Diggin' the Dharma

Send us Fan Mail Jon and Doug discuss the Buddhist Path, and how we can bring it into our lives. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail Jon and Doug discuss the element of space in Buddhist dharma, and how we can practice with it. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail This episode will be out on Mother's Day, so Jon and Doug discuss the complex role of mothers in the dharma, particularly the early dharma.  Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail The first two factors of the Noble Eightfold Path are the wisdom factors of Right View and Right Intention.  As we practice meditation and bring our practice to life, we gain “wisdom” which refines our view. But what is wisdom really and do we know when we have it? Jon and Doug have a lively and mostly wise discussion Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a...

Send us Fan Mail Jon and Doug discuss how language can both help and hinder our practice. Doug's Dharma Video: A Poem That Isn’t: Buddhist Mindfulness and Rumi's "Guest House" -- https://youtu.be/1E79pU6GzNs Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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) Support the show G...

Send us Fan Mail Jon and Doug discuss the idea of the "realms of existence" in Buddhism. What are they, and how can we work with them? Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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 Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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 Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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 Support the show Go to our website to leave a commen...

Send us Fan Mail Refuge is an evergreen topic in our practice. How can reorienting ourselves towards refuge help in the new year? Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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 .  Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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...

Send us Fan Mail 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.  Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see...

Send us Fan Mail 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. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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.  Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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. Support t...

Send us Fan Mail 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. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/

Send us Fan Mail 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. Support the show Go to our we...

Send us Fan Mail 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 pe...

Send us Fan Mail 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...