Secular Buddhism vs other Buddhisms

If you're interested in knowing a little about how Secular Buddhism differs from other Buddhisms, here's a link to a terrific collection of thinking that's recently sprung up on our sibling web site in NZ. 

The link below will take you to an article by a Buddhist monk, Bikkhu Bodhi, about what he calls 'the great divide' between secular Buddhism and the more religious varieties which he lumps together as 'classical' Buddhism.

Make sure you read the responses that follow as they include comments from some very knowledgeable and influential people in the secular Buddhist movement including Stephen Batchelor who is considered the unofficial leading bush-basher for us secular types, as well as our homegrown Winton Higgins who gives an erudite and educational response. I too have commented (Lenore Lambert).

Click here to read it.

The negative eddy + join us on Facebook

If you haven't already joined us, the Secular Buddhism Australia Facebook Page is going strong with over 6000 followers. If you 'Like' the Page, you'll receive several Facebook posts a week with links to articles, tips, reflections, cartoons, and other thought starters all with a Secular Buddhist theme.

Also, as I sit down to pen a new blog post on Dharmadaptation, I realise I didn't let you know about the last one. It's called 'The negative eddy' and is about the way a negative event in our day can send us into a downward spiral. If we can see the eddy for what it is, we can take steps to let the swirling momentum peter out rather than adding to its momentum.

Free mini-podcast - overview of meditation practices

I have to admit much of my small-scale dharma time has been taken up with posting on the Secular Buddhism Facebook Page lately. If you haven't already 'liked' it, have a squiz. You'll probably enjoy it. We've just passed the 5000 followers mark which is pretty exciting!

I have however, mananged to create one new resource lately - a mini-podcast which gives an introduction to and overview of meditation practices. The 8 minute podcast gives an overview of the different types of meditation, where it came from, and dispels the idea that there's one 'right way' to meditate or that we can be 'bad' at it. The next two mini-podcasts in the series will give some example instructions for meditations in each of the two 'buckets' described (the 'serenity' bucket and the 'insight' bucket).

I've put this up on this site under the 'Downloads' tab on the right. You'll need to put in your email address the first time you download something from this section of the web site but once you're registered you won't need to do that again. 

Of course if you know anyone who's just starting with meditation or who's a bit interested in it, or even someone who's been doing it for a while but would like a bit of perspective on it, please feel free to forward the link.

I hope you find it useful.
Lenore