Episodes
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The Buddhist attitude of "nibbidā" or "disenchantment"/"disgust" is central to the early teaching. What is it and how can it help us navigate our lives? Jon and Doug discuss.
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Doug and Jon discuss what forgiveness means in the contact of Buddhism. Is it Buddhist? It's a powerful and important practice but it doesn't seem to appear anywhere in the teachings.
Information on the Class offered by Jon:
Watering the Seeds of ForgivenessSupport the show
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Missing episodes?
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Doug has Covid, Jon has a bad microphone, but they're chatting about the Buddha and voting anyway, as well as Buddhist practice and voting. What does 2024 bring for us in the voting booth, and how should we frame our political choices?
To register to vote, and check voter registration in the US:
https://vote.gov/Support the show
Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
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A recent podcast series at the Financial Times discussed serious problems several meditators have had at one popular ten-day Vipassana retreat system. Jon and Doug discuss this and some important work by Brown psychology professor Dr. Willoughby Britton.
Links:
The Retreat — an investigative podcast into the perils of meditation [Financial Times] -- https://www.ft.com/content/b3ec8e57-5cf9-4f96-9267-56c3bcd9c102
The Hidden Risks of Meditation — Dr. Willoughby Britton | The Tim Ferriss Show — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdmvoX1RZWA
Cheetah House: Help for Meditators In Distress -- https://www.cheetahhouse.org/
Book: Trauma Sensitive MIndfulness, David TreleavenSupport the show
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With Jon's impending move to Chicago Jon and Doug discuss the beneficial practice of renunciation. What do we really need?
Video: George Carlin talks about "stuff" -- https://youtu.be/MvgN5gCuLacSupport the show
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Silence is so important to Buddhist practice. Jon and Doug discuss how silence impacts practice as well as some of the early tradition around silence.
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How do we bring our Buddhist practice into our relationship with the arts and entertainment? The early Buddhist teachings, in particular, seem to look askance at this area of life. Doug and Jon discuss this interesting topic and how they integrate practice into their own interests in the arts.
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The Bodhisattva ideal really blossomed in the Mahayana traditions but the idea of the Bodhisattva was certainly present in the earlier traditions. Perhaps not in name but certainly in expression. When the Buddha spoke about himself before his Enlightenment, he referred to himself as a Bodhisattva. And, of course, the fact that he taught for 40 years after his Awakening points to his desire to awaken all beings. But how is the ideal expressed in us?
Two papers:
Bhikkhu Anālayo, Genesis of the Bodhisattva Ideal — https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/genesis-bodhisattva.pdfBhikkhu Bodhi, “Arahants, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas” — https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/arahantsbodhisattvas.html
Videos from Doug's Dharma:
What is a Bodhisattva? -- https://youtu.be/bs1XtNrNXpM
The Early History of the Bodhisattva Ideal -- https://youtu.be/ECI_3ytgxcQSupport the show
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Stream-entry, once returning, non-returning, and arahantship are the traditional four stages of progress along the Buddhist path. What do they mean? Are they historical? Are they necessary for us to know about? Jon and Doug dive into this topic, which always raises questions about the value and the pitfalls.
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The Buddha described humanity as tangled like string, knotted like a ball of thread. This tangle is a result of not seeing clearly the dependent co-arising— paticca-samupadda-- of phenomena. This is one of the most important of the early teachings. It can be seen through the lens of individual dissatisfaction and of course, through social, political and cultural dissatisfaction.
Doug and Jon explore the teaching and how we bring it into our practice.
Dhivan Thomas Jones's book: This Being, That Becomes
Videos:
Playlist on dependent origination at Doug's Dharma: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0akoU_OszRjcEvO6Gt2MSKF-u7Y8XaNcSupport the show
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Equanimity- Upekkha has an important place in many of the key Buddhist teachings. It's the fourth of the Divine Abodes, the seventh Factor of Awakening, the last step of the 16 Step teaching in the Mindfulness of Breathing and in the 10th of the Parami- the Perfections of the Heart. Doug and Jon discuss the various facets of this important quality.
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How can we work with our thirst for clinging and identification that seems unquenchable? We will discuss various aspect of letting go related to desire and thirst.
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We can't let go of letting go so we continue discussion from the prior episode.
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What is Insight (Vipassana) practice? Doug and Jon discuss its origins and how it orients our approach to the dharma. They also discuss some exciting potential developments with livestreaming the podcast.
Book:
Erik Braun, The Birth of Insight
Our new YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8HnYof8CejuOkLsr86EjRQSupport the show
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Right Livelihood is one of the factors of the Buddha's Eightfold Noble Path. Of course, times have changed in the last 2500 years, so what does this mean today? Doug and Jon look at the teaching and do some head-scratching over certain parts of it.
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The refrain in the teaching on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness refers to contemplating internally, externally, and internally and externally. Jon and Doug talk about how they receive that part of the teaching, which doesn't appear in any obvious way in other suttas but is actually a very important part of mindfulness.
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What is free will? Do we have free will? What does it mean to be free, and what does this have to do with our ethical and karmic responsibility?
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Truthfulness is one of the Paramis or perfections of the heart. In this episode we dig into what it means to not only be factually true but how the truth finds expression in appropriate ways-- both in our external and internal speech.
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Buddha Nature: what is it and how is it a controversial concept in some understandings? Jon and Doug discuss this as well as concepts and words generally.
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The second noble points to the cause of dukkha—craving and clinging. It's also related to the uncertainty of life and the desire for it to be otherwise. Sometimes, the wisdom we gain, even after years of practice, seems to vanish when confronted with the inevitable change. Our discussion was sparked by Jon's pending move to Chicago and the dukkha this has manifested.
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Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
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