Posts Tagged ‘Buddha’
Was the Buddha Human or Divine?
We see aspects of both humanity and divinity in the Buddha of the early texts. I’ll discuss some of those aspects and propose some ways the historical development might have proceeded. Essays: https://sujato.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/on-the-32-marks/https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/genesis-bodhisattva.pdf Suttas: A Trainee: https://suttacentral.net/mn53/en/sujato A Delicate Lifestyle: https://suttacentral.net/an3.39/en/sujato Fear and Dread: https://suttacentral.net/mn4/en/sujato Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving: https://suttacentral.net/mn38/en/bodhi At Cātumā:…
Read MoreListen to the Suttas! – Audio Recordings of English Translations of the Pali Canon Suttas
Listen to the Suttas! Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtTMiZHe8419vKGsORMb1ow/videos Example Video: The Sammaditthi Sutta (The Discourse on Right View, MN 9) For those who have difficulty with written text (or Pali), there are few quality, widely-available audio recordings of English language translations of the Pali Canon Suttas. Our own Community Director, Jennifer Hawkins, who developed…
Read MoreIntro to Buddhist Art
What are some of the hallmarks of Buddhist art, and how has it developed over the years? These are big questions that we will only begin to tackle in this video. We’ll look at Buddhist art with an emphasis on its origins, and finally ask the question whether anything really qualifies as Buddhist art at…
Read MoreWho Cares What the Buddha Thought?
It’s a good question. We’ll consider some of the reasons why someone with a secular outlook should care what the Buddha thought, as well as other aspects of this question. Check out my new Patreon page!
Read MoreWas the Buddha Bald?
We usually think of the Buddha as having a full head of hair, but it may not always have been so. Today we’ll look at some of the history of Buddhist iconography, and take some lessons about how viewpoints can change over time. Some suttas mentioned in this video: The Marks of a Great Man…
Read MoreGautama Buddha: Man or God?
Vishvapani Blomfield’s Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teachings of the Awakened One is one of a new breed of Buddha biographies. For centuries there was really only one. Ashvaghosha’s epic poem Buddhacarita (Acts of the Buddha), written some three hundred years after the Buddha’s death, paints the Buddha myth familiar to generations of Buddhists. A…
Read MoreThe Secular Buddha (Stephen Batchelor)
An introduction to and overview of the concept of secular Buddhism. From Dharmaseed.org
Read MoreNo One to be Reborn
Critical thinking, skepticism, and experimentation are not only important in science, but our everyday lives. This is also true in Buddhism, and especially secular Buddhism. In fact, the Buddha was well known for saying, and I’m paraphrasing here: Don’t just believe what I say. Look for yourself.
When we first began practice with meditation, and mindfulness in our daily lives, many of the teachings prove themselves to be true. It becomes starkly apparent, for instance, that we cling to pleasure and we have aversion to pain. Our reactions to such clinging often cause a great deal of internal suffering. Mindfulness goes on to reveal much more than just clinging, but also how we create and recreate a feeling of self.
Read MoreRefuge in the Buddha: Man or Myth?
The meaning and context of the word refuge in and of itself is worth some thought and consideration, especially to those of us who practice secular Buddhism. In most traditions, refuge is considered faith, faith that what one is being taught is true or valid. But those of us who come from and have rejected religious pasts, faith may cause one to balk. At the least, it should prompt you to question and explore just why and how one takes refuge.
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