The Imperfect Buddha Podcast

The technological revolution we are facing today is artificial intelligence. At least this is what we are told. Those doing the telling include tech experts such as Elon Musk, linguist Noam Chomsky, as well as philosophers, politicians and intellectuals of all stripes.What are to make of all this and how are we to manage a world experiencing such rapid change as practitioners?We explore the role of A.I. and its place in a line of societal change that has serious consequences for all of us. We discuss practice, and thinkers including Guy Debord, Jean Baudrillard, Noam Chomsky and a bunch of contemporary commentators and their thoughts. We look at the big picture of society in turmoil and ask what practices might help us navigate this moment of intense change and disruption. We look at what it means to remain human despite the push to merge ourselves with the spectacle of social media and the calls to become more than human by tech dudes and the emergent forms of Capitalism and their need for us all to discard ever more of our humanity.My companion in this episode is the co-founder of the podcast, Stuart Baldwin, who came back for this one off episode. The topic of tech and A.I. is close to his heart and the conversation both captures past glories of earlier episodes and signals a new maturation in our relationship in what we hope will be a stimulating conversation for serious practitioners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wake up! Antidote to stupidity in three parts. This is part 3.What follows is a three-part series on waking up to non-buddhism as an antidote to stupidity. This is an ambitious project designed to look at a curriculum of items that might be useful to contemporary Buddhist practitioners in order to wake up from some of the traps that have been diagnosed by non-buddhism over the last few years. It constitutes a kind of educational possibility. Combining reflection on key topics and contemplative questions that may be useful for practitioners in thinking a bit deeper and beyond Buddhism about who they are as practitioners.The text which can be found over at the non-buddhism and Imperfect Buddha site.It has been divided into three parts for this audio version. The first two parts explore the introduction, overview and orientation to practice. The third looks at the series of curriculum items; providing questions for people to play around with.The third episode is the longest and if you get something out of the first two, I suggest you listen to it in stages. The contemplative questions are serious ones and can be very fruitful for the curious, intelligently aware practitioner, but need to time to sit with and marinade in.There are moments of creativity woven in through the three episodes, and I hope you appreciate them to some degree. And if they bother you that you practice some patience, like the good Buddhist you are!Thank you for listening.PS. Tricycle Magazine has finally accepted that non-buddhism exists and that it's not going anywhere and publish my introduction to it. Here's the link.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). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wake up! Antidote to stupidity in three parts. This is part 2.What follows is a three-part series on waking up to non-buddhism as an antidote to stupidity. This is an ambitious project designed to look at a curriculum of items that might be useful to contemporary Buddhist practitioners in order to wake up from some of the traps that have been diagnosed by non-buddhism over the last few years. It constitutes a kind of educational possibility. Combining reflection on key topics and contemplative questions that may be useful for practitioners in thinking a bit deeper and beyond Buddhism about who they are as practitioners.The text which can be found over at the non-buddhism and Imperfect Buddha site.It has been divided into three parts for this audio version. The first two parts explore the introduction, overview and orientation to practice. The third looks at the series of curriculum items; providing questions for people to play around with.The third episode is the longest and if you get something out of the first two, I suggest you listen to it in stages. The contemplative questions are serious ones and can be very fruitful for the curious, intelligently aware practitioner, but need to time to sit with and marinade in.There are moments of creativity woven in through the three episodes, and I hope you appreciate them to some degree. And if they bother you that you practice some patience, like the good Buddhist you are!Thank you for listening.PS. Tricycle Magazine has finally accepted that non-buddhism exists and that it's not going anywhere and publish my introduction to it. Here's the link.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). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wake up! Antidote to stupidity in three parts. This is part 1. What follows is a three-part series on waking up to non-buddhism as an antidote to stupidity. This is an ambitious project designed to look at a curriculum of items that might be useful to contemporary Buddhist practitioners in order to wake up from some of the traps that have been diagnosed by non-buddhism over the last few years. It constitutes a kind of educational possibility. Combining reflection on key topics and contemplative questions that may be useful for practitioners in thinking a bit deeper and beyond Buddhism about who they are as practitioners.The text which can be found over at the non-buddhism and Imperfect Buddha site.It has been divided into three parts for this audio version. The first two parts explore the introduction, overview and orientation to practice. The third looks at the series of curriculum items; providing questions for people to play around with.The third episode is the longest and if you get something out of the first two, I suggest you listen to it in stages. The contemplative questions are serious ones and can be very fruitful for the curious, intelligently aware practitioner, but need to time to sit with and marinade in.There are moments of creativity woven in through the three episodes, and I hope you appreciate them to some degree. And if they bother you that you practice some patience, like the good Buddhist you are!Thank you for listening.PS. Tricycle Magazine has finally accepted that non-buddhism exists and that it's not going anywhere and publish my introduction to it. Here's the link. 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). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Richard Dixey, a student of Buddhism, discusses his meditation course 'Three Minutes a Day' and the importance of short, consistent practices. They also talk about epistemology, the history and philosophy of science, and the current state of Buddhism in America.

