Ep366: Questioning the Buddha - Leigh Brasington
Leigh Brasington is a Buddhist meditation teacher and author of “Right Concentration, A Practical Guide to the Jhanas”.
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This episode begins with a brief comment from Leigh about his appearance in “Ep329: Enlightened Politics” in which he explored the relationship between Buddhism and political ideology.
After that we discuss Leigh’s new book “On the Way to the Far Shore”, his commentary on the Pārāyanavagga, chapter five of Suttanipāta, one of the earliest sutta collections in the Pali canon. The text takes the form of a question and answer session with the Buddha himself and evidences nascent forms of the doctrines of the four noble truths and the path of gradual training.
Leigh considers the pros and cons of formal study of the Pali language, explains the ways in which English translations can be misleading, and muses on why so few Buddhist converts read their own scriptures.
Leigh also reveals how his Dzogchen practice helped him understand early Buddhist doctrine, gives advice about how to internalise intellectual ideas through meditation practice, and shares how a profound experience of the nature of mind changed his life forever.
00:00 - Intro
01:17 - Can there be an enlightened tyrant?
02:49 - Anyone can perform enlightened activity
04:20 - Why Leigh wrote On the Way to the Far Shore
08:13 - Wrestling with the Pali sutta
09:07 - Leigh’s training the the Pali language
11:18 - Struggles to learn foreign languages
12:37 - Is training as a scholar worth it?
14:36 - 4 categories of Pali suttas
17:05 - Why Leigh won’t pursue a PhD
19:17 - Why don’t Buddhists read the Pali canon?
23:14 - Diving into the the Pārāyanavagga, book five of the Suttanipāta
27:50 - Vedanā and āsava - don’t believe the English translations
29:44 - Literal vs meaning translations + implications of grammar
33:40 - Q&A with the Buddha
36:20 - Questions the Buddha refuses to answer
37:46 - Experiencing the world raw
42:27 - The most important insight
44:22 - How to really gain insight
45:24 - Leigh’s Dzogchen practice
46:14 - Leigh’s mind blowing experience of the nature of mind
51:28 - After effects of Leigh’s epiphany
53:56 - Integrating vs losing an insight
55:04 - How to keep an insight fresh
56:31 - How to regard the world so you are not seen by the King of Death
59:17 - How to become “ever mindful”
01:01:30 - This is a different kind of book
01:02:41 - The roots of the Four Noble Truths and the gradual training
01:05:13 - Will Leigh start a Pali sutta discussion group?
01:07:14 - Man in the Light of History of Religion
01:10:02 - Scripture as literature or an instruction manual?
01:12:32 - Leigh’s advice for approaching difficult books
01:13:46 - What do the suttas say about the brahmavihārās?
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Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James