- Can a Small Intention Change Your Life? Buddhist Karma as Cause and Effect
What is Buddhist karma and how does it work? It's most useful to view karma as a natural law of cause and effect, showing how our intentions shape our experiences. I'll demystify some common misconceptions of Buddhist karma, provide some…
- Is Everything Karma in Early Buddhism?
Is everything we experience due to our karma? I'll look at what the Buddha had to say in several early texts to find out his thoughts.
- The Problem of Personal Continuity and Karma in Early Buddhism
Are we the same over time? We'll discuss the Buddha's answer to this question through various false leads that he rejects. We'll also look at the question of karma and the origin of suffering, and how it all relates to traditional notions…
- Three Ways Desire Makes the World
We'll look at three ways that desire "makes the world" for us, from the traditional Buddhist understanding of cosmology to a more down-to-earth way, and finally to a deeper, more fundamental understanding of the role desire and attachment…
- Buddhism and Race: Caste in Early Buddhism
Today we're dealing with crimes perpetrated through centuries of racial injustice in the United States and indeed around the world. Was there anything the Buddha said that might be helpful or interesting to us? We will look at issues of…
- Equanimity Meditation: Last of the Brahmaviharas
In this video we will look at the meditation practice of equanimity in the Brahmavihāras or so-called abodes of the gods. We will begin with a look at what equanimity means in early Buddhism, and its importance. We will turn to a couple…
- Considering Karma
Let's consider karma. We’ll go over three problems with the Buddhist notion of karma. Then we’ll discuss how the Buddha defined the term, and how his usage was innovative and different in its time. We'll see that there is a way to recover…