Diggin' the Dharma

By Jon Aaron and Doug SmithAlternative Health Health & Fitness Religion & Spirituality Spirituality Buddhism

Diggin' the Dharma episodes

July 30, 2023 Listener Questions and Responses: The Roles of Teachers and Trauma in the Path
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In this listener Q&A, Doug and Jon answer two questions: teachers' roles in guiding their students in the dharma, and how our past trauma might influence our journey. We don't pretend to have specific answers, but these wonderful questions elicited a wonderful discussion.

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30 min
July 02, 2023 Dealing with the "Polycrisis"
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The time we are living through just now has been termed a poly-crisis. A combination of existential crises happening all at once. Whether it's climate change, the war in Ukraine, pandemics, worldwide hunger, refugees, civil strive. . . we are experiencing it all directly or indirectly. How can our practice help? Does it help? Doug and Jon reflect on their own experience of this.

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24 min
June 25, 2023 Love but not Attachment
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How do we negotiate the Buddha's teachings on craving and clinging with our deep love of family and friends? What is the difference between true love and "attached love," and when does attached love lead to dukkha? This is an ongoing question. The Buddha did expect monastics to be celibate and to leave their families but he did not expect this of householders. Later traditions had other options. Still, the teaching asks us to beware of love based on attachment and clinging.

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26 min
June 18, 2023 Let's Talk about Buddha Nature
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Buddha Nature is a concept that arises primarily in the Mahayana Buddhist teachings, though without using that language, specifically, could certainly be interpreted within the early teachings as well. The most famous Koan on this is "Does a Dog of Buddha Nature?"

Doug and Jon have a spirited and at times confusing discussion on this. Join in with us!

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32 min
June 11, 2023 What Is "Now"? What Was "Now"? What will be "Now"?
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The present moment seems to come and go, but is that the case? What is the present moment anyway? This is a deep philosophical question and certainly a central point of Buddhist practice. Doug and Jon look at the topic from a number of different points of view . It's always a fun discussion!

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25 min
June 04, 2023 Speak Kindly and Don't Carry a Stick!
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In these days of divisiveness, it's easy to get into political arguments or, at the very least, think ill thoughts about some of our leaders. The Buddha's words on wise speech can be a useful guide.
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27 min
May 28, 2023 Do You Believe in Magic??
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A recent comment on our website prompted a discussion about whether certain Buddhist practices (Lovingkindness for instance) involve magical thinking.
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25 min
May 21, 2023 The Guardians of the World
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Doug and Jon discuss two natural abilities we have to skillfully maneuver through the world. The Buddha discussed them as "guardians of the world" (Iti. 42).
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26 min
May 14, 2023 Does Memory have a Role in Mindfulness?
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The Pāli word Sati literally means "remember' but also has the meaning of Mindfulness. The question of memory in mindfulness practices is the starting point of our discussion in this week's episode.

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27 min
April 30, 2023 Secular Buddhism. . . Is that a thing?
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Recently we discussed a kind of secularized Buddhist practice with Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Today we discuss the topic of secular Buddhism. What do we mean by "secular" or "religious"? How can such concepts (and they are just concepts) be helpful or not?
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Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
26 min

About Diggin' the Dharma

From the publisher's feed

Diggin' the Dharma with Jon Aaron and Doug Smith is a relaxed discussion of the Buddhist dharma between friends. Jon's interest centers around practice, while Doug's centers around scholarship of the…