{"podcast":{"title":"The Imperfect Buddha Podcast","slug":"the-imperfect-buddha-podcast-5330299","podcast_index_feed_id":5330299,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/NBN9895946868","website_url":"https://imperfectbuddha.com/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/da8110f4-2ce8-11ec-8d53-87b3421f006a/image/imperfectbuddha2.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"The Imperfect Buddha Podcast","episode_count":127,"summary":"The Imperfect Buddha podcast has been addressing anti-intellectualism and ideological capture in western Buddhism and spirituality more broadly since its inception. It provides a space for dynamic conversations designed to bring out what is so often hidden and so often despised by critics and intellectuals engaging with contemporary forms of practice. Matthew O’Connell hosts the Imperfect Buddha podcast and writes at The Imperfect Buddha site. Email: imperfectbuddha@outlook.com. Twitter: @imperfectbuddha. Facebook: @imperfectbuddha. Original street art Buddha image by Bristol's Banksy.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-27T14:22:21.309456+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-imperfect-buddha-podcast-5330299"},"episode":{"title":"116 Making Sense of Yogacara with William Waldron","slug":"116-making-sense-of-yogacara-with-william-waldron","published_at":"2024-03-23T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-imperfect-buddha-podcast-5330299/116-making-sense-of-yogacara-with-william-waldron","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-imperfect-buddha-podcast-5330299","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK4137143090.mp3?updated=1710964301","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK4137143090.mp3?updated=1710964301","summary":"Professor William Waldron teaches courses on the South Asian religious traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, Tibetan religion and history, comparative psychologies and philosophies of mind, and theory and method in the study of religion at Middlebury College. His publications focus on the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism and its dialogue with modern thought. He is the author of Making Sense of Mind Only: Why Yogacara Buddhism Matters (Wisdom Publications, 2023). In this conversation, we look at Yogacara thought, idealism, constructivism and the impact on the practitioner and tackle the following; Why thinking of Yogacara as Mind Only is deeply problematic Why seeing Yogacara as essentially constructivist is more accurate Why seeing constructivism in dualistic terms is to miss the point Why interdependence is central to Yogacara rather than the doctrine of emptiness Why the signature concepts of; the three natures, the storehouse consciousness, and mere perception are liberational and key to understanding Yogacara’s ethics Why Madhyamaka became dominant and a mistaken view of Yogacara developed as a consequence How the insights of Yogacara can help us to understand concepts of liberation today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"Professor William Waldron teaches courses on the South Asian religious traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, Tibetan religion and history, comparative psyc…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5249,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-imperfect-buddha-podcast-5330299/episodes/116-making-sense-of-yogacara-with-william-waldron/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-imperfect-buddha-podcast-5330299/116-making-sense-of-yogacara-with-william-waldron.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}