Audios and Videos

Audios

These are from the Buddhasasana Podcast, Dhamma talks, audio courses, and readings by Bhikkhu Cintita, available also in iTunes.

Empathy talks

Conflict in society – Empathy (3/3). The same principles by which Buddhism understands interpersonal conflict and how to resolve it, apply also to social issues such as criminal justice, ethnic and racial tensions, our consumption of media and news, and even political views.

Dismembering conflict- Empathy (2/3). This talk discusses Early Buddhist antidotes to the judgmental mind, and to the anger that often accompanies it.

Anatomy of a conflict – Empathy (1/3). How conflicts – from tiff to shootout – typically arise, with particular emphasis on the violent nature of judgmental thinking.

Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice

MDP 11/11 – Living in the midst (2/2). In this eleventh and final talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we look at the virtues of simplicity and devotion and the importance of community in framing a Buddhist life.

MDP 10/11 – Living in the midst (1/2). In this tenth talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we look at the challenges to integrating practice into everyday life, the need to practice mindfully throughout the day, and the importance of choosing an appropriate livelihood.

MDP 9/11 – Living in wisdom (3/3). In this ninth talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we look at the art of investigation and the role of mindful observation and mental composure in the process that leads to insight into how things are.

MDP 8/11 – Living in wisdom (2/3). In this eighth talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we look at the main logic of the wisdom teachings, that have to do with the contingency and unsubstantiality of our experiential world.

MDP 7/11 – Living in wisdom (1/3). In this seventh talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we see how wisdom begins with study of the Dharma and how, mindful of the Dharma, we investigate our own experience.

MDP 6/11 – Living in devotion (2/2). In this sixth talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we look more carefully at the nature of Dharma as working assumptions that, only by putting aside blind faith, we seek to understand in terms of our own experience.

MDP 5/11 – Living in devotion (1/2). In this fifth talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we see how devotion based in the midfulness of the three refuges becomes a powerful motivator for practice. We look at the role of admirable friends and the Sangha.

MDP 4/11 – Living in virtue (2/2). In this fourth talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we look at the development of purity, the kind of character that cannot help but be harmless and of benefit, and the role of mindful observing of our intentions in developing such quality.

MDP 3/11 – Living in virtue (1/2). In this third talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we look at the mindful practices of precepts and generosity, as means of becoming harmless and of benefit in a Buddhist life.

MDP 2/11 – Living in mindfulness (2/2). In this second talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series, we look at the noble eightfold path, the basic instructions to keep in mind in our practice, and look more deeply at the role of Right Mindfulness and mindful observation (satipatthana).

MDP 1/11 – Living in mindfulness (1/2). In this first talk in the “Mindfulness, where Dharma meets Practice” series (MDP), we consider Buddhism as a skill. Dharma is the instructions, practice is living according to those instructions. Mindfulness is keeping those instructions in mind, remembering them.

How I became a Buddhist. Smart but not wise, I took up Buddhism as a rather step-by-step process of rational exploration. That is, until it swept me up to reveal things rather unanticipated.

Random Talks

What did the Buddha think of women? – part two. Last week’s talk demonstrated the exemplary support the Buddha provided to women’s practice. This week we will look at a controversial text, describing with the origin of the nun’s sangha, that at first sight seems to paint a starkly contrasting picture of the Buddha.

What did the Buddha think of women? – part one. Buddhism is not widely known as a religion of gender-equality. But the early the discourses show repeatedly that the Buddha had the deepest kindness and respect for women, as particularly evident in his treatment of the nun’s Sangha.

Understanding the aggregates. The aggregates are a foundational teaching of the Buddha, but they are rarely properly understood. This talk shows how to identify all the aggregates in your own experience and explains their role in contemplative practice.

What is the Buddha-Sasana? The Buddha-Sasana is Buddhism as a living tradition, something that evolves, spreads to new lands, dies out in old lands, rather than Buddhism as the Dharma, which is much more static. A key question for the Buddha seems to be is how well the Buddha-Sasana would retain the authenticity of the Buddha-Dharma.

The story of my ordination. A narrative account of BC’s 2009 bhikkhu ordination in Burma. This story appears in his 2012 book, Through the Looking Glass, which can be found under “books” on this site.

The beauty queen. This talk examines three simles for mindfulness, two of the Buddha’s and one of my own, and discusses how our meditation needs to venture beyond the breath.

The seven factors of awakening. An oft neglected causal chain of factors described by the Buddha that arise one by one in meditation practice and link mindfulness and concentration.

The ‘trinsic motivation sermons

The wonder of intrinsic motivation. This talk is on the importance of doing things for no particular purpose, in Life and in Buddhist practice. It is largely based on evidence from modern experimental psychology, which closely resonates with traditional Buddhist teachings, and which demonstrates that increased well-being, satisfaction, proficiency, understanding and creativity results when we let go of goals.

The blunder of extrinsic motivation. We show how Buddhism predicts the mental and spiritual downside of extrinsic motivation (striving toward personal advantage) in terms of its ethical quality. The antidote is the development of virtue.

The thunder of intrinsic motivation. This deals with how to encourage intrinsic motivators in our live, how to “follow your bliss,” to make our projects more satisfying and meaningful. Projects include hobbies, career, education marriage and religion. The importance of faith and devotion in all of these is discussed.

Out from under extrinsic motivation. ‘Trinsic motivation sermon 4. Our practice has a social foundation, as taught by the Buddha. Social conditions are the primary way we are oppressed by extrinsic motivatons. This talk discusses how we get out from under these conditions.

Video course: Mindfulness, where Dharma meets practice

This five-hour course is about Dharma, practice, and how they intersect in mindfulness. It is a nutshell introduction to Buddhism based almost exclusively on the earliest Buddhist sources, which are the historical basis for all of the diverse later schools of Buddhism. In spite of its conciseness, it provides a comprehensive overview of the range of Buddhist practice and understanding and contains practical advice on how we can integrate Buddhist practice into busy modern lives. Related materials, including the textbook of the same name, can be found HERE.

0. Introduction.