225 – How to Relate to Worldly Pleasure as a Buddhist – Part 1

225 – How to Relate to Worldly Pleasure as a Buddhist – Part 1

by | Dec 25, 2022 | Buddhist Practice

Traditionally, the ideal of Buddhism is the renunciate monastic who forgoes worldly pleasures because they are fleeting and distract us from practice. How should a serious practitioner relate to worldly pleasures if they’re not living a renunciate lifestyle? Is it possible to fully enjoy the pleasures in our lives while maintaining a strong Buddhist practice, or are we fooling ourselves when we try to do so? In this episode I define what I mean by “worldly pleasure,” and then discuss five drawbacks of such pleasure as described in Buddhist teachings, and in our own experience.

224 – Naturaleza humana: ¿Por qué no nacemos iluminados?

224 – Human Nature: Why Aren’t We Born Enlightened?

by | Dec 15, 2022 | Buddhist Teachings

Why aren’t we just all born enlightened and avoid suffering? Or, we could ask: Why are human beings the way they are? Why did they evolve to cause so much suffering for themselves and others? If we all have Buddha-Nature, why isn’t that manifest from the beginning, and why does it get obscured so completely? Why is practice so hard if, as the teachings say, we have everything we need from the beginning?

223 – Integrando Introspecciones

223 – Integrando Introspecciones

by | Dec 1, 2022 | Spanish Translations

Category: Práctica Budista ~ Translator: Claudio Sabogal Click here for audio + English version of Episode 223 En el asiento de meditación y fuera de él, podemos experimentar percepciones significativas, realizaciones que cambian nuestras...
223 – Integrando Introspecciones

223 – Integrating Insights

by | Nov 30, 2022 | Buddhist Practice

On the meditation seat and off, we may experience significant insights – realizations that shift our perceptions of ourselves and world, and help relieve suffering. Insights may be sudden or gradual, major or minor, but we naturally want to be able to hold on them instead of forgetting them and going back to our previous way of thinking or being. Yet sometimes these insights seem to slip away or fade with time. Our effort to hold on to them sometimes causes them to recede even further. How can we integrate insights into our lives and practice?

222 – Enfrentando el Discurso Sexista de Buda – Parte 2

221 – Confronting the Buddha’s Sexist Discourse – Part 1

by | Nov 16, 2022 | Buddhist Texts

I introduce the text that describes the Buddha’s negative words and actions in response to the question of ordaining women into what was called the “homeless life” of his monastic community. Then I’ll talk about various ways we can explain, dismiss, or justify the story contained in this text. In the next episode I’ll explore how, for some of us, explaining, dismissing, or justifying the story of the Buddha’s sexist discourse does not completely neutralize the discouraging effect of this story’s presence in the Buddhist canon, and how we can relate to the story without losing our faith in this path of practice.

220 – Ser El/La Único/a Budista en Tu Familia – Parte 2

220 – Being the Only Buddhist in Your Family – Part 2

by | Oct 29, 2022 | Buddhist Practice

This is Part 2 of my discussion about being the only Buddhist in your family. I continue discussing ways to create more harmony between your spiritual practice and your family relationships, and then talk about the special case of being in and intimate relationship with someone who doesn’t share your passion for Buddhist practice.

219 – Ser El/La Único/a Budista en Tu Familia – Parte 1

219 – Being the Only Buddhist in Your Family – Part 1

by | Oct 21, 2022 | Buddhist Practice

Many – if not most – English-speaking Buddhists are converts to Buddhism. Even if you were raised in a Buddhist family, chances are good that as an adult you are surrounded by non-Buddhists, or that as an active Buddhist practitioner you are surrounded by people for whom Buddhism is largely a cultural matter. I discuss the challenges of being the only Buddhist in your family or intimate relationship, and ways to create more harmony between your spiritual practice and your close relationships.

218 – El Cuádruple Voto del Bodhisattva Parte 3: Atravezando las Puertas del Dharma y Alcanzando la Budeidad

218 – The Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow Part 3: Entering Dharma Gates & Attaining Buddhahood

by | Oct 15, 2022 | Buddhist Teachings

I discuss the third and fourth vows of the Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow, about entering all Dharma Gates and embodying the unsurpassed Buddha Way. For some of us, these seem less accessible and relevant than the first two, about freeing all beings and ending all delusions. I talk about what the third and fourth vows mean and why making them is valuable to our practice.

216 – El Cuádruple Voto del Bodhisattva Parte 1: Liberando a Todos los Seres

216 – The Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow Part 1: Freeing All Beings

by | Sep 22, 2022 | Buddhist Teachings

In this episode I review the meaning of the Fourfold Bodhisattva Vow, and then explore the first of the vows in detail: Beings are numberless, I vow to free them. What does it mean to free beings, and what does it mean to our practice that we vow to free every last one of an infinite number of beings? In the next couple episodes I will similarly explore the second, third, and fourth vows.

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