Diggin' the Dharma

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

Diggin' the Dharma episodes

June 12, 2022 Working with Desires -- the wholesome and the unwholesome
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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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30 min
June 05, 2022 The Non-Commandments-- the Buddha's teachings on Ethics
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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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28 min
May 29, 2022 The Meditation Industrial Complex- Part 1-- Making a living teaching meditation and dharma
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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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27 min
May 22, 2022 Unconditional Friendliness?- It's a big Ask
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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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28 min
May 15, 2022 Learning How to Respond Appropriately to Tough Situations
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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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31 min
May 08, 2022 Being an Investigative Reporter of Our Own Experience!
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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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30 min
May 01, 2022 So Many Ways to See: The Buddhist Maps for Liberating the Mind
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In the early Buddhist teachings there are many, many lists! Quite a few of these provide different ways of exploring our experience. They are maps to liberate the mind. In this episode, we look at the some of these teachings and how they have helped our own practice.
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30 min
April 24, 2022 Why do I Take Things so Personally? - More on Non-Self
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We'll discuss how the practice and realization of non-self in Buddhism helps us see through We don’t know about you, but seems like most of us can take everything so personally. This is an other form of suffering which the Buddha’s teachings attribute to clinging to self-view. It’s seems unavoidable until we start to hold to who we think we are a bit more lightly.
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26 min
April 17, 2022 Who Am I Really? The Buddha's teaching on Non-Self
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Doug and Jon start a conversation on one of the most misunderstood and yet probably the most important of the Buddha’s teachings. The teaching of Anatta- usually defined as “non-self”. Join us as we as we try to clarify without adding more confusion.
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29 min
April 10, 2022 Dukkha: I Can't Get No Satisfaction!
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Dukkha: unsatisfactoriness, suffering, or just untranslated it's the difficulty that we find in our lives. We'll discuss how it's understood and experienced. How do you see it in your life?
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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…