Diggin' the Dharma

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Jon and Doug discuss perception and how it's mediated by past experience and the stories we tell. How does it become misperception? How can we work with our perception to live more skillfully and fully?

*this quote is attributed to the Roman poet Phaedrus but it is often used by various Zen teachers

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How does our concept of ourselves and others create suffering?  What would it be like to soften this "conceit of self".  Understanding and seeing through this conceit, is the last of the higher fetters, which needs to the released before awakening. 

Jon and Doug discuss how this comes up in practice.

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The Buddhist attitude of "nibbidā" or "disenchantment"/"disgust" is central to the early teaching. What is it and how can it help us navigate our lives? Jon and Doug discuss.

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Doug and Jon discuss what forgiveness means in the contact of Buddhism.  Is it Buddhist?  It's a powerful and important practice but it doesn't seem to appear anywhere in the teachings.

Information on the Class offered by Jon:
Watering the Seeds of Forgiveness

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Doug has Covid, Jon has a bad microphone, but they're chatting about the Buddha and voting anyway, as well as Buddhist practice and voting. What does 2024 bring for us in the voting booth, and how should we frame our political choices?

To register to vote, and check voter registration in the US:
https://vote.gov/

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A recent podcast series at the Financial Times discussed serious problems several meditators have had at one popular ten-day Vipassana retreat system. Jon and Doug discuss this and some important work by Brown psychology professor Dr. Willoughby Britton.

Links:
The Retreat — an investigative podcast into the perils of meditation [Financial Times] -- https://www.ft.com/content/b3ec8e57-5cf9-4f96-9267-56c3bcd9c102
The Hidden Risks of Meditation — Dr. Willoughby Britton | The Tim Ferriss Show — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdmvoX1RZWA

Cheetah House: Help for Meditators In Distress -- https://www.cheetahhouse.org/

Book: Trauma Sensitive MIndfulness, David Treleaven

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With Jon's impending move to Chicago Jon and Doug discuss the beneficial practice of renunciation. What do we really need?

Video: George Carlin talks about "stuff" -- https://youtu.be/MvgN5gCuLac

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Silence is so important to Buddhist practice. Jon and Doug discuss how silence impacts practice as well as some of the early tradition around silence.

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How do we bring our Buddhist practice into our relationship with the arts and entertainment?  The early Buddhist teachings, in particular, seem to look askance at this area of life.  Doug and Jon discuss this interesting topic and how they integrate practice into their own interests in the arts.

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The Bodhisattva ideal really blossomed in the Mahayana traditions but the idea of the Bodhisattva was certainly present in the earlier traditions.  Perhaps not in name but certainly in expression.  When the Buddha spoke about himself before his Enlightenment, he referred to himself as a Bodhisattva.  And, of course, the fact that he taught for 40 years after his Awakening points to his desire to awaken all beings.  But how is the ideal expressed in us? 

Two papers:
Bhikkhu Anālayo, Genesis of the Bodhisattva Ideal — https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/genesis-bodhisattva.pdf 

Bhikkhu Bodhi, “Arahants, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas” — https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/arahantsbodhisattvas.html 

Videos from Doug's Dharma:
What is a Bodhisattva? --  https://youtu.be/bs1XtNrNXpM
The Early History of the Bodhisattva Ideal -- https://youtu.be/ECI_3ytgxcQ 

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