Michael Mendizza: Conversations with Samdhong Rinpoche and J. Krishnamurti

Posted August 28, 2020

For this episode of the Wisdom Podcast, host Daniel Aitken speaks with Michael Mendizza, documentary filmmaker and author of Always Awakening: Buddha’s Realization, Krishnamurti’s Insight. In this fascinating conversation, you’ll hear Michael share stories from his creative filmmaking journeys, and in particular the extremely rare opportunities he had of spending one-on-one time with two towering figures in the world of Buddhism and Eastern spirituality: Tibetan Buddhist master Samdhong Rinpoche and Indian spiritual philosopher J. Krishnamurti. In this conversation, you’ll hear Michael and Daniel think through central questions relevant to the philosophy of these two spiritual giants: What is mindfulness and attention? What does it mean to be an observer? What’s the difference between the relative and the absolute? Michael draws from knowledge gained having spent hours upon hours with both these teachers, and reads excerpts from Samdhong Rinpoche’s responses to some of Krishnamurti’s central philosophical concepts.

Extra Content

Learn more about Michael Mendizza’s book Always Awakening: Buddha’s Realization, Krishnamurti’s Insight by visiting his book’s webpage here.

Below are a few additional materials:

Pictured: Samdhong Rinpoche and J. Krishnamurti. Courtesy of Michael Mendizza.

About the Interviewee

Michael Mendizza is an author, educator, entrepreneur, documentary filmmaker, and founder of Touch the Future, a nonprofit learning design center focusing on optimum human potential. He is the author of six books: Magical Parent Magical Child: The Art of Joyful Parenting, co-authored with Joseph Chilton Pearce; Playful Wisdom, exploring the critical role fathers play during the early and explosive first two years of a child’s life; Always Awakening: Buddha’s Realization, Krishnamurti’s Insight with Samdhong Rinpoche, the first prime minister of Tibet in exile; Flowering, a collection of dramatic floral and seascape images with quotes by Krishnamurti; The Life and Insights of Joseph Chilton Pearce: Astonishing Capacities and Self-Inflicted Limitations; and Unconditionally Free, a comprehensive overview of the life and insights of J. Krishnamurti.

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Roger Jackson: Mahāmudrā in the Geluk and Kagyü Traditions (#94)

The Buddhist Analysis of Matter is an in-depth study of the Buddhist view of the nature and composition of matter as interpreted in Theravāda Buddhism. The study is mainly based on the seven treatises of the canonical Abhidhamma as well as the subsequent commentarial exegesis. However, in order to bring the subject into a wider perspective and to present it with a measure of precision, it takes into consideration the parallel doctrines of the Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika schools of Buddhism. These were two of the leading non-Mahāyāna schools with which the Theravādins had much in common. Both subscribed to a realistic view of existence: while the former had a tendency to extreme realism, the latter had a predilection, but not a commitment, to subjectivism.

Acclaimed scholar Y. Karunadasa’s Buddhist Analysis of Matter provides a much-needed micro view of the topic with a detailed examination of the Theravādins’ list of rūpa-dhammas—the ultimate irreducible factors into which material existence is analyzed. It exposes the nature of the basic material elements and explains their interconnection and interdependence on the basis of conditional relations. It concludes with an attempt to understand the nature and relevance of the Buddhist analysis of matter in the context of Buddhism as a religion.

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Robert Thurman (2)

Please enjoy this unedited recording of our Wisdom Dharma Chat with Robert Thurman.

Robert Thurman holds the Jey Tsong Khapa Chair in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. After education at Phillips Exeter and Harvard, he studied Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism for almost thirty years as a personal student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He has written both scholarly and popular books, and has lectured widely all over the world. As president of the American Institute for Buddhist Studies, he convened the first Inner Science Conference with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Amherst College in 1984. He is also a founding trustee of Tibet House New York.

He and host Daniel Aitken cover topics such as the chakras, understanding negation, some wonderful encounters Thurman has had with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and much more.

Click here to learn more about, support, and get involved with Professor Thurman’s center, Menla.

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Jessica Pimentel

June 2020

In this episode of the Wisdom Podcast, host Daniel Aitken interviews American actress and musician Jessica Pimentel, best known for her role as Maria Ruiz on the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black. She is also the lead singer of the death metal band Alekhine’s Gun and backing vocalist in the band Brujeria. Jessica is a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism in the Gelugpa tradition and studied under the former abbot of Sera Mey Monastery, H.E. Sermey Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tharchin.

