Secular Buddhism

By Noah Rasheta

Religion & Spirituality

SHOW DESCRIPTION

A podcast for secular-minded people who are interested in learning about Buddhist philosophy.

4.8

757 ratings

	EPISODES LIST
		92 - Your Inner Compass Buddhist teachings are always pointing inward. When we put these teachings into practice, we are learning to look inside ourselves and to understand ourselves a little bit better than before. In this episode, I will discuss an experience I had last week where I ended up having to trust my own inner compass over the advice of my GPS.	02.20.2019
		91 - The Three Poisons The three poisons of hatred, greed, and ignorance, can be thought of as the root source from which all unskillful actions arise. In this podcast episode, I will discuss the Buddhist teaching of the three poisons and how we can use this teaching to develop a more skilfull relationship with the greed, hatred, and ignorance we encounter in our own lives.	02.04.2019
		90 - Ultimate Authority The ultimate authority in your life is YOU. If you're familiar with the Kalama Sutta, you're aware of the teaching to analyze things against your own experience and to be cautious about relying on external sources for authority. Knowing this, why do we still care so much about external authority? In this podcast episode, I will talk about the idea of ultimate authority.	01.29.2019
		89 - Killing The Buddha There is a famous quote in the Zen tradition that says “If you meet the Buddha, kill him”. This quote is attributed to Linji a prominent zen master. What does it mean? How can this teaching help us in our day to day lives as we seek to be less habitually reactive? In this episode, I will discuss this koan and dig deeper to see if we can all apply this teaching to our own lives.	01.11.2019
		88 - Radical Okayness What is the state of radical okayness? There is a very clear message that seems to permeate through many of the Buddha’s teachings, that is, the importance of getting to know yourself, knowing your own mind. I believe that when we learn to look past our own stories and narratives we have about ourselves, others, and life, we begin to experience a state of radical okayness.	12.30.2018
		87 - Mindful Parenting \| An Interview With Shirin Peykar This is the audio recording of an interview I did with Shirin Peykar where we discussed the topic of mindful parenting. Shirin works with parents who are trying to be more mindful. Parenting is difficult at times and it's easy to find ourselves reacting habitually in the midst of the chaos. In this episode, Shirin will share some fantastic ideas and insight about mindful parenting.	12.23.2018
		86 - Listening To Understand We seem to really struggle when it comes to having conversations about difficult topics. Are we listening with the intent to understand the other person or are we simply assessing to determine what team the other person is on? Are they team "us" or team "them". In this episode I will discuss the idea of listening to understand.	12.18.2018
		85 - Sometimes We Try Too Hard Sometimes we fail because we try too hard, other times because don't try hard enough. The trick is to find the right balance, the space in between, the space that is often referred to in Buddhism as The Middle Way. In this podcast episode, I will discuss the idea of the Middle way in terms of space and time.	12.02.2018
		84 - How To Practice Mindfulness Daily In this podcast episode, I will discuss some of the exercises and introspective questions that I believe can lead to a more mindful way of living. These are exercises that are published in the new book "The 5-Minute Mindfulness Journal."	11.18.2018
		83 - The Eightfold Path The essence of many of the Buddha's discourses and teachings can be found in the Eightfold Path, often referred to as the Path of Liberation. It is not a path we walk only once or in a particular order. It's meant to be a guide for specific areas of life in which we can experience and discover the nature of reality.	11.11.2018
		82 - Dealing With Dissatisfaction In Life If Buddhism were to be summarized in one key teaching, that teaching would be about the nature of dukkha (suffering/dissatisfaction) and the cessation of dukkha. There is a fundamental unsatisfactoriness and stress that we all deal with in life. In the next 3 episodes, I will discuss the core Buddhist teaching of the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and some helpful practices we can all work with to deal with the dissatisfaction that arises from time to time in life. This is part 1 of 3.	11.06.2018
		81 - The Tale Of Many Tales The tale of many tales is the story we have about ourselves and the story we try to ensure that others have of us too. What are some of the stories you have about yourself? How attached are you to these stories? Does that attachment cause any self-inflicted suffering to arise?	10.17.2018
