- Free Will Worth Wanting: the Buddha's Radical Answer
The free will dilemma: are we mere puppets of our past conditioning? Or are we somehow magically able to rise above all causes to act with pure spontaneity? The Buddha rejected both these alternatives, and provided us with a third answer:…
- How Did the Buddha Teach Nonviolence Without Being Passive?
Nonviolence was a core ethical principle for the Buddha, playing a key role in the Eightfold Path. But it was not to be confused with passivity nor inaction. We will consider various ways the Buddha's nonviolent approach to difficulty and…
- Buddha's Response to Harm: Challenging Wisdom
What does early Buddhism say about responding to harm? We'll explore how the Buddha's teachings on kindness, compassion, and forgiveness inform a wise response to harm in general, and to habitual or unavoidable harm in particular.
- Heart of Early Buddhist Practice: the Sangha or an Island?
On the one hand the Buddha recommended the sangha as a vital place of practice, one of the three jewels. On the other hand, at the end of his life the Buddha recommended we take refuge in ourselves and the dharma, and in nothing else. Can…
- When Words Won't Work: Self-Defense in Early Buddhism
Sometimes words aren't enough to get us out of difficult situations. We'll look at several examples from early Buddhism where the Buddha and his disciples had to find more forceful methods. What line is too far? It's something we'll also…