Diggin' the Dharma

Send us Fan Mail The Five Reflections are a teaching which confronts us directly with the realities of life.   These reflections are the great equalizer-- no matter your status in life,  your income, your age, your race,  your sex, or any of your identities, these Five Reflections are a reminder of what's really true.    This podcast is a perfect follow-up to Dying before you Dye! A link to t...

Send us Fan Mail Turning toward death through various meditation practices can be transformative and liberative.   In this episode Doug and Jon discuss how they practice with this and the impact it has had on their 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 People often think of Buddhism as a very austere and all about renunciation.  In this episode we discuss the difference between worldly and unworldly pleasures and perhaps can dispel some of these mis-understandings.   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 Buddhism was originally practiced in the forests and it was evolving at a time when much of society was seeing itself as a separate from nature by trying to control it.   The Buddha, it is written, always went into the forest  when he took leave from his sangha for retreat.  In this episode, Doug and Jon explore the importance of reconnecting with the natural world as part of our...

Send us Fan Mail Generosity is the first instruction the Buddha would give to laypeople, it's also one of the deepest and most helpful teachings in Buddhism. We will consider generosity, and how it can be manifest in our lives. Buddhist Global Relief website: https://www.buddhistglobalrelief.org Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and l...

Send us Fan Mail This special episode Jon and Doug take questions from Sorrell, one of their generous member-donors over at Buy Me a Coffee. They discuss having children in a Buddhist context, how thorough non-attachment can be in lay life, as well as Sorrell's experiences on deployment in the navy. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes a...

Send us Fan Mail Is Buddhist practice only about attaining enlightenment, or are there other things it can help us with? If so, what would they be? Is it OK to focus on something less than the ultimate goal? We'll look at these questions and more. 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 Doug and Jon exploring the practice of taking refuge.  The Triple Gem refers to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.   This is considered a True Refuge.  A refuge that doesn't fade that is always there.  It is both a practice and a commitment and a very important part  of Buddhism.  We explore the different ways to interpret these gems as well as understanding the diffe...

Send us Fan Mail The Buddha taught that we don't hold to fixed views.   Politics often finds its way into spiritual context and can be a slippery slope.    Some of us may assume that all Buddhist have the same stance on particular issues but this is rarely the case.    Some political situations are important to bring up in a Buddhist context and a definitely place of investigation. How do we...

Send us Fan Mail How do we deal with war If we are practicing the precept of non-harming (non-killing)? What are we supposed to do, and how are we supposed to feel about the situation in Ukraine? Eminent monastic scholar and practitioner Bhikkhu Bodhi has a recent article where he discusses this issue, with particular emphasis on the war in Ukraine. We discuss the article and the idea of warfare i...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we continue our discussion with Upayadhi on a recent conference she attended, where one topic involved the influence of the digital world on Buddhist dharma. We discuss  its current pluses and minuses and what the future holds. 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 Our guest Upayadhi recently spent time at a fascinating conference on the topic of "the future of American Buddhism". We discuss the conference and some of her reactions to it. What's the future look like? Who's involved? 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 Third Noble Truth says there is freedom from Dukkha.  We have experiences of this freedom often but don’t often recognize them for what they are.  It’s been said that “enlightenment is an accident and meditation makes us more accident prone”.  There is certainly some truth in this.  In this episode we look at Enlightenment from some different perspectives.  Support the show Go...

Send us Fan Mail While it can be hard to believe, there is no limit to the amount of joy in the world.  Yet, at times it certainly feels that way.   Sympathetic Joy, or Resonant Joy is the third of the Divine Abodes and like the quality of compassion it has the capacity to weaken the boundary between self and other.  Doug and Jon discuss the role of the quality in their own lives. Support the show...

Send us Fan Mail Compassion is one of the Divine Abodes.    Doug and Jon discuss whether this is an innate quality or one that needs to be learned.    How do we cultivate that quality and perhaps uncover what is already here. 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 Desire can be the source of great Dukkha whether fulfilled or not.   Some desires, however are wholesome and these should be pursued, but even these can be a source of Dukkha.   Working with desires is an important part of practice.  Doug and Jon discuss their different approaches. Books mentioned: Anālayo, Compassion and Emptiness Support the show Go to our website to leave a com...

Send us Fan Mail Unlike the 10 Commandments in the Judeo-Christian traditions which tell you what not to do, The Buddhist Precepts are actually practices and while they can be read like commandments, that is really not the point.  Doug and Jon speak to how they work with Five Practice Precepts in the early Buddhist teachings.  Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee,...

Send us Fan Mail We both manage to make a living teaching dharma and meditation.   How  do we balance the ideal of "dana" - the practice of generosity -- with the reality of a western capitalist economic system.   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 of the Four Divine Abodes (Brahmaviharas) is Unconditional Friendliness (Metta) and for many this is a very challenging practice.  In this episode Doug and Jon explore how this has impacted their own practice,  various ways the practice can be done and how it becomes integrated into everything we do. One translation of the sutta on lovingkindness by Bhante Sujato: https:...

Send us Fan Mail We'll discuss a recent example of self-immolation, as well as difficulties some of the Buddha's senior disciples had with serious illness. How do we face challenging situations in our personal lives and in society.  It's going to be a pretty deep episode, but worth spending time with. Doug's YouTube episode Buddhism on Suicide and Euthanasia: https://youtu.be/a...

Send us Fan Mail In the Seven Factors of Awakening- one of the maps in the early teachings- Investigation is the second factor after Mindfulness.  Doug and Jon speak discuss what it is we are investigating.    What are the questions we can plant that bring insights into a new light.   Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://...

Send us Fan Mail In the early Buddhist teachings there are many, many lists!  Quite a few of these provide different ways of exploring our experience.  They are maps to liberate the mind.  In this episode, we look at the some of these teachings and how they have helped our own practice.  Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https...

Send us Fan Mail We'll discuss how the practice and realization of non-self in Buddhism helps us see through We don’t know about you, but seems like most of us can take everything so personally.  This is an other form of suffering which the Buddha’s teachings attribute to clinging to self-view.  It’s seems unavoidable until we start to hold to who we think we are a bit more lightly. Support t...

Send us Fan Mail Doug and Jon start a conversation on one of the most misunderstood and yet probably the most important of the Buddha’s teachings.  The teaching of Anatta- usually defined as “non-self”.    Join us as we as we try to clarify without adding more confusion. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharm...

Send us Fan Mail Dukkha: unsatisfactoriness, suffering, or just untranslated it's the difficulty that we find in our lives. We'll discuss how it's understood and experienced. How do you see it in your life? Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links:   https://digginthedharma.com/