The Wisdom Podcast

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast , recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features host Daniel Aitken joined by Malcolm Smith—translator in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and long-time practitioner of Dzogchen. Malcolm Smith has been a student of the Great Perfection teachings since 1992, his main Dzogchen teachers being 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, and has worked on translations for renowned lamas since 1992, including H.H. the Sakya Trichen Rinpoche, Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, Khenpo Migmar Tseten, Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche, Khenchen Könchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche, and more.

In this lively discussion, Malcolm and Daniel talk about:

• Malcolm’s new translation on Sakya Lamdre, Sakya: The Path with Its Result;
• yantra yoga (trul-khor) and Dzogchen in the Sakya yogic tradition;
• translating the commentary on the Seventeen Tantras of the Great Perfection;
• Candrakīrti and the Prāsaṅgika Mādhyamaka view in Dzogchen;
• systems of medicine and elemental compatibility in the tantras;
• trekchö, tögal, and two types of dharmatā in Dzogchen teachings;
• 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!

The post Malcolm Smith: Dzogchen, Sakya, and Translation (#148) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast features Cortland Dahl. Cortland is a scientist, translator, and meditation teacher who offers workshops and leads retreats around the world. He has practiced meditation for nearly three decades, spent time on retreat in monasteries and at retreat centers throughout Japan, Burma, and India, and spent eight years living in Tibetan refugee settlements in Kathmandu, Nepal. He works as an Instructor for the Tergar community and is the Executive Director of Tergar International. In addition, Cortland serves as a Research Scientist and the Chief Contemplative Officer at UW-Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds and the center’s affiliated non-profit, Healthy Minds Innovations. Cortland is actively involved in scientific research and has published articles on the impact of meditation practices on the body, mind, and brain.

In this episode host, Daniel Aitken, and Cortland discuss:

• the Healthy Minds App and Cortland’s role in its development;
• the intersection of science and spirituality;
• living the Dharma in daily life;
• using technology for mindfulness; and
• much more!

Mentioned in this episode:

• Cortland’s Wisdom Dharma Chats episode;
• Vajrayana Online;
• The Joy of Living an online meditation course and training with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

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 helps other people find the podcast. Thank you!

The post Cortland Dahl: Mahamudra and Daily Life (#184) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

In this episode of the Wisdom Podcast we meet Bhante Gunaratana, renowned meditation teacher, Buddhist monk, and author of the now-classic Mindfulness in Plain English, published by Wisdom. Born in Sri Lanka, Bhante Gunaratana was ordained at the age of twelve in the Theravada tradition. In this episode, we hear “Bhante G” (as he is affectionately called by his students) recall his early years as a precocious young monk. After suffering the tragic loss of his photographic memory when he was a teenager, Bhante G regained his mental faculties by teaching himself meditation, despite being forbidden by monastic rule. Drawing wisdom from his own experience, Bhante G shares the value of studying meditation directly from the suttas. In this extraordinary teaching, you’ll hear Bhante G recall the words of the Buddha himself as he explains the very heart of an effective mindfulness or meditation practice. Bhante G encourages a more complex understanding of central terms as bhāvanā, or cultivation, sati, or mindfulness as pre-conceptual awareness, the five aggregates, as well as the term vipassana itself. He also reminds us why sīla, samādhi, and paññā—or morality, concentration, and wisdom—are inextricably bound to one another within mindfulness and meditation, and also shares his thoughts on the wisdom of non-labeling. As part of this special episode, you can also listen to a guided meditation led by Bhante G available below.

The post Bhante Gunaratana: A Special Teaching on Mindfulness appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

In this episode of the Wisdom podcast, we hear from Rev. Sumi Loundon Kim, Buddhist chaplain at Duke University, and author of Sitting Together: A Family-Centered Curriculum on Mindfulness, Meditation, and Buddhist Teaching. In this episode, Sumi shares many insights on the cultivation of mindfulness in children. Raised in a Sōtō Zen meditation community in rural New Hampshire, Sumi began meditating as a child and completed her first 9-day retreat at the Insight Meditation Society at 16. Sumi shares how spiritual values and practices instilled in her at a young age helped deepen her self-awareness as a young adult, giving her practical tools and resources in difficult times. You’ll hear Sumi and Daniel discuss the value of community-based spiritual development and the need for more children’s programs in American dharma centers. Sumi also shares aspects of the curriculum she developed in her Sitting Together series and ways mindfulness-based practices can benefit the entire family. Additionally, Sumi is editor of Blue Jean Buddha and The Buddha’s Apprentices, both published by Wisdom.

The post Sumi Loundon Kim: Mindfulness for the Whole Family appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

On this episode of the Wisdom Podcast, host Daniel Aitken travels to Montreal to speak with Thupten Jinpa, scholar and former monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and primary English translator to His Holiness the Dalai Lama since 1985. In this rich conversation, Jinpa describes his intellectual training at Shartse College of Ganden Monastic University in South India, and reveals fascinating insights on the value of memorization as well as the art of debate in monastic education. Having worked in an intimate context with His Holiness the Dalai Lama for over thirty years, Jinpa shares how observing the Dalai Lama has influenced his own character and spiritual practice. He talks about the Dalai Lama’s rare and impressive qualities—his unusual joy, how he balances confidence with humility, and his precision in combining scholarship with meditative practice.

The post Thupten Jinpa: Translating for His Holiness the Dalai Lama appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.