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What is Dependent Arising?
By Linda Blanchard | January 29, 2017 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/buddhist-activism-and-quietism/. I said that dependent arising is both very simple, and very complex, but always helpful, and worth the effort to understand. Let me start with the very simple. It Really Is Simple Dependent arising says that we come into the world with certain […]
On Some Criticisms of Modern Mindfulness
By Doug Smith | May 16, 2016 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/on-some-criticisms-of-modern-mindfulness/. Is the contemporary mindfulness movement a kind of "fad" that misconstrues the essential message of the Buddha? Pieces by Edwin Ng and Ron Purser (2016a, 2016b) and Stephen Schettini (2014), not to mention the earlier “McMindfulness” critique by Purser and Loy (2013) argue that this […]
A Review of Rick Heller’s ‘Secular Meditation’
Sylvie Vanasse, a member of the Beaches Sangha in Australia, discusses the different secular meditation practices in Rick Heller's book. She praises Heller for offering many practical exercises and his avoidance of supernatural jargon, but thinks that his insistence on the need to 'quiet our mind' minimizes the value of a recollective or reflective approach to meditation.
A secular approach to insight meditation
In a dharma talk given in New Zealand in October 2015 Winton Higgins explores the differences between the traditional model of insight meditation using the foundational text of the Satipatthāna sutta and a secular approach.
Bernat Font interviews David Loy on deconstructing Buddhism
A conversation between David Loy and Bernat Font – David Loy was born into a US Navy family and as a child travelled far and wide with his family. He ‘dropped out’ and in Hawaii started to practice zen Buddhism. His first teacher was Robert Aitken and later, he practiced with Yamada Roshi. From philosophy to zen is not such a big jump, reading D.T. Suzuki or Alan Watts, but the difficult thing he found was to practice, to sit.
On Conventional and Ultimate Truth
By Doug Smith | March 12, 2015 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/on-conventional-and-ultimate-truth/. One of the most famous Buddhist tropes is the distinction between “conventional truth” and “ultimate truth”. While these terms never appear in the Nikāyas, and so cannot be traced back to the Buddha himself, they do trace to the abhidhamma period, perhaps as a […]
Impermanence and Emptiness: a Reversal in Perspective?
By Doug Smith | January 12, 2015 Originally appeared on the SBA website at https://secularbuddhism.org/impermanence-and-emptiness-a-reversal-in-perspective/. The Buddhist notion of emptiness (suññatā/śunyatā) is famously difficult to get one’s head around. In a presentation this past Saturday Sharon Salzberg described it as a combination of impermanence (anicca) and interconnectedness. This is a good first go at understanding emptiness, although the simple concept […]
Why recollect after a meditation sitting: five essential reasons
Here are five reasons why recollecting your meditation sittings is essential for developing an open, unstructured meditation practice.
A review of Sam Harris’ ‘Waking Up – the illusory nature of the self’
Mark Knickelbine reviews Sam Harris' book, "Waking Up." He has a positive view of the book, but believes that Harris has painted too limited a view of the kind of contemplative practice which can help us awaken in the modern world.
Stephen Batchelor on ‘Buddhism in a nutshell’
Stephen Batchelor offers a summary of secular Buddhism: "I’m supposed to take a risk and say in 25 words or less what Buddhism is. That of course is a very arrogant presumption on one level. But what I have concluded tentatively in recent years is to identify four points that the Buddha taught that cannot be derived from the socio-historical context of his time, in other words that are distinctively and non-controversially his own ideas."
Jason Siff on meditating with chaotic inner conflict
Sitting down to meditate and having a slew of thoughts rush into your head, and then doing nothing about it, when you know you can settle your mind a bit first, may seem crazy and unreasonable. What is the advantage of letting thoughts and emotions build and consume you at the beginning of a meditation sitting? Why not first calm your mind down with a practice of following the breath, using a mantra, reciting some phrases, or any means by which you can get settled?
My 6 days at a vipassana retreat. The longest 6 days of my life.
Carol Smith's account of her stay at a Goenka vipassana retreat: "Yep folks, I lasted 6 days out of the 10 day retreat. The longest 6 days of my life. I had looked forward to this retreat with a mixture of excitement and trepidation since I booked it, 3 months ago. I knew it would be hard work, but that was ok if I were to get some of the results I’d read people get, from a 10 day Vipassana retreat."
Secular Buddhism: new vision or yet another of the myths it claims to cure?
Akincano Weber raises several concerns about secular Buddhism. In his view, advocates of secular Buddhism tend to promote, a 'flatland Buddhism' which overlooks the difference between a numinous personal experience in which one may feel connected to something beyond their self-construct and which may be truly transforming—and a metaphysical statement or supernatural belief.
An outline of secular Buddhism – a living tradition
In a 2013 talk Winton Higgins offers an outline of secular Buddhism as a recent extension of Buddhist modernism. He explains why "we need to know a lot about the Buddha’s saeculum, and about our own, to trace our living practice and tradition back to him, and make it relevant to us today".
The dharmic foundations of the reflective meditation approach
Winton Higgins argues that taking a reflective approach to meditation is consistent with a secular Buddhist approach. He contends that ‘insight meditation practised in reflective mode is a quintessential dharma practice’.
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