Fake Buddhism Quotes

(as posted at American Buddhist Perspective)

My friend and former meditation teacher Bodhipaksa has recently been collecting and commenting upon interesting "Fake Buddha Quotes."  This has been a source of occasional comedy, sometimes frustration, and also a bit of wonder. Why is it that people coin these fake new quotes? Why do others pick them up and spread them, unchecked, across the web and other networks? Why are some, like Bodhipaksa and myself, a bit frustrated with them? First a couple of those quotes (click the link for Bodhipaksa's comments):

“When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.” (from here)

“Suffering, if it does not diminish love, will transport you to the furthest shore.” – Buddha (from here)

“You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself”
–Buddha (from here)

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
—Buddha. (from here)

He is able who thinks he is able. #Buddha (from here)

And finally, my favorite (from here):

Ok, so now that we've all had a good laugh, I have to ask: why create fake Buddha quotes? The simplest answer is that it's just plane old humane mistakes (plain... human). Little slips in translation or memory, or perhaps big ones and viola! (voilà) a new Buddha quote. As a guy who grew up believing that Americans fought a big war about silver in the 1860s and that the second World War was called "war war two" I can see where this is probably very often the case.

In good Buddhist fashion we can call that the ignorance cause. Then there would also be the greed and aversion causes (the three poisons). Greed perhaps for personal aggrandizement or mere attention, aversion could manifest in besmirching someone else (using a made-up Buddha quote) or making a silly one up to make the Buddha look bad.

And now, why do we repeat them? Well, probably for the same reasons - mostly ignorance if you ask me. We all, especially if we call ourselves Buddhists, owe it to ourselves and the world to read some early Buddhist teachings now and then. Check out Access to Insight (you can download the whole thing on your iPhone/iPod) if you haven't already. Even though I'm a bit of a Theravāda snob these days, I will also heartily suggest reading Tibetan, Zen, Ch'an, Shin, etc writings as well. It's very important to get a taste of each tradition; you don't need to believe it or practice it, but see where it is coming from so that you can see your fellow Buddhists and human beings. So don't forget the great Catholics (Thomas Merton, Merton movie, or Anthony De Mello, "I'm an ass, you're an ass"), Protestants, Hindus, Muslims and others.

And lastly, why are some of us a bit frustrated with these fake Buddha quotes? Well, as Bodhipaksa suggests in his comments, the Buddha simply didn't say that. Why make up new things when we already have HUGE canons of real Buddha quotes? Perhaps we could say it's disrespectful, not to mention the above (ignorant, greedy, malicious) potential roots behind the quote. The stated goal of Buddhism, along with the aleviation of suffering, is to know things as they truly are (yathābhūtaṃ ñāṇaṃ). So fake Buddha quotes, unless they are created out of the heart of a true bodhisattva, will potentially not only spread greater unclarity in the world but also increase suffering.

That brings me to a final, scholarly point. What about the Mahāyāna? And in particular a quote from the Adhyāśayasaṃcodana Sūtra, the “Sūtra for inciting determination”:

Yat kiñcin maitreya subhāṣitaṃ sarvaṃ tad buddhabhāṣitam.

Because, Maitreya, all that is well spoken is Buddha-spoken.

You can find this in some great contemporary scholarly books including: Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism (P.Williams) And On Being Buddha (P. Griffiths), and Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sutra (D. Lopez).

The idea here seems to be that whatever is well spoken is the Buddha's speech; i.e. if you speak well, you speak as a Buddha. This is very definitely an innovation of Mahāyāna Buddhism. In an article (free to Jstror subscribers) L. Snellgrove explains that some "misplaced wording" in one of his articles had Aśoka, a great early Buddhist king, declaring that 'all which is well spoken is the word of the Buddha' when in fact he stated that 'whatever has been said by the Buddha, is well spoken'.  We can see where some semantic clarity makes a pretty big difference.

What do you think? Can we 'fake quote' the Buddha for good ends? Do we have a duty to point out fake Buddha quotes made by friends? Or is whatever is 'well spoken' an automatic 'Buddha quote'?

Stephen and Martine Batchelor - Godless Religion or Devout Atheism?

Upaya Zen Center is posting an outstanding series of podcasts (14 in all) featuring Stephen and Martine Batchelor speaking on "Godless Religion or Devout Atheism?"

