Karen Derris

Storied Companions

“With my diagnosis of grade IV brain cancer, I no longer observe the truth of impermanence from a critical, analytical distance. I am crashing into it, or it into me.”

Facing a terminal cancer diagnosis, Karen Derris—professor, mother, and Buddhist practitioner—instinctually turned to books. By rereading ancient Buddhist stories with fresh questions and a new purpose in mind, she discovered evolving ways to make them immediate and real. Storied Companions interweaves Karen’s memoir of her lived experiences of trauma and terminal illness with stories from Buddhist literary traditions, sharing with the reader how she found ways to live fully even with the reality that she won’t live as long as she needs—or wants.

Using her knowledge, practice, and imagination, Karen illustrates how placing yourself within narratives can turn them from distant and static sources into companions, and from companions into guides. Reading along with her, you’ll realize how this practice of reading and these ancient narratives can help us come to terms with impermanence, develop empathy and compassion, and realize our own interconnectedness.

Honest, powerful, and insightful, Storied Companions itself becomes an invaluable companion, guiding the reader to discover new ways of facing and experiencing life, death, and impermanence.

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Kālacakra and the Tibetan Calendar

Kālacakra and the Tibetan Calendar describes the contents of current Tibetan almanacs, from the most basic mathematics to the symbolic and historical information they contain. Essential for understanding the Kālacakra Tantra’s first chapter, it traces and describes the origin of the calendrical systems in the Kālacakra Tantra, and it translates and elucidates the key relevant sections from the famous commentary to this Tantra, the Vimalaprabhā.

The main calendars in use in Tibet today have remained unchanged since the fifteenth century, when lamas in several different traditions tried to make sense of the calculation systems they had inherited from India, and to adjust them to remove increasingly obvious errors in their results. This book analyzes the main systems that survive today, assessing their accuracy and comparing them with the methods described in the original Tantra.

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Rabkar Wangchuk: Mystery of Life (#141)

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features contemporary Tibetan artist Rabkar Wangchuk. Traditionally trained, Rabkar studied for seventeen years at Gyudmed Tantric University, where he also received training in Tibetan thangka painting and arts. After moving to the West, Rabkar’s style has continued evolving into its own unique form, bringing humor and a depth of meditative searching and self-awareness to the work. We’ll be celebrating the launch of Rabkar’s first solo exhibit, Mystery of Life, which includes his colorful pop-art acrylic paintings, mineral pigment on silk pieces, and 3D installations. 

In this episode, Rabkar and Daniel discuss

• Rabkar’s youth in South India, balancing family and monastic life;
• being selected for the artisan path and his apprenticeship in the tantric arts;
• the role of art and artistic training in Buddhist contexts;
• his architectural projects and other works with the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA);
• traditional Tibetan painting materials and techniques and contemporary influences;
• Rabkar’s journey in life and work leading to his current show, Mystery of Life; 
• and much more.

Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you!

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Mahāmudrā: A Practical Guide (#140)

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features special guest His Eminence the 12th Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche as he and host Daniel Aitken celebrate the launch of Rinpoche’s most recent book, Mahāmudrā: A Practical Guide. H.E. Gharwang Rinpoche was born into the Sikkimese Royal Court and was recognized by H.H. the 16th Karmapa as the incarnation of the Gharwang Tulku. Rinpoche is the supreme lineage holder of the Whispered Lineage of the Zurmang Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. As head of the Zurmang Kagyu School, Rinpoche is the spiritual leader of monasteries and nunneries in Tibet, India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

In this episode, H.E. Gharwang Rinpoche and Daniel discuss

• the story behind the new book and its unique structure;
• a verse that encapsulates the essence of the book’s teachings;
• what it means to tame the mind;
• renunciation in terms of our relationship with others;
• the connection between mahāmudrā and non-attachment;
• defining the word mahāmudrā;
• faith and devotion in mahāmudrā practice;
• and much more.

Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you!

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Open Mind

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The Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s Stages of the Path

Coming soon! This book will be published in August 2022. Enter your name and email below to be notified when the book is available for purchase.

Discover His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s advice for finding happiness, helping others, and applying insights from Buddhist thought to everyday life—for a life of greater harmony, meaning, and joy, for ourselves, others, and in our world.

This first volume of The Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s Stages of the Path shares His Holiness’s teachings on specific topics of vital relevance to contemporary life:

– how kindness and compassion are the foundation for individual happiness and world peace;
– how we can solve manmade problems;
– how Buddhism does not conflict with modern science and can actually contribute to its advancement;
– how gender equality is fundamental for a decent and just society;
– and much more.

