Why the Buddha Taught You TO Think

We're often told that meditation means emptying the mind. But the Buddha's own path to enlightenment tells a different story. In this video we explore how "Right Thought" (sammā saṅkappa) and two famous suttas (MN 19 and MN 20) show that practice isn't about stopping thinking — it's about learning to think skillfully. 🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: https://www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🧡 You can also make donations through: https://paypal.me/dougsdharma 📙 Check out my book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: https://books2read.com/buddhisthandbook ☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org. 🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: https://digginthedharma.com/ ✅ Videos mentioned: Are You Not Supposed to Think in Meditation? -- https://youtu.be/fX11mDixOYk Removing Negative Thoughts: Five Early Buddhist Techniques -- https://youtu.be/FHu6VG5r7vA ✅ Suttas mentioned: https://suttacentral.net/mn19/en/sujato https://suttacentral.net/mn20/en/sujato Webpage: https://www.dougsdharma.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onlinedharmainstitute/ Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dougsdharma/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@dougsdharma Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dougsdharma.bsky.social Research and outlining assistance from Claude and Gemini models. ❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons: Anonymous (4) Omar John Oborne Debbie Mattison Ron Peat Michael S. Kearns Anne Matthew Smith Shantha Wengappuli Karma_CAC Jorge Seguel Christopher Apostolof GailJM David Bell T Pham VCR Upayadhi Andi and Erik Michael Scherrer khobe schofield Alex Perdomo Benji Forsyth Sonny Flink Steve Marlor Joy L Lee Andrew Tom Anthony Tucker Karlee R Ethan M Billy in Singapore Olivia Otter Carl Lennartson xiao mao Jeff Harvey Andrew I