Welcome to Dharma PhD!

In this episode we discuss how even the most seemingly unskillful stuff (watching the HBO TV series "The Last of Us" https://www.hbo.com/the-last-of-us) can be approached as part of Dhamma practice. And no, this is not just an excuse to watch more Pedro Pascal.

Transcript of the episode: https://dharmaphd.com/2023/06/05/dharma-phd-the-podcast-episode-9-everything-is-included-in-dhamma-practice/.

If you're interested, the Official HBO podcast with Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin: https://listen.hbo.com/the-last-of-us-podcast.

Want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at hello@dharmaphd.com.

Welcome to Dharma PhD!

In this episode Jeff helps Shannon with her homework on Majjhima Nikāya 26 (MN26), The Ariyapariyesanā Sutta. We also talk a lot about Lamborghinis.

Some links for your rabbit-holing pleasure:

Bodhi College: https://bodhi-college.org/

Bodhi College's Committed Practitioners Program: https://bodhi-college.org/events/31-committed-practitioners-programme/region-EU/

MN26 at Sutta Central: https://suttacentral.net/mn26/en/sujato?layout=sidebyside&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin

Shannon's awesome [sic] spreadsheet comparing the Pāli and 5 translations of MN26: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14y7HpwHlPWLLMNRf9gs5C82ARgrM4z6F6GtK8xCpNbQ/edit?usp=sharing

The system that Shannon has been using since 2008 for yearly planning and resource orientation: https://www.thesimpledollar.com/financial-wellness/31-days-to-fix-your-finances/

This super amazing hummingbird feeder! It was designed by a rad chick in Tucson, Arizona, who worked as a Zoo Keeper and tended to hummingbirds at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. If you want one, we urge you to consider buying from the original artist, rather than a knockoff from an online retailer: https://www.copperhummingbird.com/gallery

Want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at hello@dharmaphd.com.

Welcome to Dharma PhD!

In this episode we talk about John Peacocks' talk, "Buddhism Before the Theravada, Part 6".

We talk about paṭiccasamuppāda (Dependent Origination) as a Buddhist model of cognition and about how having a framework such as this one to understand our experience can help us deal with craving and grasping loops.

A few things referred to:

Dr. Judson Brewer (https://drjud.com/).

The Independent PhD project (https://dharmaphd.com/2020/07/10/the-independent-phd-and-why-you-should-start-one/).

I recently posted on the blog about overlapping models of perception/cognition, one more cognitive-science-y compared with dependent origination: https://dharmaphd.com/2021/11/01/modeling-cognition/.

Hedonic Tone, also called "feeling tone" is my preferred translation of the Pāli word "vedanā". I talked about it over on my other podcast in a few episodes: https://www.buddha-bites-podcast.com/episode/buddha-bites-ep23

A transcript of and link to John Peacock's talk is available here: https://dharmaphd.com/2021/11/13/john-peacock-buddhism-before-the-theravada-part-6-2011-09-04/

And a transcript of this podcast episode is available here: https://dharmaphd.com/2021/11/13/dharma-phd-the-podcast-episode-7/

Want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at hello@dharmaphd.com.

Welcome to Dharma PhD!

In this episode we talk about Paṭiccasamuppāda, Dependent Origination, using John Peacocks', "Buddhism Before the Theravada, Part 5" as a jumping off point.

We talk about how Paṭiccasamuppāda, Dependent Origination, has myriad implications. And then we focus on just one implication, causing skillful behaviors and mental/emotinal states to arise by putting the conditions in place that encourage those behaviors/mental states to arise more spontaneously. Particularly we talk about environmental factors.

A few things referred to:

Bodhi College, an organization that teaches Secular Buddhism: bodhi-college.org.

Stephen Batchelor's book After Buddhism.

Leigh Brasington, a Jhāna teacher: leighb.com.

The talk we're referring to: "Buddhism Before the Theravada, Part 5" (https://www.audiodharma.org/talks/2598).

Bhikkhu Bodhi's book Reading the Buddha's Discourses in Pāli.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: https://bigthink.com/robby-berman/the-missing-apex-of-maslows-hierarchy-could-save-us-all.

The 2,500 word blog post I referred to on a framework for thinking about the different implications of Paṭiccasamuppāda: https://dharmaphd.com/2021/09/27/parsing-pa%e1%b9%adiccasamuppada/.

and finally, Alain de Botton's book: Religion for Atheists.

***

A transcript of and link to John Peacock's talk is available here: https://dharmaphd.com/2021/09/28/john-peacock-buddhism-before-the-theravada-part-5-2011-09-04/

And a transcript of this podcast episode is available here:

Want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at hello@dharmaphd.com.