His Holiness’s messages on these topics will be of value to all readers, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. These teachings embody the Dalai Lama’s generous warmth and humor, his expertise in presenting important Buddhist ideas, and his ability to inspire us toward greater kindness and happiness.

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Freedom through Correct Knowing

Discover a clear and accessible translation with commentary on key parts of Khedrup Jé’s Clearing Mental Darkness.

Composed at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and with a foreword by His Holiness, this translation with commentary on key parts of Khedrup Jé’s Clearing Mental Darkness: An Ornament of Dharmakirti’s “Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition” is intended for all levels of understanding. You’ll learn how a mind realizes its object, which types of consciousness realize their objects, and when a consciousness is considered to be valid in the sense of realizing its object. Having explained valid cognizers, or direct perceivers, which are essential to understanding the four noble truths, Khedrup Jé goes on to brilliantly elucidate this essential teaching of the Buddha and offers a lucid presentation of how to progress on the spiritual paths of liberation and enlightenment, including how to generate yogic perception directly realizing selflessness. With this, one develops an unmistaken realization of the fundamental reality of selflessness of persons and phenomena, which eliminates ignorance, the root cause of all mental afflictions and samsaric suffering.

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The Kālacakra Tantra

This is the first complete English translation of the fourth chapter of the esoteric Buddhist Kālacakra Tantra text and its eleventh-century commentary, the Stainless Light (Vimalaprabhā). Building upon the Chapter on the Cosmos and particularly the Chapter on the Individual (AIBS, 2004)—which provide the theoretical background to the Chapter on Sādhanā, and the reasons for the given structure and contents of the Kālacakra sādhana practice—this fourth chapter illuminates the intricate connection between the practice of the Kālacakra sādhana and the Kālacakra Tantra’s worldview. This fourth chapter describes Buddhist Tantric generation stage practices (utpatti-krama), including instructions on protecting the place of practice, the meditative practices of the origination of the body and the deities abiding in the body, and the diverse mundane sādhanas designed to induce the mundane siddhis. It then also describes the more advanced Buddhist Tantric completion stage practices (saṃpatti-krama), designed to lead directly to the attainment of buddhahood, called here the “Ādibuddha” (Primordial Buddha).

The translation is supplemented with annotations and references to Tibetan commentaries and other esoteric Buddhist works. It also includes the first critical edition of the Mongolian version of the fourth chapter.

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The Kālacakratantra

This is the first complete English translation of the second chapter of the esoteric Buddhist Kālacakratantra text, and its eleventh-century commentary, the “Stainless Light (Vimalaprabha),” often accorded pride of place as the first volume of the Tibetan Tengyur. This chapter elaborates the human “individual” in terms of the cosmic human who embodies the cosmos within, showing the homology of macrocosm and microcosm, the outer and inner aspects of the person. The translation is supplemented with copious references to Tibetan commentaries, and includes the first critical edition of the Mongolian version of the second chapter.

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Shaila Catherine: Beyond Distraction (#138)

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast features Shaila Catherine, who has been practicing meditation since 1980, with more than eight years of accumulated silent retreat experience. She has taught insight meditation since 1996 in the U.S. and internationally, dedicating several years to studying with masters in India, Nepal, and Thailand. She is the founder of Bodhi Courses—an online Dhamma classroom, and Insight Meditation South Bay—a Buddhist meditation center in Silicon Valley. Shaila has completed a one-year intensive meditation retreat and trained in jhana, metta, samadhi, and vipassana practices. Shaila is also the author of Beyond Distraction, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity, and Wisdom Wide and Deep: A Practical Handbook for Mastering Jhāna and Vipassanā.

In this episode, host Daniel Aitken and Shaila discuss 

• what distraction and intention mean for meditators at every level of experience;
• ‘wholesomeness’ and mental states rooted in greed, hate, and delusion;
• mindfulness, the construction of identity, and recognizing conditioning;
• realistic strategies for overcoming restlessness and distraction as presented in her new book Beyond Distraction;
• her experience with deep meditative states and practical wisdom we can apply now;
• shifting habitual patterns and thoughts by identifying and examining them gently;
• wisely approaching concentration and the joyful cultivation of insight; 
• and much more!

Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you!

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Digital Dharma

Coming soon! This book will be published in October 2022. Enter your name and email below to be notified when the book is available for purchase.

This is the epic story of an international rescue effort to preserve a culture’s literary history.

