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Reimagining Community newsletter #1 Oct 2019
This is the first issue of Reimagining Community – the successor to ‘In This Moment’, the Aotearoa New Zealand secular Buddhist newsletter. It will go out monthly with news and updates from a brand new website at secularbuddhistnetwork.org.
Dharma practice and solidarity in troubling times
According to Winton Higgins, the foundation of Buddhists' political engagement is the overarching ethical commitment to care, the responsibility to be 'engaged as a moral agent in what is going on in one’s own life'.
Winton Higgins: books and articles
Winton Higgins' articles and dharma talks provide us with a clear understanding of the development of secular Buddhism and the ways in which a secular approach differs from traditional forms of Buddhism.
A secular reinterpretation of the Eightfold Path
While the Eightfold Path is an essential framework and guide for traditional and secular Buddhists, the goal of the path for secular Buddhists is not nirvana but human flourishing in this life. This requires us to reinterpret the meaning and function of the eight path factors.
Secular versus traditional approaches to meditation
In his 2015 book After Buddhism Stephen Batchelor argues that the goal of meditation for secular Buddhists is not achieving nirvana but gaining an embodied understanding of our experiences from moment to moment.
Dharma talks for secular Buddhists
One of the most valuable sources for Buddhist insights and teachings – from both secular as well traditional perspectives – is the plethora of dharma talks available to practitioners on the web.
The goal of secular Buddhist meditation practice
According to Winton Higgins, 'We meditate to experience this world and this life as vividly as possible. Intensely. The way we experience it reflects back at us – it tells us who we are and where we’re at in this moment.'
Dharma and community for meditators
Winton Higgins has written extensively about democratic communities and the development of secular Buddhism. In this article Winton offers some defining characteristics of a democratic sangha.
Secular Buddhism and the western search for meaning
… Winton Higgins traces the origins of secular Buddhism in interpretations of the Pali canon developed by Harold Musson and Stephen Batchelor.
A secular Buddhist perspective on dharmic citizenship
Winton Higgins urges secular Buddhists to be active citizens and contribute to social and political change. Given the crises facing our society, 'nowadays politics matters like never before!'
Secular Buddhism and democratic communities: sanghas r us
Winton Higgins discusses the importance of not just giving lip service to the importance of community, or sangha, but making it a central part of our practice.
Sangha essentials – creating community & bonding
In the third of three talks given at a day-long workshop in New Zealand in 2019 Winton Higgins discusses the centrality of creating communities or sanghas in the secular dharma path.
Insight meditation and the inner life
In the first of three talks at a day-long workshop in New Zealand in 2019 Winton Higgins discusses the Buddha’s foundational teaching for meditative practice, the Satipaṭṭhāna sutta (the discourse on the focuses of awareness) from a secular Buddhist perspective.
Mindfulness is a hot commodity: looking for a quick fix?
Something that goes by the name ‘mindfulness meditation’ is a hot commodity these days. You can find many models on the market, some are more or less expensive, and of varying quality (like cars and dishwashers). The brands that are on the market either claim claiming origins in the Buddhist tradition, which lends them the kudos and the aura of ancient wisdom, or studiously avoid doing so.
Challenges to Buddhist meditation practice now
In this talk given in 2018 Winton Higgins compares the expectations of people living in the Buddha’s era (5th century BCE) about meditation practice, and to our own views about the goals of meditation.
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