Analayo

What is Buddha nature or the "Tathāgatagarbha"? We'll begin by looking at the roots for these concepts in the early Buddhist texts. Then we'll turn to the origins of the mature concepts in later Mahāyāna texts. Finally we'll turn to some…

The idea of "skillful means" plays a central role in much Buddhist dharma. We'll consider one of its most famous early examples and why one scholar considered it a "paternalistic" concept. We'll also look at its role in reinterpreting the…

What is "skillful means" in Buddhism, particularly in early Buddhism? We'll look at its usage in the early texts, in particular in one odd text where it seems the Buddha recommends a practice of sense desire, and then turn to its more…

What is Buddhist enlightenment or awakening? I'll look at three early suttas for indications of different pictures of the knowledge and results gained through enlightenment. Then I'll turn to how the picture of such knowledge and results…

Scholar Bhikkhu Anālayo's book on ancient Buddhist women in India was released a few months ago. I'll review it and then turn to five important and illustrative stories that Anālayo tells, including one that is of particular relevance…

The sutta on the "Incredible and Amazing" features of the Buddha is the key source for the story of his marvelous birth. It is a strange and problematic sutta for many reasons that we will get into in this video.

What is the idea of "the transfer of karmic merit" in Buddhism? We'll look into that and whether it can be found in the early material. We will also see ways we can make use of it in our practice.

Is mindfulness universally wholesome, or not? I'll look at two different viewpoints, one from the Theravāda abhidhamma, and another from a recent monastic scholar.

How do you approach the concept of Buddhist rebirth? Traditionally it's understood literally, which is how the Buddha saw it. But there is another option open to us, which is to take it as a resonant metaphor for the changeable nature of…

The word for "mindfulness" in Pāli literally means "memory". Does memory play a role in mindfulness practice? Or is memory unimportant? I'll look at a recent debate between two scholars of the early material, Bryan Levman and Bhikkhu…

Buddhist notions of non-self open up possibilities for reforming who we are in more skillful ways. Those are the heart of Buddhist practice. But how does it work?

Did laypeople practice meditation in the Buddha's day? We'll look to a recent paper by Anālayo to answer the question of whether lay meditation is a recent innovation in Buddhist practice, or a revival of something that went on in early…

What's the difference between nirvana and enlightenment? I'll discuss both in this video.

Can training in mindfulness help AI to align its values more wisely? I'll look at how honesty requires self-awareness, and how mindfulness can help. I'll also consider how AI systems might use internal feedback loops to monitor their own…

What did the Buddha have to say about food and eating? I'll discuss his one important teaching on the matter, as well as look at some controversies on the topic with his monastics. Then I'll turn to some advice he had for a prominent…

Mindfulness is ordinarily a practice of awareness of what is present to us, right now. But one aspect of such meditation involves being mindful of things that are not present. We will look at this aspect with reference to early suttas and…

"If there's no self, what is reborn?" It's confusing how to understand the traditional notion of rebirth in early Buddhism. In this video I'll look at both parts of the question: is there "no self" in Buddhism? What sort of "self" is…

To begin I'll discuss how the Buddha was skeptical of certain brahminic ritual practices such as river bathing. Then I'll turn to the interesting story of an early Buddhist nun from a lowly background who gave a pointed lesson to a brahmin.

According to one early sutta, there are many more than the traditional five hindrances to meditation. We'll look at that sutta, where the Buddha recounts his own difficulties with achieving deep meditative states and describes his…

Contemplating the impermanence of the elements helps us to understand their non-self nature. In one early Buddhist sutta, Sāriputta gives an argument as to how the four elements are impermanent. But it's a strange sutta, full of…

The Buddha often referred to himself as "the Tathāgata". But what does that epithet mean, and where does it come from? I'll look at some scholarly opinions, and then turn to the interesting history of the term. Recorded before our house…

Ordinarily it's said that there were four states of jhāna in early Buddhist meditation. But not always! Apart from considering some later understandings of the term that include eight, nine, or even more jhānas, we'll look at one early…

The engaging and popular YouTube channel @ReligionForBreakfast has put out a number of videos on Buddhism recently. Their video on "Who was the Buddha?" is a good intro to the topic that raised questions around the idea of a historical…

How did the ideal of the Bodhisattva develop in Buddhism? We'll sketch out the history using a couple of recent scholarly papers as guides. We'll see that "Bodhisattva" meant something quite different in early Buddhism than it eventually…

Several years ago the eminent scholar and professor Richard Gombrich put forward a controversial thesis: that the Buddha believed practicing kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity could lead us directly to enlightenment. We…

Is there an important difference between study and practice in early Buddhism? We'll look to one recent article by Bhikkhu Anālayo for help in answering this question. He investigates one apparent mistake in oral transmission of a…

