Episode 61 :: Winton Higgins :: Tragic Vision

By Ted Meissner | April 22, 2011

Winton Higgins

Winton Higgins speaks with us about the First Noble Truth and Tragic Vision.

Suffering. Dealing with it, how we engage or avoid it, is not new to Buddhism. And how a religion may treat it, can be very different from philosophical approaches to suffering.

Winton Higgins began meditating and practising the Dharma in the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) in 1987. In 1994 he became an active supporter of Wat Buddha Dhamma, where he began to lead meditation retreats in 1995. Since then he has led retreats for the Wat, the Blue Gum Sangha and Sydney Insight Meditators, and taught many courses for the Buddhist Library in Sydney.

He follows the western insight tradition and is particularly interested in the convergence of Dharma practice and progressive western values such as democracy, feminism and critical inquiry. His teaching has an affinity with the work of Stephen Batchelor. He is a writer and a social-science academic; he and his partner, Lena, have two grown-up daughters and a grandson.

So, sit back, relax, and have a nice Banana Lassi. It’s non-alcoholic, and Australian.