Understanding the Buddha’s Dharma: Creating Action from Anger – Ep. 297

In this episode Robert A.F. Thurman discusses the ongoing effects of the Trump presidency on American civil rights, constitutional protections, health care, women’s reproductive access, and sensible gun laws, as well as the Buddha’s revolutionary redefinition of Dharma. Opening with a discussion of the writings and work of Patrick Olivelle, Thurman gives a traditional Buddhist Dharma teaching on the interconnected blissful nature of reality, exploring the nurturing and transformative qualities of seeing the world as it actually is and the potential of all beings to end suffering through wisdom and compassion as the historical Buddha did. This podcast includes recommendations of Kim Stanley Robinson’s hard science fiction book, “The Ministry of the Future” , and Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack.com newsletter as starting points for understanding the current climate crisis and the history behind the political roadblocks to sustainable change in America and by modern democracies. This episode concludes with a four-point plan by Thurman for dealing with America’s current social and political chaos, the rise of fascism, and to transform the corrupting influences of oligarchies and petro-paths.