Introduction to the asceticism as created by the historical Buddha in the original mendicant community of male & female followers of his teachings. Robert A.F. Thurman discusses the difference between Theravada and Universal Vehicle (Mahayana) Buddhism, comparing the Nirvana aspiring mendicants and Enlightenment aspiring Bodhisattvas — the variances in their ways of thinking and the impacts they have on the societies they live among.
Includes a discussion of the revolutionary & cultural disruptive nature of structures supporting a class of life long dedicated practitioners of mind transformation, wisdom studies and material renunciation.
Professor Thurman concludes this podcast by framing the mendicant's asceticism to be a logical declaration of the interconnected, inter-relational nature of reality, "The Invention of the Americas: Eclipse of "the Other" and the Myth of Modernity" by Enrique Dussel & The Stamford Prison Experiment & with a "Mad Scientist" meditation.
Freedom of Asceticism: Buddha's Free Lunch Podcast Thumbnail by Andrea Kirkby via www.flickr.com.
Archive recording from the closing talk from the “Death & Deathlessness Retreat” held at Menla in 2015 with Robert A.F. Thurman and Dale Borglum....
Addressing the sexual misconduct and abuse by leaders and members of Buddhist communities, Robert A.F. Thurman gives a practical teaching on understanding the destructive...
The discovery of the historical Buddha not only posited the nature of reality but put forth a systematic method for individuals & society to...
