- How Was the Buddha Down-to-Earth? His Approach to Ritual
How was the Buddha a down-to-earth, pragmatic teacher? We will look at his views on some of the most important ritual practices of his day, and how he was skeptical of them.
- The Buddhist Nun Who Taught a Brahmin a Lesson
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.
- How We Get Caught By Practice: Clinging to Rules and Rituals in Early Buddhism
One of our unskillful underlying tendencies of mind in early Buddhism is that of clinging to rules and rituals. We'll discuss what that is, as well as its potential historical development, and how it may manifest in us today.
- Secular Practice with Images and Rituals
Many of us have questions about including images or rituals in secular Buddhist practice. We may find the idea congenial, on the other hand we may have an aversion to traditional forms of practice, or indeed we may come from a different…