Acclaimed cultural critic Curtis White examines current fissures in Western Buddhism and argues against the growth of scientific and corporate dharma, particularly in the Secular Buddhist movement. Most of his career has been spent writing experimental fiction, but he turned to writing books of social criticism, the latest of which is Transcendent, Art and Dharma in a Time of Collapse (Melville House, 2023)Dogen: “Enlightenment is the intimacy of all things.”In this conversation we look at; Delusion and going beyond money, tech and the database Buddhisms that are in bed with Amazon and Google. What it means to live in a world that no longer exists. We get advice from James Joyce Joyce: “I will not serve that in which I no longer believe whether it calls itself my home, my fatherland, or my church”. How Curtis sees art and dharma possibly helping the new generations to discover intimacy. Zen, Vajrayana, and their forms of transcendent art 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). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What links Vajrayana Buddhism and Vajrayogini to Alistair Crowley and the neo-Platonists? A topic of speculation, desire and imagination, the Subtle Body, also known as the energy body, is an odd phenomena with deep roots in Taoism, Hinduism and Buddhism, but many are unaware that it has a rich history in European thought too.Simon Cox traces its roots in his recent work entitled The Subtle Body: A Geneology (Oxford UP, 2021). In our conversation we tackle multiple themes. Is it real or merely imaginary? Is it a feature of non-dual ontologies, or is more complex than that? Does Buddhism innovate the technology and practices of the subtle body? What happens to the subtle body in the New Age? Panpsychism, Monosomatic Normativity, Henri Bergson, Nietzsche, and much more.Simon Paul Cox, PhD, is an independent scholar and translator who works primarily in Chinese, Tibetan, and Greek. His research focuses on mysticism and the body. He is also a teacher of Chinese Martial Arts and collaborator at the Esalan Institute. He also has something common with me. Listen to the end to find out.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). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“There is positive and negative resistance, and plenty of somethings in between. But who determines the terms upon which such a psychological force is cast? If it’s you, then you may have a small problem on your hands. That is if you are interested in transformation and change.”In the latest Think Piece, we look at why so many begin but never end and why so many use Buddhism to stay safe, reinforce existing ideas of self and steer clear of its more radical calls to practice and thought.The original post in its written glory is here.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). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“A moving description of a life in practice which goes far beyond text-based ideas of prayer, devotion, guru-connection, or meditation, and most especially of tantric practice." Anne Klein, former Chair of the Department of Religion at Rice University.A ground-breaking book, The Magic of Vajrayana (Unfettered Mind Media, 2023) opens new doors to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of Vajrayana, one of the most vibrant traditions of mystical practice in the world today. Ken McLeod deploys his considerable skills in translation, teaching, and writing to weave a rich tapestry of the core practices of this tradition and his experience with them. In simple clear English he immerses the reader in the practice of Vajrayana, bridging the gap between classical instruction and idealized descriptions of insights and understandings. Along with two of his previous books, Reflections on Silver River and A Trackless Path, The Magic of Vajrayana completes a trilogy of experiential instruction and guidance in the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism.As one of the first generation western practitioners and then teacher, Ken is a contemporary of famous teachers across the American, Canadian and British dharma figures. He both shares concerns with them and has made his own way.He is one of those who have sought to innovate, westernise and explore what happens to Buddhism when it is taken out of a traditional setting. Whether through his Pragmatic Dharma website, or his insistence on finding language that works for those he taught and now writes for, Ken has gone deep into Tibetan Buddhism whilst committing to finding ways to have it speak to westerners: he has in many ways been a key early figure in adapting and westernising Buddhism, specifically Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism from Tibet.Ken’s latest book, The Magic of Vajrayana, is the topic of our conversation. In discussing it, we look at a variety of topics that relate to the practising life. What are magic and faith and what role do they have in the Tantric path. Opening to experience and how the path can enable this process. The role of power, and the guru. How mantras and deities can assist practitioners to wake up. The nature and role of reactive patterns and how to counter them. The role of language in opening up practices. Samsara. The future of Vajrayana in the West. 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). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“It is not events that disturb us, but what we believe about them.” Is this true? Well, apparently Pyrrho, a rather obscure Greek philosopher claimed it to be the case and he may have been influenced by Buddhism in his creation of what today is called “Pyrrhonism”. Pyrrho agreed with the Buddha that delusion was the cause of suffering, but instead of using meditation to end delusion, Pyrrho applied Greek philosophical rationalism.Pyrrho’s Way: The Ancient Greek Version of Buddhism (Sumeru Press, 2020) lays out the Pyrrhonist path for modern readers on how to apply Pyrrhonist practice to everyday life. Its author is Douglas C. Bates, founder of the Modern Pyrrhonism Movement. He has been a Zen practitioner for over 25 years, was a founding member of Boundless Way Zen, and is a student of Zeno Myoun, Roshi.“…succeeds in making a difficult and obscure philosophy not only intelligible but, more to the point, something to be practiced in a way that can make a difference to your life here and now.” — STEPHEN BATCHELOR, author of The Art of Solitude“…an intelligent, readable book that succeeds in its goal of introducing Pyrrhonism as practice.” — CHRISTOPHER BECKWITH, author of Greek Buddha: Pyrrho’s Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central AsiaMatthew 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). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices