the Buddha’s teachings came from and want a small sampling of discourses, or suttas, that reveal the basic teachings, the book Early Buddhist Discourses edited and translated by John J. Holder may be just the book for you. This book is similar in organization and breadth as Glenn…
Read MoreWhat relgion, or lack thereof, were you raised with in childhood? (First 12 years)
Take this poll to share what your religious background was. [poll id=”7″] We are trying to understand our virtual sangha (community) better. Thank you!
Read MoreEpisode 101 :: Julian Adkins, Anantacitta Tunnell, Dana Nourie :: Secular Buddhism U.K.
Julian Adkins, Anantacitta Tunnell, and Dana Nourie join us to talk about a new website dedicated to growing the Secular Buddhist community in the U.K.
Every week, I get email from listeners to the podcast, and from people who’ve found the Secular Buddhist Association site. Take this one from Michael R. just the other day: “I would like to take a moment to thank you for developing and establishing your website. It fulfills a need I’ve long attempted to satisfy. My interest and practice of Buddhism is strongly oriented along the same lines of what I perceive to be those of John Peacock’s, Stephen Batchelor’s and Steve Hagen’s. However, it was not until I encountered your site that I realized there was a community that appeared to resonate for me. Anyway, I wish merely to express my gratitude and look forward to the SBA’s continued growth.”
Read MoreBe a Buddha, Not a Buddhist: Introduction to Weekly Practice
Be a Buddha, not a Buddhist is an important concept to me because the real value, as I see it, in Buddhism is not the ism but the practice itself. I’ve realized recently that I’d like to take my understanding of Buddhism into deeper territory. One of the best ways to do this is to revisit everything I’ve learned in the past, to start my practice from scratch, or with the beginner’s mind, so to speak.
Read MoreWeekly Practice (Impermanence)
For this Weekly Practice we are going to explore impermanence. Don’t lament, “Oh, I know everything is impermanent!” No matter what ideas you currently have about impermanence, no matter how much you may have dug into this topic before, let’s look at it in detail this week. While most of us have a basic awareness…
Read MoreMindfulness of The Engaged, Busy Mind
Time on the cushion, being mindful of mind, is interesting and revealing. You’ll find yourself playing hide and seek with thoughts. You’ll notice thought patterns, habits of the mind, and you may even get to experience quiet times when few thoughts arise. Mindfulness of mind is often a practice of letting go, letting go of each thought as it arises, as it sweeps you away, and as it returns. Eventually, you become mindful of thoughts at work in your daily life.
Last year, I had discovered some beliefs I had that were counter-productive to my current aims. Through mindfulness of mind, I realized that I was carrying around beliefs I had developed as a child about math, which was conflicting with my current interest in physics. I decided I would intentionally over-ride those old beliefs with new formed experiences, and from those I could develop new attitudes around mathematics. I wrote about this topic in Beliefs and Mindfulness of Math, if you are interested.
Read MoreEpisode 100 :: Stephen Batchelor :: The Awakening of the West
Today we speak with Stephen Batchelor about his book The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture.
Hi, everyone. Welcome to this milestone in The Secular Buddhist podcast, as we expand into our third digit of Episode 100. We would not have reached this point without you, our growing listener community. And it is growing, as of this recording each episode is getting over 1200 downloads with over 142,000 total. The Secular Buddhist is usually if not always listed in the top 36 on iTunes for Buddhist podcasts, the FaceBook page has over 2000 Likes, and even our Twitter feed is seeing a constant stream of new Followers. We have a new website for the Secular Buddhist Association, designed for the development of community, with new sites springing up in other countries (more on that next week!). And our sincerest thanks to the many wonderful guests it has been a great joy to speak with. If not for you, this podcast would not have gained the attention it has.
Read MoreWhat is your interest level in a virtual sangha, using video and chat through the SBA site?
Take this poll to let us know if you are interested in a virtual community, using video or chat.
Read MoreDoes Humanist Meditation Exist?
This is a presentation Rick Heller of the Harvard Humanist Contemplative group gave on secular meditation at the American Humanist Association conference, April 8, 2011. Does humanist meditation exist View more presentations from Rick Heller Does humanist meditation exist — Presentation Transcript 1. Does Humanist Meditation Exist? Presented by Rick Heller Harvard Humanist Contemplative Group…
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