Greetings, Friendlies!
I was recently interviewed by the extraordinary and delightful Ruriko Watanabe on her podcast, “自灯明法灯明 Be the light for yourself, let the Dharma be your light“.
Ruriko is working to introduce Secular Dharma (Secular Buddhism?) into mainstream Japanese culture. She is currently interviewing participants from Stephen Batchelor’s 2021 12-week course “After Buddhism and Beyond”. Previous interviews include Bhikkhu Santi, a Theravadan monastic interested in Buddhism’s transition into secularity, Richard Burnett, co-founder and Chair of the Mindfulness in Schools Project, and Chris Luard, a meditation teacher at a retreat and recovery center in Thailand. She is posting the interview in English and a second version with translation into Japanese. (Which is incredible; podcasting is not easy and she is not only interviewing, editing, and posting but also translating???)
Ruriko offered me the perfect compliment; after our interview she wrote to say that she laughed so loudly it made the editing difficult. What more could one hope for in a conversation about the dharma (or anything else for that matter)?
Have a listen: Spotify, Anchor, Apple Podcasts.
Dharma PhD 