Secular Buddhism
195 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 2.4K ratingsDon't use what you learn from Buddhism to be a Buddhist. Use it to be a better whatever-you-already-are.
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Episodes
142 - Wisdom and Fear
October 13, 2020 20:31 - 21 minutes - 29.8 MB"Some see something to fear where there is nothing to fear, and some see nothing to fear where there is something to fear." In this episode, I will talk about fear from a Buddhist perspective. Fear is universal but there are perhaps some fears that are skillful and others that are unskilful. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
141 - Smarter Not Harder
September 30, 2020 22:27 - 17 minutes - 24.7 MBI'm sure you've heard the expression "work smarter, not harder". In this episode, I will share my throughs regarding Skillful Effort of the Eightfold Path and how it pertains to not only mindfulness practice but to everything we do in life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
140 - Mindfulness For Everyday Life
September 15, 2020 15:00 - 18 minutes - 25.5 MBANNOUNCEMENT...I’m excited to present a new online workshop called "Mindfulness for Everyday Life" available exclusively through Himalaya Learning.Himalaya Learning is a new educational audio platform specializing in audio courses that focus on lifelong learning, business, personal development, and more, featuring courses from some of the world’s greatest minds like Tim Ferriss, Malcolm Gladwell, Elon Musk. You can listen to my full workshop series by visiting www.himalaya.com/mindfulness and...
139 - Mindfulness Interview With Dr Sarah Shaw
September 01, 2020 17:56 - 32 minutes - 44.6 MBI recently had the opportunity of interviewing Dr Sarah Shaw about her new book "Mindfulness: Where it comes from and what it means". I hope you enjoy the conversation. To learn more about her book, visit: https://www.shambhala.com/buddhist-mindfulness.html Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
138 - Sticky Hair Monster
August 19, 2020 18:19 - 28 minutes - 38.5 MBIn this podcast episode, I will talk about the Buddhist story of Sticky Hair Monster and the prince who tried to battle him. This story points to the battle that often takes place in our minds against our own thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
137 - The Beauty Of Nothing
July 30, 2020 17:05 - 22 minutes - 31.1 MBIs nothing something? What happens when we do nothing? In this podcast episode, I will share my thoughts on the concept of nothingness and the beauty of nothing. I will also discuss the koan "every day is a good day". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
136 - Mountains And Rivers
July 16, 2020 05:04 - 22 minutes - 30.5 MBIn this podcast episode, I will share some of my thoughts regarding the Mountains and Rivers Sutra by Zen master Dogen. This teaching reminds me of the simple yet complex nature of reality. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
135 - Weathering The Storm
June 29, 2020 00:54 - 19 minutes - 26.6 MBOne of my favorite Pema quotes is the one where she says, "You are the sky, everything else is the weather". In this podcast episode, I will discuss the concept of mental weather patterns and the way I correlate weather forecasting with understanding my own mental patterns and tendencies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
134 - Emotional Enlightenment
June 16, 2020 18:55 - 29 minutes - 40.5 MBIn this podcast episode, I will discuss the idea of Emotional Enlightenment and what that means for me. We often find ourselves seeking certain emotions and avoiding other emotions. I've found that by giving all my emotions a sense of equanimity, I've found a tremendous sense of peace. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
133 - Five Daily Life Guidelines
May 31, 2020 16:43 - 28 minutes - 39 MBIn this podcast episode, I will share five daily life guidelines that have been beneficial for me in my personal practice. They are: consume mindfully, practice loving kindness, practice gratitude, discover wisdom, and accept constant change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
132 - Nowhere To Hide Nothing To Hold
May 19, 2020 05:58 - 38 minutes - 52.6 MBIn this podcast episode, I will discuss the koan about the great meaning of the Buddha's teaching. I will also discuss some thoughts about the Buddhist approach of theism vs non-theism and how leaves us with nowhere to hide and nothing to hold. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
131 - The Truth Of Unsatisfactoriness
May 04, 2020 06:27 - 27 minutes - 38.2 MBThe nature of reality is that difficulties will arise, and we’ll experience suffering. We can begin to embrace that fact by recognizing that suffering, in general, is not personal. It’s simply part of the experience of existence. And we will experience suffering, no matter how hard we try to avoid it. In this episode, I will discuss the pervasive suffering that sometimes affects how we see our relationships, jobs, and parenting.Koan Discussed: What is the Sound of One Hand Clapping? Hosted ...
