- The Chain of Suffering: The Buddha’s Hardest Teaching
The doctrine of dependent origination is one of the Buddha’s most profound teachings. It’s also very hard to get a real grasp on. We’ll try to simplify the teaching by looking at a couple of suttas that may reveal an earlier stage in its…
- Obsessions, Compulsions: Mental Proliferation in Buddhism
What does early Buddhism have to tell us about our everyday obsessions and compulsions? We'll look at the centrality of such syndromes in Buddhist dharma, particularly around the idea of "papañca" or "mental proliferation". Note that I…
- "Buddha Before Buddhism": Considering Gil Fronsdal's Title and Translation
In this video we'll take a look at the idea of finding a "Buddha Before Buddhism," an idea suggested by a recent translation of the Chapter of the Eights (Aṭṭhakavagga) by Gil Fronsdal. I'll talk a bit about his book, then we'll turn to…
- Window on the Earliest Buddhism? The Chapter of the Eights
What was Buddhism like early on? We'll consider that question when looking at an early text called the Chapter of the Eights or Aṭṭhakavagga. In particular we'll look at its early concept of dependent origination and how it relates to…
- On Taste and Connoisseurship
Is it important or worthwhile to cultivate refined taste or connoisseurship in one's aesthetic preferences? This often seems to be one of the aims of formal education. We'll look at some Western thinking around the notion of refined…
- What is Dependent Origination in Early Buddhism?
The Buddhist notion of dependent origination is a complicated and difficult subject. We'll look at its manifestation in the early teachings, in its canonical twelve-step formula as well as in formulations that are simpler. Then we'll…