Secular Buddhism

By Noah Rasheta

What's Secular Buddhism about?

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

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120 - Unconditional Joy

01.17.2020

We normally think of joy as a reaction. Something happens and it causes joy to arise. That type of joy is conditioned. In Buddhism, unconditional joy is always there, covered or hidden by our conditioned mind (ideas and beliefs). We ...

Secular Buddhism episodes:

01.17.2020 120 - Unconditional Joy We normally think of joy as a reaction. Something happens and it causes joy to arise. That type of joy is conditioned. In Buddhism, unconditional joy is always there, covered or hidden by our conditioned mind (ideas and beliefs). We ...
12.30.2019 119 - Endings And Beginnings As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of a new year, I thought I would share some thoughts regarding endings and beginnings from a Buddhist perspective and how these teachings can minimize our fear of pain.
12.15.2019 118 - Revisiting The Parable Of The Raft The Buddha said, "I will teach you the Dhamma compared to a raft, for the purpose of crossing over, not for the purpose of holding onto." Everything in Buddhism, including Buddhism itself is a tool, a means to an end, ...
12.08.2019 117 - Noble Silence Noble Silence is a term attributed to the Buddha for his response to certain questions about reality. When it came to the big unanswerable questions, the Buddha was notably silent. In this podcast episode, I will discuss what Noble Silence ...
12.02.2019 116 - People Who Don't Exist We all have the tendency to make a picture of reality and of other people. It's like we paint a portrait and then believe that this portrait is a 100% accurate depiction of the real person we painted and we ...
11.10.2019 115 - Unhooking Habitual Patterns What are the things that hook us? In our quest to understand ourselves and to become a better whatever we already are, it’s extremely beneficial to be capable of recognizing our attachments and knowing what it is that hooks us.
11.03.2019 114 - Beware Of Falling Rocks In this podcast episode, I will discuss the idea of attachment in relation to the Buddhist notion of groundlessness. I will discuss how our strong attachment to things can often cause more discomfort than the comfort we thought we were ...
10.28.2019 113 - Right Speech How can we communicate more skillfully? In this podcast episode, I will discuss "right speech", one of the points on the eightfold path. I will discuss three different communication styles: passive, aggressive, and assertive and share a communication formula that ...
10.21.2019 112 - The Importance Of Community In this podcast episode, I will discuss the Buddhist teaching of "taking refuge" and talk about the teaching of the three jewels. I will discuss in greater detail how I hope to build an online community where we can practice ...
10.13.2019 111 - Resisting Our Demons In this podcast episode, I will discuss the Zen Koan titled "The Real Miracle". I will also share the story/teaching of Milarepa and the Demons he resisted in his cave and how that story can help us with our own ...
09.29.2019 110 - Unhappily Headed Towards Happiness Often we find ourselves unhappily headed towards happiness. Thinking that once we arrive, we will suddenly not be how we've been all along. In this podcast episode, I will talk about Bodhidharma's beard and the koan that invites us to ...
09.12.2019 109 - Finding Your True Self What happens when we break through the conceptual fog that often blinds us from seeing ourselves as we really are? In this podcast episode, I will talk about the idea of finding your true self. I will also discuss a ...
09.01.2019 108 - Important Things To Think About Often The Buddha taught that there are five important things we should think about often. These are commonly referred to as the Five Remembrances. In this episode, I will talk about the five remembrances and how remembering these important things often ...
08.25.2019 107 - Learning To Be Silent In this podcast episode, I discuss three more Zen Koans: Joshu's Zen, The Gates of Paradise, and Learning to be Silent. I will share what these koans mean to me and how I interpret the lessons of these koans in ...
08.15.2019 106 - Everything Is Best In this episode, I share three more Zen koans and what they mean to me. Calling card, Everything is Best, and Inch Time Foot Gem. Thank you for listening and for being a part of this journey with me. Until ...
08.07.2019 105 - Open Your Own Treasure House We generally value answers more than we do questions but what if the bigger treasure in the pursuit of answers is to be found in the question itself? In this podcast episode I will share my thoughts regarding the koan: ...
07.29.2019 104 - A Limited View In this episode, I will discuss the Buddhist teaching of the Elephant and the blind men and how my understanding of having a limited view affects the type of questions I ask about myself, others, and life in general. I ...
07.15.2019 103 - Making Time For Nothing Is nothing something? What happens when we make time for nothing? In this episode, I will explore the idea of boredom and how mastering boredom could be one of the great benefits of mindfulness practice.
07.03.2019 102 - Never Lost "Having no destination, I am never lost." In this podcast episode, I will share some of my favorite quotes by Ikkyu Shojun. I will also explain one of my new favorite quotes that's been floating in my head..."Having no certainty, ...
06.25.2019 101 - What's Your Sideshow? A sideshow is a diverting incident or issue that distracts attention from something more important, the real show. In Buddhist practice, we strive to understand the sideshows we are often presenting to ourselves and to the world. What's the real ...
05.31.2019 100 - Keep Going 100 episodes! What an exciting milestone! In this podcast episode, I will talk about one of my favorite expressions/teachings from Sensei Kubose. "Keep Going" has become one of my go-to reminders about life in general.
05.22.2019 99 - Presence Podcast Interview Audio from a recent interview I did on Presence Podcast about Life Lessons. Are the stories you tell yourself real? How do you deal with your most sensitive emotions? Is there such a thing as good and bad? How do ...
05.06.2019 98 - The Rascal Behind The Curtain Sometimes when we peek behind the curtain, we discover something that we wish we didn't know. Imagine what it would be like to peek behind the curtain of the mind only to see yourself peeking behind the curtain of the ...
04.25.2019 97 - Dependent Origination To understand dependent origination is to understand that nothing has independent, permanent, or absolute existence. Everything is part of a web of countless interconnections and the web is always changing. Everything arises from complex causes and conditions, and in turn, ...
04.14.2019 96 - What If The Problem Is The Problem? Pema Chodron says: "The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.” What does that mean? How do we give ourselves difficult times? And perhaps more importantly, how could we be giving ourselves difficult times ...
04.02.2019 95 - Levels Of Morality What does it mean to be moral? Is morality just a form of obedience? In this episode, I will talk about the concept of levels of morality and how at a certain level, it's no longer about obeying the rules, ...
03.21.2019 94 - Obstacles on the Path - The Five Hindrances The Buddha taught that there are five hindrances or obstacles to realizing enlightenment. These obstacles are commonly referred to in Buddhist teachings as “The Five Hindrances” of desire, aversion, disinterest, agitation, and indecision. These mental states are considered to be ...
03.06.2019 93 - Stepping Into Groundlessness Buddhist teachings and concepts often challenge us to think differently about life. They challenge us to question the stories we’ve come to believe about ourselves and about reality but perhaps none more than the idea of stepping into groundlessness.
02.20.2019 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 ...
02.04.2019 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 ...
01.29.2019 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, ...
01.11.2019 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 ...
12.30.2018 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 ...
12.23.2018 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 ...
12.18.2018 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 ...
12.02.2018 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. ...
11.18.2018 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."
11.11.2018 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 ...
11.06.2018 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 ...
10.17.2018 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 ...
09.18.2018 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. ...
09.05.2018 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 ...
08.18.2018 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 ...
07.29.2018 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 ...
07.20.2018 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 ...
07.09.2018 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 ...
06.11.2018 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 ...
06.04.2018 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 ...
05.16.2018 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 ...
05.01.2018 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 ...

