S7 E12: The One About Decolonising Buddhism

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In this incredible chat with Dr. Wendy Dossett we dive into the last of our decolonisation episodes and this time we turn to Buddhism.  This episodes has really challenged my own bias' when teaching Buddhism.  Do I sometimes focus on the more rational, popular aspects of Buddhism to appeal to a post-enightenment world?  Do I use the colonial word of 'enlightenment' rather than 'awakening'. Do I miss out the violent acts of Buddhism for example in Myanma? Do I ignore the beliefs in gods and realms to make our lessons more palitable, so our students can relate to it more, and in turn feel more positively towards my subject. Do I ues Buddhism as a sales pitch, relating it to invogue ideas of meditation? Do I try and fit Buddhism into a world religions paradigm with founders and holy books. I have totally rewritten a new scheme of work on Buddhism because of this chat!
What does a critical, and therefore authentic study of Buddhism look like?

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