Episode 118 :: Tim Ward :: Zombies on Kilimanjaro

Tim Ward Tim Ward, author of What the Buddha Never Taught, joins us again to talk about Buddhist practice, meme theory, and his new book Zombies on Kilimanjaro: A Father/Son Journey Above the Clouds. As we talk about the evolution of a secular Buddhism, it’s pretty easy to see it happening. There are an increasing…

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Episode 116 :: Yeshe Rabgye :: The Best Way to Catch a Snake

Yeshe Rabgye Yeshe Rabgye speaks about having the progressive attitudes of a Westerner within the religious institution of an Asian tradition, and his new book The Best Way to Catch a Snake: A Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Teaching. People are tribal. We tend to gravitate to our particular groups, adhere to the ideals of…

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Episode 115 :: Sean Faircloth :: Attack of the Theocrats

Sean Faircloth Sean Faircloth returns to speak with us about his new book, Attack of the Theocrats, and his new role with the Richard Dawkins Foundation. Question: what does secular Buddhism have to do with politics? Or, maybe more accurately, what does politics have to do with secular Buddhism? The answer is quite alot, at…

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Mindfulness for Beginners and Secularists (Book Review & Video)

Recently I’ve been contacted by atheists/secularists who have heard that mindfulness is a great practice, backed up by scientific study. These people want to learn mindfulness and meditation, but aren’t interested in Buddhism. I went through my own library, but found most of my books on mindfulness and meditation focused a great deal on Buddhist…

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Episode 111 :: Myoan Grace Schireson :: Zen Women

Myoan Grace Schireson Our guest Myoan Grace Schireson speaks with us about equality issues in her book Zen Women: Beyond Tea Ladies, Iron Maidens, and Macho Masters. It’s strange, don’t you think, that in our twenty-first century culture we still struggle with an imbalance in our attitudes towards people based on gender. How can this…

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Episode 110 :: Karuna Cayton :: The Misleading Mind

Karuna Cayton Karuna Cayton speaks with us about his new book, The Misleading Mind: How We Create Our Own Problems and How Buddhist Psychology Can Help Us Solve Them. East meets West. In our global society, that interaction is happening more and more, and the lines between the two are no longer so straight and…

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Thanissaro Bhikkhu's "The Truth of Rebirth": A Review, Part 2

This is the second in my three-part review of Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s 2011 e-book, The Truth of Rebirth and Why it Matters for Buddhist Practice, which you can read here. You can read Review Part 1 here.  “. . . Many modern Buddhist teachers have argued that the teaching on rebirth should be treated [as an out-of-date…

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