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Can you really be a freethinker? will be the topic of the next Freethinkers' Briefing, scheduled from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, April 11, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, the church has announced. The guest speaker will be Page Brown, a practicing Buddhist affiliated with the Mindfulness Meditation Center in Sarasota, a news release says. The church is located at 3975 Fruitville Road in Sarasota. This free briefing, in cooperation with the Lifelong Learning Academy (llasm.org), will help answer questions such as the following, the release adds: Do you consider yourself a freethinker? How would you describe a free thinker? What if you are merely a product of your conditioning or trapped by your past? "The Buddha had a radical view of the self that flies in the face of most Western think ing," the release continues. "Come hear what the Buddha had to say and judge for yourself whether Western scholars and scientists got it wrong and saddled you with their mistaken and 'topsyturvy' views," it says. Brown holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University and a law degree from the New England School of Law, the release notes. He was a trial lawyer for 24 years. Brown's initial exposure to Buddhism was in the late 1960s, while he was in college and then in Vietnam, the release points out. "He first studied and practiced on a regular basis with the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order," beginning in the late 1980s, it notes. Further, he has traveled throughout Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong and Japan, observing Buddhist cultures, the release adds. Brown regularly attends lectures and retreats in the United States and has taught and lec tured locally on Buddhist meditation, the release says. "Freethinkers' Briefings are evidencebased summaries of what the general public needs to know about complex issues in the fields of religion, morality, ethics and justice," the release explains. Upcoming Freethinkers' Briefings, held in cooperation with the Lifelong Learning Academy, will include Marden Paru on Health and Medicine in the Bible on April 25. Two upcoming programs will feature Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan. The topic of the first will be Roman Catholic Women Priests: A Spiritual Revolution or a Holy Shakeup, set for May 2. The second, with Meehan par ticipating, will be Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About Mormonism, pre sented by Ryan T. Cragun on June 6, the release points out. All sessions begin at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota. For information, call David Ryan at 3654027 or email d2mryan@verizon.net. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota is a Welcoming Congregation serving Sarasota and Manatee counties. More information may be found at uusarasota.org. BUDDHIST TO PRESENT NEXT FREETHINKERS' BRIEFING Sarasota News Leader April 11, 2014 Page 122