Jessica begins the conversation with a mandala offering and then recounts the story of her spiritual background. Throughout her youth, Jessica grew up in a Christian household but also held a deep interest in learning about other traditions as a means to expand her spirituality. She describes the moment when she learned about the twelve links of dependent origination, a concept which immediately clicked with her and motivated her search for a Buddhist teacher. As a teenager in New York in the 1990s, she was able to explore many different traditions before feeling a profound and instantaneous connection with Khen Rinpoche and the Tibetan tradition.

You’ll also hear Jessica discuss the integration of her creative pursuits, acting and music, with her Buddhist practice and how she is able to use her platform to spread the dharma. She notes that stepping into the roles of characters that she plays requires a similar type of concentration and imagination that some Buddhist practices do, especially with regards to exchanging self and other. Music is also a spiritual practice for Jessica, and she includes both Buddhist lyrics in her songs and a particular kind of wrathful energy in her performance to break down notions of what a “typical Buddhist” is and should be. In the final portion of the conversation, she fields questions from the audience on topics ranging from her own practices and getting into acting to the student-teacher relationship and advice for those wishing to learn about Buddhism for the first time.

For more from Jessica, find her on Instagram and Twitter.

Photo credit: Deborah Lopez

Click here to learn more about Dharma Chats and find out about our upcoming guests!

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Ven. Robina Courtin

June 2020

In this Wisdom Dharma Chat, host Daniel Aitken interviews Venerable Robina Courtin, who has worked full-time for Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) since ordaining in the late 1970s. Over the years she has served as editorial director of Wisdom Publications, editor of Mandala Magazine, executive director of Liberation Prison Project, and as a touring teacher of Buddhism. Her life and work with prisoners have been featured in the documentary films Chasing Buddha and Key to Freedom.

Ven. Robina dives into the conversation by describing how the pandemic has caused her to take her usually nomadic teaching pursuits online and her pleasant surprise at the level of intimacy online platforms can foster. Throughout her many years of teaching, she also notes which aspects of the Dharma tend to resonate most with people and explains the ways in which it allows us to practice being our own therapists through a thorough examination of the mind. Coming from an activist background, Ven. Robina stresses the importance of disentangling our own suffering before attempting to tackle problems that lead to the suffering of others on a larger scale and falling prey to the kinds of anger that can lead to dualistic thinking.

Ven. Robina then turns to the idea of karma, asserting that it can be conceived of as a natural law similar to how we might think about any other set of organizing principles that guide the universe. In this vein, she elaborates on how nothing in Buddhism relies on “beliefs” but rather on what she prefers to call “hypotheses”. She and Daniel also discuss the topic of gurus and how she was very skeptical when she first encountered Lama Yeshe but gradually began to witness how his teachings had profound impacts in terms of showing people their own minds. Finally, during the Q&A sessions, Ven. Robina answers audience questions regarding these topics as well as others, ranging from bodhicitta and reincarnation to dependent origination and the importance of pilgrimages.

To hear more from Ven. Robina, please enjoy this podcast interview. Also be sure to check out Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s books How to Face Death without Fear, which Ven. Robina compiled and edited.

Photo credit: George Manos

Click here to learn more about Dharma Chats and find out about our upcoming guests!

In part two of this rich two-part online course with Lama Alan Wallace, you’ll continue your exploration of the four immeasurables—and beyond.

In this course, under the expert guidance of Lama Alan Wallace, you’ll explore the practice of cultivating the Four Immeasurables, the Four Greats, and bodhicitta, including from the perspective of vajrayana, and specifically from pure view and divine pride, as Avalokitesvara. Part II covers empathetic joy, equanimity, and beyond.

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Lama Alan Wallace

In this Wisdom Dharma Chat, host Daniel Aitken interviews Lama Alan Wallace, author, scholar, president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, and contemplative director of the Center for Contemplative Research. He has edited, translated, written, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, and the interface between science and religion.

