Buddhism was originally practiced in the forests and it was evolving at a time when much of society was seeing itself as a separate from nature by trying to control it.   The Buddha, it is written, always went into the forest  when he took leave from his sangha for retreat.  In this episode, Doug and Jon explore the importance of reconnecting with the natural world as part of our practice.  What do we learn about ourselves and how the core teachings,  particularly around 'non-self'  are illuminated through re-connecting with the natural world. 

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Generosity is the first instruction the Buddha would give to laypeople, it's also one of the deepest and most helpful teachings in Buddhism. We will consider generosity, and how it can be manifest in our lives.

Buddhist Global Relief website:
https://www.buddhistglobalrelief.org

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This special episode Jon and Doug take questions from Sorrell, one of their generous member-donors over at Buy Me a Coffee. They discuss having children in a Buddhist context, how thorough non-attachment can be in lay life, as well as Sorrell's experiences on deployment in the navy.

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Is Buddhist practice only about attaining enlightenment, or are there other things it can help us with? If so, what would they be? Is it OK to focus on something less than the ultimate goal? We'll look at these questions and more.

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In this episode Doug and Jon exploring the practice of taking refuge.  The Triple Gem refers to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.   This is considered a True Refuge.  A refuge that doesn't fade that is always there.  It is both a practice and a commitment and a very important part  of Buddhism.  We explore the different ways to interpret these gems as well as understanding the difference between this True Refuge and the false refuges we often seek.

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The Buddha taught that we don't hold to fixed views.   Politics often finds its way into spiritual context and can be a slippery slope.    Some of us may assume that all Buddhist have the same stance on particular issues but this is rarely the case.    Some political situations are important to bring up in a Buddhist context and a definitely place of investigation. How do we work with our own fixed views and the fixed views of others.   Our practice, may bring us to a place of softening such views which then might  create a place of common ground.

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How do we deal with war If we are practicing the precept of non-harming (non-killing)? What are we supposed to do, and how are we supposed to feel about the situation in Ukraine? Eminent monastic scholar and practitioner Bhikkhu Bodhi has a recent article where he discusses this issue, with particular emphasis on the war in Ukraine. We discuss the article and the idea of warfare in Buddhism.

Link to the article:
https://www.lionsroar.com/buddhism-nonviolence-and-the-moral-quandary-of-ukraine/

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In this episode we continue our discussion with Upayadhi on a recent conference she attended, where one topic involved the influence of the digital world on Buddhist dharma. We discuss  its current pluses and minuses and what the future holds.

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Our guest Upayadhi recently spent time at a fascinating conference on the topic of "the future of American Buddhism". We discuss the conference and some of her reactions to it. What's the future look like? Who's involved?

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The Third Noble Truth says there is freedom from Dukkha.  We have experiences of this freedom often but don’t often recognize them for what they are.  It’s been said that “enlightenment is an accident and meditation makes us more accident prone”.  There is certainly some truth in this.  In this episode we look at Enlightenment from some different perspectives. 

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