Ep. 40: How Buddhism Changed My Evangelical Mind w/ Danielle Shroyer

Show Notes

Episode Summary

It's been said Christianity is heavy on teaching and light on praxis. You could argue the last two thousands years of Church history has been one long and often violent conversation about right beliefs but not right action. Thus, you can believe all the (supposedly) right things about God, the virgin birth, the resurrection, and the Bible and still be in bondage. Beliefs have almost zero ability to change you, but spiritual practices do. Especially the spiritual practice of mindful meditation. In our 40th episode, we sit down with former Pastor and Spiritual Director Danielle Shroyer to discuss how Buddhism intersects with her Christian tradition to produce a new way of life in a hurting world. Through daily meditation and the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, Danielle offers not just a new belief system, but an entirely new way to live a life of goodness, truth, beauty, and transformation even in the midst of incredible suffering. If you've never meditated or want to learn how, if you have always wanted to learn more about Buddhist practices, or if you still struggle with the idea of suffering and the general unsatisfactoriness of life, this conversation is for you.

Bio

Danielle is a spiritual director, author, speaker, and former pastor. She is the author of three books, most recently Original Blessing: Putting Sin in its Rightful Place. She also runs the blog Soul Ninja, where she reflects on the teachings of Buddhism as she practices them. Danielle is a graduate of Baylor University and Princeton Seminary. She is a taekwondo black belt and loves books, tea, and most nerdy things. She and her husband Dan have two teenagers and live in Dallas. You can find Danielle online at Soul Ninja where she shares her own journey into meditation while offering practical ways to begin this transformative practice. Danielle is also active on Twitter @DGShroyer and Instagram @Danielle.Shroyer.

Quotables

• “To me, meditation has been the most transformative spiritual practice I’ve ever had because it has helped me see what stuff to work on.”

• “Well I’m good at prayer, I should be good at meditation and I realized, oh my gosh, I am so bad at this!”

• “One of the first things we were learning was basic human goodness. This idea that, no matter how bad things get, you can always come back home to your basic human goodness.”

• “The First Noble Truth is that everyone suffers…there is a natural and inevitable unsatisfactoriness to life. It’s just never the way we want it to be.”

• “Guess what happens when you don’t accept that life is unsatisfactory? You suffer more.”

• “What Jesus does on the cross is say, ‘Look I did everything right and I am still going to die.’ And if that doesn’t say the truth that everyone suffers then I don’t know what will.”

• “We do weird stuff with suffering…and I just wonder what would happen if we just accepted it.”

• “You can lead a meaningful life and terrible things are still going to happen to you.”

• “(Impermeance) really helps me ground in the present. Because that’s all we have.”

• “Don’t worry about tomorrow. Be present. Be here.”

• “The basic assumption behind The Eightfold Path is that it is this middle way between indulgence and self-mortification.”

• “I spend so much time in my day reacting, and that isn’t even me.”

• “For me, meditation is the act of placing yourself in the drivers seat and observing your life.”

• “Your brain is a hot, ever-loving mess.”

• “The only way to do it (meditation) right is to do it. The only way to do it wrong is to not do it.”

• “There’s no way to stop your thoughts, but instead of letting your thoughts own you, instead you are just watching them and then making the decision not to engage.”

• “It just so happens that for me, a person who loves the story of Jesus and will always return to it, Buddhism has been the thing that has helped my spiritual practices the most.”

Timestamps and References

• [02:12]—Danielle introduced the notion of Original Blessing and the incorporation of Buddhism into her Christian journey

• [04:00]—How Danielle got into Buddhism

• [06:40]—The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

• [08:10]—The natural unsatisfactoriness of life

• [11:40—Why is there suffering?

• [17:40]—What is impermanence and how does it shape the way we see both the world and ourselves in it?

• [24:40]—The Eightfold Path of Buddhism

• [30:19—How meditation trains your monkey mind away from reaction and impulsivity and toward observation

• [33:38]—How to begin a meditation practice

• [41:18]—How Danielles trip to the Holy Land shaped her detox from evangelicalism.

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Credits

This episode was produced by The Sophia Society and written by Kelly Rose Lamb and Gary Alan Taylor. Music is by Faith in Foxholes.