Archive for October 2016
Can Dependent Origination Be Saved?
Dependent origination is a conundrum, particularly in its most common and elaborate twelve link formula. On the one hand, it is both historically and philosophically central to the Buddha’s dhamma, on the other hand it is a deeply problematic attempt to reconcile kammic rebirth with a potential awakening into non-self. The subject is so complex…
Read MoreMeditating with Muse
As soon as I saw the first ads for Muse, the “brain-sensing headband” that provides users with feedback during meditation, I felt both intrigued and conflicted. After all, you don’t need a $300 electronic gadget to meditate. Would this be just one more mindfulness commodity, another plaything to become attached to? Would it be useful?…
Read MoreCan You Be a Conservative and a Buddhist?
This question was recently answered in the affirmative by Christopher Ford, who argued in Elephant in the Meditation Room (October 14, 2016) that it’s possible to be both politically conservative and a Buddhist. More, he thinks it’s crucial that Buddhism in the U.S. has a greater diversity of opinion among its adherents, for “a bigger…
Read MoreEpisode 261 :: Rick Repetti :: Buddhist Perspectives on Free Will
Rick Repetti Buddhism’s love affair with the “self” is quite dynamic. Some schools and Buddhists are adamant about No Self. Others understand that an ideological list of things Self (capital S) is not, doesn’t mean there isn’t a conventional self (lower case s). And there are implications about that sometimes aversive relationship with the self,…
Read MoreEpisode 260 :: Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison and Sensei Robert Chodo Campbell :: Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-of-Life Care
Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison and Sensei Robert Chodo Campbell join us to speak about palliative and end-of-life care from the zen perspective. Several years ago, I had the opportunity to sit with one of the founders of the SBA, our dear friend, teacher, and heart, Jan Ford, at his bedside. Jan was in hospice care,…
Read MoreI Suffer
Article originally posted on Medium – I Suffer by Dan Hanly I feel like I’ve always been a spiritual person. I use the word spiritual here, and not religious — in-fact, I’ve had a vehement dislike of religious trappings for as long as I can remember. I am and have always been an atheist — averse to the belief…
Read MoreEpisode 259 :: Lama Rod Owens :: Radical Dharma Part One — Intersectionality and Complexity
Lama Rod Owens Lama Rod Owens joins us to speak about his new book Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love, and Liberation. If you’ve listened to this podcast regularly, you already know we make a point of having guests with a wide diversity of views, backgrounds, and practices. This is not just because we at the…
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