Articles
Practicing Non-Self II — Six Elements Meditation
This is the second of three articles on applying the principle of anatta, non-self, to our dharma practice. The articles support the next few sessions of the SBA Practice Circle, which meets via online video conferencing at 8 pm Central on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. If you’d like to come experience…
Read MoreRunning on Emptiness: A Layman's Take on the Two Truths
I was first introduced to the Two Truths doctrine with the common simile of the wave and the ocean. Phenomena, including my own sense of self, were like waves on the ocean, perceived by everyday persons like me as discrete things and not merely the temporary manifestations of the ocean that they actually were with…
Read MorePracticing Non-Self, Part 1
This is the first of three articles on applying the principle of anatta, non-self, to our dharma practice. The articles support the next few sessions of the SBA Practice Circle, which meets via online video conferencing at 8 pm Central on the second and fourth Sundays of each month. If you’d like to come experience…
Read MoreBrahmali and Batchelor Debate
In my last post I looked at a talk given by Ajahn Brahmali on Secular Buddhism. Recently the Melbourne Insight Meditation Group released a debate that Brahmali had with Steven Batchelor on the same topic, which once again revolved around the central issue of rebirth. It raises interesting questions worthy of a follow-up post. (As in my…
Read MoreThe Buddha: Cooked or Raw?
Reading the past is bit like interpreting a Rorschach test: the more distant the past, the blurrier the image, especially when the society in question was preliterate and archeological evidence is sparse. Over thousands of years the humidity of the plains of the Ganges River dissolved the mud, iron and wood that the people of…
Read MoreAjahn Brahmali on Secular Buddhism
Ajahn Brahmali of Bodhinyana Monastery gave a talk on February 7, 2014 about Secular Buddhism. Brahmali is smart and well-spoken, and he represents a saṅgha that is at the liberal end of Theravadin monastic saṅghas (for example, they were instrumental in the ordaining of bhikkhunis, as against their more traditional Thai counterparts), so spending some time…
Read MoreYear in Review :: 2013
Hi, everyone. I hope this finds you all happy, healthy, safe, and (this year) warm as 2013 draws to a close and we make plans for 2014. It’s been a productive and interesting year for the Secular Buddhist Association in a number of ways. New Volunteers We’ve benefitted from the audio mixing talents of Anthony…
Read MorePractice Circle: Tonglen for the Winter Solstice
This week’s Practice Circle coincides with the weekend of the Winter Solstice, the darkest and coldest time of the year for those of us in the northern hemisphere (mudita to our Aussie and Kiwi friends!) I don’t know about you, but I always have a tangible felt sense of entropy about now. The cold and…
Read MoreOn Self and Self-Control
The Shorter Discourse to Saccaka (Cūḷasaccaka Sutta, Majjhima Nikāya 35) contains one of the most incisive discussions of anatta or not-self in the Buddhist Canon. However, it is also one of the most thorny to unpack, since the argument it presents is far from clear. The sutta centers around a debate between the Buddha and…
Read MoreAiming at Nonproliferation
A White House staff member was recently fired for “a series of inappropriate and mean-spirited comments” in his Twitter feed, including snarky criticisms of several of his colleagues and superiors. Somehow the news is all too ordinary. It’s hard to venture anywhere on the internet without encountering nastiness. Discussions devolve into arguments, arguments into feuds,…
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