SBN Editor, Author at Secular Buddhist Network

POSTS:

SBN Editor

Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #47 August 2023

Welcome to our August 2023 newsletter. This month we highlight new articles by Tom Cummings, Ira Rifkin, and Cedar Thokme. In addition, we have an interview with Dave Smith about his new MBEL program and announce the opening of the registration period for our Fall 2023 course on secular Buddhism.

An interview with Dave Smith on his 2024 MBEL program

In a 10 July interview with SBN, Dave Smith, an insight meditation and secular mindfulness teacher, discussed his new program on Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL), which will begin January 2024.

Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #46 July 2023

Welcome to our July 2023 newsletter. This month we highlight new articles by Colette Descent and Keith Jackson, and provide an update on the development of a Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL) course based in the secular dharma.

Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL): an update

Since November 2022, eighteen people from twelve countries have been developing a new online course, Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL). The course will offer an ethical and philosophical framework for a flourishing life, based on a secular interpretation of the Buddhist foundation of mindfulness.

Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #45 June 2023

Welcome to our June 2023 newsletter. This month we highlight new articles by Pedro Bellora, Katya de Kadt, Colette Descent, and Caspar Harris, as well as a practitioner's account of his journey to secular Buddhism.

A practitioner’s journey to secular Buddhism: Tom

Tom Cummings initially practiced Vipassana meditation, but he has found that secular Buddhism's emphasis on our present human life as the one and only existence we have aligns well with the agnostic humanist perspective he has embraced for many years.

Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #44 May 2023

Welcome to our May 2023 newsletter. This month we highlight new articles by Kirk Mason and Mike Slott, a practitioner's account of his journey to secular Buddhism, and a workshop by Dave Smith on mindfulness and the Four Noble Truths.

Mindfulness and the Four Noble Truths

At an online program sponsored by New York Insight Meditation Center, Dave Smith presented the Four Noble Truths as four tasks for engaging in an ethical, flourishing life.

A practitioner’s journey to secular Buddhism: Jim

Jim Bronson connected with the Theravāda tradition and Insight meditation over 20 years ago, after the death of his first wife. As a scientist, he was attracted to the secular aspects of Theravāda and began to learn more about secular Buddhism. He finds inspiration in Stephen Batchelor's view that ‘a secular Buddhist is one who is committed to the practice of the dharma for the sake of this world alone.’

Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #43 April 2023

Welcome to our April 2023 newsletter. This month we highlight an interview with Stephen Batchelor on Mindfulness Based Ethical Living, a new article by Bhikkhu Santi, a practitioner's account of her journey to secular Buddhism, and an upcoming secular dharma retreat with Stephen Batchelor, Winton Higgins, and Lenorë Lambert.

An interview with Stephen Batchelor on Mindfulness Based Ethical Living

On 22 February 2023, Stephen Batchelor was interviewed by Ayda Duroux, Saskia Graf, and Jochen Weber from Buddha-Stiftung, and Mike Slott from the Secular Buddhist Network. Stephen discussed the key aspects of a new practical and ethical philosophy, Mindfulness Based Ethical Living (MBEL).

Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #42 March 2023

Welcome to the March 2023 newsletter. This month we highlight new articles by Robert M. Ellis, Harry Somaraju, and Seth Zuihō Segall, a practitioner's account of her journey to secular Buddhism, and a new SBN discussion group for practitioners who are socially engaged.

A practitioner’s journey to secular Buddhism: Kathy

Kathy Lang particularly appreciates the secular Buddhist emphasis on bringing the practice to everyday life and the the view of nirvana as a process of reducing reactivity, rather than as the metaphysical goal of a state beyond our present reality.

Mindfulness for Everyone: an online course

Dave Smith, a Buddhist meditation teacher and co-founder of the Secular Dharma Foundation, is offering a new online course, Mindfulness for Everyone. This self-paced course offers a dynamic and comprehensive understanding of mindfulness from a secular perspective.

Rethinking the Dharma / Reimagining Community #41 February 2023

Welcome to the February 2023 newsletter. This month we highlight an interview with Nelly Kaufer and Linda Modaro on their new book on reflective meditation, a practitioner's account of his journey to secular Buddhism, and a new article by Dennis SengTing Oliver. We also feature an important 2015 dharma talk by Winton Higgins on a secular approach to Insight meditation.