Diggin' the Dharma

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Sometimes we take ourselves (particularly our minds) too seriously.  Jon is taking stand-up comedy classes in Chicago, so he and Doug discuss the role of humor in our practice. 

Doug's Dharma video: Playfulness on the Path: The Buddha and Humor -- https://youtu.be/toZ-U26iCbc

The Late Wes 'Scoo' Nisker's - Crazy Wisdom Saves the World (again)

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Jon and Doug discuss the idea of the "realms of existence" in Buddhism. What are they, and how can we work with them?

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How do we manifest peace and compassion in the face of state brutality? Jon and Doug discuss with their special guest Ben Connelly, guiding teacher at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center.

Books By Ben Connelly

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The news nowadays can be overwhelming. Jon and Doug discuss ways we can practice with it, and some tips from Buddhism that can help us with navigating today's media landscape.

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Jon and Doug discuss the Buddhist peace walk from Texas to DC that is underway now. How can it inspire us in our practice?

Walk for Peace Blog Page

Interested in taking a class with Jon?
Check out:
When the Sh*t Hits the Fan- Broken Heart Dharma

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Jon and Doug discuss the role of "investigation" in our practice, one of the key factors of enlightenment or awakening.  What are we actually investigating and how does this investigation lead provide energy and even joy?

Interested in taking a class with Jon?  Check out:

When the Sh*t Hits the Fan- Broken Heart Dharma

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Refuge is an evergreen topic in our practice. How can reorienting ourselves towards refuge help in the new year?

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In this episode, Jon and. Doug discuss different styles of teaching meditation and dharma; how to find a teacher, and what it means to be a teacher.

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Jon and Doug discuss practicing kindness and elements of the other Brahmavihāras with their guest Bodhipakṣa, who has a new book out: The Heart’s Awakening: 108 Steps to a Life of Love. 

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This week is a special episode, recorded thanks to Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho at Clear Mountain Monastery. Our conversation touched on themes Secular Buddhism vs Traditional Buddhism, the sacred, belief in rebirth, saddhā (faith), Mundane Right View vs Transcendent Right View, attachment to views, and much more!

Clear Mountain Monastery will release a video of this discussion on their YouTube channel in December.

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It's Halloween as Jon and Doug record their episode, so the discussion is about the supernatural beings in Buddhism, their history, how they reflect our own inner and outer states, and how we can practice with them. 

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Mental proliferation or "papañca" is one key way the mind works overtime to keep us agitated and stressed out. Jon and Doug discuss how we get lost in our stories, and how sometimes it's good to spend time figuring them out, and other times it's best to figure out how to let them go.

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In many respects our practice aims towards equanimity. But if we force it, we may end up in indifference instead. Jon and Doug discuss these very different states and how our practice can help us navigate through them.

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Practice can often be most helpful when things in our life go sideways. Jon and Doug discuss practice in the context of doctors, dentists, and hospital visits. 

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What are we doing when we "meditate"? It seems like there are so many different styles and approaches. Jon and Doug discuss ways to frame and understand the practices.

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There are many different approaches to practice within Buddhism, not to mention outside of Buddhism. How can we work with these different approaches? What are some of their key differences? 

Doug's Dharma Video: Do All Religions Lead to the Same Goal? -- https://youtu.be/moGPUNfO8no

With One Voice- a film about different spiritual traditions lead to the same place.

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With the US holiday of July 4th upon us, Jon and Doug discuss dependence, independence, what freedom really means, and how to practice towards it.

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The actual instruction to "gladden" the mind is sdd in the Anapanasati (Mindfulness of In and Out Breathing) Sutta, in the third tetrad about the Mind.

What is the Buddha asking us to do here?    Jon and Doug discuss what it means to gladden the mind in Buddhist practice, why it's important and how we can practice with this instruction.

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The second noble truth addresses the cause of Dukkha (suffering) as our nature to cling to our desires (or push away that which we don't want).  The opposite of this is letting go.   Ajahn Chah, the venerable Thai forest monk and teacher to many of today's wonderful teachers-- would say often:
Letting go a little brings a little peace. Letting go a lot brings a lot of peace. Letting go completely brings complete peace.
And yet, letting go, is not always easy!  Jon and Doug discuss this.

Sup...

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These are difficult times, and our practice can be a true refuge and an opportunity to recharge.  However, it’s also possible for meditation to become a means of escaping or bypassing what’s happening in the world or our personal experiences.  Ideally,  true refuge recharges us and increases our capacity to face the world and with what Bhikkhu Bodhi calls “conscientious compassion.”  Jon and Doug have a lively discussion about how our practice supports us in these times.

Link to Bhikkhu Bodhi's Commentary on Protecting Human Dignity and the Threat o...

