Diggin' the Dharma
a relaxed discussion of the Buddhist Dharma between two friends and fellow practitioners.
Jon's interest is practice-centered, and Doug's is more focused on the scholarship of the early Buddhist texts, so their approaches balance practice with study.
“We have different ways of looking at things, and that makes our friendship more interesting.”
Doug Smith
Scholar, Youtuber, Buddhist Educator
Doug holds a PhD in philosophy and has published several scholarly works in Buddhist Studies. He began Doug’s Dharma on YouTube in 2017 to teach the dharma of early Buddhism from a contemporary perspective. He also founded the Online Dharma Institute to teach longer-form video courses on the early dharma. He has practiced for many years in both the Zen and Theravāda traditions. Doug also completed the yearlong Integrated Study and Practice Program with the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and the New York Insight Meditation Center in 2013. Doug releases educational videos on his Youtube Channel every week, with a particular focus on topics pertaining to Early Buddhism. He support a lively community on his Patreon channel.
Jon Aaron
Dharma & Meditation Teacher
Jon’s Dharma home is New York Insight Meditation Center, where he teaches Dharma and MBSR. Jon’s training has been mainly grounded in the Theravāda tradition, in addition to non-dual and Mahayana approaches. His teacher of many years has been Matthew Flickstein and more recently Kittisaro and Thanissara, having been invited to join their Dharmapala (Guardians of the Dharma) program. Jon also studied contemplative care at the Zen Center for Contemplative Care and completed the Integrated Study and Practice program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. His is a Certified MBSR Teacher and Teacher Trainer, and Somatic Experience Practitioner®. When the pandemic hit, he started the Space2Meditate Community with his partner, with daily meditation six days a week since March 2020.