Stephen Batchelor is well-known, and perhaps infamous, for his book Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening. I am a tremendous fan of his modern approach to Buddhist practice. Each new culture that adopts Buddhism has adapted the teachings to make sense within its individual context. In Tibet, the Mahayana became the Vajrayana, which is central to all Tibetan lineages, but not identical with Tibetan Buddhism [Al Billings made an important correction on this point in the comments, for which I am grateful]; when Bodhidharma went to China, the teachings became the Ch'an tradition; in Japan, the Ch'an teachings became Zen.

We are now 2,500 years removed from the Buddha's enlightenment. The values and structures of human awareness have changed considerably since then. We are now more rational and less superstitious, so it is appropriate the Buddhist practice evolves to reflect who we are now as students. Progressive Buddhism, from my perspective, acknowledges the profound technology of enlightenment that the Buddha has left for us, but we also acknowledge that the cultural context of the original teachings are no longer appropriate to our current cultural context.

Perhaps unique among the current Buddhist teachers, Stephen Batchelor is offering us a progressive form of Buddhist practice. Enjoy the podcasts - I will post two more groups of five as they become available in the coming days.

Listen to the “Godless Religion or Devout Atheism?” series

For the next 10 days from Dec 18 to Dec 27, we will be sequentially releasing the podcasts from the Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? series recorded in October.

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Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? Part 1 of 14 – Session 1

Speakers: Stephen and Martine Batchelor

Stephen opens the retreat asking, “What is Buddhism?” Is it devout atheism or a godless religion? Over the next few days, we will individually look at what the practice means to us. The West has begun to look at the different Buddhist traditions and scriptures in a way that has never happened before. We are fortunate in that we have a huge amount of information available to us. Martine discusses the practical set-up of the retreats, and sets the objectives for the meditations.

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Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? Part 2 of 14 – Session 2

Speaker: Stephen Batchelor

Stephen deconstructs what we know of Buddhism, offering interpretations and explaining cultural elements of Buddhism that came from the Buddha’s time. This reveals what is left of the Buddha’s original teaching. In original texts, the Eightfold Path ends with the Four Noble Truths, which in turn end in the Eightfold Path. Stephen discusses what society was like at the Buddha’s time and what most people knew about other cultures, histories, and ideas. Therefore, we must rethink the Four Noble Truths and perhaps unlearn what we have been taught about Buddhism.

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Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? Part 3 of 14 – Discussion and Q & A

Speakers: Stephen & Martine Batchelor

Topics include the myth of the Buddha vs. what we know to be more certain; the Buddha’s vision of society; unpacking the myth of the Buddha as a real man; the origin of merit in Buddhism.

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Godless Religion or Devout Atheism? Part 4 of 14 – Dharma Talk on Exploring Meditation

Speaker: Martine Batchelor

In Zen generally there are 2 types of meditation: samatha and vipassana, or concentration and open awareness. However, in practicing samatha, we do not concentrate to the exclusion of everything else. In vipassana, we can use the brightness of the mind to inquire, as looking deeply is what causes transformation. Through samatha and vipassana, we experience the diminution of habits.

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Tags: Buddhism, Buddhist teachers, Stephen Batchelor, atheism, Stephen Batchelor, Martine Batchelor, Godless Religion, Devout Atheism?, Upaya Zen Center

Review of Bodhipaksa’s “Still the Mind”

* Full disclosure: Bodhipaksa was my first meditation teacher, way back in 2000-2002, when he taught at The University of Montana and the Rocky Mountain Buddhist Center. I also worked with him in the early days of Wildmind.org and am currently a contributor to the blog there (so yea, I might be a bit biased).

Whether it was yesterday or years ago, most us have seen an image of the Buddha, or of someone meditating. These images of peace, calm, and happiness often have the power to stop our mind in its tracks. And it was likely just such an image that attracted us to meditation in the first place. Bodhipaksa thus wisely introduces this two-CD set on meditation with a recollection of this imagery and the story of the Buddha’s own journey from a wealthy and indulgent youth to the picture of contentment that we know today.

The Buddha’s story, interwoven with bits of Bodhipaksa’s own, serves to connect us to the human realities of the teacher, to in a way reassure us that our reality is not so far removed from his and others who, through the centuries, have achieved the lasting states of joy and calm that arise from a stilled mind. The point of these stories is to show us that we too can achieve this stillness and that just as they did, we must simply start where we are.