Older episodes

Secular Buddhism

What's Secular Buddhism about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Secular Buddhism episodes:

120 - Unconditional Joy

119 - Endings And Beginnings

118 - Revisiting The Parable Of The Raft

117 - Noble Silence

116 - People Who Don't Exist

115 - Unhooking Habitual Patterns

114 - Beware Of Falling Rocks

113 - Right Speech

112 - The Importance Of Community

111 - Resisting Our Demons

110 - Unhappily Headed Towards Happiness

109 - Finding Your True Self

108 - Important Things To Think About Often

107 - Learning To Be Silent

106 - Everything Is Best

105 - Open Your Own Treasure House

104 - A Limited View

103 - Making Time For Nothing

102 - Never Lost

101 - What's Your Sideshow?

100 - Keep Going

99 - Presence Podcast Interview

98 - The Rascal Behind The Curtain

97 - Dependent Origination

96 - What If The Problem Is The Problem?

95 - Levels Of Morality

94 - Obstacles on the Path - The Five Hindrances

93 - Stepping Into Groundlessness

92 - Your Inner Compass

91 - The Three Poisons

90 - Ultimate Authority

89 - Killing The Buddha

88 - Radical Okayness

87 - Mindful Parenting | An Interview With Shirin Peykar

86 - Listening To Understand

85 - Sometimes We Try Too Hard

84 - How To Practice Mindfulness Daily

83 - The Eightfold Path

82 - Dealing With Dissatisfaction In Life

81 - The Tale Of Many Tales

80 - Life Is Not Fair

79 - The Blind Leading The Blind

78 - No Hope No Fear

77 - Embracing Rebellion

76 - Patience With Ourselves, Others, And Life

75 - Everyday Buddhism Interview

74 - Goals, Relationships, and Non-Attachment

73 - What Moves Us? The 5 Core Social Motives

72 - Yanny Or Laurel? - A Lesson in Mindful Communication

71 - Breaking The Chain Of Reactivity

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