Welcome to Dharma PhD!

In this episode we talk about John Peacocks' talk, "Buddhism Before the Theravada, Part 4".

We talk about how our experience is troubled because we misunderstand how our minds work (avijjā) and how much of our daily activities are actually more habit than will (sankhāra).

A few things referred to:

Dr. Judson Brewer (drjud.com) and his book The Craving Mind. (https://tinyurl.com/y4hs8vmm)

The concept of Learning in Public. (https://www.swyx.io/learn-in-public/)

Hedonic Tone, also called "feeling tone" is my preferred translation of the Pāli word "vedanā". I talked about it over on my other podcast in a few episodes: https://www.buddha-bites-podcast.com/episode/buddha-bites-ep23

The Google ad we were referring to was titled "Reunion". (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHGDN9-oFJE)

A random Tumblr search for you: https://www.tumblr.com/search/grogu/recent.

Michael Gazzaniga's amazing book Who's in Charge. (https://tinyurl.com/y2kyaxpa)

Dr. BJ Fogg and his Tiny Habits program. (https://www.tinyhabits.com/)

and finally, Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit. (https://tinyurl.com/y3qt2vtc)

A transcript of and link to John Peacock's talk is available here: https://dharmaphd.com/2021/01/07/john-peacock-buddhism-before-the-theravada-part-4-2011-09-03/

And a transcript of this podcast episode is available here: https://dharmaphd.com/2021/01/08/dharma-phd-the-podcast-episode-5/

Want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at hello@dharmaphd.com.

Welcome to Dharma PhD!

In this episode we talk about John Peacock's talk, "Buddhism Before the Theravada, Part 3".

We highlight the Tilakkhana, the Three Marks of Existence. Shannon offers a new translation of Dukkha (22:24), and we talk about applying ancient insights to modern lives.

Promised links:

A transcript of and link to John Peacock's talk is available here: https://dharmaphd.com/2020/11/13/john-peacock-buddhism-before-the-theravada-part-3-2011-09-03/.

Maslow's Hierarchy, including the sixth apex, is discussed here: https://dharmaphd.com/2020/11/13/john-peacock-buddhism-before-the-theravada-part-3-2011-09-03/.

Search around on YouTube for "Change Blindness". Here's the one we talked about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EARtANyz98Q.

And if you'd like the Buddha Bites episodes on anicca (impermanence), they are EP28, EP29, and EP30.

Finally, an AI-produced, human-touched up transcript of this episode is available here: https://dharmaphd.com/2020/11/13/dharma-phd-the-podcast-episode-4/.

Want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at hello@dharmaphd.com.

Welcome to Dharma PhD!

In this episode we talk about John Peacocks' talk, "Buddhism Before the Theravada, Part 2".

We highlight Peacocks' discussion of ethics in Mindfulness and Secular Buddhism. We discuss some definitions of ethics (05:51), we talk about why Shannon became dis-enchanted with pop-mindfulness (35:24), and we talk about how different translations of the precepts can affect how one approaches practice and daily life (53:38)

A transcript of and link to John Peacock's talk is available here: https://dharmaphd.com/2020/08/26/john-peacock-buddhism-before-the-theravada-part2-2011-09-03/

And a transcript of this podcast episode is available here: https://dharmaphd.com/2020/10/02/dharma-phd-the-podcast-episode-3/.

Want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you! Email us at hello@dharmaphd.com.

Welcome to Dharma PhD! Conversations about the science, philosophy, and culture of Mindfulness and Secular Buddhism.

We're excited to be christening this podcast with a series of six talks by John Peacock: "Buddhism Before the Theravada". Today is Part 1.

The blog post that accompanies this episode is here.

John Peacock's original talk is hosted on AudioDharma.org, the entire series (of which this is the first) is here: www.audiodharma.org/series/207/talk/2602/.

The transcript of Peacock's talk is available on the Dharma PhD website: https://dharmaphd.com/2020/07/18/john-peacock-buddhism-before-the-theravada-part-1-2011-09-03/

Bodhi College, of which you'll be hearing more: bodhi-college.org/

If you actually want to know more than I do about John Peacock, a great place to start is his bio on the Bodhi College website: bodhi-college.org/mission-statement/core-teachers/

The book by Douglas Hofstadter I referred to is Surfaces and Essences. It's amazing, both as text and audiobook: smile.amazon.com/Surfaces-Essence…duckgo-ffab-b-20

And, finally, a moment of errata: Theravadan monks have 227 rules and nuns have 311. I do not believe that the words "monk" and "nun" are the best translations for the words "bhikkhu" and "bhikkhuni", but that won't surprise anyone who listens to this talk.

May you be well!