A Christian and a Buddhist walk in to a bar

<p>Jacob is a Christian, Tai-Sen Is a Buddhist. Together they meander around theology, spirituality, religion, philosophy and whatever else happens to come to mind. <br /><br />A weekly podcast for anyone interested in what shenanigans a Christian and a Buddhist can get up to when given a few mics.</p>

Men! Men?

Men. We need talk. About men, with men. we are two men talking about men.  Men are more christian. why? what happened? We dive in to the topic, and try to work out what to do about this podcasts man problem. 

11-24
39:30

Taking a long walk

Tai-Sen is off on a pilgrimage. But what even is that? We talk about the difference between a pilgrimage and a long walk, and Tai-Sen launches his 'is it a pilgrimage or not' scale (tm).  https://www.spiritualtravels.info/spiritual-travels-ordinary-trips/top10reasons/

11-10
39:44

What is conversion?

We launch off from an earlier conversation into a rambling discussion on conversion. What is is? is it good? should we do it?   Please convert your friends to the pod, send it around :) 

10-27
32:33

Do religions compete?

Today in the cage - Christianity Vs Buddhism - in the showdown of the millennium.   Jacob and Tai-Sen discuss if religions are actually competing? or if they are in fact all speaking about the same truth. If you picked up some Bahai in this topic, well done you!    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/29/what-if-the-worlds-religions-arent-competing-but-rather-one-unfolding-truth

10-13
40:09

Divine music - Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys

We are picking up all the good vibrations today, and talking about the Beach Boys! yes you heard right, notorious Christian pop band the Beach Boys.    We dive in to what makes their music actually maybe about God, and how Brian Wilson was perhaps an under heralded genius (but not really, he was pretty famous).    https://mbird.com/music/you-need-a-mess-of-help-to-stand-alone/

09-29
33:02

The Jade Buddha, Diplomacy and being a Bodhisattva

We are back to one of our favorite topics. The board game Diplomacy. Tai-Sen (Jamal) shares why he's known as the 'Jade Buddha', how he thinks about the game, and we talk about how others perceive him and the intersection between the game and his spirituality. Spoiler alert - its more closely connected than you may think! 

09-15
45:27

Divine music - Bob Marley

One Love dear listeners. Welcome to todays episode. And we are back with divine music! we know you missed it.  We jump in to the wonderful world of Bob Marley, and Rastafarianism in general. A highly informative episode to make, where we move beyond the cliché's and really take a look at what was behind some of the most spiritual popular music of the last century.   Give thanks    https://theconversation.com/under-the-influence-of-bob-marley-the-timeless-music-man-63347

09-01
42:11

Becoming a non monk - The Jukai ceremony

Newly dubbed KoJu Tai-Sen has done it! He's become a non monk.  We reflect on the ceremony of Jukai, Jacob's thoughts in attending, and how Tai-Sen is feeling after the whole process. 

08-18
44:16

Becoming a non monk - Not Disparaging the Triple Treasure

This is it, the final 'not-monk' episode. What a journey it has been!    Join us for the last time, as we discuss disparaging the three treasures, and how to 'just do it' when it comes to the precepts. 

08-04
45:48

Becoming a non monk - Not being angry

It's Hulk mode time on the pod, as we discuss not being angry. Is it even possible? what does anger do to us? Stay tuned to find out, and write us an angry letter if we don't answer your questions appropriately. 

07-28
41:32

Becoming a non monk - Not being possessive

As the owners of this podcast, Jacob and Jamal spend the episode asserting their sole rights to it, keeping it from others and ensuring that no one else can have any of it.  Alongside that we continue exploring the Buddhist precepts. This time around not being possessive. 

07-21
37:07

Becoming a non monk - Not praising self

This week. We talk about why we are the best. Just so much better than everyone else. And also why Buddhism asks us not to praise ourselves at the expense of others. 

07-14
36:13

Becoming a non monk - Not speaking ill of others

This week in the bar we get out our critiques and slanders, and just go in on how much we really don't like each other.... not really. But we are looking at speaking ill of others, and the Buddhist precept that tells us... maybe don't.

07-08
29:29

Becoming a non monk - No Intoxicants

Today we are back at the bar to tackle the topic of...being at the bar too much?  We look in to the role of intoxicants in the Buddhist precepts and discuss how one can better have a positive relationship with all things that cloud the mind.  https://open.substack.com/pub/oldster/p/ask-a-sober-oldster-23-nadia-bolz   

06-30
39:39

Becoming a non monk - Not lying

This week on the podcast, Jacob finally converts and Jamal reveals that he's been a universalist the whole time.    That's right! we are talking about lying, and how it interacts with the Buddhist precepts. Plus, stay turned for our brutal takedown of Kevin MacLeod.... nah I can't lie about that one. 

06-24
38:25

Becoming a not-monk: not misssusing sexuality

Sex is a complicated topic. But the Buddhist precepts has the answer! Maybe? We'll find out this week as we continue exploring the journey in to the zen precepts. 

06-16
44:50

Da Pope!

We have a new Pope! And he's from Chicago, which makes him Da Pope. Today Jacob and Jamal learn all about the new head of the Catholic church, and dig deep in to the dish to find our about what they think this might mean for one of the worlds biggest religions.   https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0ln80lzk7ko

06-09
32:12

Becoming a non monk - Not stealing

We continue our exploration of the Buddhist precepts and Jamal's journey in to being not a monk. Or maybe kind of a monk? or perhaps just a stand up dude. 

06-03
39:00

Bahai

Today we explore a listener question about the lesser known faith of Bahai.  What is it? What do they believe? and is it an answer to the inherent conflicts between other religions like Christianity and Buddhism?  https://www.bahai.org/ 

05-26
43:05

Becoming a non-monk: not killing

Jamal has started working on the 10 Grave precepts of Zen. So we shall kick off our exploration of them with the 1st precept. Not Killing. Easy right? 

05-19
38:11

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