# Ep366: Questioning the Buddha - Leigh Brasington

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/guru-viking-podcast-1161340/ep366-questioning-the-buddha-leigh-brasington
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/guru-viking-podcast-1161340/ep366-questioning-the-buddha-leigh-brasington.md
Podcast: [Guru Viking Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/guru-viking-podcast-1161340)
Published: 2026-06-19T13:00:22+00:00
Episode link: https://soundcloud.com/guruviking/ep366-questioning-the-buddha
Audio file: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/2338732637-guruviking-ep366-questioning-the-buddha.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/guru-viking-podcast-1161340/episodes/ep366-questioning-the-buddha-leigh-brasington
Duration seconds: 4613

## Resource

In this episode I am once again joined by Leigh Brasington, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of “Right Concentration, A Practical Guide to the Jhanas”. This episode begins with a brief comment from Leigh about his appearance in “Ep329: Enlightened Politics” in which he explored the relationship between Buddhism and political ideology. After that we discuss Leigh’s new book “On the Way to the Far Shore”, his commentary on the Pārāyanavagga, chapter five of Suttanipāta, one of the earliest sutta collections in the Pali canon. The text takes the form of a question and answer session with the Buddha himself and evidences nascent forms of the doctrines of the four noble truths and the path of gradual training. Leigh considers the pros and cons of formal study of the Pali language, explains the ways in which English translations can be misleading, and muses on why so few Buddhist converts read their own scriptures. Leigh also reveals how his Dzogchen practice helped him understand early Buddhist doctrine, gives advice about how to internalise intellectual ideas through meditation practice, and shares how a profound experience of the nature of mind changed his life forever. … Video version: www.guruviking.com Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast’. … Topics Include: 00:00 - Intro 01:17 - Can there be an enlightened tyrant? 02:49 - Anyone can perform enlightened activity 04:20 - Why Leigh wrote On the Way to the Far Shore 08:13 - Wrestling with the Pali sutta 09:07 - Leigh’s training the the Pali language 11:18 - Struggles to learn foreign languages 12:37 - Is training as a scholar worth it? 14:36 - 4 categories of Pali suttas 17:05 - Why Leigh won’t pursue a PhD 19:17 - Why don’t Buddhists read the Pali canon? 23:14 - Diving into the…

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## Transcript

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