Buddha | Wise Attention

Responding to Praise and Blame

Posted by Vishvapani on Feb 15, 2012 in Buddha, Ethics, Featured | 2 comments

What happens when we are praised - and what happens when we're criticised? Here's some advice from the Buddha, placed by later Buddhists on page 1 of the User's Manual of Buddhism

What the Buddha means … for me & the world

Posted by Vishvapani on Dec 11, 2011 in Buddha, Gautama Buddha | 0 comments

Reflections on the experience of writing Gautama Buddha: the Life & Teachings of the Awakened One, and the continuing relevance - and continuing misinterpretations of the Buddha. Part 3 of an email interview with Will Buckingham on the ThinkBuddha blog

The Buddha, Nature & Politics

Posted by Vishvapani on Dec 10, 2011 in Buddha, Gautama Buddha | 0 comments

In the second part of this interview with Will Buckingham on the ThinkBuddha blog, we discuss the place of nature in the Buddha's life, his relationship with politics and the modern resonance of these subjects

Legend & History in the Buddha’s Life

Posted by Vishvapani on Dec 9, 2011 in Buddha, Featured, Gautama Buddha | 0 comments

Here's Part 1 of an email interview with Will Buckingham of the ThinkBuddha blog about my book, Gautama Buddha: the Life & Teachings of the Awakened One. It explores why I wrote the book and how I approached the distinction between legend and history in the Buddha's life

Trouble in the Sangha: the Quarrel at Kausambi

Posted by Vishvapani on Nov 8, 2011 in Buddha, Buddhism, Practice, Talks | 0 comments

When the monks of Kausambi started feuding, the Buddha told them that responding with loving kindness was more important than who was right. This talk explores Sangha, or spiritual community and the practice of facing its difficulties

Review: The Origin of Buddhist Meditation

Posted by Vishvapani on Sep 30, 2011 in Buddha, Buddhism, Reviews | 0 comments

What, if anything, do we ‘know’ about the Buddha? This recent book employs scholarly detective work to 'prove' that certain elements in the ancient Pali scriptures are true. It casts fresh light on the world the Buddha inhabited and the meditation practices he was learned as a young man. More intriguing still, this suggests the changes he made when he came to teach meditation himself.