Archive for July 2018
Roots of Secular Buddhism: Thailand
Some of the roots of secular Buddhism go back to Thailand. We’ll look at two of the fascinating characters that were instrumental in modernizing elements of Thai belief and practice, even as some of that modernization remains controversial to this day. Some source material: Peter Jackson 1986 PhD diss: “Buddhadasa and Doctrinal Modernisation in Contemporary…
Read MoreSecular Buddhism and the Real Reasons to Meditate
In the most recent issue of Lions Roar magazine (July 2018), Buddhist teachers representing Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajryana lineages discussed the “real” reasons to meditate. While the responses were insightful and reflected the full range of beliefs among Buddhist lineages, there is a glaring omission: no one presents a secular Buddhist view of the real…
Read MoreHistory of Theravada Buddhism: Very Old and Very New
Theravāda Buddhism can be seen both as very old and very new. We’ll go over the ways Theravāda has roots in the earliest forms of Buddhism, as well as the way it may be a very recent form of religious identity. This is a huge topic and so the video should only be seen as…
Read MoreEpisode 298 :: Sara Rahmani :: Understanding Unbelief: Mindfulness Meditation Project
Sara Rahmani Dr. Sara Rahmani speaks with us about her work Understanding Unbelief: Mindfulness Meditation project. What is it like to be faced with adopting a religious belief system that’s not part of your personal background? Or perhaps it is, and once there, you find an increasing cognitive dissonance with what’s overtly or subtley encouraged…
Read More7/22 Practice Circle: Befriend Yourself
This Sunday, July 22, at 6 pm Pacific, 7 Mountain, 8 Central and 9 Eastern, Practice Circle will explore the practice of unconditional friendliness towards the self. Amy Balentine will be leading a meditation taught by Pema Chodron. In this straightforward practice, we will be invited to bring a quality of clear seeing and gentleness…
Read MoreThree Schools of Buddhism Intro
We will look at the three major schools of Buddhism, in the sort of contemporary context YouTubers would be likely to encounter them. We’ll highlight some of the similarities and differences in their styles of belief and practice. This is intended only as a very rough introduction though since there is WAY too much to…
Read MoreWhat’s Wrong With Pleasure?
What’s wrong with pleasure? It often seems as though sensory pleasures are an unalloyed good, the sorts of things that we should aim to gain as much of during our lifetimes as possible. The Buddha had a somewhat different view of them however, which we will consider in this video. Book: Sven Beckert’s Empire of…
Read MoreEpisode 297 :: Jeff Eisenberg :: Buddha’s Bodyguard: How to Protect Your Inner V.I.P.
Jeff Eisenberg Jeff Eisenberg returns to the podcast to speak about his book Buddha’s Bodyguard: How to Protect Your Inner V.I.P. Though there are differing opinions, the dhamma, like other teachings, has some wiggle room in how it may be interpreted. Some may be very minor nuances of view, others may be wildly off base,…
Read More7/8 Practice Circle: A Compassionate Friend
In a world in which hatred and blame seem to be winning, where can we find compassion and acceptance in the face of life’s suffering? We have a compassionate resource always available in our own hearts – in fact, the only place we can ever experience compassion is within ourselves. When Practice Circle meets again…
Read MoreTuwhiri: An Educational Resource For Secular Buddhists
The following article is from Ramsey Margolis of Secular Buddhism New Zealand. Towards the end of 2014, Stephen Batchelor sent proofs of his unpublished book After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age to Winton Higgins, a secular Buddhist teacher in Sydney, Australia, asking him to critically examine the text. Having provided the required…
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