Dharma PhD

Shannon M Whitaker
Dharma PhD

One practitioner’s four-year journey to become a professional in Mindfulness and Secular Buddhism, without getting all mysterious and solemn about it. Join Shannon M Whitaker, co-host Jeff Street, and guests as we discuss the science, philosophy, culture, and practice of mindfulness: What’s the latest fMRI research actually telling us about the effects of Loving-Kindness on the brain? Why is Loving-Kindness a terrible translation of the Pāli word “Metta”? How are other practitioners navigating their practice in the real world? You won’t get a real PhD from listening to this podcast. But don’t worry, we don’t have one either.

Episodes

  1. 09/29/2021

    John Peacock's "Buddhism Before the Theravada" Part 5 (kind of) - EP6

    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.

    29 min
  2. 01/08/2021

    John Peacock's "Buddhism Before the Theravada" Part 4 - EP5

    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.

    38 min
    5
    out of 5
    9 Ratings

    About

    One practitioner’s four-year journey to become a professional in Mindfulness and Secular Buddhism, without getting all mysterious and solemn about it. Join Shannon M Whitaker, co-host Jeff Street, and guests as we discuss the science, philosophy, culture, and practice of mindfulness: What’s the latest fMRI research actually telling us about the effects of Loving-Kindness on the brain? Why is Loving-Kindness a terrible translation of the Pāli word “Metta”? How are other practitioners navigating their practice in the real world? You won’t get a real PhD from listening to this podcast. But don’t worry, we don’t have one either.

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