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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Apr 23, 2023 · 24 min
What Do You Mean It's Not Mine???
Send us Fan Mail "Not mine, not I, not myself" is a phrase that appears in various suttas. It can be a useful reminder to let go. We cling to material things, people, and of course ourselves. When we lose something or someone, or when that idea of who I am suddenly shifts, it can manifest in significant suffering. In this episode, Doug and Jon discuss how they relate to this sutta and how it can be a helpful reminder when we find ourselves in the jaws of dukkha. 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 16, 2023 · 27 min
Dualism or Non-Dualism, That is the Question
Send us Fan Mail What is non-dualism all about? Is it a practice? Is it a way of looking at the world? Or is it just words? Yes and. . . We'll discuss the dharma and practice of non-dualism. Was it found in the early texts? How do we understand and use it? Doug's YouTube video on the topic: Non-Dualism and Early Buddhism -- https://youtu.be/43v6lLweukg 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 9, 2023 · 27 min
What's the Story with Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and the idea of Secular Mindfulness
Send us Fan Mail The training called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in the late '70s and could be credited with the concept of "secular mindfulness." It is taught worldwide by hundreds of teachers and has been the topic of well over 1000 scientific research papers. Is it Buddhist? Is it effective? Jon Aaron is one of the prominent teachers of this curriculum and a trainer of new teachers. He and Doug talk about the Buddhist underpinnings of this curriculum as well as it's impact on the secular mindfulness movement. Link to Jon's upcoming MBSR Classes Receive a 10% discount using: MBSR10 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 2, 2023 · 27 min
Does Clinging to Our Views Get Us Anywhere?
Send us Fan Mail What are the Buddha's views about views? How are the ways we hold opinions about politics, people, food, etc, different from clinging to spiritual views? The Buddha had a lot to say about this but how do we put it into practice. How does our clinging to views, most importantly views about ourselves, impede our progress on the path? 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 26, 2023 · 26 min
Signposts Along the Way
Send us Fan Mail The Seven Awakening Factors are a fundamental teaching in the early Buddhist Suttas. In an active form, these factors can be a valuable antidote to any of the Five Hindrances. In a passive way, as we meditate, they can act as signposts informing us both where we are and what is needed at any given moment. Throughout our day, they can work in the same way. Each of these factors warrants its own podcast, but here we discuss them as a whole. 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 19, 2023 · 24 min
Does Artificial Intelligence have Direct Experience?
Send us Fan Mail In Buddhist practice, direct experience is a key component of mindfulness and the development of wisdom. Can AI actually have direct experience? And if so, does it actually develop true wisdom? 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 12, 2023 · 29 min
Is AI Sentient?
Send us Fan Mail With the hyper-driven developments in Artificial Intelligence, we wonder, is AI becoming sentient? What is sentience anyway? What are the determining factors? How do we hold these developments in the Buddhist context of Anatta, not self? 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 5, 2023 · 26 min
The Benefactors in Our Lives
Send us Fan Mail Metta--the quality of unconditional love is considered one of the boundless qualities of the heart. We often have beings in our lives who embody this quality and have been there for us regardless of how we are, or what we have done. These beings could be grandparents, an aunt or uncle, perhaps our parents (though most parents knowingly or not have conditions to their love), our 1st-grade teacher, or even a family dog. Recalling these benefactors is of great help if we have trouble connecting with the kind of love. In this episode, we discuss the benefactors in our lives and how the impact they can have. 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 19, 2023 · 25 min
Patience and the Patient
Send us Fan Mail As Jon returns from his heart surgery and recovery, we discuss the practice of patience, which is considered one of the Perfections of the Heart (Parami). While heart surgery itself is miraculous, perfecting the heart by cultivating this quality of patience (among others) is no less so. We look at ways to develop patience throughout our day. 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 5, 2023 · 24 min
Some Strange (and not recommended) Ways to Practice
Send us Fan Mail We'll discuss a fun early sutta where two ascetics, one practicing as a dog, the other as a cow, come up to the Buddha to ask for his opinion about the merit of their practices. What does this show us about our own attitude to 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/
Jan 29, 2023 · 29 min
Where is the Line Between Healthy Desire and Greed?