130 - Three Approaches for Doubt and Mistrust
April 20, 2020 15:48 - 37 minutes - 51.2 MBIn Buddhism, doubt is beneficial because it is the first step in weakening our wrong views. The wonderful thing about doubt is that it can propel us in the direction of more skillful views. There is a strong emphasis in Buddhism to avoid “believing in” Buddhist teachings, instead, we are encouraged to evaluate them and to understand them and ultimately, to test them against our own experience.Koan Discussed: One day Chao-chou fell down in the snow, and called out, “Help me up! Help me up!” A ...
129 - The HALT Method
April 14, 2020 15:41 - 23 minutes - 32.6 MBIn this podcast episode, I will discuss the HALT Method and share my thoughts on the koan shared in the last episode: "What is your original face before you were born?". I will also leave you with this new koan to explore: "One day Chao-chou fell down in the snow, and called out, “Help me up! Help me up!” A monk came and lay down beside him. Chao-chou got up and went away." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
128 - No Going Back
April 05, 2020 14:50 - 20 minutes - 27.5 MBA key Buddhist principle is a recognition that things are always changing. Life is transient. When we have the feeling of wanting things to return back to normal, we need to remember that normal was always relative, there is no going back. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
127 - Becoming Nobody
March 29, 2020 22:32 - 40 minutes - 54.9 MB"Good concepts are like a gold chain, bad concepts are like an iron chain, they all equally bind you in the end." The concept we have about who we are is binding. What if instead of trying to become somebody, we practiced becoming nobody. In this podcast episode, I will discuss the idea of becoming nobody. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
126 - Finding Peace Amidst Chaos
March 21, 2020 20:07 - 17 minutes - 24 MBHow do we experience more peace in the midst of chaos? In this podcast episode, I will discuss the koan of the waiving mind and also discuss the idea of expanding our perspective to experience more peace amidst the chaos. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
125 - Keep Calm And Carry On Skillfully
March 15, 2020 18:28 - 28 minutes - 39.1 MBIn light of the ongoing spread of COVID-19, I wanted to share some thoughts about skillful action. In this episode, I will also share my thoughts about the koan "There is Nothing I Dislike". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
124 - Dealing With People You Dislike
March 08, 2020 15:38 - 28 minutes - 39.2 MBWe all deal with people or situations we dislike from time to time. In this podcast episode, I will talk about dealing with people we dislike. For me, the recognition of disliking someone is always an invitation to look inward and to learn something about myself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
123 - The Art Of Diving In
February 23, 2020 18:46 - 28 minutes - 39.1 MBIn this podcast episode, I will discuss my thoughts on the idea of the art of diving in. Life is a lot like a pool and we are learning to dive in, we dive into new relationships, jobs, and countless other experiences but how do we do the actual diving in? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
122 - Stop Trying to Eliminate Suffering
February 09, 2020 19:35 - 28 minutes - 39.5 MBWhat if the problem with suffering is the idea we have that we shouldn't suffer? Suffering is a word that has become synonymous with the core Buddhist teachings of the 4 Noble Truths. What if our understanding of those teachings has been tainted because of our views of what it means to suffer? In this episode, I will talk about suffering and unsatisfactoriness and how the latter makes more sense to me in terms of Buddhist practice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
121 - Just Enough To Be Dangerous
February 04, 2020 05:37 - 22 minutes - 30.3 MBSometimes we know something but we haven't mastered it. We only know just enough to be dangerous with what we know. This applies to many aspects of life but also applies to our process of learning to live more mindfully. The key to mastering something is to practice it for a very long time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
120 - Unconditional Joy
January 17, 2020 21:53 - 31 minutes - 43.1 MBWe normally think of joy as a reaction. Something happens and it causes joy to arise. That type of joy is conditioned. In Buddhism, unconditional joy is always there, covered or hidden by our conditioned mind (ideas and beliefs). We can uncover it through practicing awareness and asking ourselves, what did it take for this moment to arise? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
119 - Endings And Beginnings
December 30, 2019 21:04 - 27 minutes - 38 MBAs we approach the end of one year and the beginning of a new year, I thought I would share some thoughts regarding endings and beginnings from a Buddhist perspective and how these teachings can minimize our fear of pain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
118 - Revisiting The Parable Of The Raft
December 15, 2019 21:34 - 33 minutes - 46 MBThe Buddha said, "I will teach you the Dhamma compared to a raft, for the purpose of crossing over, not for the purpose of holding onto." Everything in Buddhism, including Buddhism itself is a tool, a means to an end, but not the end itself. In this episode, I will revisit the parable of the raft and share my thoughts about what this teaching means to me. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
117 - Noble Silence
December 08, 2019 18:46 - 25 minutes - 34.3 MBNoble Silence is a term attributed to the Buddha for his response to certain questions about reality. When it came to the big unanswerable questions, the Buddha was notably silent. In this podcast episode, I will discuss what Noble Silence is, how we can practice it, and what benefits we may see from such a practice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
