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An exciting new global movement – the Global Compassion Coalition

Colette Descent discusses the Global Compassion Project, a new organization initiated by Rick Hanson and others, to inspire individuals, organizations, and governments to address the causes of suffering and to build communities of care and belonging.

A secular Dharma discussion group – perspectives from South Wales

The South Wales (Cymru) Secular Dharma discussion group was started in January 2022 and has been meeting once a fortnight online since then. The participants have found the group to be a supportive environment for developing their secular dharma practice.

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.

The value of meditational awareness and Buddhist ethics for progressive groups

Katya de Kadt explains how meditational awareness and an ethics based in the values and wisdom of Buddhism can help activists avoid burnout and play a productive role in the struggle for social change.

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.

The 12 steps and the 12 traditions of secular Buddhism

Kirk Mason argues that secular Buddhism allows us to integrate the principles of mindfulness and compassion in a more flexible way, and has been essential in his own recovery program.

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’.

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.’

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).

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.

Getting the ball rolling: a new translation of the title of the Buddha’s first teaching

Bhikkhu Santi contends that an alternative translation of the title of the Buddha's first teaching better conveys the need to take up and practice the Buddha's valuable insights, yet also to experiment with, modify, and improve them.

Towards a flourishing-based ethics

Seth Zuiho Segall brings together the virtue ethics systems of Aristotle, the Buddha, and Confucius with the pragmatists' emphasis on provisional truths and democracy to offer a new flourishing-based ethics.

The five principles of the Middle Way

Robert M. Ellis offers five principles of the Middle Way as a useful model for practice and as a set of principles that focus on judgment as a process rather than on beliefs in ultimates or absolutes.

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.

My research on the impact of mindfulness

Harry Somaraju discusses some of his recent research on the impact of mindfulness meditation on the alleviation of stress and the cultivation of positive mental and emotional qualities.