Send us Fan Mail Some folks believe that Buddhism requires us to let go of all desires. This is actually a misinterpretation of the teachings. There are undoubtedly healthy and unhealthy desires, and if one desire turns into greed, we have crossed the line. That line is only sometimes as apparent as we might think. In this episode, we discuss what the Buddha says about this and how what we have to learn from these teachings. 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 22, 2023 · 26 min
Can Our Mindfulness Practice Help Alleviate Fear?
Send us Fan Mail This episode will be aired the week Jon faces significant surgery. It seems like an appropriate time to look into fear and how to work with 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/
Jan 15, 2023 · 27 min
The Fetters that Keep Us from Being Free
Send us Fan Mail One of the various lists of the Dharma is the 10 Fetters. In this episode, we discuss the first five of these and none of them will be a surprise because they are so common. Despite being common that doesn't make them easy break away. 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 8, 2023 · 28 min
Support for Your New Year's Resolution to Meditate Daily
Send us Fan Mail For our first episode of the 2023, we offer support just in case you've resolved to develop a daily meditation practice. Maintaining a daily practice is difficult, so we hope these tips might help the process. 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 25, 2022 · 28 min
Embodied Meditation and a Guided Meditation
Send us Fan Mail In our final podcast of 2022 we'll take another look at embodied meditation, following a retreat that Jon was just on. As a special gift, Jon will lead us on a wonderful guided meditation illustrating how seeing this embodiment can work 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/
Dec 18, 2022 · 28 min
Holiday Book Recommendations and a Retreat
Send us Fan Mail Jon has just got back from a long retreat, so we discuss his experiences, as well as offering a few book recommendations for the holidays and New Year. Go to our website for titles and some links! 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 11, 2022 · 23 min
What's Up With Our Logo?
Send us Fan Mail Is our "Diggin' the Dharma" logo a problem? Doug and Jon react to some recent comments on a thread at Doug's YouTube channel that expressed the concern that the logo was offensive in depicting the Buddha with a shovel. It's an opportunity to look at the teachings of "rites and rituals" as well as the concept of spiritual materialism. 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 4, 2022 · 25 min
This Fathom Long Body
Send us Fan Mail "Yet it is just within this fathom-long body, endowed with perception and cognition, that I declare that there is the world, the origination of the world, the cessation of the world, and the path of practice leading to the cessation of the world.” In this quote from the Rohitassa sutta the Buddha addresses the knowing body. All that we know and experience is in this body. So embodied practice is not the practice of cognitive understanding (though this is important) but rather a result of our direct experience. Embodied practice is when our actions are a result of heartfelt wisdom. Where the rubber meets the road. Doug and Jon discuss what is meant by embodiment and how do we know when we know. 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 27, 2022 · 29 min
Post-Thanksgiving Edition- Buddhist Practice and Food
Send us Fan Mail As we head out of the week of Thanksgiving we consider eating and food in the context of early Buddhist practices. For those of who are used to eating three meals a day--a very western European way-- the notion of eating on the early Buddhist monastic schedule of one basic meal a day before noon would seem rather strange if not impossible to hold to. Of course, we don't go out for alms rounds to obtain our food and our daily schedules are quite different. There is also the question of our attitude toward food and eating. In this episode Doug and Jon explore eating as a practice and how meditation and Buddhism impacts (or not!) their food habits. 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 20, 2022 · 26 min
Pre-Thanksgiving Episode: Practicing Gratitude
Send us Fan Mail For our listeners in the US, we are beginning Thanksgiving week. It's a perfect time to consider gratitude and how it integrates into our lives. And if you're not in the US it's still a good time! As always, thank you all for listening, and for your continued support! Support the show Go to our website to leave a comment, buy us a coffee, or see further notes and links: https://digginthedharma.com/