On March 29-31, 1996 Sister Siripañña, from the Amaravati monastic community in England, assisted by Sister Thaniyā, offered a weekend program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies entitled "Renunciation: The Highest Happiness." These are just a few excerpts from that rich and diverse program. I once saw a cartoon strip about a little character called Hagar the Horrible. It really summed up for me what so many people seem to feel about the theme of renunciation. Hagar is climbing a … [Read more...]
Mind and Brain
There are generally two approaches to understanding the relationship between the mind and the brain. By mind we mean the subjective side of things, the full range of lived experience, both conscious and unconscious, including such things as thought, cognition, memory, desire, emotional states, and even perhaps the sense of transcendence. By brain we refer to the objective side, the physical stuff between our ears, with its complex architecture of inter-related neurons and the electro-chemical … [Read more...]
Buddhist Roots & Ethics
Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have become a wide-spread treatment because of their secular nature. MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) has been extremely successful in introducing large numbers of people to the value of mindfulness practice in coping with common sources of suffering, such as chronic pain. In removing these practices from their original context, Buddhadharma, much was left behind. The role of sīla or ethics, for example, in the cultivation of well-being, is being … [Read more...]
Study & Practice with Nāgārjuna’s Dharma
Distinguished scholar Jay Garfield is Professor of Philosophy at Smith College, taught at BCBS October 29, 2011. His course was titled “Nāgārjuna’s Dharma.” His translations of the texts of Nāgārjuna are among the most well-respected in English. Nāgārjuna is known as the founder of the Madhyamaka tradition (which later evolved into the Tibetan tradition, among others) and is considered so influential in later traditions that he is known by some as the “second Buddha.” We asked Professor … [Read more...]