POSTS:
Mike Slott
Insights: Exploring Secular Dharma #75 December 2025
Welcome to our December 2025 newsletter.
This month we feature articles by Bernat Font, Winton Higgins, and Mike Slott. We also highlight Ted Meissner's 2020 interview with Lama Rod Owens and a discussion between Stephen Batchelor and Donald Lopez Jr. on their visions of the Buddha.
Secular Buddhism and Mindfulness Based Ethical Living
Mike Slott discusses the relationship between a secular approach to the dharma and Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL).
How Secular Buddhists Can Contribute to Movements for Social Change
Mike Slott discusses the ways in which a secular approach to the dharma offers important resources to political activists.
Buddhist Coalition for Democracy Joins Amicus Brief in Support of Mahmoud Khalil
The Buddhist Coalition for Democracy has joined together with 35 other religious organizations as a party to an amicus curiae brief in the case of Mahmoud Khalil's unlawful detention by the federal government.
Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #64 January 2025
Welcome to our January 2025 newsletter.
This month we feature a new article by Jochen Weber and highlight the following: an update on the SBA-SBN merger, Ted Meissner's 2017 interview with Stephen Batchelor on the The Secular Buddhist podcast, upcoming SBN community meetings on our response to the election of Trump, and the passing of American Soto Zen priest and engaged Buddhist, Hozan Alan Senauke.
No Justice, No Peace (or Human Flourishing)
In response to Thanissaro Bhikhhu's claim that the end of suffering for each individual is more important than justice, Mike Slott argues that reducing suffering and the achievement of social justice are equally necessary and complementary processes.
Guidelines for contributors and readers’ comments
GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTORS AND READERS' COMMENTSREAD MOREOur AimsThe aim of this website is to foster dialogue and a compassionate, critical examination of issues related to secular dharma, while strengthening the bonds of community and collective efforts among secular Buddhists. We are not attempting to create a membership organization with a uniform set of beliefs and practices. […]
A review of David McMahan’s new book, ‘Rethinking Meditation’
In his review of David McMahan's Rethinking Meditation, Mike Slott argues that McMahan's insightful analysis of meditation misses one key factor: the impact of neo-liberal capitalism on contemporary meditative practices.
Rethinking not-self: a critical review of Jay Garfield’s ‘Losing Ourselves’
As part of a critical review of Jay Garfield's 2022 book, Losing Ourselves, Mike Slott offers a different perspective on not-self, one that shifts the discussion from an epistemological and ontological analysis to an ethically-informed exploration of the existential, psychological, and social causes of various forms of ‘selfing’.
What is human flourishing?
Mike Slott offers an account of human flourishing which incorporates Buddhist insights, Marx’s view of human nature, and Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach. To flourish, we need to cultivate mindfulness and compassion while creating a society which provides the resources and support for human flourishing for all.
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