Brand New Ancient Buddhism

(AR+IO) Eisel Mazard
Brand New Ancient Buddhism

Is it a philosophy pretending to be a religion, or a religion pretending to peddle a philosophy? This is a podcast made by a man who became a Pali scholar (learning to read the language in harsh conditions in Laos and Cambodia) but eventually outgrew the religion, on the basis of a thorough understanding of both its ancient origins and the reality of the role it now plays in the modern world. AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts.

Episodes

  1. 12/23/2024

    Pali, the ancient language: what was it like to be a scholar of Buddhist history, philosophy and politics in the 21st century?

    Cf. Problems of “Canon” and “Reason” in Theravāda Studies, Eisel Mazard, 2014, in Arc, McGill University's journal of religious studies. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26443/arc.v42i.391 McGill University https://arcjournal.library.mcgill.ca › article › view Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings). https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/ https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/posts AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

    59 min

  2. 12/02/2024

    The Decline and Fall of Buddhist Scholarship: the Q Hypothesis.

    Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings). https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/ https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/posts AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

    1h 39m

  3. 11/27/2024

    Buddhism, Atheism and Apotheosis: Regarding Religion as History

    Apotheosis and its opposite, euhemerism: the making of real historical events into fables, transforming the memory of what were once real people into gods, and the reverse cultural process whereby fables are rewritten as if they had been real historical events, with the gods and allegorical figures being increasing remembered as if they had been real historical figures in retrospect. These concepts are rarely applied to the history of Buddhism, and when they are, they raise questions that are uncomfortable for skeptics and true believers alike. Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings). https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/ https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/posts AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

    32 min

  4. 11/26/2024

    Why I am not a Buddhist.

    This is the perspective of a former scholar of the most ancient period of Buddhism (the history, politics, language and literature, including the original philosophy of the Buddha as recorded in Pali) who ultimately made the decision (after many years of hard labor in the field) to simply give up and move on. Believe it or not, the articles I wrote during my years as a scholar of Buddhism are still being read (and are still respected, if not hated and feared) to this day. However, for me, being a Pali scholar turned out NOT to be a career, but merely a single step (if not quite a stride) along the way.

    2h 20m

  5. 11/25/2024

    Brand New Ancient Buddhism: Episode One.

    Find me on Instagram.  Support me on Patreon.  Both will provide notifications for new podcast episodes (not just "here", but under many different headings). https://www.instagram.com/a_bas_le_ciel/ https://www.patreon.com/c/a_bas_le_ciel/posts AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts, and united by one Patreon.  Eisel is better known as Zel from Ashdod, and was formerly known as the voice (and author) behind the (banned) youtube channel à-bas-le-ciel.

    53 min
  • 5 Episodes

About

Is it a philosophy pretending to be a religion, or a religion pretending to peddle a philosophy? This is a podcast made by a man who became a Pali scholar (learning to read the language in harsh conditions in Laos and Cambodia) but eventually outgrew the religion, on the basis of a thorough understanding of both its ancient origins and the reality of the role it now plays in the modern world. AR+IO abbreviates the motto "Active Research and Informed Opinion", providing consistent numbering for all of the episodes (AR+IO-001, etc.) hosted by Eisel Mazard across many different podcasts.

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