With this, Bodhipaksa leads us through a short meditation followed by a discussion of the five hindrances. Here it seems natural to pause the CD and ask ourselves where the hindrances arise most in our lives. Do we live out our days wrapped in the false comfort of anger toward the world, or perhaps indulgence in sense pleasures? With some thought we will discover one or two that are most dominant for us. As Bodhipaksa notes though, the hindrances, “are not really the enemy, they’re just ineffective strategies for finding happiness.” Seeing them as such, we gently uncover these cycles that have unconsciously dominated so much of our lives.

This practice, Bodhipaksa assures us, opens up space for conscious choice and freedom. This space is where we begin to break free of old cycles, to actively become kinder, to develop patience and awareness. In other words, to begin to give light to our own Buddha nature. Just how this works is too complex for now, but rest assured that we are given an expert analysis, free of jargon and filled with authentic and useful metaphors.

By the time we begin the guided mindfulness of breathing meditation on the end of the first CD, we are convinced of not only our own potential for Buddha-like calm and happiness, but also the effectiveness of this simple process for getting us there. This guided meditation, ranging over four tracks, both leads us and piques our interest in the process of meditation, taking what is too often seen as a bland and boring project and turning it into an intricate journey into our own minds.

Session 2.

In our second sitting, Bodhipaksa offers guidance for the long path of developing and deepening a regular meditation practice. Meditation is, as he notes, not a quick fix. We do not listen once to the CD and walk away enlightened. At least I didn’t. But what we do get is one of the clearest guide-maps we will ever find of the territory between us and awakening.

The second CD concludes with two single-track meditations, the first a body scan meditation and the second a mindfulness of breathing (this time filled with much more silence and less illustration and explanation than when this process was introduced in the first CD).

As briefly noted before, these CDs will serve you best if listened to in chunks, with pen and paper handy, perhaps also a cup of tea and some calm music (I’m listening to the Crystal Voices CD, “Sounds of Light” which serves well to block out the acoustic disturbances of the coffee shop around me). Be prepared to pause the CDs often (but not while in the meditations!) to reflect on a point or take a note. But don’t let reflection and note-taking fall into daydreaming and a journaling exercise.

Stay in the process, perhaps dedicating a set amount of time to listen and reflect. I would even recommend trying to start off with a couple hours to take in the whole experience. For me the initial listening was about 40 minutes in a hot bath, just to get a ‘taste’ of the process. Then I came to the coffee shop, where I have now sat for almost three hours listening. In my listening I have tried to keep my mind with each stage, following the introduction, the brief meditation and discussion of hindrances and so on. The layout of the first CD in short tracks with titles such as “The five hindrances” and “What is mindfulness” helps tremendously in keeping this wild mind on the topic at hand.

Typically in closing a review I try to find some sort of criticism or idea for improvement, but today – perhaps feeling overly zen-like after nearly three hours of Bodhipaksa’s calming voice and Scottish accent – I am having a very hard time thinking of anything. These are CDs I will recommend to anyone interested in a clear and direct introduction to meditation practice. It has served me as a valuable reminder of the key steps of the practice and I know I will listen again and again, both for my own practice and as a primer for teaching meditation to others.

(cross-posted at American Buddhist Perspective)

Fear, Mental Illness and Meditation: The Importance of a Teacher

I have heard so many different misguided opinions about how Buddhism is 'dangerous' and can cause 'psychosis' and even 'permanent mental illness'. I have heard leaders and the priestly class of other religions say this, I have heard psychiatrists say this and even some historians. They claim that the Kamikaze pilots in World War Two shows how twisted Buddhism can make one become. Some Psychiatrists will point to patients having psychotic breaks sometimes needing hospitalization and even having permanent mental issues caused by practicing some form of Buddhist meditation. This is definitely some scary shit! But of course this is mostly hearsay and horseshit. ('They' do talk a lot, don't they?) But why would people say this and is there any grain of truth to it?



My answer may shock you, but yes, I see that in some ways, practicing some forms of Buddhist meditation without some understanding of what you are going to experience and if you have a pre-existing mental condition with no teacher to guide you can create feelings of great emotional stress and extreme anxiety. Saying that, I want to quickly say, this is only a tiny portion of those that attempt it and many people with mental disorders have found great relief from practicing Buddhist meditation. Obviously, much of what the first paragraph says is fear mongering, religious bigotry and just folks who have a enormous misunderstanding of our Buddhist practice.

