Astral Codex Ten

Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha

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Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha

Article

Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha is a recurring book in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 4 times across 4 issues between October 09, 2022 and October 24, 2025. The archive places it in contexts such as “Daniel Ingram (Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, etc)”; ""Chris Merck recommends Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha""; “Daniel Ingram, author of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha”. It most often appears alongside Daniel Ingram, Discord, Fire Kasina.

Metadata

  • Category: Books
  • Mention count: 4
  • Issue count: 4
  • First seen: October 09, 2022
  • Last seen: October 24, 2025

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Open Thread 245
October 09, 2022 · Original source
5: I got to talk to Daniel Ingram (Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, etc) last week. He mentions that his Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium - intended to help investigate phenomena usually considered “spiritual”/”psychedelic”/”mystical” like meditation and enlightenment, and to help health care workers better understand medical/psychiatric issues related to them - is going well but needs funding. Go here to learn more about how to help. They are also interested in connecting with meditators, researchers, and medical practitioners interested in their mission - see here for more.
Inline links: Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium, Go here, here
Highlights From The Comments On Jhanas
October 31, 2022 · Original source
Chris Merck recommends Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha and The Mind Illuminated, both of which I’ve reviewed before (MCTB, TMI). I agree these are good, though they’re much more comprehensive than just jhana.
Inline links: Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, The Mind Illuminated, MCTB, TMI
Berkeley Meetup On Tuesday, Special Guest Daniel Ingram
February 04, 2023 · Original source
Why: Daniel Ingram, author of Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, is in town and has kindly agreed to come to an ACX meetup.
Inline links: Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha
Highlights From The Comments On Fatima
October 24, 2025 · Original source
In Buddhist terminology, a kasina is an object of meditation. Meditation while staring at a bright light - traditionally a candle flame - is called “fire kasina”. You start by concentrating on the light; then, after it’s produced an afterimage on the retina, you switch to concentrating on the afterimage. According to Daniel Ingram’s Mastering The Core Teachings Of The Buddha:
Inline links: Mastering The Core Teachings Of The Buddha
Second, Ingram says that fire kasina meditation can sometimes result in complex hallucinatory images, usually determined by “suggestion”, ie the topics already on somebody’s mind.
Inline links: Ingram says
I did fire kasina for a while cycling through the VS jhanas and also immediately had to think of it when reading the descriptions. However, it only feels like a so-so fit to me. . . MCTB style 2nd jhana in fire kasina classically has a circle turning around the dot (changing directions with the breath). People could instead interpret it as the sun moving. There is variants where the whole field turns or some part of the plane against each other but it’s way rarer from my experience [...]