Buddha | Wise Attention

Discovering the Buddha

Posted by Vishvapani on Mar 22, 2012 in Buddha, Featured, Gautama Buddha | 2 comments

What’s left to say about the Buddha? Everything, I discovered in writing my biography: Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teaching of the Awakened One. And the funny, original, surprising Buddha of history is more relevant than ever

Responding to Praise and Blame

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

Review of Gautama Buddha (AREIAC Newsletter)

Posted by Vishvapani on Dec 15, 2011 in Gautama Buddha, Reviews | 0 comments

"Excellent ... thorough, carefully researched and well-written ... A very readable and impressive account of one of the world’s most important religious leaders." Paul Hopkins reviews "Gautama Buddha" for the Association of Religious Education Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants: AREIAC Newsletter, Autumn, 2011

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, 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

Memento Mori

Posted by Vishvapani on Oct 10, 2011 in Buddhism, Practice | 0 comments

It's easy to think that Insight, Wisdom and Enlightenment are far beyond the level of our experience. But if we reflect on our experience in the light of teachings such as the Worldly Winds we sometimes find that the deeper truths are present right now

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 learned as a young man. More intriguing still, this suggests the changes he made when he came to teach meditation himself.