116 - People Who Don't Exist
December 02, 2019 11:19 - 22 minutes - 31.6 MBWe all have the tendency to make a picture of reality and of other people. It's like we paint a portrait and then believe that this portrait is a 100% accurate depiction of the real person we painted and we don't realize that they are not the same. In this episode, I will talk about the idea of people who don't exist (the portraits in our minds). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
115 - Unhooking Habitual Patterns
November 10, 2019 16:50 - 25 minutes - 35.5 MBWhat are the things that hook us? In our quest to understand ourselves and to become a better whatever we already are, it’s extremely beneficial to be capable of recognizing our attachments and knowing what it is that hooks us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
114 - Beware Of Falling Rocks
November 03, 2019 21:38 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MBIn this podcast episode, I will discuss the idea of attachment in relation to the Buddhist notion of groundlessness. I will discuss how our strong attachment to things can often cause more discomfort than the comfort we thought we were getting from the thing in the first place. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
113 - Right Speech
October 28, 2019 18:44 - 26 minutes - 36.4 MBHow can we communicate more skillfully? In this podcast episode, I will discuss "right speech", one of the points on the eightfold path. I will discuss three different communication styles: passive, aggressive, and assertive and share a communication formula that has helped me to communicate more skillfully with my loved ones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
112 - The Importance Of Community
October 21, 2019 17:43 - 25 minutes - 35 MBIn this podcast episode, I will discuss the Buddhist teaching of "taking refuge" and talk about the teaching of the three jewels. I will discuss in greater detail how I hope to build an online community where we can practice together and continue our discussions about each podcast episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
111 - Resisting Our Demons
October 13, 2019 19:38 - 21 minutes - 28.8 MBIn this podcast episode, I will discuss the Zen Koan titled "The Real Miracle". I will also share the story/teaching of Milarepa and the Demons he resisted in his cave and how that story can help us with our own demons. I also share a new Zen koan at the end of the episode for you to work with this week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
110 - Unhappily Headed Towards Happiness
September 29, 2019 03:49 - 18 minutes - 26 MBOften we find ourselves unhappily headed towards happiness. Thinking that once we arrive, we will suddenly not be how we've been all along. In this podcast episode, I will talk about Bodhidharma's beard and the koan that invites us to look closer at ourselves and others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
109 - Finding Your True Self
September 12, 2019 16:28 - 15 minutes - 21.4 MBWhat happens when we break through the conceptual fog that often blinds us from seeing ourselves as we really are? In this podcast episode, I will talk about the idea of finding your true self. I will also discuss a few more zen koans including "MU" and "Temper". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
108 - Important Things To Think About Often
September 01, 2019 18:05 - 18 minutes - 25.5 MBThe Buddha taught that there are five important things we should think about often. These are commonly referred to as the Five Remembrances. In this episode, I will talk about the five remembrances and how remembering these important things often can lead to a more mindful and fulfilling life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
107 - Learning To Be Silent
August 25, 2019 17:21 - 24 minutes - 33.7 MBIn this podcast episode, I discuss three more Zen Koans: Joshu's Zen, The Gates of Paradise, and Learning to be Silent. I will share what these koans mean to me and how I interpret the lessons of these koans in my own day-to-day life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
106 - Everything Is Best
August 15, 2019 04:17 - 19 minutes - 26.6 MBIn this episode, I share three more Zen koans and what they mean to me. Calling card, Everything is Best, and Inch Time Foot Gem. Thank you for listening and for being a part of this journey with me. Until next time! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
105 - Open Your Own Treasure House
August 07, 2019 05:17 - 21 minutes - 29.2 MBWe generally value answers more than we do questions but what if the bigger treasure in the pursuit of answers is to be found in the question itself? In this podcast episode I will share my thoughts regarding the koan: Open Your Own Treasure House. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
104 - A Limited View
July 29, 2019 19:25 - 26 minutes - 36.3 MBIn this episode, I will discuss the Buddhist teaching of the Elephant and the blind men and how my understanding of having a limited view affects the type of questions I ask about myself, others, and life in general. I will also talk about how I use Facebook as a place to practice mindfulness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
103 - Making Time For Nothing
July 15, 2019 04:08 - 13 minutes - 17.9 MBIs nothing something? What happens when we make time for nothing? In this episode, I will explore the idea of boredom and how mastering boredom could be one of the great benefits of mindfulness practice. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
102 - Never Lost
July 03, 2019 05:42 - 28 minutes - 39.2 MB"Having no destination, I am never lost." In this podcast episode, I will share some of my favorite quotes by Ikkyu Shojun. I will also explain one of my new favorite quotes that's been floating in my head..."Having no certainty, I am never wrong." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
101 - What's Your Sideshow?
