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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While it can be hard to believe, there is no limit to the amount of joy in the world.  Yet, at times it certainly feels that way.   Sympathetic Joy, or Resonant Joy is the third of the Divine Abodes and like the quality of compassion it has the capacity to weaken the boundary between self and other.  Doug and Jon discuss the role of the quality in their own lives.

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Compassion is one of the Divine Abodes.    Doug and Jon discuss whether this is an innate quality or one that needs to be learned.    How do we cultivate that quality and perhaps uncover what is already here.

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Desire can be the source of great Dukkha whether fulfilled or not.   Some desires, however are wholesome and these should be pursued, but even these can be a source of Dukkha.   Working with desires is an important part of practice.  Doug and Jon discuss their different approaches.

Books mentioned:
Anālayo, Compassion and Emptiness

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Unlike the 10 Commandments in the Judeo-Christian traditions which tell you what not to do, The Buddhist Precepts are actually practices and while they can be read like commandments, that is really not the point. 
Doug and Jon speak to how they work with Five Practice Precepts in the early Buddhist teachings. 

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We both manage to make a living teaching dharma and meditation.   How  do we balance the ideal of "dana" - the practice of generosity -- with the reality of a western capitalist economic system.  

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The first of the Four Divine Abodes (Brahmaviharas) is Unconditional Friendliness (Metta) and for many this is a very challenging practice.  In this episode Doug and Jon explore how this has impacted their own practice,  various ways the practice can be done and how it becomes integrated into everything we do.

One translation of the sutta on lovingkindness by Bhante Sujato: https://suttacentral.net/snp1.8/en/sujato

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We'll discuss a recent example of self-immolation, as well as difficulties some of the Buddha's senior disciples had with serious illness. How do we face challenging situations in our personal lives and in society.  It's going to be a pretty deep episode, but worth spending time with.

Doug's YouTube episode Buddhism on Suicide and Euthanasia: https://youtu.be/a62ZgVWANz4

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In the Seven Factors of Awakening- one of the maps in the early teachings- Investigation is the second factor after Mindfulness.  Doug and Jon speak discuss what it is we are investigating.    What are the questions we can plant that bring insights into a new light.
 

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