Diggin' the Dharma
Diggin' the Dharma with Jon Aaron and Doug Smith is a relaxed discussion of the Buddhist dharma between friends. Jon's interest centers around practice, while Doug's centers around scholarship of the early material, so their approaches balance practice with study. Their discussions will be approachable to a broad audience of Buddhists and those curious about Buddhism, and they welcome questions and comments. Jon is a teacher at Space2Meditate and NY Insight Meditation Center and a well known teacher and trainer of teachers of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Doug has a PhD in Philosophy and runs Doug's Dharma on YouTube and the Online Dharma Institute, where he gives courses on early Buddhism. Find them at: https://digginthedharma.com/
Episodes
Right Livelihood is one of the factors of the Buddha's Eightfold Noble Path. Of course, times have changed in the last 2500 years, so what does this mean today? Doug and Jon look at the teaching and do some head-scratching over certain parts of it.
Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
The refrain in the teaching on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness refers to contemplating internally, externally, and internally and externally. Jon and Doug talk about how they receive that part of the teaching, which doesn't appear in any obvious way in other suttas but is actually a very important part of mindfulness.
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What is free will? Do we have free will? What does it mean to be free, and what does this have to do with our ethical and karmic responsibility?
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Truthfulness is one of the Paramis or perfections of the heart. In this episode we dig into what it means to not only be factually true but how the truth finds expression in appropriate ways-- both in our external and internal speech.
Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Buddha Nature: what is it and how is it a controversial concept in some understandings? Jon and Doug discuss this as well as concepts and words generally.
Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
The second noble points to the cause of dukkha—craving and clinging. It's also related to the uncertainty of life and the desire for it to be otherwise. Sometimes, the wisdom we gain, even after years of practice, seems to vanish when confronted with the inevitable change. Our discussion was sparked by Jon's pending move to Chicago and the dukkha this has manifested.
Doug and Jon discuss the "Golden Rule" (do unto others as we would have them do unto us) and its role in Buddhist practice and the precepts.
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The recent death of Alexei Navalny sparked this discussion on courage. Navalny is one example-- similar to people like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Nelson Mandela. We see acts of courage from many daily but don't necessarily consider them in the same way.
What is courage, and does it play a role in our practice? Can meditation and the dharma, cultivate and strengthen this quality?
If one were to describe a word that illustrates the meaning of onomatopoetic, papañca fits the bill. There are a number of words in Pali that do this, but papañca which means mental proliferation, is one of the best. In this episode, Doug and Jon look at this familiar pattern of the mind and how to work with it.
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In our last few episodes, we've been discussing the Buddha's Noble Eight-Fold Path. The last three factors of the path are about meditation. It's always good to remind ourselves why we meditate and what meditation actually is. What meditations are presented in the early Buddhist teachings, and why are they important?
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Right Effort --one of the factors of the Noble Eightfold Path is an important aspect of the practice of meditation, and the teachings related to this are worth looking into.
Jon and Doug discuss strategies and practices that may be useful for us to consider along the path.
Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
The Rubin is an important institution in New York with a very significant collection and many special exhibitions of Tibetan and Himalayan art, specifically related to Buddhism and Buddhist culture in that part of the world. We received the sad news recently that they are closing the New York space and basically becoming a virtual and traveling museum. Jon and Doug discuss the closing and the nature of anicca-- impermanence.
The Eightfold Path, the fourth of the Four Noble Truths, lays out a map to become free from suffering. In our last episode, we explore the second fact on the Right Intention. In this episode, we discuss Right View and how we generally hold views. After all, if you don't have the right view, if you don't know where you're headed, you'll likely get lost along the way.
As we continue our wondering through the Noble Truths we discuss aspects of the Fourth Truth the 8-Fold Noble Path with a particular interesting Right Intention. This is the second factor, but who says we need to start with the first?
Japanese Bowl, Poem by Peter Mayer
VIdeo on the Art of Kantsugi
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The New Year is a good time to return to the core teachings. And it's good to start with the Four Enobling Truths, from which much becomes clear. In this episode, we spend most of the time talking about the first two,
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In this episode for the last day of 2023, we look at concepts of time from a Buddhist perspective in the relative and absolute sense. It's a fun topic and seemed appropriate as we move into 2024-- at least in some calendars.
George Carlin on TIme
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Perhaps this is a perennial question, but it's always worth asking. What's so special about Buddhism and why have we chosen it as a guide for how we live? We speak about our personal experience ask questions that might be helpful for you.
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What is meant by re-birth?? Who is reborn and when? There are a number of interpretations and Doug and Jon explore some of them. More important is how our understanding of rebirth and death impacts the way we live now.
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Depending on your interpretation of what a miracle is, there are certainly times when miracles seem to happen due to our practice. In fact, one of the most-read books on Buddhism and mindfulness is Thich Nhat Hanh's classic Miracle of Mindfulness. Do you notice miracles happening? What did the Buddha have to say about this?
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Jon and Doug discuss how living ethically in the context of the five precepts is a considerable mindfulness practice. At first glance, the precepts seem rather obvious, but the more we look and the more we bring them into our moment-to-moment experience, the more we realize how much deeper we can go.
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