Archive for November 2012
Episode 145 :: Russell Long :: Room to Breathe
Russell Long Producer / Director Russell Long speaks with us about his film Room to Breathe, about the teaching of mindfulness to at risk youth. Inner city schools are having problems. In many cities, about half of high school students drop out, and a similar percentage of teachers leave after just five years in the…
Read More20 Minute Sit
A guided 20-minute mindfulness meditation session featuring mindfulness of the breath and of the body, guided by Mark Knicklebine
Read MoreSecular Humanism and Secular Buddhism
Recently I attended a meeting of the Center for Inquiry, a Secular Humanist group, where I got into a discussion about Secular Buddhism. It raised the question of how to distinguish Secular Humanism from its Buddhist counterpart. What were their strengths and weaknesses? What did they each have to learn, and how could they be…
Read MoreEpisode 144 :: Josh Korda :: Addiction Recovery Approaches
Josh Korda Meditation teacher Josh Korda speaks with us about how his work in addiction recovery is informed by his own experiences, traditional Buddhist thought, and modern science. Craving, that’s what we struggle with. Whether it’s a light interest in having our relaxing afternoon continue to be relaxing, or the more damaging physical and psychological…
Read MoreWhat is Metta?
With good will for the entire cosmos, Cultivate a limitless heart: Above, below, & all around, Unobstructed, without hostility or hate Whether standing, walking, Sitting, or lying down, As long as one is alert, One should be resolved on this mindfulness. This is called a sublime abiding, here and now. This is from Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s…
Read MoreEpisode 143 :: Gary Gach :: Finding the New in the Mix
Gary Gach Gary Gach speaks with us today about finding newness in the mix of contemporary Buddhist practices. With so many different ways of engaging with Buddhism in the West, it’s hard to not only find what resonates most for us, but to even tell what’s what. Is contemporary Western Buddhism a messy goulash, or…
Read MoreEpisode 142 :: Melissa Lee, Matt Lowry, Melissa Kaercher :: Dealing with Different Views
Matt Lowry How often do we have conversations where all participants agree, completely, on all points? Just shy of never. Every day, we are going to run into an expected variety of thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. Some of these will be held quite strongly, others not so much. It gets difficult when the passion about…
Read MoreAt Naḷakapāna: Did the Buddha "Scheme to Deceive"?
A couple of weeks ago I attended a lecture by jhana-expert Leigh Brasington where he brought up the Naḷakapāna Sutta (Majjhima Nikāya 68; the linked translation is from Bhikkhuni Upalavanna, I use Ñaṇamoli/Bodhi). Brasington cited it as an example of where the Buddha may have opened the kimono a bit on some of his claimed supernormal…
Read MoreEpisode 141 :: Shaila Catherine :: Focused and Fearless with the Jhanas
Shaila Catherine Meditation teacher Shaila Catherine speaks with us about jhana meditation and her book, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm and Clarity. These days, it seems that there’s a great deal of attention to mindfulness meditation. And there’s nothing wrong with us spending time learning about and practicing…
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