Episode 98 :: John Peacock :: Buddha the Radical to Creeping Brahmanism

Scholar and Associate Director of The Oxford Mindfulness Centre John Peacock joins us to speak about secular views of early Buddhism.

It’s strange, thinking from our current vantage point, that the religious edifice we call Buddhism might not have been intended by the Buddha to become such an edifice. But, unless we take a closer look, unless we allow ourselves to think outside what the traditions are telling us, we might miss that potential fact of this pragmatic and beneficial practice.

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The Buddha’s Teaching on Loving-Kindness: A Mature Path to Awakening

In much contemporary Buddhist teachings, the paths of the heart are often relegated to second place behind the primacy of Wisdom on the path to awakening. In the earliest texts, however, the Buddha appears to consider the cultivation of kindness and compassion as a fully viable and equal path to awakening, to enlightenment, to Nibbana.…

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Episode 92 :: Tony Bernhard :: Culture Independent Buddhist Retreats

Tony Bernhard Tony Bernhard speaks with us about facilitating a-cultural Buddhist teaching and retreats. Hi, everyone. As we’ve seen in the growth and popularization of Buddhism in the West, the teaching and practice takes on forms that may not fit with the cultural background from which they’ve come. Our commitment to Buddhism does not, as…

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Uncertain Minds: How the West Misunderstands Buddhism

Stephen Batchelor and John Peacock address the challenges of Buddhism in the west, how it differs from traditions, how Buddhism was misunderstood from the very start, partly because it was viewed through the filter of Christianity. Please join us in discussion below …

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Buddhism Before the Theravada (Audio, John Peacock) & Comments

I’ve  listened to the first audio recording of a series of six talks called Buddhism Before the Theravada, speaker John Peacock, held at the Insight Meditation Center. This talk is fascinating! John Peacock gives a really great history of the times Gotama lived in, and additionally he relates the importance of that history as context…

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