Piya Tan

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…

The simile of the "monkey-mind" is common in Buddhism. We'll look at what may be its first appearance in an early sutta. Why did the Buddha use this simile? What was he trying to get across? We'll find a number of surprising and unusual…

Often pursuit of good karma is understood as the path to moral purity in Buddhism. The truth is somewhat different. We will look at one early sutta with a couple of incisive but disturbing parables to make the point.

The workings of karma in Buddhism can reveal some deep psychological insights. One has to do with the role of intention in promoting happiness or misery. We will consider one early sutta to make the point, and look at the example of the…

What makes us "truly spiritually inclined"? One aspect may be "nibbidā", a Pāli word with a number of interpretations. We'll consider those interpretations, and how becoming disenchanted is key to true spirituality.

The sutta on the Rolling Forth of the Wheel of the Dharma is purported to be the Buddha's first sermon. We will consider the relevance of the metaphor of the wheel in this discourse. Then we'll turn to some historical questions and…

The Golden Rule plays a key role in early Buddhist ethics. I'll show where we find it, as well as how the Buddha seems to have derived it from a principle of psychology. I'll also consider the question of why the rule is expressed…

We will look at consciousness in early Buddhism: how does it arise? Can it arise alone? We will consider these questions with reference to several texts from early Buddhism.

One aim of Buddhism is to help us accept our mortality and so come to terms with death. We'll look at how his mortality was the Buddha's concern when he began his search, how coming to terms with mortality functions in various forms of…

What does nirvana mean in Buddhism? We'll look at some descriptions of it before turning to different views on its ontological status. Then we'll consider some later developments in ideas about nirvana. ** Note: the Pāli term "appatiṭṭha"…

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…

Right Effort in Buddhist practice has four aspects. The fourth aspect is that of "preservation", and it has some shocking aspects. What does it mean, and how can we practice with it?

Right Effort in Buddhist practice has four aspects. The second aspect is that of "giving up". What does this mean and how can we put it into practice?

Right Effort in Buddhist practice has four aspects. The first of these is the effort to restrain. What does that mean, and how can we work with it?

Who was "Tuccho Poṭhila" or "Venerable Empty Scripture"? We'll start with a story by the Thai Buddhist meditation master Ajahn Chah, and take a dive into the story's background and potential origins. It contains lessons for how we should…

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.

What is collective or group karma, and is it found in early Buddhism? We'll consider those questions, whether we might be able to make sense of the concept from a Buddhist perspective, and when and how the concept might prove useful in…

What role did deities and supernatural creatures such as nāgas play in early Buddhist mythology? We'll consider three ways the Buddha used and transformed mythic elements of his day to reinforce the dharma.

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,…

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…

A question from one of my viewers. In addition to the fraught question of "no self" in early Buddhism, I'll consider some of the pros and cons of self-love (or of what passes for it, at any rate). We'll look at a couple of early suttas…

There's a very strange verse in the Dhammapada, one that's been understood for over a millennium to have a variety of readings that don't come across well in translation. We'll look at the verse and consider why it's been so tough to…

The Buddha believed that teachers should not be followed on faith, but rather that they required investigation. I'll look at one key sutta where the Buddha outlines such an investigation, and discuss how it can be overinterpreted. What…

What role did pleasure have to play in the Buddha's teaching? We'll look at the hierarchy of pleasures that the Buddha described, some of its paradoxes, and where it might lead us to understand the dharma better.

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.

What does it mean to experience nirvana here and now, in this very life? The Buddha was asked this question in several early suttas and had answers. I'll go over a couple of those suttas and outline the interesting things he had to say.

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…

We had a house fire a few weeks ago. I'll begin by looking at the Buddha's famous Fire Sermon, traditionally understood to be his third public discourse, and then turn to what happened to us during that long night. I'll also have a nice…

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…

What if there were something permanent and unchanging we could possess? Are there conceptions of a self, or beliefs that we should look to as permanent sources of happiness? We'll look at an early discourse of the Buddha that answers…

Should we look at ancient stories and myths historically, or as inspirational literature? I'll look at both options through the lens of the Aggañña Sutta, a famous, early Buddhist creation myth.

Did the Buddha ever suggest there was a way to find a real sort of self? We'll look to the Poṭṭhapāda Sutta for an answer to this question. There we will see an interesting dialogue where the Buddha delves into a discussion of personal…

Is it possible to reach enlightenment with a few words? This is what we find in the story of the Buddha's enigmatic instructions to the wanderer Bāhiya. We'll look at those instructions and then turn elsewhere in the early canon to find…

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…

What is our root problem in early Buddhism? We'll answer that question, and then consider how to understand it in an early Buddhist context.

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.

Who was Malunkyaputta and why was he important in early Buddhism? We'll look at his story: how he began as an arrogant monk interested in intellectual matters and learned how to overcome his problems through meditation and wisdom.

One of the Buddha's most famous parables is that of the poisoned arrow. What did it say, and why is it important?

What are the five precepts of Buddhism? Where did they come from and why should we practice them? We will look at these questions in this video.

Yes, strange though it may seem, the Buddha did have something to say about running a small business. We'll see four beneficial qualities that help one in this endeavor, and how the Buddha compares them to similar qualities of the…

In a recent video (linked below) I discussed the five hindrances to meditation from early Buddhism. In this video I'll discuss ways we find in one early Buddhist text to diminish them skillfully, as well as some of my own thoughts on the…

The Buddha's chief disciple was a man named Sāriputta. We'll look at his life and influence in this video. First we will look at where his main motivation seems to have lain, by looking in detail at how he encountered the Buddha dharma…

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.

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…

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…