June 25, 2019 01:21 - 23 minutes - 32.5 MBA sideshow is a diverting incident or issue that distracts attention from something more important, the real show. In Buddhist practice, we strive to understand the sideshows we are often presenting to ourselves and to the world. What's the real show behind the sideshow? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
100 - Keep Going
May 31, 2019 14:01 - 30 minutes - 41.2 MB100 episodes! What an exciting milestone! In this podcast episode, I will talk about one of my favorite expressions/teachings from Sensei Kubose. "Keep Going" has become one of my go-to reminders about life in general. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
99 - Presence Podcast Interview
May 22, 2019 01:22 - 39 minutes - 54.7 MBAudio from a recent interview I did on Presence Podcast about Life Lessons.Are the stories you tell yourself real?How do you deal with your most sensitive emotions?Is there such a thing as good and bad?How do you define love?If you enjoy this episode, check out the Presence Podcast at: http://presencepodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
98 - The Rascal Behind The Curtain
May 06, 2019 05:28 - 20 minutes - 28.1 MBSometimes when we peek behind the curtain, we discover something that we wish we didn't know. Imagine what it would be like to peek behind the curtain of the mind only to see yourself peeking behind the curtain of the mind. Discovering that what you have been searching for is who is searching. In this episode, I will discuss the idea of the rascal behind the curtain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
97 - Dependent Origination
April 25, 2019 20:21 - 28 minutes - 39.6 MBTo understand dependent origination is to understand that nothing has independent, permanent, or absolute existence. Everything is part of a web of countless interconnections and the web is always changing. Everything arises from complex causes and conditions, and in turn, combines with other things to produce countless effects. If we learn to pause the chain of reactivity at certain key points, the course of existence can be altered and effects prevented by eliminating their causes. Hosted...
96 - What If The Problem Is The Problem?
April 14, 2019 16:50 - 16 minutes - 23 MBPema Chodron says: "The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.” What does that mean? How do we give ourselves difficult times? And perhaps more importantly, how could we be giving ourselves difficult times and not even know that we are doing it? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
95 - Levels Of Morality
April 02, 2019 21:47 - 17 minutes - 24.4 MBWhat does it mean to be moral? Is morality just a form of obedience? In this episode, I will talk about the concept of levels of morality and how at a certain level, it's no longer about obeying the rules, it's about doing what seems right given the entire set of circumstances. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
94 - Obstacles on the Path - The Five Hindrances
March 21, 2019 20:13 - 25 minutes - 35 MBThe Buddha taught that there are five hindrances or obstacles to realizing enlightenment. These obstacles are commonly referred to in Buddhist teachings as “The Five Hindrances” of desire, aversion, disinterest, agitation, and indecision. These mental states are considered to be obstacles because they keep us from being mindful. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
93 - Stepping Into Groundlessness
March 06, 2019 21:33 - 20 minutes - 28.2 MBBuddhist teachings and concepts often challenge us to think differently about life. They challenge us to question the stories we’ve come to believe about ourselves and about reality but perhaps none more than the idea of stepping into groundlessness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.