Monday 22 February 2016

Thanissaro Bhikkhu : We are not one

http://www.tricycle.com/feature/we-are-not-one

We Are Not One

Interdependence is not what you (and many others) may think.Thanissaro Bhikkhu


Twenty-five years ago, one of my teachers, Ajaan Suwat, led a meditation retreat in Massachusetts for which I served as translator. During a group interview session one afternoon, a retreatant new to Buddhism quipped, “You guys would have a good religion here if only you had a God. That way people would have some sense of support in their practice when things aren’t going well.”

Paticcasamuppada by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

http://www.dhammatalks.net/Books6/Bhikkhu_Buddhadasa_Paticcasamuppada.htm

Paticcasamuppada : Practical Dependent Origination 

by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu

The doctrine of paticcasamuppada [dependent origination] taught by the Buddha is profound; consequently, majority of people cannot understand the law of dependent origination. Nonetheless, it is as valid today as it was when the Buddha explained the doctrine to Ven. Ananda some 2500 years ago. The doctrine of dependent origination, the core of Buddhism, is so difficult to comprehend that people commit serious errors in understanding it, and thereby distort the Buddha Dhamma. Buddhadasa Bhikkhu reveals the root of the distortions, and carefully scrutinizes and analyzes it in the book. The root of the distortions may be traced back to the primitive Buddhism period, but the earliest relevant record can be found in Buddhaghosa's essay written some 1500 years ago.

ANATTĀ & REBIRTH by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu

http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries.com/Anatta_and_Rebirth.pdf

ANATTĀ & REBIRTH by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu 


A talk originally addressed to students of Puget Sound University in Seattle, Washington The explanations of rebirth they had heard seemed to contradict the principle of anattā. Tan Ajahn was asked to clarify the seeming contradiction.

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Ethics, culture and relativism: Some reflections on teaching medical ethics in Sri Lanka.


Ethics, culture and relativism: Some reflections on teaching medical ethics in Sri Lanka.

 

By S. N. Arseculeratne, R. Simpson, P. D. Premasiri, P. V. R. Kumarasiri

This paper is the first of two that set out to explore issues that arise at the interface between globalised systems of biomedicine and bioethics on the one hand and non-western traditions of medicine, healing and ethics on the other. At this interface, fundamental questions of relativism and context are in evidence. Here we offer a preliminary overview of these questions in relation to medical education in Sri Lanka and attempts by local scholars to develop curricula that incorporate indigenous traditions in ways that are both appropriate and realistic. In the paper, we argue for approaches that go beyond simply accumulating and juxtaposing knowledge of different traditions.




Monday 1 February 2016

A selection of Mindfulness Articles


A selection of Mindfulness Articles





A selection of Mindfulness articles

June 5, 2015

Mindfulness has lost its Buddhist roots, and it may not be doing you good

Miguel Farias, Coventry University and Catherine Wikholm, University of Surrey
The mindfulness technique is being blindly sold and we are buying it hook line and sinker.

Meditation, mindfulness and mind-emptiness

Ramesh Manocha, University of Sydney
Ever been unable to sleep because you can’t switch off that stream of thoughts that seems to flow incessantly, mercilessly through your head? When your mental noise distracts you from the task at hand…

February 13, 2015

From A to zen: mindfulness in seven days

Alessandro R Demaio, Harvard University
If you’re anything like me, one thing you find really hard to do - is nothing. I mean, really - doing nothing. Taking a moment out for yourself, meditating on life, reflecting on your day, getting to that…

Why meditation should be taught in schools

Lea Waters, University of Melbourne
New research in the fields of psychology, education and neuroscience shows teaching meditation in schools is having positive effects on students' well-being, social skills and academic skills.

October 8, 2014

From decisions to disorders: how neuroscience is changing what we know about ourselves

Barbara Sahakian, University of Cambridge; Abdul Mohammed, Linnaeus University; Alejandro Anton Fernandez, Polytechnic University of Madrid; Andrea Santuy, Cajal Institute; Diana Furcila, Cajal Institute; Francesco Cavarretta, University of Milan, and Léon Homeyer, University of Stuttgart
People have wanted to understand our motivations, thoughts and behaviours since the ancient Greeks inscribed “know thyself” on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. And understanding the brain’s place in health…

January 26, 2015

The unhealthy underside of the wellbeing agenda

Andre Spicer, City University London and Carl Cederström, Stockholm University
Last week, the 0.1% met at World Economic Forum annual gathering in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos. While the official excuse to go there is to discuss and shape the global agenda – the theme dominating…

January 22, 2015

Well-being programmes in schools might be doing children more harm than good

Kathryn Ecclestone, University of Sheffield
Apocryphal depictions of an unprecedented crisis in young people’s mental ill-health and their general vulnerability have been accompanied by increasingly alarmist claims that only schools can address…

23 January, 2016
It’s the relaxation technique of choice, popular with employers and even the NHS. But some have found it can have unexpected effects