The Secular Buddhist Podcast

Justin Merritt Justin Merritt returns to speak about his upcoming Buddhist orchestral premier of The Path. Buddhism may not be known for its presence in orchestral music. In April of 2018, it will be taking a big step forward in Orchestral Hall in my old home of Minneapolis, with the premier of The Path. Composer…

Harrison Blum Harrison Blum joins us to speak about diversity, inclusion, and equity with his Mindfulness Allies Project (MAP). There’s a lot of discussion lately about diversity, equity, and inclusion in our Buddhist communities. There isn’t adequate representation in popular media of the large number of Asian Buddhists in the U.S., intersectionality isn’t understood, people…

Richard Bryan McDaniel Richard Bryan McDaniel joins us to speak about the growing of Zen in the West with his books The Third Step East, and Cypress Trees in the Garden. When I think of Zen, my mind and heart go back to the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, the place I was introduced to Buddhism…

Robert Wright Robert Wright joins us to speak about his book Why Buddhism Is True. Recently there has been a great deal of discussion about the book we’re going to be speaking about today. Some of that discussion, particularly and interestingly from Buddhists, has highlighted the long road we have to take around mutual understanding…

Kritee Zen priest Kritee joins us to speak about what it’s like being an Indian woman priest in the Zen tradition. As the world becomes more of a global community, people are becoming more exposed to a greater variety of cultures, ideas, and ways of living than ever before. This is a wonderful opportunity for…

Miles Kessler Miles Kessler joins us to speak about the intersection of mindfulness and Aikido. Hi, everyone. I want to thank you for supporting the Secular Buddhist Association with your generous contributions. Because of that dana, we’re able to continue offering this podcast, the discussions on our website secularbuddhism.org, and of course our live online…

Gerti Schoen Gerti Schoen joins us to speak about violation of trust that occur in our sanghas, from her book Buddha Betrayed: When Spiritual Relationships Go Awry. It seems this ongoing cycle of suffering is endless. Unfortunately, I’m not talking about the kind of self-inflicted suffering of greed, hatred, and delusion, but rather the suffering…

Grace Schireson Grace Shireson joins us to speak about her teacher, from her new book Zen Bridge: The Zen Teachings of Keido Fukushima. The relationship between student and teacher within Buddhism is not quite like the relationship one develops, or doesn’t develop, with your math or economics teacher. It’s deep, it can be intense, heartwarming,…

Spring Washam Spring Washam returns to speak about her upcoming book, A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Wisdom, and Courage in Any Moment. One of the many ways in which contemporary culture may be a bit different from that of the Buddha’s time, is the breadth of different cultures available to those interested in the dhamma.…

Reva Patwardhan Reva Patwardhan joins us to speak about her article, The Freedom Trap: Where Conversations About Cultural Appropriation Go To Die. There’s a lot of talk about cultural appropriation lately, and much of it has been just that — talk, not conversation, not engagement, and very rarely dialogue. The topic is very difficult to…