Posts by Ted Meissner
Episode 131 :: Joe Loizzo :: Sustainable Happiness: The Mind Science of Well-Being, Altruism, and Inspiration
Dr. Joe Loizzo Dr. Joe Loizzo of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science speaks with us about his new book Sustainable Happiness: The Mind Science of Well-Being, Altruism, and Inspiration One of the things we struggle with is this notion of the scientific validation for contemplative practice. We do see studies that have interesting and…
Read MoreEpisode 130 :: Izzi Tooinsky :: Stories From A Wooden Bowl
Izzi Tooinsky Professional storyteller and juggler Izzi Tooinsky speaks with us about a new Buddhist themed CD, Stories from a Wooden Bowl. We’ve had some very cerebral discussions on the podcast lately, so I thought it would be a good time for us to get more in touch with another aspect of being human: art.…
Read MoreEpisode 129 :: Thupten Lekshe :: Benefits and Challenges to Secular Buddhism
Thupten Lekshe Thupten Lekshe joins us to provide insights and companionable discussion on the potential benefits and challenges to secular Buddhism. There are a lot of discussions online lately, about a wide variety of topics. And it seems that, for some reason, very few of them are in the polite tone we use face to…
Read MoreStephen Batchelor and Don Cupitt — The Future of Religion: a Dialogue
The following is a transcript from a May 20th, 2012 dialogue between Stephen Batchelor and Don Cupitt, entitled The Future of Religion: a Dialogue, chaired by Madeleine Bunting of the Guardian. Photo credit: Martin Zetter. James Blake, co-director of London Insight Meditation, writes: “This is a very lightly edited transcript of the dialogue between Stephen…
Read MoreEpisode 128 :: Gert de Boer, Brennen McKenzie, Doug Smith :: Scientific Skepticism and Buddhism
Gert de Boer, Brennen McKenzie, and Doug Smith join us to talk about scientific skepticism and Buddhism. We’ve found that there is a wonderful alignment between scientific naturalism, and secular Buddhism. Attitudes about Gotama’s presence as a human and the constraints of that embodiment, the veracity of first person experiences, and how we value the…
Read MoreEpisode 127 :: Richard Winter :: Power, Freedom, Compassion
Richard Winter Richard Winter speaks with us about the alignment of Buddhism and Marxism in his book, Power, Freedom, Compassion: Transformations For A Better World. How to we transform a society? Do we start off with our view about the best way to run a government, and dive right into sweeping changes, or have we…
Read MoreSBA: Why We Are The Way We Are
A couple of years ago, a friend was encouraging me to do a podcast about… something. Their idea was for a podcast about critical thinking, and though that had some appeal, it wasn’t something about which I had any particular experience. So it went for awhile, back and forth, what kinds of topics might be…
Read MoreEpisode 126 :: Gary Watts :: Buddhist Police Support Network
Gary Watts Gary Watts speaks with us about the Buddhist Police Support Network. Preconceived notions. We all have them. Sometimes this mental shorthand provides a bit of efficiency in navigating the hectic waters of our day. But if we allow these notions to always determine our actions, and don’t question whether they are accurate, our…
Read MoreEpisode 125 :: Gregory Kramer :: Insight Dialogue
Gregory Kramer Gregory Kramer speaks with us about his book Insight Dialogue: The Interpersonal Path to Freedom, and his work at Metta.org. The wonderful thing about our practice is that it isn’t dependent on a particular ideological point of view. One can do the practice within or without the context of a religous setting. We’re…
Read MoreEpisode 124 :: Ginger Campbell :: Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty
Dr. Ginger Campbell Dr. Ginger Campbell speaks with us about science of the brain, and about the unconscious origins of certainty. How often have we been absolutely certain of something? We remember it clearly, we know it in our gut, it’s a sure thing. Only it’s not a sure thing. We’re fallible creatures, us humans,…
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