		80 - Life Is Not Fair Life is not fair, it's true! But is that really a problem? In this podcast episode, I will discuss the monkey reward experiment where one monkey was given cucumbers and another was given grapes and the result of that decision. I will also discuss the idea of sitting with discomfort. If you can sit with discomfort, you can do anything…	09.18.2018
		79 - The Blind Leading The Blind In a reality that is continually changing, our views are limited in space and time. The result is that we are essentially the blind leading the blind. In this episode, I will discuss the teaching of the blind men and the elephant and share 5 tips for people who are in mixed-belief relationships (we all are).	09.05.2018
		78 - No Hope No Fear Suffering arises when we want things to be other than how they are. Where there is hope, there is fear and where there is fear there is hope. They are like two sides of the same coin. When we feel uneasy, we get restless, we want to change something about ourselves or others, we hope things could be another way. Having no hope can be the start of a radical form of acceptance.	08.18.2018
		77 - Embracing Rebellion "I think of mindfulness meditation as almost a rebellion against natural selection...Natural selection sets our agenda, and Buddhism says, 'We don't have to play this game." In this episode, I will discuss the concept of embracing rebellion as a form of living more mindfully. I will also clarify a couple of things from last week's episode. I hope you enjoy this topic!	07.29.2018
		76 - Patience With Ourselves, Others, And Life What does it mean to be patient with ourselves, others, and life? How do we practice patience? Is Mindfulness practice for everyone? These are a few of the questions and ideas I will explore in this podcast episode. I hope you enjoy this topic and I hope some of this information may be beneficial to you in your day to day lives.	07.20.2018
		75 - Everyday Buddhism Interview This podcast episode is the audio of a recent interview I did on the Everyday Buddhism podcast with my friend Wendy. If you enjoy this podcast episode, check out the Everyday Buddhism Podcast on your favorite podcasting app or visit everyday-buddhism.com	07.09.2018
		74 - Goals, Relationships, and Non-Attachment If we're practicing non-attachment, how should we approach things like goals and relationships? Should we avoid such things? I don't think so. Goals are great and so are relationships. So how should we approach goals and relationships in the context of non-attachment? These are the ideas I will explore in this podcast episode.	06.11.2018
		73 - What Moves Us? The 5 Core Social Motives What Moves Us? Why do we fear rejection? Why are we so motivated to want to belong? In this episode, I will discuss the 5 core social motives of Belonging, Understanding, Control, Enhancing Self, and Trust as presented by Susan Fiske. I will also correlate the idea of the core social motives with some Buddhist concepts and ideas.	06.04.2018
		72 - Yanny Or Laurel? - A Lesson in Mindful Communication In this episode, I will share an audio clip that's gone viral where some people hear the word "yanny" and others hear the word "laurel". I will also discuss 6 tips to help us be more mindful of how we communicate.	05.16.2018
		71 - Breaking The Chain Of Reactivity At any given moment, we’re all acting upon what has been set in motion by others. A central teaching of Buddhism is that we can pause and break the cycle of reactivity. We can learn to be more skillful in how we contribute to the never-ending web of causes and effects going on all around us. In this episode, I will discuss the notion of breaking the chain or reactivity.	05.01.2018
		70 - Beware Of The Guru Mind In this episode, I will discuss my personal views about having a Guru/teacher. In order to learn something new or to develop a new skill, it can be helpful and wise to have the guidance and advice of a teacher but it can also become detrimental when we create a dependency on that teacher. The Buddha compared his own teachings to a raft that when no longer needed, should be left behind.	04.22.2018
		69 - Sitting With Sadness Buddhist teachings often talk about "being with our emotions" or learning to "sit with an emotion" but what does that really mean? What does that look like in our day to day lives? In this episode, I will discuss a recent experience I had with sitting with sadness.	04.09.2018
		68 - Questions About Buddhism In this podcast episode, I will discuss my newest book and I will share some of the specific Q&A's directly from the book. Presented in a practical Q&A format, No-Nonsense Buddhism for Beginners is the most clear-cut introductory guide to understanding the essential concepts of Buddhism and how they relate to your daily life.	04.03.2018
		67 - Never Enough In this podcast episode, I will discuss how the attitude of "never enough" can lead to a form emotional abuse that we inflict on our selves. I will discuss the idea of how letting go of the unhealthy views, ideas, and beliefs we have of ourselves can lead to a form of liberation where we are finally vulnerable and free to fly.	03.26.2018
