The Wisdom Podcast Cortland Dahl: A Meditator’s Guide to Buddhism (#209)
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Jun 21, 2025 Cortland Dahl is an author and translator whose research focuses on Buddhist philosophy and the science of meditation. He discusses integrating meditation into daily life and the crucial aspects of view, meditation, and application. Cortland also dives into concepts like naturalness and spontaneity in Vajrayana Buddhism. Moreover, he addresses the balance between being and doing, the challenges of measuring mindfulness, and the intersection of meditation with modern technology—opening new perspectives on awareness and its role in our lives.
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Dharma's Three Pillars
- The Dharma tradition includes view (perspective), meditation (experience), and application (daily life integration).
- Application is crucial as it teaches how to bring these teachings into everyday life beyond formal meditation sessions.
Naturalness vs. Spontaneity
- Naturalness in meditation means allowing experience to unfold without manipulation.
- Spontaneity is how you interact with the world naturally from that unaltered internal experience.
Awareness as Continuous Knowing
- Awareness is the ever-present thread of knowing behind all experiences.
- Meditative practice reorients us to awareness itself, offering peace independent of changing mental states.
