Here you'll find short videos on how to live a wiser, kinder, and calmer life. I introduce early Buddhist teachings from a contemporary, secular perspective: focusing on material we can use to improve this very life, and relating the dharma to concerns and issues of today.
I have a PhD in philosophy, publications in scholarly journals on Buddhist Studies, and many years of Buddhist practice in the Zen and Theravāda traditions. I'm also the founder and director of the Online Dharma Institute.
📙 You can find my new book here, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
You can also check out my free course over at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org/
Pay attention all, this video is what happens when a Buddhist eats his Wheaties one morning, decides to take on a 2000 year old uphill battle and does pretty darn well with it. Pretty gratifying to see as a Lotus Sutra Buddhist who happened upon this channel last week. And I'm with you, Lotus Sutra Buddhists get this wrong an awful lot. There were 500 arhats who left the assembly in the Lotus Sutra at the very beginning before Buddha began to preach. It's a literary callback to the disciples who left Siddhartha at his enlightenment because of his Middle Path. They represent the so called lesser vehicle views but do we forget about the eleventy hundred million bajillion arhats who stayed for the whole thing? 21st century Theravadans aren't those guys. What a case of mistaken identity. Fortunately, I believe Western Buddhists can easily make this correction for ourselves if not for all Buddhism in the long run because our modern Buddhist landscape is so different. We don't have to compete before Emperors to decide which Buddhism will be heard. Thich Nhat Hanh ran a forest monestery that to this day I can't tell if it's Elder Buddhism or Zen. We're all on the same internet listening to each other now, which is kinda the Lotus Sutra's dream come true. The best ways to address Lotus Sutra Buddhists misguided on this topic is to show them all the ways Theravada has evolved since the Sutra's writing. And that lesson about conceit being the biggest block to higher attainment really does belong to all of us. In case of emergency break glass and use the Peaceful Practices chapter to slap us around with our own doctrine. Great treatment of this topic. However, I'm still unclear as to Doug's views on surprise parties 🤔🪷
The explanation of our selves like a stream that is constantly changing even though it continues to exist recalls the famous quote from the Greek Pres-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus: "You can't step into the same river twice." Great video!
I came to the Nikayas after being exposed to Tibetan Buddhist teachings and was completely blown away by how the Satipatthana Sutta, the Anapanasati Sutta, and so many others spoke to me. I now am open to Early Buddhism as well as Mahayana teachings, particularly those rooted in the Nalanda tradition. What an incredible era in which to live- when we have access to so many precious teachings that have been preserved, cultivated and passed down over thousands of years. Buddhism is indeed a living tradition. Thank you for your efforts with this channel.
Renuncation is "foundational" not "childish" but renunciation itself must also be renounced. There is no conceit or deception in the Lotus Sutra other than by those who left the assembly as it was being expounded. Xuanzang already settled all the disputes and interpretational conflicts being alluded to here back in the seventh century, he risked his life and travelled on foot accross the Himalaya to find a single book, did you even bother reading it? Historicism does not lead to liberation.
I am of the Vajrayana Background but I consider the other Schools of Buddhism to be authentic as well. As some say the paths are diverse but the destination is the same
Yes it can be seen that way. Though the descriptions of the destination are quite different among the different schools, I think this is one aspect of the reorientation involved in the concept of "skillful means".
@@DougsDharma Yes, the description for the end goal among all schools are different. Personally I take all of them to mean as liberation from suffering
A very interesting and important topic. Conceit certainly is a big issue in most spiritual practices and a big hinderance to many. At the same time I feel many Buddhists may "turn a blind eye" one too many times in an effort not to criticize too much... Buddhist cultism is a growing problem and I personally feel needs a more open conversation. In fact, I would love to see a video on that topic.
It's also important to remember that although shikantaza is the main practice of Soto, other techniques are used as well, both meditation-wise or not, like koans (which are not as used as in rizai, but are used too)
I have found eight to be my biggest hinderance, I do not consistently make sufficient effort. I find your approach to explanation helpful, thank you for sharing your insight.
I practice mindfulness while doing remodeling tasks at work. Every time I practice I do a better job than if I am not practicing. Often things go wrong during remodeling, and remaining mindful allows me to keep my blood pressure from spiking while I face the challenges of the day.