I have experienced great fear while sitting in ZaZen a few times, and to be honest I was scared shitless. After you practice for awhile, some may start to see the realization of the emptiness of self and see some smatterings of unbridled reality. If one is unprepared for such an experience, feelings of great anxiety and fear can suddenly swell up, and this is perfectly normal and common. I think for the vast majority of practitioners this does not pose a great problem. However, the impact of realizing the emptiness of self, ego and identity should not be underestimated. When one begins to realize all that he or she took as self, identity and reality is stripped naked of the minds conceptions, not only can it become a life changing, beautiful event but it can also shake one to the their crumbling foundation.

In Zen, it is said that one must pass away before the attainment of enlightenment. They don't mean to actually die, but the idea or notion of self or ego dies. I think this is just as significant as death itself though. I realize this can be confusing. Perhaps this may help a bit:

If you think why we have difficulty in our life you will understand how to accept the difficulty. Before you are, you do not realize that we are one piece of water or one piece of universe. You have fear. You have difficulty because you have feeling. You attach to the feeling you have just now without knowing just how this kind of feeling is created.

So to dip the water from the river is to feel the water, the value of each individual, the value of the person who uses the water. At the same time when we become aware of individual feelings we have the feeling of the value of the water. So we…because of this feeling we cannot use the water just materially. It is living being. Originally it was with the big river. So if the water becomes one with the big river, the water will not have any feeling to it. It will resume to its own nature. By resuming to its own nature they have composure, they will be very glad to come back to original water. If so, when you die what feeling will you have? I think it is like water. We are like water in the dipper.

So if someone takes us to the original river the dipper…the water in the dipper will be very glad. So if we come back to original home we will be very glad. We will have composure there. Perfect composure. It may be too perfect for us just now. Now we have some….because we are so attached to the individual existence like this so we have attachment. For us, just now, in this way we have some feeling of fear or fear of death but after we resume to our true nature there is nirvana. That is why we say to attain nirvana when we die. It is same word. We say ‘to take nirvana’ is to pass away…to pass away is not so adequate expression. ‘To pass on’.

~Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner Mind

We are dualistic, so what about the good stuff? When we seek truth with an honest motive, I think, although there may be some genuine difficulty, the realizations and understandings we have can transform our life or more importantly our mind's view of life to be more in sync with reality. We see people everyday, from every walk of life show great benefit from practicing earnestly, with a keen mind and right understanding. Today even many psychotherapists have adopted some Buddhist techniques of mindfulness and concentration in tandem with a cognitive therapy treating all sorts of different types of patients. My Zen Master once said that the appearance of fear is an encouraging sign of a students progression in practice. Weather it be Vipassanā, or ZaZen or some form of Tibetan Tantric practice, I think these forms of right concentration must be investigated or perfected in conjunction with right understanding, intention, mindfulness and effort. Perhaps, think about it like building a bridge across a river with no planks to walk on.


The ironic thing about this is the eventual appearance of fearlessness and composure. Once one begins to see beyond the shadow of self, then fear will begin to fade from the mind like a wave gently rolling back into the ocean. While I think it is more than possible for one to progress their practice by themselves, perhaps even to the attainment of enlightenment itself, most of us are in need of a teacher to see improvement. They can guide us, be our lifeline, show us where we fall and encourage us when we despair. I can not stress enough how much great wisdom and substance a good teacher can bring to us, to ease some of our worries and to explain some of our own fears. If you have the ability, I encourage you to find a teacher/monk/master, one that suits you and your choice of practice. Learn from others online or around you about the men and woman out there that do offer instruction, guidance and discipline, and make an informed decision.

So, is Buddhism dangerous? Perhaps, to a few, under certain conditions with no guidance or understanding. More importantly however, the thrust and tradition of Buddhism can mean the ultimate extermination of fear. Everything we do in life can be dangerous, getting out of bed, crossing the street or taking a shower can be dangerous. I believe our greatest danger we have, however, is not to reflect upon ourselves. Fearlessness is that perfect diamond embedded inside the boulder of fear.


"The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes."
~Pema Chodron

Life Lessons

While driving home this morning, I noticed this fairly attractive woman, driving in her car beside me, constantly peering into the rear view mirror fixing up her makeup. It occurred to me what a wonderful thing it would be if we, as a society, could put so much effort looking it our mind and inward as we do worrying about our outward appearance. What a sacred mirror this would be to be able to reflect our mind and thoughts as it reflects our superficial features!


