Is Life a Mistake? (The Buddha vs. Anti-Natalism)

Is it wrong to have kids? We'll look at one surprising claim by a Buddhist meditation master and compare it to the recent philosophical claim known as "anti-natalism". 🧡 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: A Buddhist Guide to Aging, Pain, and Illness -- https://youtu.be/OEqvlc26Cp0 The "Dissatisfaction Engine" Running Your Brain -- https://youtu.be/fZQQa2VQsMk ✅ Sutta mentioned: https://suttacentral.net/sn56.48/en/sujato ✅ Other literature: The Teachings of Ajahn Chah -- https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/chah/the_teachings_of_ajahn_chah_web.pdf David Benatar, "Why It Is Better Never to Come into Existence". American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Jul., 1997) -- https://www.jstor.org/stable/i20009900 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 ❤️ 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 Lenna