For many of us, meditation involves a practice of counting the breaths. But it wasn't originally practiced that way. We'll look at the development of the practice of counting the breaths through some of its earliest written descriptions.…

Much of Buddhist meditation practice involves a focus on the present moment. We'll look at the history behind such ideas with help from one recent paper by Anālayo that takes a look at mindfulness practices in early Buddhism. Then we'll…

We'll take a look at a recent article by scholar and translator Bhikkhu Bodhi on the meaning of "Buddha" and his related realization. Some recent scholars have argued that it should be termed "awakening" and Buddha should therefore be…

Was early Buddhism non-dualistic? We'll begin by looking at what non-dualism means, then turn to its origins in some pre-Buddhist ideas. Then we'll turn to look at early Buddhism in particular. Last we'll look briefly at some ways…

Aṅgulimāla was a mass-murdering brigand who was converted by the Buddha into a monk, and who eventually became enlightened. We'll look at the most famous elements of his story and why they are important from an early Buddhist point of…

Bhikkhu Anālayo, a monk and major scholar of early Buddhism, has recently come out with a book on superiority conceits in several Buddhist traditions. We'll consider the four cases he discusses and then look at four further considerations…

What is the early ideal of the "lone Buddha" or Paccekabuddha/ Pratyekabuddha? We'll look at its historical development and an early poem that may indicate the lifestyle of the "lone Buddha".

The parable of the raft is one of the most famous early Buddhist parables. We'll look at it in context in this video, illustrating its place in a particularly profound early sutta.

In the past few decades a controversy has arisen over the restarting of nuns' orders in two schools of Buddhism. We will discuss the controversy as it relates to the Theravāda school, and note in passing that a similar controversy exists…

What is the practice of self-effacement in early Buddhism? We'll look at one sutta that distinguishes a practice of self-effacement through kindness and non-harming from a separate practice of deep meditative absorption. We'll also…

On an early Buddhist understanding, our minds are beset by certain "underlying tendencies" that produce in us unskillful thought and behavior. We will look at those tendencies through their most well-known list and also look at a couple…

Do you have a meditation practice where you do mindfulness of breathing? We'll go over five tips from a text in the early tradition that outlines five ways we can work to benefit such a practice.

In this video we'll look at the last eight aspects of mindfulness of breathing practice as described in the early texts. This includes practices of mindfulness of breathing related to mind, and to dharmas. We'll also consider how this…

We'll look at the first eight aspects of mindfulness of breathing practice from the early texts, four having to do with the body, and four with feeling tones.

When we begin our meditation practice we often begin with mindfulness of breathing. But it is so much more than an introductory practice. We'll look at its importance in the early suttas with help from a recent book on the topic by…

Do you want to improve your meditation practice? We'll look at ten things you can do to make meditation easier and more productive. We'll also consider a bonus eleventh thing that may change how you view the other ten!

Complacency can be a problem in our personal lives, and a disaster on a national or even a global scale. Where does complacency come from? We will look to one of its roots, following a path laid down in the teachings of early Buddhism. We…

There has been a recent disagreement over how deep meditative concentration practice should go, and over how deep the early Buddhist texts claim it was. We will look at that disagreement and help illuminate it by looking at some…

What does Buddhism have to say about suicide and euthanasia? We will first look at the broader Buddhist context and then turn to what may have been the Buddha's own views on euthanasia and the controversy surrounding them.

In this "deep dive" we will look at some highlights of one complex and fascinating early sutta called "The Great Forty". We will see how it highlights a three-part engine of correct practice. We will also see how it makes a somewhat…

Interdependence is one of the hallmarks of Buddhist dharma. We will look at how ideas of interdependence changed, and how ideas about dependent origination changed to those more in line with the later metaphor of Indra's net. We will also…

We live in an age of vast technological change, much of it for the good. However this change brings along great dangers. We will look at some of those dangers, consider ways to frame them appropriately, and then turn to solutions. We will…

Were there Buddhas before Gotama? Will there be Buddhas in the future? We'll look at what the early texts say about past and future Buddhas, and see why the evidence there is historically questionable in various ways. We will also see how…

In mindfulness meditation it's said we should practice with the internal, the external, and both. But what do these mean? We will take a look at some possible interpretations and how they can aid in mastering our practice.

Understanding change is difficult, it's more difficult than we may think. Often we consider change to be too obvious to be important. But really change is the deepest insight in Buddhism, and knowing change is central to practice.

Did you know there was an early Buddhist emptiness practice? We'll discuss the deep and subtle meditative practice known as the "liberation of mind by emptiness". We'll look at its stages as well as at a section that seems to have been…

Was the Buddha omniscient? We will look at the attainment of nirvana or awakening and its overcoming of ignorance. We will also look at some evidence from the early suttas that the Buddha was not considered omniscient in his day. We will…

Many contemporary discussions of Buddhist dharma blend aspects from varying traditions. We'll consider the extent to which that's a problem, and also the extent to which being too exclusivist can also present its own problems.

