- 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…
- What Is a "Fool" In Early Buddhism?
What did the Buddha mean by calling certain people "fools"? We'll consider what the words meant, and how we can recognize and overcome our own moments of foolishness.
- Did the Buddha Get Angry?
Was anger recommended by the Buddha as potentially beneficial? Did the Buddha himself ever get angry? In early Buddhism we learn of the unskillfulness of hatred, but is anger in the same category? We will consider these questions in this…
- Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge
How do we come to know anything, by the lights of early Buddhist dharma? We will look at this key philosophical problem, illuminated by words from one key sutta, and a more recent, deep work of 20th century commentarial analysis.
- Humility and Skepticism in Buddhist Practice: Problems with the Cankī Sutta
What is the goal of Buddhist practice? Does it have to do with knowing certain things directly? We'll look at the Cankī Sutta's advice for gaining direct knowledge and some problems with it. Then we'll consider some possible remedies,…
- Spiritual Humility in Early Buddhism: Lessons from the Cankī Sutta
One early Buddhist sutta recounts a discussion the Buddha had with a young brahmin. The Buddha raises a number of important points about how we come to believe we have knowledge, particularly of spiritual matters. We will look at that…
- Faith vs. Knowing in Early Buddhism
What's the relation between believing something based on faith, and having knowledge of something, in early Buddhism? We'll consider the role of faith vs. that of knowledge, looking at several early suttas.
- "Only This Is True": a Phrase the Buddha Questioned
When does certainty become a problem? Is it always a problem? We'll look at what the Buddha had to say about some people who expressed certainty and the extent to which the Buddha himself did so.
- Buddhist Right Speech and Promoting Social Justice
The Buddhist ideal of right speech counsels us to avoid harsh or divisive speech, but sometimes when pursuing social justice we may need to speak out. We will also look at the related topic of so-called "tone policing" online and how it…