Wisdom Dharma Chat | Venerable Thubten Chodron - November 2024

Please enjoy this unedited recording of our Wisdom Dharma Chats episode with special guest Venerable Thubten Chodron. Ven. Chodron is an author, teacher, and the founder and abbess of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery for Western nuns and monks in the US. Ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun in 1977, she has studied extensively with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tsenzhap Serkong Rinpoche, and Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche. Ven. Chodron teaches worldwide and is known for her practical and often humorous explanations of how to apply Buddhist teachings in daily life.

In this episode, Venerable and host Daniel Aitken celebrate the release of the 10th volume in the Library of Wisdom and Compassion series, Vajrayāna And The Culmination Of The Path. They discuss the evolution of the series with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the importance of making Buddhist teachings accessible, and the interconnectedness of traditions. Venerable Chodron shares her insights on empowerment, the significance of compassion and wisdom in spiritual practice, and much more!

Wisdom Dharma Chat | Geshe YongDong Losar - October 2024

Please enjoy this unedited recording of Wisdom Dharma Chats with special guest Geshe YongDong Losar. Geshe YongDong is a Tibetan Bön lama, or spiritual teacher, in the Yungdrung Bön lineage, which is rooted in the indigenous spiritual tradition of the Himalayas. He lives in Courtenay, British Columbia, where he established and directs Sherab Chamma Ling, the only Tibetan Bön Buddhist Center in Canada. He teaches in many centers and universities around the world and has also founded the Bön Da Ling Center in Costa Rica.

In this episode, he and host Daniel Aitken discuss Geshela’s new Wisdom Academy online course, Calm Breath, Calm Mind, and his book with the same title. They dive into the positive impact that traditional practices like yoga and meditation can have on someone in today’s hectic world, how these ancient and usually secret practices are now being opened and taught in the West, and much more! Geshela also demonstrates a few breath exercises for stress management and explains the connections between the chakras and winds.

Wisdom Podcast | Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche | A Blazing Splendor Special Episode

In this, the fourth and final episode of our celebratory series, Wisdom Podcast host Daniel Aitken is joined by special guest Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche! Listen as Rinpoche takes you on a journey throughout his life, beginning with his early memories of his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, the impact his father had on him and his own teaching, all the way to his father’s passing. You’ll hear Rinpoche:

share memories from his childhood in Kathmandu and the Himalayas;
discuss his initiation into meditation by his father to help manage his panic attacks;
his father’s teaching style and how it changed as he got older;
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s tukdam;
the influence that his father had on him, his own practice, and teachings; and;
so much more.

Wisdom Podcast listeners are invited to save 20% off Blazing Splendor hardcover collector’s edition with code WPODBLAZE through October 31.

Wisdom Dharma Chat | Tsoknyi Rinpoche | A Blazing Splendor Special Episode

Please enjoy the third episode of our celebratory Blazing Splendor Wisdom Podcast series! This episode was recorded earlier this year as a live Wisdom Dharma Chat where host Daniel Aitken was joined by special guest, Tsoknyi Rinpoche. During this episode, Rinpoche shares deep insights from his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s teachings, along with personal anecdotes in celebration of the release of the collector’s edition of Blazing Splendor.

You’ll hear Daniel and Rinpoche discuss:

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche’s dual role in Rinpoche’s life as parent and teacher;
Rinpoche’s handshake method, and his unique style of teaching;
the most valuable teaching and advice that Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche gave to Rinpoche; and
much more!

Mentioned in this episode:

Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s course https://tsoknyirinpoche.org/fully-being/

Be sure to come back next week for episode four in our Blazing Splendor Podcast Series with special guest Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

Wisdom Podcast listeners are invited to save 20% off Blazing Splendor hardcover collector’s edition with code WPODBLAZE through October 31.

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Wisdom Dharma Chat | Lama Alan Wallace - October 2024

Please enjoy this unedited recording of Wisdom Dharma Chats with special guest Lama Alan Wallace. Lama Alan is the founder and director of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies and the Center for Contemplative Research. He has taught Buddhist theory and practice in Europe and America since 1976 and has served as an interpreter for numerous Tibetan scholars and contemplatives, including H. H. the Dalai Lama. He has edited, translated, authored, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, and the interface between science and religion. In this episode, he and Daniel discuss Lama Alan’s new book on Dzokchen, the significance of mindfulness, perception, and the diverse teachings within Buddhism. They also explore the intersection of Buddhism and modern science and much more!

Wisdom Dharma Chat | Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche - August 2024

Please enjoy this unedited recording of Wisdom Dharma Chats with special guest Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Founder and spiritual director of Ligmincha International, Rinpoche is a respected and beloved teacher and meditation master in the Bön Buddhist tradition of Tibet. He has students in more than 25 countries, teaches around the world, and reaches thousands of students through his online programs. During this Wisdom Dharma Chat host Daniel Aitken and Rinpoche discuss his Wisdom Academy course Dream Yoga, an advanced spiritual practice in which you can rediscover your dreams as potent vehicles for enhancing awareness in both dreaming and waking states. They also explore the interpretation of dreams, the preparation for death through dream yoga, and its lineage from the tantric tradition.

Dream Yoga starts August 30 learn more and enroll today!

Lesson 1: An Introduction to Buddhist Contemplative Practice

from Varieties of Buddhist Meditation

In the first lesson of his Wisdom Academy online course, Varieties of Buddhist Mediation, John Dunne introduces us to what we mean by “contemplative practice” in the Buddhist tradition, sharing key features of any meditation practice. He also outlines the goals for our course and details what motivation means in the Buddhist context—underscoring the meaning of dukkha, or suffering, and its role in our understanding of the four noble truths.

About Your Instructor

John D. Dunne serves on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities at the Center for Healthy Minds. He is also chair of the Department of Asian Languages & Cultures. His work focuses on Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice, especially in dialog with Cognitive Science and Psychology. His more than fifty publications appear in venues ranging across both the Humanities and the Sciences, including Foundations of Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy (2004) and Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics: The Mind (2020). John Dunne speaks in both academic and public contexts, and he occasionally teaches for Buddhist communities. His broader engagements include being a Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, where he was previously a member of the board of directors, and serving as an academic advisor to the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal.

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