Archive for June 2013
Episode 175 :: Gary Gach :: Pro-Active Sila
Gary Gach Gary Gach speaks with us today about sila, the pro-social behaviors of Buddhism — Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood. Recent events around radical, violent activities from Buddhist monastics in Myanmar have stirred some controversy about the validity of Buddhist practice. It seems that Buddhism isn’t really what it’s all cracked up to…
Read MoreEpisode 174 :: Bernat Font :: Budismo Secular
Bernat Font Bernat Font joins us to speak about the new Spanish language secular Buddhism website, Budismo Secular. Hi, everyone. This podcast started several years ago at the encouragement of someone dear to me, who lives in Mexico. She suggested several very good ideas about topics and themes, and eventually The Secular Buddhist began. Since…
Read MoreOn Buddhist Violence
Buddhist violence against Muslims in Myanmar has been in the press in the last few weeks, with recent front-page treatment in the New York Times and international editions of Time Magazine. While this has nothing to do with Secular Buddhism per se, it’s nonetheless worth consideration. In the New York Times article we read of the…
Read MoreAbout that Label …
As many of you know, there’s a “Religious Views” label on the Facebook “About” page. When I signed up for Facebook several years ago, I was pretty deeply into the New Atheist movement, spending much of my time griping about traditional religion and writing skeptical material on various pseudoscientific agricultural practices with some friends of mine.…
Read MoreEpisode 173 :: Brad Warner :: There Is No God And He Is Always With You
Brad Warner Brad Warner joins us to speak about his new book just released this week, There Is No God And He Is Always With You. What do you think of when you hear the word “God”, with a capital G? If you’re from a Judeo-Christian background, particular images and ideas might come to mind.…
Read MoreSitting with Dukkha
Birth is dukkha, aging is dukkha, death is dukkha; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are dukkha; association with the unbeloved is dukkha; separation from the loved is dukkha; not getting what is wanted is dukkha. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are dukkha. (Saṃyutta Nikāya 56.11) I sat down on my cushion for my most…
Read MoreEpisode 172 :: Dinty Moore :: The Mindful Writer: Noble Truths of the Writing Life
Dinty Moore Author and teacher Dinty Moore speaks with us about his new book, The Mindful Writer: Noble Truths of the Writing Life. Our practice can manifest in many ways, really in everything we do. But that is a decision, a choice we have, and sometimes we don’t take it, instead continuing on automatic pilot.…
Read MoreSplit Second Decisons
Sometimes, we are challenged by the big events that occur in our lives – a death, a wedding, an accident, a birth, a move away from the familiar to the unfamiliar. Sometimes, however, it’s the little moments that can cause us some pretty decent challenges in our daily lives. For myself, I’ve recently run into…
Read MoreDignity and Right Speech
What comes to mind when you hear the word “dignity?” The United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights starts off, “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world…” Dignity relates to protection…
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