Originally a Mormon from Utah, E. Gene Smith became the unlikely mastermind behind an international effort to rescue, preserve, digitize, and provide free access to the vast Tibetan Buddhist canon, many volumes of which had been lost or destroyed during China’s Cultural Revolution.  

 Digital Dharma is a stunning visual experience offering a behind-the-scenes look into this unprecedented mission. Through hundreds of photographs taken during Smith’s trip to deliver drives containing the digitized volumes to remote monasteries in South Asia, you’ll gain extraordinary and intimate access to life inside Buddhist monasteries, to the rituals of Tibetan Buddhism, and to the insights of some of the world’s leading lamas and lineage holders. Throughout the journey, you’ll meet monks, local publishers, scholars, and dignitaries involved in the preservation movement to which Smith dedicated his life. With the accompanying historical and cultural background, you’ll develop a deeper and more personal understanding of Tibetan Buddhism and of the achievement of preserving and disseminating its sacred canon. 

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Calm Breath, Calm Mind

Discover ancient Tibetan breath practices for calming your mind and improving your health in this plain-English guide.

Over millennia, many Eastern traditions have developed practices that use the powerful healing energy of breath to treat physical, emotional, and mental problems. In Chinese, this energy is called chi; in Sanskrit it is called prana; and in Tibetan it is called lung.

Lung is life-giving energy that moves through our bodies. A lack or imbalance of lung can create illnesses of body and mind or cause emotional struggles such as confusion, anger, and sadness. In this book Geshe YongDong Losar, a scholar and monk in the ancient Bön tradition of Tibet, guides us through time-tested practices to help balance our lung. His deep knowledge—garnered through years of study and practice—renders the practices simple and achievable, creating a clear path for us toward greater calmness, strength, and clarity.

“Over and over I have personally witnessed, both in myself and in my students, the breath’s clear potential to heal and deeply transform lives. I truly believe that in the future such practices will play an important role as a medicine for preventing and treating physical, emotional, and mental maladies. I am glad that Geshe YongDong is making these practices widely available, and I’m sure that by doing so, he is bringing benefit to countless lives.”
—from the foreword by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

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Venerable Robina and Venerable Chokyi: Liberation Prison Project (#137)

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features an interview with host Daniel Aitken and special guests Venerable Robina and Venerable Chokyi, discussing their work with the Liberation Prison Project.

The Liberation Prison Project offers spiritual advice and teachings, as well as Dharma books and materials, to people in prison interested in exploring, studying, and practicing Buddhism. Since 1996 the project has supported the Buddhist practice of over 20,000 men and women in prisons around the world to transform their lives.

Daniel discusses with Ven. Robina and Ven. Chokyi:

• the foundation and development of the Liberation Prison Project;
• moving examples of prisoner experiences;
• the Tibetan astrological calendar, pilgrimage, and other fundraising efforts;
• Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book Enjoy Life Liberated from the Inner Prison
• how students provide support to prisoners through the Project;
• a new opportunity in the Liberation Prison Project Director role;
• and much more.

Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you!

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Ornament of Dakpo Kagyü Thought

The Mahāmudrā Aspiration Prayer is one of the most brilliant and popular compositions on mahāmudrā. Written in easygoing nine-meter verse, this heartfelt prayer by Rangjung Dorjé lends itself to chanting and ritualized group prayer and is at the same time intricately organized into the most profound and thorough exposition of mahāmudrā, the pinnacle of practice in the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism. The commentary on the prayer by Mendong Tsampa Rinpoché brilliantly illuminates its subtleties, making it even more accessible for the reader, and students and teachers alike will appreciate the inclusion of the Tibetan script on facing pages of the prayer and commentary.

This is a text for encouraging study, for inspiring practice, and for the awakening of the world.

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Daniel A. Hirshberg: Nyingma Lore and Lineage (#136)

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast features an interview with Daniel A. Hirshberg, who earned a PhD from Harvard University in 2012 and was associate professor in the Department of Classics, Philosophy, & Religion at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Since recording this podcast, Dan left his tenured professorship to found SŌTERIC. 