"How can I be happy?
How can I avoid pain?
Why do I even exist?"

I don't see that we ask the wrong questions, but we are looking the wrong places for the answer. In our western culture, we constantly impress the notion 'its all about appearances'. "Maybe if I could be a little better looking, or make more money or drive a nicer car, maybe I can be accepted by others. This will bring some happiness." As we get older we see through our experiences how silly a notion this becomes. Wisdom tells us through our life lessons that we aren't finding the answers to these questions outwardly.

I've been married twice, divorced twice. In my younger days it seemed so important for me to be in a relationship. I thought another person could somehow create happiness, fill those blank spots in my life. I never was happy by myself to begin with and I felt so incomplete. In the end, it only caused more pain and confusion for myself. As in medicine, you can't cure an infection by eating ice cream; You can't find answers by being in a relationship with another person. A relationship can be a beautiful, wonderful thing if both people enter in, unattached to these ideas that I so naively clung to.

How can we, as Buddhist students and teachers, bloggers and community members, begin to show these life lessons to others in our modern world without falling into some sort of 'religious dogma'? It is said that when the student is ready a teacher will appear. How can we make our appearance more obvious without being so evangelical?

Maybe we can show others that this sacred mirror is already built right inside ourselves, if we just payed close enough attention.

Why Buddhism, why now?

I sit at my desk day after day, head swirling with thoughts, randomly strewn about like dirty clothes on a child’s room. I have bills to pay when I get home. My coworker is humming again! What am I going to have for lunch? Is tonight my kid’s baseball game? Endlessly, all day, these thoughts invade my mind. How can I or anyone ever find peace!

A Zen master asks us what it is we seek.

Lama Gyurme once said that Buddhism is part Religion, part philosophy and partly a way of life. It is a Religion in the sense that it is important that the original message of the Buddha stays undiluted, a philosophy in the sense that Buddhism is a broad school of philosophical and conceptual thought and a way of life in the sense that it is meant to help right here and right now in each and every one of our lives.

I am not interested so much in the first two but I am very interested in the latter. It does not matter what beliefs you have or what religion you are. This is not about belief or even about God, but rather seeing the world and ourselves with a very honest and keen, almost scientific eye.

But why, what's in it for me?

Well, you can begin to go through life fearless; Fearless in the face of change, in the face of others aggression and yes, fearless in the face of death. We can learn to smile at those that harm us, extend a hand to those that lash out at us and learn to walk this earth with a compassionate heart.

How?

Not by belief in any ideal or teaching, but with an open heart and open mind, begin to see the true nature of our existence. See for yourself life is change and recognize our minds reaction to this change. All suffering arises with in us, all turmoil is based on the inimitable truth that everything changes and nothing can be grasped. With kindness and compassion to yourself, you can learn to become unattached to these material things that will never persist, and simply begin to watch how this ride we call life unfold.

What it is we seek? Perhaps we can find out together.

The Buddha once said, “You are strong, you are young. It is time to arise.” In our modern world, it is rare that one follows the path of the awakened.....but it is no less true today then it was 2,500 years ago. "So....Arise!"

(A thank you to the webmaster of this blog for allowing me to be a contributor!)

Dharma Talks

Today, many books, Buddhist magazine articles, and websites are filled with dharma talks. These are speeches by Buddhist teachers, lay or ordained, that illuminate particular aspects of the dharma. They can be introductory such as a treatise on the Four Noble Truths of The Eightfold Path, or they can explore aspects of Buddhist ethics such as generosity or compassion. They may even go deeply into advanced mind states one encounters during meditation, or expound on an ancient Buddhist text. Dharma talks began with the Buddha— he communicated his teachings through many speeches that are recorded in the Pali Cannon. In America we have found many ways to hear or read the dharma— there are dharma talks scheduled into retreats and meditation center programs- but in case you need some dharma while not on retreat or in your center, there are at least hundreds of book length dharma talks available for purchase, as well as dharma talk articles filling up the growing number of Buddhist magazines.

These talks are meant to be accessible and inspirational to many. I enjoy dharma talks, especially ones that are well written and address an area of Buddhist practice of interest to me. It is a useful genre for Buddhism— how else would the dharma get disseminated so directly?

