A couple of weeks ago, I polled readers of my newsletter about topics they were interested in me writing more about. On the list was introductory material about Buddhist philosophy and how we can apply it in our own lives. And, after thinking about it for a bit, I’ve decided to spin that out into its own, fresh newsletter I’m calling No-Self Help.

What is No-Self Help all about?

I’ve been interested in Buddhist philosophy for years, first as an intellectual pursuit, and then as a path of practice. Buddhism gets lumped in with religions, or watered down into corporate mindfulness programs and the like, and both are unfortunate. These ideas—especially in the form of the early Buddhism I’ll discuss at the new newsletter—don’t ask you to accept supernatural claims or devote yourself to a deity. They don’t demand faith in the way we think of that term in a religious context.. Rather, they present an understanding of the nature of our minds, arguments for that understanding, and a path for putting those ideas into practice.

My intent is to write about Buddhist philosophy for non-specialists, and to lean into its practical nature. But I want to avoid the watered-down, pop self-help way Buddhism often gets presented to Westerners. This is a deep and challenging philosophy, and one worth taking seriously, even when it complicates habitual perspectives, values, and behaviors. I’m writing in a less academic style than I do on this newsletter, but that doesn’t mean this is easy stuff.

How is this different from the current newsletter?

Shifting my introductory material to a new newsletter will let me focus here on the other aspects of my writing most of my audience initially signed up for. So expect my Aaron Ross Powell newsletter to continue to be deeper philosophical explorations of contemporary political and cultural issues. Buddhism will inform those, of course, because it’s the perspective I tend to view philosophical questions through, and I will mention it explicitly as warranted. But this newsletter will be my place for political and cultural analysis, while No-Self Help will be for discussing and applying Buddhism specifically.

If this sounds intriguing, I encourage you to subscribe. No-Self Help is entirely free.