In this episode, host Daniel Aitken and Dan discuss

• Dan’s path to the academic Dharma world through studying with Professor Jan Willis, Naropa University, and study and practice in Asia;
• studies with Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche’s Nalandabodhi Community and the Nitartha Shedra curriculum;
• Dan’s engagement in historical studies of the influential Nyingma teacher Nyangrel (Nyangrel Nyima Özer, c.1124–1192), King Trisong Detsen, and the Padmasambhava lineage and lore;
• the foundation and culture of the terma/tertön tradition and the sacred world throughout Tibetan history and into today;
• practical perspectives on the future of Buddhist literary traditions in the modern age, and the nature of validation in authentic teachings;
• modern contemplative research and application through secular pedagogical techniques;
• Dan’s recent book, Remembering the Lotus-Born: Padmasambhava in the History of Tibet’s Golden Age;
• and much more.
  
  Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you!

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The Range of the Bodhisattva, a Mahāyana Sūtra (Ārya-bodhisattva-gocara)

This is a study and the first complete English translation of the Mahāyāna Sūtra, the Bodhi-sattva-gocara, which presents one of the only Buddhist teachings extant on what might be called a “Buddhist theory of war.” The main body of the text takes the form of a dialogue between King Caṇḍapradyota and the Nirgrantha sage, Satyaka, who is later revealed by Śākyamuni Buddha to be a bodhisattva of high attainment.

The author’s introductory essay traces the ways in which the later Indian and Tibetan commentarial traditions have drawn on this sūtra in order to expound upon key themes in Buddhist ethics, law, and state policy, to highlight their positions in opposition to their non-Buddhist contemporaries. From the author’s analysis, it is clear that this sūtra has been seminal in the ethical reflections of generations of Indian and Tibetan Buddhists, though it appears that it was not well known in East Asia.

A companion volume of a Tibetan critical edition will also be available.

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Mind Sky

“In Zen meditation, anything that comes in your mind will eventually leave, because nothing is permanent. A thought is like a cloud moving across the blue sky. Nothing can disturb that all-encompassing vastness. This is the Dharma.” 

In a collection of talks and anecdotes, Jakusho Kwong-roshi, a Dharma successor of Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, presents his approach to Buddhist teaching. Containing photos of Kwong-roshi with his teachers, as well as a selection of his vibrant calligraphy, Mind Sky explores the profound beauty of Zen history and practice, nature, and the philosophy of the ancient Zen master Eihei Dōgen.

With an elegant simplicity, Kwong-roshi shows how Zen is experiential rather than intellectual. And with persistent practice, realization is already yours.

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Beyond Distraction

The mind can be a potent tool, used to guide extraordinary achievements, inspire good works, and incline your spiritual path toward peace and awakening. But the mind can also produce thoughts that lead to suffering. For many people, thoughts run rampant and seem to oppress or control their lives. Even the Buddha tells us that before his enlightenment, he sometimes found his mind preoccupied by thoughts connected with sensual desire, ill will, and harm. But he figured out how to respond to thoughts skillfully and developed a step-by-step approach to calm the restless mind. Now, Insight Meditation teacher Shaila Catherine offers an accessible approach to training the mind that is guided by the Buddha’s pragmatic instructions on removing distracting thoughts. Drawing on two scriptures in the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Shaila shows you how to overcome habitual modes of thinking, develop deeper concentration, and discover the insights into emptiness that are vital for a liberating spiritual path.

Following the Buddha’s pragmatic approach, Shaila guides you through five steps for overcoming distraction and focusing the mind:

1. Replace unwholesome thoughts with wholesome thoughts.
2. Examine the dangers of distracting thoughts.
3. Avoid it, ignore it, forget it.
4. Investigate the causes of distraction.
5. Apply determination and resolve.
   

Each chapter includes exercises and reflections to help you cultivate the five steps to deeper concentration. You’ll learn about your mind and develop your ability to direct your attention more skillfully in meditation and daily activities. And ultimately, you’ll discover for yourself how these five steps boil down to one key realization: In the moment you recognize that a thought is just a thought, you will find yourself on the path to a life of remarkable freedom.

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Alejandro Chaoul on Body Buddhism (#135)

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast features an interview with Dr. Alejandro Chaoul, who has studied Tibetan yoga for thirty years with the tradition’s greatest masters, including Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Dr. Chaoul and host Daniel Aitken explore

• Tsa Lung Trul Khor (“channel/wind obstacle-clearing techniques”) yoga practice and its place in Dzogchen meditation;
• the practice of “Body Buddhism,” integrating the body with the mind and breath;
• the benefits of purification practices like Tsa Lung Trul Khor and the subtle body;
• practices to help restore “dimmed awareness” to clarity;
• quick techniques that can be applied immediately in practice and daily life for balancing; 
• his book with Wisdom, Tibetan Yoga: Magical Movements of Body, Breath, and Mind;
• and more.

Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you!

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