According to Buddhism, there are four types of motivation for practice. The worst practitioner is the person who practices not to benefit anyone, as their motivation is fixated on something else. The next worst is the person who practices to benefit others and not themselves, causing problems as they haven't figured out how to benefit themselves. Above that is the person who practices to benefit themselves and not others, at least benefiting themselves. The highest practitioner is the one who practices to benefit both themselves and others, understanding that helping themselves first enables them to help others.
In this episode, I speak about Stoicism and Buddhism with Matthew Gindin. Matthew is a former Forest Monk in the Thai Buddhist tradition. He taught meditation practices for 15 years, and has written extensively for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. He is now the author of the Philosophy As Therapy newsletter on Substack.
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Highlights
* How Matthew became interested in Stoicism and his other philosophical influences, such as Spinoza
* The rise in popularity of Stoicism, e.g., how it appeals to people interested in Buddhism, etc.
* What do you think Stoicism and Buddhism have in common?
* The historical relationship between Stoicism and Buddhism, e.g., communication between ancient eastern and western philosophers
* How Stoics could benefit from learning more about Buddhism
Links
* Philosophy As TherapySubstack Newsletter
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