		66 - The Joy & Pain Of Sharing Experiences Have you ever felt the strong urge to capture the experience you're having and then to share it with others? We do this with movies, books, restaurants, and of course ideas, opinions, and beliefs. In this episode, I will discuss the joy and pain that often arise when we try to share our experiences and how that joy/pain doesn't have to take away from the original experience itself.	03.19.2018
		65 - What Does it Mean to Forgive? The Buddhist approach to forgiveness is about changing our relationship with the reactive patterns that run our lives. It’s a form of introspection that allows me to understand my reactive patterns and then, more importantly to change my relationship with those patterns.	02.15.2018
		64 - We Don't Need To Change Ourselves In this episode, I will discuss the concept of inherent perfection and how from the Buddhist perspective, that implies that we don't need to change ourselves. The idea of "perfection" from the Buddhist perspective is not a moral qualification. There is no "should" or compelling in ethical or moral behavior because your inherent nature is kindness and goodness.	01.30.2018
		63 - Mindful Eating - A Discussion With Paige Smathers Like breathing, eating is one of the most common things we do, but how mindful are we of this process? How mindful are we of our relationship with food? In this podcast episode, I will discuss the topic of mindful eating with Paige Smathers, host of the Nutrition Matters podcast. We talk about mindful eating, our relationship with food, and how we can gain insight and wisdom by becoming more mindful about eating. I hope you enjoy this podcast episode.	01.16.2018
		62 - What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully In this episode, I discuss the topic of death with Frank Ostaseski, author of "The Five Invitations: What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully". Death is perhaps our greatest teacher, a close encounter with death can forever change our perspectives and priorities. Awareness of death is the secret to living more mindfully.	12.22.2017
		61 - Mindful Relationships, Social Justice & More - Yael Shy In this podcast episode, I am sharing the audio of an interview with Yael Shy. Yael offers expert guidance on beginning a meditation practice and explores how to bring that practice to relationships, social justice, and the general ups and downs of everyday life.	12.15.2017
		60 - "Happiness" - A discussion with Ellen Petry Leanse This is the audio recording of an interview with Ellen Petry Leanse (TEDx: Happiness by Design) and author of "The Happiness Hack: a brain-aware guide to life satisfaction". I hope you enjoy listening to our discussion on the topic of happiness.	11.29.2017
		59 - "Escape Into Discomfort" - A discussion with Shinzen Young In this episode, I am sharing the audio from an interview/discussion I had with Shinzen Young on the topic of "Escaping into Discomfort". This interview was streamed live on November 16th, 2017.	11.20.2017
		58 - The Art of Stopping & Seeing The Buddha told Angulimala (the murderer), "I stopped long ago, it's you that hasn't stopped". The art of learning to stop….is about having the ability to pause for a moment and to shine some light on the hidden agendas that often determine why we say what we say, do what we do, and think what we think.	11.08.2017
		57 - Why Do We Experience All-Pervasive Suffering? Why is it common to have that nagging feeling that things aren't how they're supposed to be? Do you ever feel like life is not how it's supposed to be, others are not how they're supposed to be or that you yourself are not how you're supposed to be? In this episode, I will talk about the 3 types of suffering and specifically the 3rd type: all-pervasive suffering. I will talk about where it comes from and how we can begin to understand it better and work with it.	10.30.2017
		56 - What Makes You You? According to classical Buddhist thought, "self" is a view...It is a product of our perception…and perception is always happening. What if perception is an event that occurs rather than a thing that exists? In this episode, I will talk about the 5 Skandhas / Aggregates and how this teaching can help us to loosen our grip on the sense of self we all experience.	10.24.2017
		55 - The Four Foundations Of Mindfulness Developing the four foundations of mindfulness helps us to remove the conceptual constructs that often blind us from seeing reality as it is. Imagine being able to see things as they really are, free from our ideas and concepts. This is the very liberation we refer to as "enlightenment". In this episode, I will discuss the four foundations of mindfulness and how each foundation can help us to gain more clarity and understanding about the nature of reality.	10.10.2017
		54 - Guided Meditation: Fostering Kindness And Compassion This is a 10-minute guided meditation aimed at fostering kindness and compassion. Revisit this meditation anytime you feel the need to foster feelings of kindness and compassion.	10.02.2017
		53 - Freedom From The Bonds Of Anger & Hatred In order to be free from the bonds of anger and hatred, we have to practice. We cannot simply pray or ask for anger or hatred to be removed from us. In this episode, I will discuss how we can use mindfulness practice as a tool to transform the craving, anger, and delusion within us and instead experience transformation and healing.	10.02.2017
		52 - The Sound Of Silence What is the sound of silence? Listen to find out...In this episode, I will discuss the ideas of emptiness, signlessness, and aimlessness, known as the 3 doors of liberation.	09.19.2017
		51 - "Secular Buddhism" - A discussion with Stephen Batchelor (This is the audio of the live interview I had with Stephen Batchelor). What if we understood the 4 Noble Truths to be tasks rather than truths? What if we were no longer burdened by the quest for truth regarding metaphysical claims/beliefs? In this episode, I will discuss what Stephen Batchelor calls Buddhism 2.0. We're not concerned with the question "Is it true?" we're wondering, "Does it work?". In this episode, I will discuss Secular Buddhism with Stephen Batchelor. This interview can be watched on the Secular Buddhism Facebook page or on YouTube.	09.14.2017
		50 - Creating Moments Of Awareness 3 simple questions are all it takes to create a moment of awareness. Where am I? What am I doing? What did it take for this moment to arise? In this episode, I will discuss how I use these 3 simple questions as a technique to allow myself to become more mindful and to become more anchored in the present moment. I hope you can pause and ask yourself these 3 questions from time to time in order to expereicne more mindfulness in your day.	09.06.2017
		49 - "Addiction & Recovery" - A discussion with Noah Levine Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to interview Noah Levine, founder of Refuge Recovery, a mindfulness-based addiction recovery community that practices and utilizes Buddhist philosophy as the foundation of the recovery process. We all know someone who is / has been / or will be affected by addiction (maybe it's you?). The information presented in this discussion could change your life or the life of someone you love. The original interview was broadcast live to the Secular Buddhism FB page, and uploaded to our YouTube Channel.	08.31.2017
		48 - Humanitarian Work In Uganda Earlier this year, I had the priviledge of visiting Uganda with 16 podcast listners to do humanitarian work and also to spend time practicing mindfulness. A lot of people have asked me questions about this trip and want to know details about the upcoming trip (we're going again) in February 2018. If you're interested in learning more about the trip, this podcast episode will answer any questions you might have. Enjoy!	08.28.2017
		47 - Buddhism And Christianity I'm often asked whether or not Buddhism and Christianity are compatible. Can you be a Christian and a Buddhist? In this podcast episode, I will address some of the main differences between these two spiritual paths and I will highlight some of the key differences in the Buddhist path that allow it to be so compatible with other traditions.	08.14.2017
		46 - "Why Buddhism Is True" - A discussion with Robert Wright In this podcast episode, I had the privilege of interviewing New York Times bestselling author Robert Wright about his newest book "Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment". Wright leads readers on a journey through psychology, philosophy, and a great many silent retreats to show how and why meditation can serve as the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age. This podcast features the audio of the interview I had with Robert Wright.	08.08.2017
		45 - Questions And Answers 1 In this podcast episode, I will answer questions from several podcast listeners. This is part 1 of an occasional series of Q&A's that I will post as podcast episodes.	07.19.2017
		44 - Finding The Teacher Within One of the things I appreciate most about Buddhism is the emphasis on becoming your own teacher. In one of the last teachings the Buddha gave, he said, "Be a light unto yourselves." In other words, be your own guide. "Don’t look for anyone for guidance". In this episode, I will discuss the idea of finding the teacher within.	07.11.2017
		43 - No Cows, No Problems In this short episode, I want to talk about a story that is often shared about a farmer who lost his cows. To me, this is a story about attachment to our possessions. It’s a story about the suffering that arises out of our attachment to our possessions. It’s relevant because we ALL HAVE COWS. I want to talk about the story, and talk about what the moral of the story is. What can we learn from this story when we apply it to our daily lives?	06.26.2017

LAST EPISODE

92 - Your Inner Compass

02.20.2019

Buddhist teachings are always pointing inward. When we put these teachings into practice, we are learning to look inside ourselves and to understand ourselves a little bit better than before. In this episode, I will discuss an experience I had ...