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Jon and Doug discuss the Buddhist practice of acceptance. How would the Buddha have framed it? How can we work with acceptance today, and how might an attitude of acceptance make our lives better?

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The Buddha taught that guarding the sense doors is an essential part of practice.  Of course, social media didn’t exist 2500 years ago.  These days it’s so easy to get caught in the vortex of social media.  Jon and Doug discuss how they guard (or not) the sense doors in the current media reality.

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Jon and Doug discuss the role of faith or confidence in Buddhist practice, how it can be useful and also how it can be misused.

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Silence and solitude are two forms of Buddhist practice of great depth, but also some difficulty for many. Jon and Doug discuss how they appear in the early texts, and how we can practice with them today.

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Joy is an essential aspect of Buddhist practice. And boy do we need joy right now! Jon and Doug discuss how joy can arise for us, and what attitudes and practices can help joy to arise.

Jon's Talk on Joy for Tricycle

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Jon has been on pilgrimage in India over the last few weeks. He reports in about all he's been experiencing at various Buddhist and other sites. 

Links:

Jon's blog posts: JonAaron.net/musings

Where Are You Going:  Ajahn Sucitto and Nick Scott https://whereareyougoing.podbean.com/

Doug's video: King Asoka: Buddhism's Great Political Modernist -- https://youtu.be/V4894Ug8Y3c 

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How do we perceive time, and what can we learn from Buddhist teachings about it? How do we frame the past and the future, not to mention the present? Jon and Doug discuss this topic, inspired by the fact that Jon is currently in India, which is 9.5 hours ahead of the East Coast of the U.S., where Doug is.

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Jon and Doug have a wide-ranging chat with the dharma teacher and peace activitist, Stephen Fulder, founder of Tovana, the Israel Insight Society.  We discuss his work in Israel and his new book, How to Thrive in Hard Times.

You can find his book here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Thrive-Hard-Times-Buddhist/dp/1915672740/

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What is the role of community in our practice? The sangha is one of the traditional three refuges or jewels of Buddhism. The Buddha also advised at the end of his life to hold the self as our island and refuge, with the dharma as our island and refuge. Jon and Doug discuss how we reconcile these ideals.

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Three key aspects of the seven enlightenment factors are investigation, energy, and joy. What are they, and how can we touch them in our practice?

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The final aggregate in the set of five is consciousness. What is meant by  consciousness/ As an aggregate of clinging, when does it get in the way?
Jon and Doug discuss.

Doug's Video:
The Problem(s) of Consciousness -- https://youtu.be/W1Pn65QZiZs

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In Buddhism the root of karmic action is in sankharas, a word with many uses in the dharma.  As we practice, we can see the sankharas taking shape and then realize we have choices.  But even the choices are related to other sankharas and the "wow' of this mind. 
Jon and Doug discuss them and how we can view their role in our lives.

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Two days after the US Election, Doug and Jon discuss how they are handling the results. They also discuss how our practice can support us as we look to the future political landscape in the US and the world.

Jon offered this poem by Rilke as a support:

Let This Darkness be a Belltower
 Rainer Maria Rilke

Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. A...

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Feeling tone, the pleasure or pain we take in experience, is a central part of dharma.  As an aggregate, a foundation of mindfulness, a link in the chain of dependent origination,  appreciating, understanding, and directly experiencing Vedana is a key to experiencing freedom.
Jon and Doug have a lively discussion on this topic.

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Doug and Jon continue to explore the Five Aggregates of Clinging (to self) and this week explore Form.    How do we cling to form and at what point, does this clinging become suffering?  Are doesn't it?

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Jon and Doug discuss perception and how it's mediated by past experience and the stories we tell. How does it become misperception? How can we work with our perception to live more skillfully and fully?

*this quote is attributed to the Roman poet Phaedrus but it is often used by various Zen teachers

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How does our concept of ourselves and others create suffering?  What would it be like to soften this "conceit of self".  Understanding and seeing through this conceit, is the last of the higher fetters, which needs to the released before awakening. 

Jon and Doug discuss how this comes up in practice.

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The Buddhist attitude of "nibbidā" or "disenchantment"/"disgust" is central to the early teaching. What is it and how can it help us navigate our lives? Jon and Doug discuss.

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Doug and Jon discuss what forgiveness means in the contact of Buddhism.  Is it Buddhist?  It's a powerful and important practice but it doesn't seem to appear anywhere in the teachings.

Information on the Class offered by Jon:
Watering the Seeds of Forgiveness

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Doug has Covid, Jon has a bad microphone, but they're chatting about the Buddha and voting anyway, as well as Buddhist practice and voting. What does 2024 bring for us in the voting booth, and how should we frame our political choices?

To register to vote, and check voter registration in the US:
https://vote.gov/

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