Coming late to this, but thank you so much for noting that people are living in impossible conditions in countries that aren't typically in the news. May all beings everywhere be remembered and held in kindness, peace and safety.
I’m learning about Buddhism. This video was both kind and uplifting. I suffered with paranoid schizophrenia. It was true suffering at a magnitude I didn’t know possible. I studied the disease as much as I could in the hospital. This helped me grasp reality and eventually I recovered to around 90 percent. My daughter helped bring me back because I didn’t want to lose her badly., I am drawn to Buddhism and appreciate you and your knowledge. What would you suggest I do in order to find the right interpretation of Buddhism? I’m more interested in the man and how he was drawn to people who suffer badly. I’m not sure about any of the divine aspects.I’ve been told by psychiatrist that I mentally stable. Now I’m on the other side of it and really want to help the people in the hospital. You can recover from schizophrenia
I think the "right" interpretation of Buddhism is the one that resonates with you and your interests. If you're interested in the Buddha as a human, or the historical Buddha, you would probably be drawn more to Theravāda Buddhism, or Insight Buddhism. But if you are still struggling with mental illness you should definitely discuss any practice routine such as meditation with your psychiatrist. I'm not qualified to help in that regard.
Doug, I am new to Buddhism and find your videos. Excellent thank you very much for the content and how do I go about getting an online course on the subject?
Siddhartha was born to parents of the Vedic religion to kashtriya family in Lumbini, on the border of Nepal and India-present-day Nepal. Buddha spent his career, attained enlightenment, or achieved moksha in India. Namo Buddhaya 🙏
Mindfulness works like a surveillance system, it allows you to become an observer of your thoughts. Observed behavior is typically at its best since it is subject to scrutiny. Nobody can live with a well reflecting mind, while also observing bad behavior. This cognitive dissonance would drive a person to insanity.
I have learned this from experience Doug. It was one of the most painful lessons of wisdom gained in this life. My dearest mother, when she was still around was like a saint. She was always helping the less fortunate and she suffered greatly because of it. She had a small business so it was always feast or famine, some years we were begging food from the church, some years it was steaks on the grill every night. She never held on to her wealth, because she knew it was toxic. Grandpa taught her "never climb that ladder kid, it is a long way to the bottom, once you reach the top, you will surely fall."
Those who wish to take the world and control it I see that they cannot succeed The world is a sacred instrument One cannot control it The one who controls it will fail The one who grasps it will lose... - Tao Te Ching
The storehouse consciousness is where all the mud settles, through diligent practice transmutation occurs within when there is understanding and compassion, from the mud grows the lotus.
The video reminds me of the Four Seals of Buddhism in the book, What Makes You Not a Buddhist by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche: 1. All compounded things are impermanent 2. All emotions are pain since there is no purely pleasurable emotion 3. All things have no inherent existence 4. Nirvana is beyond concepts; it's not a heavenly realm of bliss, instead it is a release from delusion A person who accepts these four seals is a Buddhist
Yes, this is another way to formulate it. I have some quibbles with the fourth since there are definite descriptions of nirvana in the texts, and "inherent existence" is a very fiddly, technical concept from the abhidharma (and surely the people who formulated the concept were Buddhist), but in general these are good.
If you lied to save children lives from a burning building, this is the trickster archetype, a global storytelling phenomenon. "Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful. Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good." Tao Te Ching
Well articulated. Gives me some hope as an atheist caught up in cravings and aversions, mental proliferations and junk. May Doug and his loved ones be well 😊 🙏
The rat race in Atlanta certainly feels like being in a hamster wheel designed to exacerbate clinging and craving. I just want to be free and calm and for others not to suffer
what some belive is Jesus meditate in India in his lost years, and study buddhism before start his teachings... buddhism started 623 years before Jesus born. however buddhism has history and base of Hinduism as buddha was a hindu (same as Jesus was Jew). there we should not belive some stories we heared without firm proof
I hesitate to ask Doug Buddhism's position on surprise parties after this one 🎉😂 There's another perspective from which the Lotus Sutra's Skillful Means parable doesn't address deception at all. This layer of interpretation focuses on the need to suit teachings to particular ears and needs. Imafine a student so materialist the ignore the Buddha when he says the house (the senses, let's say) are burning and so entitled that the Buddha's offer to accept him into the assembly is rejected because he instead demands a private teaching with all his favorite pet gods and doctrines and superstitions that got him burning in the first place. You see how the focus isn't the Buddha's ethics but his great compassion in promising that which will liberate and viewing them as little children rather than leave the most petty, stubborn, entitled frustrating human beings imaginable to suffer from their own understanding. Don't judge Buddha too harshly. These are the Buddha's Sweathogs!
