What Is Dharmaecology?

Dharmaecology is an interweaving of dharma themes from the Buddhist Naturalist tradition and ecology, which I define as natural systems theory. Dharmaecology indicates a strong focus on ecology and climate justice, dharma naturalism, and a systems ecology approach to dharma theory and practice. It’s about connectedness, networks and integration, social, biological and cosmic. What I seek …

The Unconditioned

I think I understand the Unconditioned. The Unconditioned is Shunyata. Shunyata, as I said years ago, is the possibility of things coming into existence. That possibility, or process, is Unconditioned. Nothing precedes it; it always is. The Conditioned comes out of the Unconditioned, the unitary process, the Shunyata. But the Conditioned and the Unconditioned are …

Buddhism as Myth

For the last couple of months, I have been explorimg the idea of Buddhism as myth, as literature, as narrative, as mythopoiesis. This process has liberated my mind both to be free of doctrine as a form of oppression, and yet to appreciate the wisdom that the mythical narrative unfolds. I think related to this …

The Anti-Modernist Myth of Pre-Contact Buddhism

The Anti-Modernists fantasize a “pre-contact” Buddhism that is not “tainted” by Western contact or Western culture. So let’s go through this. The first known contact of the European West with Asian cultures, and probably Buddhism, was the journey of Marco Polo along the Silk Road to China from 1271 to 1295. That was followed by …

Gonzo Dharma

Justin Otto is the Hunter S. Thompson of American Dharma Justin Otto is the creator and host of a new podcast called Dharma Junkie. Dharma Junkie is probably not like any dharma podcast you've ever heard, with the possible exception of The Tattooed Buddhist in its early days. Justin is the Hunter S. Thompson of American …

Wahl: Other Ways of Knowing

Daniel Christian Wahl, a scientist and thought leader in the field of ecological design, discusses different ways of knowing in science. He discusses the "Leverage Points" of system change outlined by Donela Meadows in the 70s, and how her model shifted over time from mechanistic thinking to qualitative thinking. Wahl advocates moving from quantitative analysis …

Fritjof Capra: the Way of the Psychonaut

This video features Fritjof Capra's work with Stan Grof, Czech psychiatrist and psychedelic psychotherapy pioneer. Capra relates his work in subatomic theory, describing it as a relationship of energy patterns and networks, to Grof's work in psychotherapy, in which the unconscious is explored as an unbounded space of mystical experiences. This is presented as a …

Why I am Glad Evan Thompson is not a Buddhist

I have read Evan Thompson’s Why I am not a Buddhist (2020) and I have to say from the start, I agree with him on that point. I’m glad that he’s not a Buddhist, for the following reasons. I’m sick of being told what to think and what not to think as a Buddhist or about …

the Dharma Code

What I seek to both uncover and create is what I call the Dharma Code, the way things connect and work at multiple levels of reality, from the largest and most observable, to the smallest and most obscure. I am aware that 'what I see' is largely determined by the narrative codes that I bring …

Mahayana Liberation and Rebirth

Editor: I found this discussion on the Reddit r/Buddhist site. Q. Ok, so my question is based off of an excerpt from Shang Yen, a Ch’an Monk who has written a couple books explaining some of the doctrine of Ch’an/Zen and its approach. He outlines the Mahayanic view of Samsara and Nirvana: Sheng Yen on …

and again…The Deathless

What is the Deathless? What is it that is not born and does not die? Energy. Einstein: Energy is neither created nor destroyed; it merely changes form. There you have it. That’s it. Energy changes, (impermanence, change), energy takes forms that are compounded and interconnected, thus energy-in-form has no essential identity (non-self). Energy is that …