Diggin' the Dharma

Jon Aaron and Doug Smith

Diggin' the Dharma with Jon Aaron and Doug Smith is a relaxed discussion of the Buddhist dharma between friends. Jon's interest centers around practice, while Doug's centers around scholarship of the early material, so their approaches balance practice with study. Their discussions will be approachable to a broad audience of Buddhists and those curious about Buddhism, and they welcome questions and comments. Jon is a teacher at Space2Meditate and NY Insight Meditation Center and a well known teacher and trainer of teachers of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Doug has a PhD in Philosophy and runs Doug's Dharma on YouTube and the Online Dharma Institute, where he gives courses on early Buddhism. Find them at: https://digginthedharma.com/

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161 episodes
Updated May 24

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Episodes161

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Jul 20, 2025 · 31 min
Many Paths, One Destination. . Working with Different Traditions
Send us Fan Mail There are many different approaches to practice within Buddhism, not to mention outside of Buddhism. How can we work with these different approaches? What are some of their key differences? Doug's Dharma Video: Do All Religions Lead to the Same Goal? -- https://youtu.be/moGPUNfO8no With One Voice- a film about different spiritual traditions lead to the same place. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Jul 6, 2025 · 26 min
The Dharma of Independence (Day)
Send us Fan Mail With the US holiday of July 4th upon us, Jon and Doug discuss dependence, independence, what freedom really means, and how to practice towards it. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Jun 29, 2025 · 23 min
Gladdening the Mind
Send us Fan Mail The actual instruction to "gladden" the mind is sdd in the Anapanasati (Mindfulness of In and Out Breathing) Sutta, in the third tetrad about the Mind. What is the Buddha asking us to do here? Jon and Doug discuss what it means to gladden the mind in Buddhist practice, why it's important and how we can practice with this instruction. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Jun 22, 2025 · 26 min
Letting Go Is Hard to Do
Send us Fan Mail The second noble truth addresses the cause of Dukkha (suffering) as our nature to cling to our desires (or push away that which we don't want). The opposite of this is letting go. Ajahn Chah, the venerable Thai forest monk and teacher to many of today's wonderful teachers-- would say often: Letting go a little brings a little peace. Letting go a lot brings a lot of peace. Letting go completely brings complete peace. And yet, letting go, is not always easy! Jon and Doug discuss this. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Jun 15, 2025 · 26 min
Practice as Refuge and Recharge
Send us Fan Mail These are difficult times, and our practice can be a true refuge and an opportunity to recharge. However, it’s also possible for meditation to become a means of escaping or bypassing what’s happening in the world or our personal experiences. Ideally, true refuge recharges us and increases our capacity to face the world and with what Bhikkhu Bodhi calls “conscientious compassion.” Jon and Doug have a lively discussion about how our practice supports us in these times. Link to Bhikkhu Bodhi's Commentary on Protecting Human Dignity and the Threat of Moral Nihilism: https://www.lionsroar.com/commentary-protecting-human-dignity-from-the-threat-of-moral-nihilism/ Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Jun 8, 2025 · 27 min
Practicing Acceptance
Send us Fan Mail Jon and Doug discuss the Buddhist practice of acceptance. How would the Buddha have framed it? How can we work with acceptance today, and how might an attitude of acceptance make our lives better? Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Jun 1, 2025 · 29 min
Guarding the Sense Doors and Practicing with Social Media
Send us Fan Mail The Buddha taught that guarding the sense doors is an essential part of practice. Of course, social media didn’t exist 2500 years ago. These days it’s so easy to get caught in the vortex of social media. Jon and Doug discuss how they guard (or not) the sense doors in the current media reality. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Apr 27, 2025 · 28 min
The Role of Faith or Confidence in Our Practice
Send us Fan Mail Jon and Doug discuss the role of faith or confidence in Buddhist practice, how it can be useful and also how it can be misused. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Mar 9, 2025 · 27 min
Silence and Solitude
Send us Fan Mail Silence and solitude are two forms of Buddhist practice of great depth, but also some difficulty for many. Jon and Doug discuss how they appear in the early texts, and how we can practice with them today. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Feb 23, 2025 · 25 min
Finding Joy Through Practice