''...in short, the five aggregates of grasping are Dukkha.'' Buddha Shakyamuni on the first noble truth. We don't see the world as it is (Dharma), we see it as appearances (Rupa), saturated with our projections of self. Paraphrased from a Dharmavidya quote. When we can stop projecting ourselves onto the world and see it as it really is, we break the spell of Samsara. It all comes down to breaking the cycle of ''Self-realisation'', which is the mind, lost in emptiness (shunyata), grasping at the physical world in order to get a sense of substance for itself. Which is obviously futile and results in a cycle of suffering. Can somebody explain how Secularism and Buddhism go together here, because it feels like a contradiction in terms. If you've ever been into a shrine room you will have been immersed in religious ideology. There are priests and rituals and numerous references to higher beings and alternate realities. In a shrine room you are bombarded with positive Rupas that point towards profoundly religious principles, such as salvation and liberation from what are essentially lower or hell realms (which we are essentially languishing in). How can these aspects be disregarded in favour of empty rational reductions, such as ''Secularism''? Buddhism is fundamentally religious as far as I can see. Inseparable from it (religion). In the spirit of discussion. Dayamay
Many of us approach the teachings without such trappings. Indeed, in some forms of traditional Buddhism such trappings are much less centered. If the point of Buddhist practice is to confront suffering through reducing craving, as the Noble Truths tell us, these aspects may not need to be part of the practice for all of us. If you find them useful, that's great, nobody is trying to say you shouldn't. But not all of us have the same tastes in our approach.
Thanks for replying and engaging. Yes, I can see that there are differences in approach to practice , but I'm not sure that the point (the whole point) of Buddhist practice is to "confront suffering through reducing craving", this feels quite narrow and, again, reductive. I think the four noble truths show us, or point us towards a process, by which the energy of suffering can become the inspiration for enlightenment, or liberation. The Buddha also taught about reverence towards higher, non-physical beings and devotion to higher spiritual, highly metaphysical principles. It seems a shame that you see these things as "trappings" rather than expansive channels, that can free us and guide us. Are you familiar with Pureland Buddhism? I think it might be the antithesis to your ideas, but is essentially rooted in the idea of human fallibility and the relinquishing of our powerlessness over ourselves, which catalyses a kind of reflection of the higher realms - as expounded by Shakyamuni! This is a kind of enlightenment that can happen, even in "the slime and muck of the dark ages" as Trungpa put it - when the possibility of personal transcendence has become all but lost! Interested to hear your ideas. Dayamay
I wasn't aware that there was a term known as 'Buddhasasana' which was used to refer to the Teachings of the Buddha. Anyways I think the main problem with lables used to refer to the Buddha's teachings whether it is Buddhism or Buddhadharma is that some people tend to fixate on it too much rather than giving attention on their practice of the teachings
It’s kinda cool to think about how the Quaker movement could be seen as a very early form of western Buddhism because of their beliefs in the inner light, silence and pacifism.
I think that perhaps many have gone astray from the stream by forgetting Upekkha (Equanimity). All brahmaviharas if practiced rightly exist in balance with each other. Mara traps us forever in Samsara if we get pulled astray by every wave that washes the shore. There is no greater good that can be done for the world than to break free ⛓️💥. I once asked my teacher Luangpi Tim what he thought of the trolly problem. And he said that as a monk he would have to accept the fate of the people on the tracks as their kamma rather than to parajika. I know how this can be very difficult to accept/understand, but it’s important that we try and have faith in the original teaching of the Buddha, and not think we always know right as worldlings🙏🙏🙏
Modern medical science now understands the whole endorphin mechanism in the human body. Psychologists now understand how those chemical reward centers play an integral role in desire, activities we enjoy, addictions. I think it likely these chemical reward mechanisms are a strong reason why humans become attached to behaviors and thoughts. It would seem to me that to try and become non-attached is fighting against human biology. It makes more sense to me to acknowledge attachments but to try and find healthy activities and thought pattern attachments to replace damaging ones. Like therapists say, to end a bad habit, it is better to replace it with a good habit. I wonder if the Buddha knew about the endorphin centers he might have developed a different approach to suffering. And his teachings only help with mental and emotional suffering. When one gets old, the joints hurt and no mental system can give relief to physical suffering.
Yes, the Buddha was definitely aware of physical suffering while he was aging, he discusses it in several suttas. This is why he taught of the "two arrows" of suffering. The first is the one we all have to experience, but the second arrow dealing with attachment we can get rid of. That's the point of practice. And for sure, it's not easy, but even if we don't get all the way there, we can help to reduce the suffering of attachment.
Doug: you might be interested to read Bernadette Roberts. She came to enlightenment through being a Catholic nun, and given that Christianity has little or no tools for dealing with this, she sort of had to understand it on her own, so it's a unique and fresh perspective. The books of her's that you'd most be interested in are, "The Path to No-Self," "The Experience of No-Self," and "What is Self?" Her later books would probably be less interesting, as they're attempts to reform Christianity to incorporate the insights she lays out. She talks about this exact topic in her book "What is Self?" She seems to place consciousness as primary/first in the chain, but the point is the same: the will and consciousness have a close, dependent relationship and if one goes, the other goes as well. She even outright says that this state she lives her life in is void of consciousness. There's just the senses now, but consciousness, as the reflexive mechanism of the mind bending back on itself, is gone.
Excellent video Doug. I’ve been spending a lot of time with Buddhadasa’s teachings and have found they dovetail nicely with my native peoples traditional spiritual path called the Red Road. IMHO I would say that Buddhadasa wasn’t secular it just seems that way on the surface. I even asked Meta AI about this and it agreed with me. One problem I’ve seen over the years with scholars regarding my people’s history and beliefs etc. is that scholars tend to look for and use information from other scholars instead of going to the source, ie Native Elders where they may find a different perspective and information. I think the same thing has happened here with your reliance on Peter Jackson. Just because someone has a PhD doesn’t mean anything without the correct understanding free of their biases and misunderstanding. In closing I’d like to add that I don’t think Buddhadaa reinterpreted the Buddhas teachings but instead if is teaching us the ultimate or deepest Dhamma. 🙏🏼
PS: Doug, may I humbly suggest a new video about Buddhadasa exploring all of these things especially using information from Thai Forest Monk scholars like Ajahn Sujato and Bhikkhu Bodi for example. 🙏🏼
PSS:IMHO I don’t think Ajahn Chah would have sent his students to study with Buddhadasa and encourage his monks to read Buddhadasa’s books if his teachings or he was secular. I also don’t think his HH Dalai Lama would have received teachings from Buddhadasa and also gave teachings at.Suan Mokkh if Buddhadasa’s teachings were secular. With Metta alakso 🙏🏼
Right, I'm not saying Buddhadasa was secular; he wasn't. But his approach to the dharma leans strongly in what we might call a secular direction, and his teachings have been influential among secular practitioners for that reason.
SN 35.117 “Therefore, bhikkhus, that dimension should be understood, where the eye ceases and perception of forms fades away. That dimension should be understood, where the ear ceases and perception of sounds fades away.… That base should be understood, where the mind ceases and perception of mental phenomena fades away. That base should be understood.”* The monks then go to ask Ananda what the Buddha meant by this. “This was stated by the Blessed One, friends, with reference to the cessation of the six sense bases.” It seems quite clear the Buddha doesn’t describe it as a consciousness, but rather the cessation of all 6 forms of consciousness. But it’s still somehow a realm that is to be understand. Quite paradoxical.
No one can help you. Only you can help yourself. Learn a lot and forget it all. You won't know until you discover the truth for yourself. Everyone can become a Buddha.
Just a simple Dhamma practitioner finding wisdom in all schools of Buddhism, Taoism, Indigenous, etc.. For Buddhism I rely on the teachings of the Buddha (Suttas) and Buddhadasa Bhikkhu also know as the second Buddha. 🙏🏼
great video, I had somehow missed this one, I take pride in being a completionist of your videography! I wonder about the tension between gradual training and sudden awakening in Zen (and arguably the Buddha's own story with the bodhi tree). Would love to hear your thoughts on this!
YEAH!!! I refound you again. It's been a very long time since I've seen you on RU-vid. Last I heard...you had a fire in your house. But here we are. So glad to hear your Vids.
