Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? Part 10 of 14 – Dharma Talk on Buddhahood & Awakening
Speaker: Martine Batchelor
Martine begins the talk urging us to look at our motivation for awakening. Is it done with wisdom and compassion or perhaps with the goal to escape from the world? She discusses sudden vs. gradual awakening and working with bad habits. She goes on to discuss the role of insight in our lives and how we can use it to change ourselves and the world. When we sit, we should work on de-grasping so that we can let go in our everyday lives.
Podcast: Play in new window [Play] | Download [Play]Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? Part 11 of 14 – Session 5
Speaker: Stephen Batchelor
The theme of this seminar is the title of the retreat, “Godless Religion or Devout Atheism?” Stephen tells of how Brahman or God was understood at the time of the Buddha, and how the Buddha rejected this notion. The Buddha, says Stephen, was deeply rooted in the phenomenal world and instructed his followers to pay attention to this world. As Buddhism developed in time and cultures, it added superstructure that looked religious, which we often find today.
Podcast: Play in new window [Play] | Download [Play]Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? Part 12 of 14 – Discussion and Q & A
Speakers: Stephen & Martine Batchelor
Stephen begins the Q & A by taking a question on the Tibetan people’s relationship with their land and culture. Other topics include art, impermanence and aesthetics and our relationship to the world; the Buddha’s perspective on ritual; the Buddha as atheist or agnostic; finding mystery in everyday life; music as meditation; choosing the kind of meditation one should do; and “no self” further explained.
Podcast: Play in new window [Play] | Download [Play]Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? Part 13 of 14 – Dharma Talk on Love & Compassion
Speaker: Martine Batchelor
How can we cultivate creative, wise love without grasping? One aspect of this kind of love, says Martine, is to create relationships outside of the primary love relationship. Another aspect is not to make assumptions in relationship, but to ask ourselves, “How can I creatively engage with others?” Meditation helps us to open up to others and to such questions, thus making ourselves less self-absorbed. At the root of compassion is deep listening, which sometimes is the most we can do in a difficult situation.
Podcast: Play in new window [Play] | Download [Play]Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? Part 14 of 14 – Session 6
Speaker: Stephen Batchelor
The Buddha’s teaching was dialogic: interactive and responsive to the present circumstances. Stephen asks us to find the foundation beneath the superstructure of culture in order to understand the Buddha’s teaching. Stephen goes on to discuss what the Buddha meant by “entering the stream,” including three things that fall away for the stream enterer. He ends the seminar and the retreat by noting principles that are distinctly the Buddha’s, and not found in the superstructure of the Buddha’s time.
Podcast: Play in new window [Play] | Download [Play]
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Stephen and Martine Batchelor - Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? (Parts 10 - 14)
Here are the final five parts of this cool series from Upaya Zen Center.
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