Alex Carr discusses how our engagement with our digital distractions (Netflix, videogames, Instagram, etc.) actually hinders our practice. In the modern world, our digital distractions can provide us with temporary relief from the symptoms of dukkha, but they also numb us and blunt our ability to engage positively in the world to address the underlying causes of dukkha in a skilful way.
Dave Smith is an internationally recognized Buddhist meditation teacher, addiction treatment specialist, and published author. We recently interviewed Dave about the impact of COVID on his teaching programs and his evolving understanding of secularity and a secular dharma.
Alex Carr, the facilitator of One Mindful Breath, a secular Buddhist group in Wellington, New Zealand, discusses how to start and sustain a meditation practice amidst the challenges and stresses we face during the COVID pandemic.
Bernat Font Clos interviewed Yanai Postelnik, a meditation teacher who in recent years has been devoting more and more time to climate activism with the group Extinction Rebellion, a decentralized, international movement using non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to persuade governments to act on the climate emergency.
The Secular Buddhist Network is sponsoring a new online meditation group for secular Buddhists and those interested in a secular approach to the dharma. The group will meet every Sunday, at 11 am U.S. Eastern Time.
Winton Higgins’s latest book, Revamp: writings on secular Buddhism, provides the best account of the history of secular Buddhism available today and identifies the core characteristics of this relatively new trend within Buddhism. While reflecting on its key perspectives and practices, Higgins also identifies the key challenges facing secular Buddhists.
Richard Winter presents the 59 slogans of the Tibetan teachings on ‘Mind-Training’ in a style that is familiar and accessible not just for ‘Buddhists’ but for any of us who, irrespective of systems of belief or cultural allegiances, are open to the appeal of Buddhist-inspired meditation practice, as a resource for trying to flourish in a difficult world.
Cameron Macfie, a documentary photographer, is asking meditators to send him photos of themselves in the spaces in which they meditate and a photo that represents meditation for them. His goal is to bring all participants together in a shared online space for a collective meditation, and to provide a visual representation for inner experiences.
SBN interviewed David Edwards, the co-editor of the UK-based media watch site Media Lens and author of several books. David discussed his critique of corporate media bias and how political activists can make a real difference by focusing on being, not just on doing; on learning to truly live and feel, rather than solely on external change.
Commenting on the English novelist Phillip Pullman’s interview with the New Scientist journal, Ramsey Margolis urges us to to develop a creative, imaginative approach to the dharma so that we can respond to the issues we’re facing today as living beings on this planet: climate emergency, social inequality and exclusion, species extinction (including our own), and much more.
