POSTS:
Secular Buddhism
The dharmic tasks of an improvising musician
When he played a wrong note during an improvisational jazz concert, Pedro Bellora used his secular dharma practice to move from a moment of contracted reactivity to a place of joyful non-reactivity.
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.
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