- Science Doesn’t Care What You Believe (And Neither Does the Dharma)
How do we avoid fooling ourselves? We’ll consider some similarities between the methodology of the sciences and the Buddha’s understanding of dharma and its practice.
- What Did the Buddha Say About Time?
Time is fundamental to lived experience, but it's also something we don't give much thought to. The Buddha had a complicated approach to time, both cosmological and practical. We will consider his views about past, present, and future,…
- What Did the Buddha Say About the Nature of Reality?
What really exists? It's an old question, and one that the Buddha approached in a unique way. We'll look at the Buddha's practical approach to questions of reality.
- Overcoming Arrogance: Story of the Buddhist Monk Malunkyaputta
Who was Malunkyaputta and why was he important in early Buddhism? We'll look at his story: how he began as an arrogant monk interested in intellectual matters and learned how to overcome his problems through meditation and wisdom.
- The Buddha's Parable of the Poisoned Arrow
One of the Buddha's most famous parables is that of the poisoned arrow. What did it say, and why is it important?
- Mind and Body: What's the Difference?
What is the difference between mind and body? This is an age old problem in philosophy. We will begin by looking at the history of this relation in Western philosophy and theology, and then move into how they are conceived of in early…
- Essentialism and Buddhism
Essentialism is a new approach to life, developed in a recent book by Greg McKeown. We'll consider it in this video, and how its ideas relate to those found in early Buddhism.