But the dharma talk can sometimes be hard to understand. Many times I have caught myself coming to the end of an article and not remembering what it was that I just read. The Buddha has been said to communicate the dharma in just the way the individual he was talking to needed to hear it. With books and magazines intended for a wide and general audience, this is no longer possible. Dharma talk authors use different strategies to reach as many people as possible.

As an avid dharma talk reader, I would like to dissect this genre in order to help others gain more understanding. It’s easier to comprehend and possibly learn a new life lesson from a dharma talk if one takes note of the strategies used for disseminating the dharma. Of course, these are general approaches that I have noticed in some dharma talks, but all teachers and traditions have different ways of communicating and understanding the dharma.

One pervasive word choice I have noticed is the use of the pronoun ‘we’ (‘you’ is sometimes substituted). From my reading, it seems there are two ways of using the term ‘we.’ One way comments on the modern world and how most people live their lives. I often read statements such as ‘we blame ourselves,’ ‘we don’t let go of the past,’ ‘we have no time to do what is healthy for us.’ These commentaries focus on Western lifestyle rather than on individuals. By these statements, the author tells why Buddhist practice is needed in the often hectic lives people lead.

The other kind of ‘we’ is the ‘we’ of human nature. In dharma talks many authors write how if ‘we’ practice the teaching, then first ‘we’ will notice a particular response in our actions or thoughts, or ‘we’ will see some kind of positive result in our lives. This ‘we’ is about our minds. Buddhism focuses much of its energy on the mind. The authors of these talks base these generalizations on personal experience, or the traditional wisdom of the Buddha found in the Pali Cannon.

These two ‘we’s’ are interesting because they show the merging of Western and traditional Buddhism. The Buddha’s words about the mind are still true, but the mind’s reaction to the modern world is something new on which to comment. ‘We’ all do live in the modern world, and are part of humanity so the general use of ‘we’ is accurate, but sometimes it’s hard to read the word ‘we’ over and over. It’s general; it’s abstract; it’s not telling a story that is easy to follow. In this genre, it is very hard not to generalize. The dharma talk is a genre that relies on generalizations because it’s written for all to relate.

A more readable trope in dharma talks is the personal story. This puts the dharma of the talk into practical terms, which can make the point easier to read and recall. These can be stories of failure and a lesson learned for the author, or a triumph experienced in meditation or personal relationship. It can be advice received from a teacher or friend— anything in the author’s personal life that relates to the concept being discussed. Many articles begin with the personal story, but some are tucked throughout the dharma talk.

Authors also tell short stories in order to ground their more abstract statements in a real or imagined situation. This is a good way to help the audience understand the issue the author is addressing. For these stories, the reader doesn’t get as engaged because they are short examples or anecdotes to prove a point, but they still bring the dharma more into the practical realm. Usually these include something a friend told the author, a discussion with a dharma student— anything that the author wasn’t personally involved in which adds to the main point. These short examples usually are interwoven within the general ‘we’ statements to ground the reader in his or her own world. These examples and anecdotes can help to fully engage with the concept the author is describing.

Another type of story commonly used in dharma talks is that of teachers, either personally known teachers or long-ago teachers who the author has read or heard about. Sometimes the author does not have a personal story to relate to the aspect of dharma being preached, but a very relatable story lies in an ancient tale, or an experience of one of his or her own teachers. These stories are usually very lively, especially ones where the reader gets to imagine life in ancient Japan or India or wherever the author’s tradition lies.

In order to make the generalizations more concrete, authors also sometimes ask the reader to imagine a fictitious situation which illustrates a difficult concept. These can be situations such as imagining something incredible like found treasure or walking in space or common things such as being sick or purchasing something long desired. These pretend situations are then related to the lesson of the talk.

After years of reading dharma talks, I think of them as a mix of the general and practical. The best talks for me are a delicate balance of both. Of course, all teachers are different— some are not versed heavily in the canonical tradition so they may have more personal stories to relate than explications of the Buddha’s words. Others are classically trained and prefer to write about meditation and mind states but do not comment on daily life dharma. The tradition the teacher belongs to also affects how much generalization or how many stories make up their writing. Many readers have a preference for what kind of dharma talk they want to read, but I have found that quite a lot of authors utilize both the general and practical as strategies for spreading the dharma.

The dharma talk is a rich genre that should be enjoyed, but there is some work involved. One needs to engage with the material in order to reap the benefits the author is trying to impart. I hope these ideas on the genre of dharma talks encourage the reader to connect more fully with the message and purpose of the talk.