Posts Tagged ‘secular buddhism’
6/14 Practice Circle: The Power of Poetry
I’ve been a poetry geek since I was a kid, and the poetry I liked best was the most mysterious. T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Wallace Stevens, were utterly indecipherable to me at 14 – and even years later, after I got a graduate degree in this stuff, it’s still hard for me to understand what…
Read MoreRoots of Secular Buddhism: Thailand
Some of the roots of secular Buddhism go back to Thailand. We’ll look at two of the fascinating characters that were instrumental in modernizing elements of Thai belief and practice, even as some of that modernization remains controversial to this day. Some source material: Peter Jackson 1986 PhD diss: “Buddhadasa and Doctrinal Modernisation in Contemporary…
Read More6/10 Practice Circle: Mindful Self-Compassion
I’m eager to share some of the many very useful practices I learned while being trained in the basics of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) by its originators, Kristin Neff and Chris Germer, at a recent two-day workshop. We’ll begin this Sunday, June 10, at 6 pm Pacific, 7 Mountain, 8 Eastern, when Practice Circle will explore…
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 MoreSecular Practice with Images and Rituals
Many of us have questions about including images or rituals in secular Buddhist practice. We may find the idea congenial, on the other hand we may have an aversion to traditional forms of practice, or indeed we may come from a different religious background altogether. In this video we will consider adding chants, bells, incense,…
Read More3/25 Practice Circle: Mindfulness of Feelings
I’ve been reading Beth Ann Mulligan’s The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness, which is impressive for the way she uses anecdotes from her secular MBSR course to illustrate basic Buddhist principles. In that spirit, when Practice Circle meets again this Sunday, March 25, at 6 p.m. Pacific, 8 Central and 9 Eastern, we’ll continue our four-part…
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 MoreThe Dalai Lama’s Secular Turn
Is the Dalai Lama a secular Buddhist? In two of his recent books he has outlined a universal, secular ethical program grounded in basic human values that are shared by believers and nonbelievers alike. We will take a look at these two books and discuss some of their conclusions and implications. Check out my new…
Read MoreBuddhists of Other Religions
Can you be a Buddhist and a Christian, a Jew, or member of some other religion? We will take a look at that question and investigate how such cross-fertilization works with a secular approach to Buddhist belief and practice.
Read MoreOnline, Together, Meditating, Secular: An Event Announcement from New Zealand!
For those who don’t know, New Zealand has a lively Secular Buddhist community: https://secularbuddhism.org.nz/ http://www.onemindfulbreath.org.nz/ http://abet.nz/ Last month, the prominent Ramsey Margolis announced via his newsletter that he wanted to try to lead a free, online meditation using Zoom similar to SBA US’s Practice Circle. Not only had he gone out of his way to…
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