Buddhist Geeks

...knowing that Buddhists have done this for centuries and that I can read and appreciate Kūkai’s Siddhaṃ calligraphy and he could read mine. That is what makes the calli- in calligraphy. – Jayarava, Buddhist calligrapher {{1}}

The dojo of Morogoro Africa. Is it possible to make a Soto Zen sangha flourish in a small rural town in Eastern Africa? Apparently, it is. This article describes the dojo of Morogoro town, in rural Tanzania, but also explores my feelings of amazement when I visited it. For years, I have asked myself how to reconcile the need to attend the sangha back home, in Europe, with my deep passion to work in developing countries as a humanitarian nutritionist. In February this year, during a sesshin in Spain, I asked my Zen Master Roland Yuno: “…I have lived for ...

Episode Description: We're joined again this week by Buddhist teacher and scholar Hokai Sobol, to continue our exploration of the hidden mindsets and cultural forces that shape Western Buddhism. In this episode Hokai explores a tradition of exchanging knowledge, which is at least 1,000 years old in Europe, that of the "master & apprentice." Hokai describes the process by which Europeans used to, and in some cases still do, learn a particular trade, by first becoming a novice apprentice, eventually striking out on one's own as a journeyman, and then finally coming back to become part of the local ...

“The men of old knew that life comes without warning, and as suddenly goes. They denied none of their natural inclinations, and repressed none of their bodily desires. They never felt the spur of fame. They sauntered through life gathering its pleasures as the impulse moved them.” – Yang Chu (4th century BCE)

Episode Description: In the first part of a multi-part discussion with Buddhist teacher and scholar Hokai Sobol, we explore the invisible, and rarely discussed, forces that shape Western Buddhism. In particular what we call "culture" shapes our institutions and communities in ways that we rarely see with clarity. Hokai spends a good bit of this initial discussion exploring the traditional story that has been handed down to us. This story includes the various cultural assumptions surrounding the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions, in the different countries and time periods in which they existed. These norms include the what ...

Episode Description: We're joined by Charles Tart, one of the founders of the branch of psychology known as transpersonal psychology. Dr. Tart's life work has to do with putting forward an "evidence-based spirituality for the 21st century." In this conversation we explore the evidence that he explored for phenomena like reincarnation, as well as the "big five" of telepathy, clairvoyance, pre-cognition, psychokinesis, and psychic healing. With all of these phenomena Charles warns about adopting a "scientistic"—as opposed to scientific—view of reality, which says that none of those things can be real, simply because they don't fit into the mainstream ...

In a perfect world, I would be writing this as a completely recovered person. In a perfect world, I would not fall into the thirteen percent of the adult American population suffering from anxiety. Yet, part of working with anxiety is learning that this is not a perfect world. There is serenity that most people associate with spiritual practice. ‘He meditates, so he must be pretty calm and collected.’ I take that comment a step further and say that many people who take up spiritual practice approach them as the key to serenity. ‘I will meditate, resulting in my calm ...

Episode Description: We're joined this week by clinical psychologist and Buddhist practitioner John Welwood. John has spent his entire adult life exploring the intersection between Eastern and Western psychological approaches. In our discussion we cover the following topics: the three realms of human experience, spiritual bypassing (a term that John coined), the Buddhist perfections, waking up and growing up as different tracks of human development, and the ways that spiritual awareness can be used in service of psychological growth and well-being. Episode Links:

• Toward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and

Episode Description: We're joined again by British meditation teacher, Christopher Titmuss, to continue our exploration into the powerful, and often challenging, realm of human sexuality. Christopher shares a couple of stories of monks dealing with sexuality, one a traditional story and the other a story of a 92 year old monk that he practiced with in Thailand. He also explains that if sexual energy, which is a natural part of our humanity, is repressed than it can wreak havoc on how we engage in the world. Finishing up our conversation with Christopher, we ask him if there's anything he'd ...

You would certainly recognize your signature on a piece of paper, but do you know your own emotional signature? We all have one. It's our predictable way of reacting to situations. Your friends probably recognize your emotional signature better than you do. When you get into a fight with your partner, for example, they can predict just how it will go. They know if you're likely to slam a door, storm out of the house, or call your mother. They know if you'll be processing the argument for days or immediately shut down and clam up. How do they know ...