Writings

Books

Early Buddhist Hedonism: The Role of Spiritual Pleasure in the Pali Discourses

This book is an adaptation of my PhD thesis. Contesting common perceptions of Buddhism as gloomy and emotionally restrained, I show that the ancient path to liberation is centred on feeling good, and that it uses our tendency to avoid the unpleasant and seek pleasure, rather than combat it. Looking at progress to awakening from the vantage point of feeling (vedanā), the book uncovers an underlying hedonic curve shared across many models: the jhānas, the awakening factors, mindfulness of breathing, satipaṭṭhāna, and more. Publication date: 3 September. Pre-orders available here.

Living life on life’s terms: Turning the wheel of secular dharma

In 2021-22, I had the honour of teaching a year-long course alongside Stephen & Martine Batchelor for Bodhi College. This book is a selection of 18 talks from that course (6 per teacher), transcribed and edited. The book is organised in four parts corresponding to the Four Great Tasks—Embrace life, Let reactivity be, See reactivity stop, andActualise a path—each with an introduction by Cathryn Jacobs, a course participant turned editor. The book will be published later this year.

Articles in English

Academic papers

En español