Pragmatic Buddhism

We all want to do the right thing but what is the "right thing"? Most people come to Buddhism hoping for a rulebook. Do these three things, avoid those five, and you'll be fine. This episode is about the ethical conduct of the Eightfold Path. It's where you'd expect to find that rullebook. But that's not how Buddhism works. Danielle and the St Louis sangha discuss skillfu...

What is the difference between reacting and responding, and can you train the gap between the two? In this episode, Glenn from the Columbus sangha takes Buddhist practice off the cushion and onto the ice. He treats curling as a kind of beginner practice (all those long pauses before you release the rock) and football as something more advanced, where players drill their responses so often they tur...

What does it take to see your own life clearly, and then actually act on what you see? In this episode, Danielle teaches the wisdom basket of the Eightfold Path: skillful view (often called Right View) and skillful intention (Right Intention). She walks through the Four Ennobling Realities, the Pragmatic Buddhist reframe of the Four Noble Truths, and how craving, aversion, and delusion shape what...

In this dharma talk from the Order of Pragmatic Buddhists, Curtis explores the relationship between compassion and wisdom, two qualities the Buddha identified as essential to awakening. Curtis argues that compassion without wisdom becomes overwhelming, and wisdom without compassion becomes hollow. The talk closes with reflections from sangha members Josh and Corey on what it means to practice comp...

What if Buddhism's core teaching wasn't a set of beliefs to accept, but a diagnosis and a prescription? In this dharma discussion, Danielle introduces the Four Ennobling Realities and the Eightfold Path and explains why Pragmatic Buddhism reframes "noble truths" as ennobling realities : practices you live, not doctrines you adopt. The conversation with the St Louis sangha moves from theory into re...

We constantly take a mood, a moment, or a memory and turn it into who we are . "I'm an anxious person." "This is just how my life goes." "That's who they are." In this talk and discussion from the Columbus sangha, Joe explores the Buddhist concept of reification (the very human habit of freezing what is fluid) and what the tradition has to say about why it lea...

Is prayer a Buddhist practice? More than we might think. In this dharma talk, Joe shares how his work as a chaplain transformed his understanding of prayer — from something he scoffed at to something he now considers a doorway into mindfulness, compassion, and the lived reality of interdependence. The Columbus sangha joins in a rich discussion about the Serenity Prayer, the Bodhisattva Vow, and wh...

Aaron returns to lead the St. Louis Sangha through the second part of Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind , this time exploring "right attitude." The group reflects on the paradox of sitting without seeking, the practice of "leaving no trace," and what it means to build the cushion without chasing it. Discussion turns to early misconceptions about meditation, the...

What does Bach's organ music have to do with sitting zazen? For Glenn, everything. In this talk from the Columbus sangha, he shares a realization that struck him during morning physical therapy: truly listening to Baroque music is its own kind of meditation. The conversation winds through Suzuki Roshi's "don't serve them tea," the eightfold path as guidelines rather than comm...

What if the hardest thing in the world is simply sitting still? In this episode, Aaron from the St. Louis sangha leads our community through the opening of Suzuki's classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind , and the conversation ranges from the pressure to always be productive to what it means to just observe without acting to why being terrible at something might actually be your greatest advantage.

We live in a world built for distraction — scrolling, streaming, multitasking, always doing something else. But what if awakening isn’t somewhere far away, but right here in this moment? In this talk, Glenn explores Buddha nature and the practice of presence with the Columbus sangha, asking a simple but powerful question: What are you doing with your time?

The Three Marks of Existence can sound stark: everything is impermanent, clinging leads to dissatisfaction, and there is no fixed self. But these teachings aren’t pessimistic; they’re liberating. In this episode, monks from the Order of Pragmatic Buddhism explore how recognizing change reduces fear, how understanding dissatisfaction shifts craving, and how seeing the fluid nature of identity softe...

The Buddhist teaching of “no self” can sound confusing or even alarming. Does it mean we don’t exist? That our personality is an illusion? In this talk, Douglas and the St Louis sangha unpack what “no self” actually points to and why it’s considered one of the most liberating insights in Buddhist practice. Rather than denying our experience, this discussion invites us to look closely at how identi...

The solstice marks a turning point—either the longest night or the longest day—and invites us to pause. In this episode recorded on the solstice, Glenn and the Columbus sangha reflect on what it means to stand at a threshold in our own lives. What are we carrying forward? What are we ready to release? Drawing from Buddhist practice, this talk explores the solstice not as superstition or ritual obl...

What’s actually pragmatic about Pragmatic Buddhism? In this talk, Danielle and the St Louis sangha explore the ways that spiritual practice doesn’t have to be about adopting rigid beliefs or signing on to metaphysics. It can be about learning skills. Testing what helps. And building a way of living that holds up in real life.

The word “karma” gets used everywhere from social media to pop culture but what does it actually mean in Buddhist practice? In this talk, Joe and the Columbus sangha unpack karma as a teaching about intentional action and the patterns that follow from it. Rather than framing life as predetermined, this perspective highlights how each moment contains the seeds of future experience. When we understa...

Dharma practice isn’t always calm or pleasant. In this episode, Danielle and the St Louis sangha look at how learning to sit with discomfort can deepen awareness, patience, and care for ourselves.

What if meditation wasn’t about clearing your mind, but opening to your life just as it is? In this episode, Glenn from the Columbus sangha introduces zazen as a gentle practice of open awareness, free from pressure to fix or achieve anything.

What do we do when life feels hard or overwhelming? In this episode, Danielle and the St Louis sangha explore how Buddhist practice helps us pause, notice, and choose how we respond.

In this talk, Joe from the Columbus sangha explores what we mean when we talk about “meaning” — and how Buddhism invites us to relate to meaning without turning it into something fixed or absolute.

What if life’s difficulties weren’t obstacles to practice, but the practice itself? With the St Louis sangha, Danielle explores Lojong slogans as cognitive and embodied tools for transforming reactivity, cultivating awareness, and engaging the world with greater clarity and care.

In this Dharma talk from Curtis from the Columbus sangha explores sympathetic joy, the practice of rejoicing in the happiness and success of others. Rather than denying envy or comparison, Curtis looks at how awareness and practice can help us loosen those habits and rediscover joy as something shared, not scarce.

Buddhist practice isn’t meant to happen in isolation. In this conversation, Danielle invites the St. Louis Sangha to reflect on what it means to find refuge in one another — to learn, practice, and grow in community. Through personal stories and shared insight, the talk reveals how Sangha helps us see beyond our delusions, sustain our practice, and remember that none of us awakens alone.

What if happiness isn’t found in getting what we want, but in loosening our grip on craving, aversion, and delusion? In this year-end discussion, the Danielle and the St Louis sangha reflect on the past year’s choices, identifying which actions led to genuine joy and which deepened suffering. Together, they explore how awareness and boundaries can help shape a wiser year ahead.

We often move through life thinking we know what we’re seeing—our surroundings, other people, even ourselves. Joe from the Columbus sangha explores how this habit limits perception, connection, and compassion. Drawing from the Heart Sutra and Zen practice, he shows how “not knowing” can become a doorway to presence and wonder.