- Buddhist Training Is Meant to End
Doug asks when Buddhist training is supposed to end, and how anyone would know. Working from the simile of the raft and the Buddha's refusal to appoint a successor — telling the sangha instead to be islands unto themselves — he traces…
- Why Our Deepest Certainties Can Be Completely Wrong
Doug examines whether there is any reliable way to know when we are right, tracing how confident certainty has misled even history's greatest thinkers, and asking whether Buddhist meditative insight offers a better standard. Drawing on…
- Who’s Really Enlightened? The Buddha’s Surprising Take
How can we know who's really enlightened? It's not a simple question. We'll take a look at various early suttas that show even back in the Buddha's day it was not considered at all straightforward, but rather required a lot of time and…
- How Did the Buddha Teach Nonviolence Without Being Passive?
Nonviolence was a core ethical principle for the Buddha, playing a key role in the Eightfold Path. But it was not to be confused with passivity nor inaction. We will consider various ways the Buddha's nonviolent approach to difficulty and…
- The Buddha's Lessons on Skillful Communication
Communication is a critical life skill, particularly in the contemporary world of 24/7 social media. We'll look at what the Buddha had to say about skillful speech and apply it to communication more broadly. We will also look at examples…
- Buddha's Response to Harm: Challenging Wisdom
What does early Buddhism say about responding to harm? We'll explore how the Buddha's teachings on kindness, compassion, and forgiveness inform a wise response to harm in general, and to habitual or unavoidable harm in particular.
- Is Enlightenment Possible?
Is Enlightenment possible in Buddhism or other similar paths? I'll first consider what enlightenment is, then turn to what it would mean to attain it. Finally I'll look at what kind of evidence we have about its attainment.
- Buddha on Anger and Hatred
What did the Buddha have to say about anger and hatred? Did he distinguish between the two, and what should we do about them? We'll look at a few of the key early discourses of the Buddha for answers.
- Kali and Vedehika: the Buddha's Cautionary Tale of Privilege
What is the story of Kāḷī and Vedehikā? We'll consider this early tale from the Buddha and how it relates to our own delusions of perfection, as well as how it helps illuminate some of the pitfalls of privilege and injustice.
- When Words Won't Work: Self-Defense in Early Buddhism
Sometimes words aren't enough to get us out of difficult situations. We'll look at several examples from early Buddhism where the Buddha and his disciples had to find more forceful methods. What line is too far? It's something we'll also…
- Patience in Buddhism
We will look at the practice of patience in early Buddhism, and relate it to our current problem: dealing with the coronavirus. We will see that although patience is not as central to early practice as it later became, it is nevertheless…
- Sympathetic Joy Meditation: Third of the Brahmaviharas
The practice of sympathetic joy is the third of the so-called Brahmavihāras or abodes of the gods. We will discuss what it entails, why we should practice it, and look at three different approaches to such a practice in the Buddhist…
- Real Buddha Quotes!
Are you looking for Buddha quotes? Then this is the video for you! I'll have ten pithy and interesting quotes from the canonical words of the Buddha. For all you nitpickers out there, yes I'm also one of you. There is no way to know…