the DharmaRealm
The DharmaRealm is an occasional podcast conversation between Harry Gyokyo Bridge, resident minister of the Buddhist Church of Oakland, and Scott Mitchell, Dean of the Institute of Buddhist Studies, about Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, Buddhism in the modern world, pop-culture, music, sci-fi and how all those things are related.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dharmarealm
Twitter: http://twitter.com/theDharmaRealm
- Update frequency
- every 21 days
- Average duration
- 27 minutes
- Episodes
- 99
- Years Active
- 2008 - 2020
America, Buddhism, and Individualism
Inspired by a Dharma Talk at the BCA National Council Meeting, Rev. Harry starts us off by suggesting that individualism is a point of contact between Buddhism and American culture. This seems somewh…
A Buddhist view of History
For some reason, we thought we’d start talking about the Seven Masters. But we get immediately sidetracked by Herbert Güenther, a Buddhist scholar who wrote about the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools …
Ichinen-sanzen (part two)
In this episode, we continue our conversation on ichinen-sanzen, but take the conversation up a notch. We’re wrestling with some difficult issues in Buddhist philosophy; namely, if we understand sams…
Ichinen-sanzen (part one)
Rev. Harry brings up the complex idea of ichinen sanzen — three thousands things in a single thought moment — from Tendai (Tiantai) Buddhism. In short, ichinen sanzen says that each thought moment co…
Buddhism and belief
Inspired by a listener question/discussion on Facebook, we tackle the issue of belief in (Shin) Buddhism, specifically when it comes to Pure Land imagery. Are we expected to believe in it in some sub…
Buddhism and humanity
In this episode, we wrap up our conversation about humanism and Buddhism and what the two might have to say to one another, starting off with a question about what Buddhism might say regarding the va…
Individual practice, community practice
Even though this week’s episode isn’t really about humanism per se, we pick up where we left off last time, allowing Scott a moment to clarify what he meant when he said that Buddhism doesn’t care ab…
Buddhism and Humanism
We’re back!
Using a couple of related listener questions as a jumping off point, we start a conversation about what Buddhism might have to say about (secular) humanism or what humanism might have to …
It’s Summertime
It’s summertime. So here’s an important announcement and a hearty thank you!
Live show part two: nembutsu and music
In the second installment of our live show, we answer two listener questions. First, we received a question about Shin Buddhist nembutsu practice and the concern that chanting the nembutsu might be s…
Live show part one: cosmology
Our second live recording — actually live this time and broadcast via webstream across the Internets — was recorded in the lobby of the Jodo Shinshu Center. This is the first installment of that day’…
Buddhism and sci-fi (part two)
Picking up from where we left off, this week we ask what does any of this sci-fi stuff have to do with Buddhism?! On the one hand, while there may be parallels between sci-fi and Buddhism, often they…
Buddhism and sci-fi (part one)
This week, Harry and Scott take up the topic of Buddhism and science fiction, inspired in part by our off-hand conversation about Cthulhu from a couple weeks back and in part by Harry reading Philip …
Seven Masters (part three): is Cthulhu one of the seven masters?
Continuing on in our meandering diversion from a conversation about the Shinshu Seven Masters, this episode starts right where we left off last time in a conversation about the promises and pitfalls …
Seven Masters (part two): not really about the seven masters
Some time ago, a listener asked us to talk about the Seven Masters and we dutifully responded with an episode on Nagarjuna. We thought we might take a stab at the other Masters, but this post quickly…
Listener question: where is the Vow?
Inspired by a conversation amongst fans on our Facebook page, we take up the issue of vows in Buddhism. Obviously, we need to start with how vows are understood specifically in the Mahayana context, …
Live show part four: marriage and politics
In the final episode of our first live broadcast, we tackle more audience questions. To get things started, we field a question about the BCA’s official position on same-sex marriage (a big shout out…
Live show part three: abortion and shinjin
In part of three of the live show series, our first question has to do with Shin Buddhism’s stance on aborted fetuses. Scott cleverly ducks the question but Harry provides some interesting insight in…
Live show part two: rants
In the second installment of our Live Show, we start off talking about the distinctiveness of Shin Buddhism and its difference and similarities to other types of Buddhism. This somehow sets us off on…
First live show: a certain reality
On Friday October 2, we did our first recording before a live studio audience. Setting up in the Kodo of the Jodo Shinshu Center, Harry and I did a little live mixing of our theme music before launch…