In this last episode in the enlightenment series, we interview Daniel Ingram, the Arhat. Dan created quite a bit of controversy when he came out and claimed enlightenment a few years back. For listeners of our previous episodes, you will know that such a claim is loaded with all sorts of assumptions and implications. Dan joins us in stripping away many of the romantic myths surrounding the ideal of enlightenment and presents his pragmatic model of awakening. We also discuss the future of awakening. Dan is the author of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha and one of the most interesting characters to come out of the pragmatic dharma movement. He stirred up a great deal of controversy when claiming Arhatship and was instrumental in setting up the Dharma Overground; a site dedicated to exploring progress in practice in a lively, peer-to-peer environment and a location where folks make often dramatic progress in their pursuit of awakening. In this chat, we covered the following themes; 1. Daniel's coming out & the impact this had on the Buddhist community 2. His model of awakening and how it contrasts with the views we explored in episode 7.0 3. Exploding popular myths surrounding enlightenment & addressing taboos 4. The political implications of claiming, or not claiming enlightenment 5. Death & awakening 6. Evolving models of awakening 7. The degree to which individuals are willing to 'get enlightened' 8. Supporting up and coming teachers 9. The future of it all 10. ...and more.
Matthew O'Connell is a life coach and the host of the The Imperfect Buddha podcast. You can find The Imperfect Buddha on Facebook and Twitter (@imperfectbuddha).
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