Asalha Puja

This past extended full-Moon weekend has marked Asalha Puja, commemorating the Buddha’s First Discourse, in which he laid out his most basic recommendations:  the Four Tasks and the Eightfold Path.  This day is followed by the start of the Rains Retreat in Theravada countries, where, traditionally, the Rainy Season forces monks to stay in one place and contemplate. 

I hold the Buddha’s First Discourse to be one of the most important pieces of wisdom to me personally – in a lifetime of study in philosophy, psychology, comparative religion, history, etc. – and now I re-read it again along with commentary, learning its deep psychological insights anew.  As a secular Buddhist, I find Stephen Batchelor’s work on this to be most significant.  His 20-page essay, “A Secular Buddhism” (2012) opened up healing possibilities that I wish I had had 50 years ago.  I am happy to now finally be reading his major work expanding on these insights, After Buddhism:  Re-thinking the dharma in a secular age (2015).  It’s a new world, and I am refreshed.  Blessed coolness, Zen delight! 

-Zenwind. 

.