- 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…
- "Daughters of the Buddha": Stories of Ancient Buddhist Women
Scholar Bhikkhu Anālayo's book on ancient Buddhist women in India was released a few months ago. I'll review it and then turn to five important and illustrative stories that Anālayo tells, including one that is of particular relevance…
- The Deepest Meditative Attainment in Early Buddhism?
We'll look at what may be the deepest meditative attainment in early Buddhism besides nirvana itself. This is known as the state of the cessation of perception and feeling. We'll consider what the state is, how it is supposed to be…
- Mindfulness of Breathing Practice: Body and Feelings
We'll look at the first eight aspects of mindfulness of breathing practice from the early texts, four having to do with the body, and four with feeling tones.
- Digging the Roots of Our Complacency: the Problem of Neutral Feelings in Early Buddhism
Complacency can be a problem in our personal lives, and a disaster on a national or even a global scale. Where does complacency come from? We will look to one of its roots, following a path laid down in the teachings of early Buddhism. We…
- The Preeminence of Dharma Among the Buddhist Refuges or Jewels
Many of us will be familiar with the three refuges or three jewels of Buddha, dharma, and sangha. But how do they interrelate? We will look at a number of early suttas that indicate the Buddha's approach to them, and that suggest the…
- A Short History of Buddhist Mindfulness Meditation
What is the history of Buddhist meditation practice? In this video we'll look at some changes that have taken place in mindfulness practice in particular, following some recent research. We'll also look at some other forms of meditation…
- Body Scan Meditation: Description and History
We'll look at the body scan meditation. We'll see that there seem to be two or three different practices that go by that name. Then we'll delve a little into the history of the practice, and see where it might -- or might not -- have come…
- The Unconscious in Early Buddhism?
The unconscious plays a key role in recent theories of psychology. Does it have any counterpart in Buddhism? Well ... sort of. We will look at the suttas of early Buddhism in particular, at one way we may be able to recover some ideas…
- Can Bad Thoughts Be Good For You?
Can unskillful emotions and mental states become skillful in practice? We will look at a few interesting texts from the early Buddhist tradition that highlight ways that some unskillful states are always so while others can become useful…