What is the history of Buddhist meditation practice? In this video we'll look at some changes that have taken place in mindfulness practice in particular, following some recent research. We'll also look at some other forms of meditation…

Have you heard of "mindfulness" but don't know what it is or why it's important? We'll discuss all that in this video.

We'll look at the body scan meditation. We'll see that there seem to be two or three different practices that go by that name. Then we'll delve a little into the history of the practice, and see where it might -- or might not -- have come…

Can you be too equanimous? This is a surprising conundrum from early Buddhism, noted by the scholar Anālayo in a recent encyclopedia entry. We will take a look at an answer to that question that seems to say that indeed we can have too…

Let's talk about four books that drew me to Buddhism, and why. Please put any books that drew you to Buddhism in the comment section below!

We see aspects of both humanity and divinity in the Buddha of the early texts. I'll discuss some of those aspects and propose some ways the historical development might have proceeded.

How do we confront illness and death? We will all experience them, but often don't want to contemplate them. I'll discuss some recent YouTube channels that have dealt with illness and death in deep and profound ways, as well as a little…

Many of us feel that being authentic is a life goal. We will look at that claim, and with the help of a recent article, compare the goal of authenticity with another more plainly ethical goal. We will ask if there may be a potential…

We may have heard the metaphor of the "luminous mind" in Buddhist discourse. We'll discuss one famous source of that metaphor and how it has influenced some aspects of Buddhist thought in the abhidharma and thereafter, as well as certain…

What are the three realms of existence in early Buddhism? We'll begin by looking at the way early thinkers sometimes had odd ways of approaching the world. Then we'll turn to the early Buddhist account of the three realms themselves, and…

Compassion is the second of the four Brahmavihāras, or skillful emotional states. We will consider three forms of compassion meditation practice, from the early and later traditions. We will also look at its history in Buddhism, and…

We'll look at the development of lovingkindness meditation practice beginning with its roots in early Buddhism and then at a couple of later practice techniques. We'll consider how the practices differ, and how they developed over time,…

In the early texts the Buddha speaks of six main teachers of his day with whom he disagrees. We will look at those six, and their ideas as presented in the early canonical material. We'll also take a look at a seventh major competitor to…

Many of us will be familiar with the legend of the four sights that Siddhattha Gotama encountered on leaving his father's palace for the first time at age twenty nine. We'll look at that legend, its sources, and consider what might have…

We'll take a quick overview of the history of Mahāyāna Buddhism, beginning with its earliest developments and how it separated from the rest of mainstream Buddhism. Then we'll look at a few of its later developments that came to define…

Buddhist compassion practice changed radically over the first few centuries following the Buddha's passing. One way it changed is outlined in a paper by Buddhist scholar Anālayo: compassion practice became more of a practice of empathy.…

Buddhist compassion meditation practices changed dramatically during the millennium from the Buddha's lifetime to the lifetimes of some of his most famous commentators. Using a paper by the gifted scholar Anālayo as a guide, we will look…

Fourth and last of the foundations of mindfulness is Mindfulness of Dharmas. In this second half of our introduction, we will continue going through the practices involved in this foundation. In particular we will go through mindfulness…

Fourth and last of the foundations of mindfulness is Mindfulness of Dharmas. In this introduction, we will discuss what that means in this context, and begin going through the practices involved in this foundation. In particular we will…

Mindfulness of mind is the third of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. We will look at its importance to ethical thought and action, as well as to locating ourselves along the path. There are lots of important lessons to gain from this…

The second of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is mindfulness of feelings. While sometimes it is overlooked, this is perhaps the most important foundation, at least in revealing the causal links that produce our worldly discontent. We…

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…

Mindfulness of the body is the heart of much contemporary meditation practice. We'll look at it today with a focus on the original texts, which provide a great array of related practices. We will see ways that the older approach is…

Mindfulness meditation is increasingly popular nowadays, but its roots go back to early Buddhist texts associated with the seventh stage along the Eightfold Path. We will delve a little into these texts and attempt to flesh out the key…

When looking at right livelihood within Buddhism, traditionally there are five prohibited livelihoods. However there is also a great deal of interesting additional material about inappropriate livelihoods for monastics, as well as a…

The five hindrances get in the way of our meditation, and get in the way of living wisely. Here we will look at them and at methods for dealing with them skillfully, mostly from the early tradition.

Lots of folks ask me for recommendations of good books on early Buddhism. I have a bunch of good ones here. This is my fourth YouTube video, so it's a bit rougher than some of the later ones. Apologies and thanks for watching!