Send us Fan Mail Joy is an essential aspect of Buddhist practice. And boy do we need joy right now! Jon and Doug discuss how joy can arise for us, and what attitudes and practices can help joy to arise. Jon's Talk on Joy for Tricycle Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Feb 16, 2025 · 29 min
Pilgrimage and Spiritual Seekers
Send us Fan Mail Jon has been on pilgrimage in India over the last few weeks. He reports in about all he's been experiencing at various Buddhist and other sites. Links: Jon's blog posts: JonAaron.net/musings Where Are You Going: Ajahn Sucitto and Nick Scott https://whereareyougoing.podbean.com/ Doug's video: King Asoka: Buddhism's Great Political Modernist -- https://youtu.be/V4894Ug8Y3c Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Jan 12, 2025 · 27 min
It's About Time in Buddhism
Send us Fan Mail How do we perceive time, and what can we learn from Buddhist teachings about it? How do we frame the past and the future, not to mention the present? Jon and Doug discuss this topic, inspired by the fact that Jon is currently in India, which is 9.5 hours ahead of the East Coast of the U.S., where Doug is. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Dec 22, 2024 · 33 min
Dharma Chat with Stephen Fulder-- Practicing in Challenging Times
Send us Fan Mail Jon and Doug have a wide-ranging chat with the dharma teacher and peace activitist, Stephen Fulder, founder of Tovana, the Israel Insight Society. We discuss his work in Israel and his new book, How to Thrive in Hard Times. You can find his book here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Thrive-Hard-Times-Buddhist/dp/1915672740/ Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Dec 15, 2024 · 27 min
Refuge in Practice: Self or Sangha?
Send us Fan Mail What is the role of community in our practice? The sangha is one of the traditional three refuges or jewels of Buddhism. The Buddha also advised at the end of his life to hold the self as our island and refuge, with the dharma as our island and refuge. Jon and Doug discuss how we reconcile these ideals. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Dec 8, 2024 · 26 min
Investigation, Energy, and Joy
Send us Fan Mail Three key aspects of the seven enlightenment factors are investigation, energy, and joy. What are they, and how can we touch them in our practice? Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Nov 24, 2024 · 34 min
Conscious of Consciousness
Send us Fan Mail The final aggregate in the set of five is consciousness. What is meant by consciousness/ As an aggregate of clinging, when does it get in the way? Jon and Doug discuss. Doug's Video: The Problem(s) of Consciousness -- https://youtu.be/W1Pn65QZiZs Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Nov 17, 2024 · 27 min
Sankharas, What Are They? Volitional Formations/Constructions/etc.?
Send us Fan Mail In Buddhism the root of karmic action is in sankharas, a word with many uses in the dharma. As we practice, we can see the sankharas taking shape and then realize we have choices. But even the choices are related to other sankharas and the "wow' of this mind. Jon and Doug discuss them and how we can view their role in our lives. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Nov 10, 2024 · 28 min
Bringing Our Practice to an Unwanted Outcome
Send us Fan Mail Two days after the US Election, Doug and Jon discuss how they are handling the results. They also discuss how our practice can support us as we look to the future political landscape in the US and the world. Jon offered this poem by Rilke as a support: Let This Darkness be a Belltower Rainer Maria Rilke Quiet friend who has come so far, feel how your breathing makes more space around you. Let this darkness be a bell tower and you the bell. As you ring, what batters you becomes your strength. Move back and forth into the change. What is it like, such intensity of pain? If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine. In this uncontainable night, be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses, the meaning discovered there. And if the world has ceased to hear you, say to the silent earth: I flow. To the rushing water, speak: I am. Doug's Video: No Local Meditation Group? Six Solutions -- https://youtu.be/-rEKVKsV2iU Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Nov 3, 2024 · 29 min
Talkin' 'bout feeling (Vedana)
Send us Fan Mail Feeling tone, the pleasure or pain we take in experience, is a central part of dharma. As an aggregate, a foundation of mindfulness, a link in the chain of dependent origination, appreciating, understanding, and directly experiencing Vedana is a key to experiencing freedom. Jon and Doug have a lively discussion on this topic. Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/
Oct 27, 2024 · 29 min
The Aggregate of Form: Body and World
Send us Fan Mail Doug and Jon continue to explore the Five Aggregates of Clinging (to self) and this week explore Form. How do we cling to form and at what point, does this clinging become suffering? Are doesn't it? Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/