Category: Episodes

In today’s episode, we begin our series on when—if ever—is the appropriate time to try to make your baby Buddhist. But first, we discuss the joys and travails of traveling with the infant set. Next we ask, Are the deepest aspects of dhamma practice really available to anyone, or is there a platinum tier for… Continue reading Season 2, Episode 6: “When, How and Whether to Foist the Dharma Upon Your Children, Part I: ‘Sometimes Daddy Needs to Kill.’”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:39 — 53.7MB)

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In today’s episode, we begin by discussing the subtle art of preparing dhamma talks for meditation retreats. Later, we ask, Do humans have an instinctual orientation towards compassion, kindness, and love—or do we only get there by pushing past our darker impulses?  Still later, we explore exactly how much we should trust our children, and… Continue reading Season 2, Episode Five: “Resting Buddha Face.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:15:23 — 69.0MB)

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In today’s episode, I seem to have no idea what I’m getting myself into when I ask Jess and Cara to comment on whether my son’s insistence that I speak to him through a monkey-shaped hand-puppet is a peculiarity capable of  revealing any dhamma-adjacent truths. Before long, we’ve delved into a doctrinal debate about whether or… Continue reading Season 2, Episode Four: “Talk, Monkey!”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:54 — 36.5MB)

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Today’s episode is a conversational free-for-all; or maybe a conversation in freefall? Jess and I crack open a veritable candy-sack of topics related to the dhamma of parenting. How do our children alert us when we’re not being mindful enough? What are the things we’re letting ourselves let go of, in hopes of becoming better parents?… Continue reading Season 2, Episode Three: “The Toilet-Mat Tantra.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:48 — 53.8MB)

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Today’s episode is a sonic rocket ride to the past. Back, in fact, to a series of conversations which Jess and Jon recorded in the final few weeks before Jess’s son was born. This is a snapshot view of how a dhamma teacher in the throes of the pregnant condition deals with the realization that the… Continue reading Season 2, Episode Two: “Whose Body is This?”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:36 — 81.8MB)

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We’re back, baby! Now that Jess has joined Jon on his long walk down the long pier of parenting, we’ll be taking a different angle on the discussions this season: What does it mean to bring dhamma practice into parenting, and parenting into dhamma practice? Our super special guest:  Cara Lai, a dhamma teacher teetering… Continue reading Season 2, Episode One: “Finding the Chanda in the Tanha.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:24 — 87.1MB)

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Today’s topic: RELATIONSHIPS! As late celebrity monk Ajahn Chah once said, “The most convenient way to practice meditation is as a monastic, because monastics are celibate.” But I guess human relationships must be pretty good, because we just keep coming back for more. So if we can’t stop ourselves from such holy foolishness in this… Continue reading Season 1, Episode Six: “Tongue-Kissing the Void.” (Or, “I Only Date Buddhists.”)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:11:29 — 65.4MB)

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Today’s topic: NATURE! As machete-voiced beatnik philosopher Tom Waits is wont to remind us, “We’re chained to the world, and we’ve all got to pull.” Some of us our able to make the best of our embedment in the natural world, but others will never stop being freaked out by it. Jess helps Jon see… Continue reading Season 1, Episode Five: “A Very Advanced Practice.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:50 — 62.1MB)

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Today’s topic: PARENTING! You know what they say: raising a child is a little bit like tap-dancing, backwards, while wearing high heels, and covered in fire ants. Meanwhile, trying to achieve even a shred of enlightenment is challenging enough without, at the same time, attempting to keep an entire extra human alive. Jess tries to… Continue reading Season 1, Episode Four: “Our Children’s Children’s Clones.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:44 — 61.1MB)

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Today’s topic: RETREATS! Sitting a silent meditation retreat is a virtual rite of passage for mindfulness people. But let’s be frank—sitting in silence for a number of days with only your mind for company is not necessarily a bucket full of gumdrops. Jess and I will talk about all the snakes and ladders one encounters… Continue reading Season 1, Episode Three: “Rollercoaster Explosion.”

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:13 — 62.5MB)

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