Lama Alan begins the discussion by answering timely questions related to the benefits of inner and outer solitude. He offers advice on how to not feel like a victim of circumstances, but instead reframe periods of involuntary solitude as opportunities to slow down, practice cultivating the mind and reassess both personal and societal trajectories. Lama Alan also emphasizes the link between samadhi and an ethical life, explaining that in the act of turning inwards and practicing concentration, we are able to heighten our awareness as we again face outwards, thus becoming more attentive to our interactions and their impacts on the external world.

On a broader scale, Lama Alan urges us to consider the idea of sustainability, not only in terms of the environment, economics, and other systems in which we are embedded, but also in terms of being able to sustain the states of mind that are cultivated with contemplation, such that we can translate them into practice. During the Q&A session, Lama Alan goes into further detail on these topics and also fields questions regarding dzogchen, inversion of awareness and his hopes to organize inter-contemplative dialogues so that those who study and practice contemplation within different faith traditions are able to learn from each other.

The giveaway mentioned in the recording has closed, but please visit the Introduction to Dzogchen website to learn more about this online course as well as Lama Alan’s other Wisdom Academy courses. You can also find a wealth of information and resources by checking out Lama Alan’s books and additional podcast interviews, available through Wisdom.

Please visit our article The Center for Contemplative Research to learn more about the new the center and view images.

Malcolm Smith: Translating The Tantra Without Syllables and The Blazing Lamp Tantra

Posted August 7, 2020

For this episode of the Wisdom Podcast, host Daniel Aitken speaks with Wisdom author and renowned Tibetan Buddhist translator, Malcolm Smith. Malcolm has been a student of the Great Perfection teachings since 1992 and studied under Dzogchen masters Chogyal Namkhai Norbu and the late Kunzang Dechen Lingpa. His translations include Buddhahood in this Life: The Great Commentary of Vimalamitra, which is one of the earliest and most influential tests of the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Most recently, Malcolm has published the second installment of a multi-volume translation project of the Seventeen Tantras, which are among the most essential texts of the Great Perfection tradition. The first installment includes The Self-Arisen Vidyā Tantra (Vol 1) and The Self-Liberated Vidyā Tantra (Vol 2), published in 2019. His most recent translation is of The Tantra Without Syllables (Vol 3) and The Blazing Lamp Tantra (Vol 4), published in 2020.

In this fascinating conversation, Malcolm and Daniel focus on Malcolm’s most recent translation of Volumes 3 and 4, discussing why these, like Volumes 1 and 2, are essential to an overall understanding of the whole Dzogchen system. You’ll hear Malcolm give a brief overview of the history of the Seventeen Tantras in relationship to Dzogchen, Dzogchen’s central teachers and texts, and how the Seventeen Tantras fit within other Tibetan Buddhist traditions. You’ll also hear why these two texts—The Tantra Without Syllables (Vol 3) and The Blazing Lamp Tantra (Vol 4)—are published together. Malcolm explains how these two texts contain some of the most detailed expositions on two essential practices of the Great Perfection: trekchö, the view, and thögal, the meditation.

Malcolm and Daniel also discuss the nature of restriction of these texts both historically and for contemporary students of Dzogchen.

This episode was recorded as part of our new series, Wisdom Dharma Chats, where you can attend live video versions of the Wisdom Podcast from the comfort of your own home. Wisdom Dharma Chats also include a Q&A where you can ask questions directly to Buddhist teachers, practitioners and scholars. To watch the video version of this podcast, visit our Wisdom Dharma Chats page.

To hear Malcolm’s Wisdom Podcast on The Self-Arisen Vidyā Tantra (Vol 1) and The Self-Liberated Vidyā Tantra (Vol 2), which is the first 2-volume set of the Seventeen Tantras, click here.

About the Interviewee

Malcolm Smith has been a student of the Great Perfection teachings since 1992. His main Dzogchen teachers are Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and the late Kunzang Dechen Lingpa. He is a veteran of a traditional three-year solitary Tibetan Buddhist retreat, a published translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts, and was awarded the ācārya degree by the Sakya Institute in 2004. He graduated in 2009 from Shang Shung Institute’s School of Tibetan Medicine. He has worked on translations for renowned lamas since 1992, including His Holiness the Sakya Trichen Rinpoche, Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, Khenpo Migmar Tseten, Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche, Khenchen Könchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche, and many others.

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Venerable Robina Courtin: Understanding the Buddha’s Teachings for Ourselves

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Michael Mendizza: Conversations with Samdhong Rinpoche and J. Krishnamurti

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Please enjoy this recording of our Wisdom Dharma Chat with Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Donald S. Lopez Jr. is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the department of Asian languages and cultures at the University of Michigan. He is the author and translator of numerous books, including Beautiful Adornment of Mount Meru, Opening the Eye of New Awareness, and In the Forest of Faded Wisdom: 104 Poems by Gendun Chopel (University of Chicago, 2009).

He and host Daniel Aitken discuss his translation work, amazing encounters he has had with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other lamas, and much more.

Click here to learn more about Dharma Chats and find out about our upcoming guests!

Join Wisdom

The first lecture of this Wisdom Lecture Series is available to all members of the Wisdom Experience. Fill out the form below to make a Free account now and start watching, or click here to join as a Plus or All-Access member and get access to much more. If you already have an account, click log in in the top right. Please note: by filling in this form, or joining via our Join page, you agree to receive email communications from Wisdom.

This is the companion volume to The Range of the Bodhisattva: Introduction and Translation, a critical Tibetan edition of the Mahāyāna Sūtra, the Bodhisattva-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 Shākyamuni Buddha to be a bodhisattva of high attainment. The author’s critical edition synthesizes the readings of five different recensions of the text to produce an edition of the sūtra that runs parallel to the published English translation.

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Sarah Harding

In this Wisdom Dharma Chat, host Daniel Aitken interviews Sarah Harding, qualified lama and teacher in the Shangpa Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Since 1972, Sarah has been a student and translator of Kalu Rinpoche (1905-1989), one of the first Tibetan masters to teach in the West. She works as a teacher, oral interpreter, and translator, and has taught in the religious studies department of Naropa University and lives in Boulder, Colorado. Sarah translated Creation and Completion: Essential Points of Tantric Meditation by Jamgön Kongtrul, and is currently working on translations of Tibetan Buddhist texts as a fellow of the Tsadra Foundation.

Sarah recalls how she began reading Buddhist texts, including the Life of Milarepa, when she was in high school. In subsequent years, she traveled across the world, eventually ending up in the Darjeeling region of India, where she became a student of Kalu Rinpoche in the Shangpa lineage along with a handful of other Westerners. Following time spent back and forth between India and Nepal, Sarah went to northern Thailand and attended a retreat with Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw and comments on the differences of practice in a Theravada context. Finally, after a return to America, she embarked on a three-year retreat in France and recounts what daily life was like there and the difficulty of integrating back into society afterwards. Sarah and Daniel also get into a discussion of Sarah’s experiences with the traditional practice of chöd.

Following the conversation, Daniel fields audience questions for Sarah. In this Q&A session, she speaks at length on the most challenging and rewarding aspects of translation, working with both colloquial and classical Tibetan, and the impact of her scholarship on her practice among other topics.

To learn more about some of the Tantric meditation practices that Sarah mentions, please check out her translated work, Creation and Completion, available through Wisdom.

A fresh take on how to read Dōgen.

In The Zen Master’s Dance, Jundo Cohen takes us deep into the mind of Master Dōgen—and shows us how to join in the great and intimate dance of the universe. Through fresh translations and sparkling teaching, Cohen opens up for us a new way to read one of Buddhism’s most remarkable spiritual geniuses.

The Freeing the Heart and Mind Trilogy

Michael Mendizza Interviews His Eminence Professor Samdhong Rinpoche

Michael Mendizza: Conversations with Samdhong Rinpoche and J. Krishnamurti

Extra Content

About the Interviewee

The Buddhist Analysis of Matter

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Robert Thurman (2)

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Jessica Pimentel

June 2020

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Ven. Robina Courtin

June 2020

The Four Immeasurables, Part 2

The Four Immeasurables, Part 2

What is Bodhicitta?

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Lama Alan Wallace

Malcolm Smith: Translating The Tantra Without Syllables and The Blazing Lamp Tantra

About the Interviewee

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Donald S. Lopez Jr.

Wisdom Dharma Chats

Join Wisdom

Buddhist Perspectives of the Mind and How We Experience the World

How to Grieve: Pain, Gratitude, & Peace

The Range of the Bodhisattva, A Mahāyāna Sutra (byang chub sems dpa’i spyod yul)

Wisdom Dharma Chats | Sarah Harding

The Zen Master’s Dance