Buddhist Geeks

Latest Episodes:

The Lazy Path to Enlightenment Nov 01, 2010

Show notes

We’re joined this week by author, teacher, and Tibetologist Glenn Mullin. During our conversation with Glenn we focus primarily on a system of teachings in the Tantric tradition called The Six Yogas of Naropa. He speaks about each aspect of the practice—including such practices as sexual yoga, dream yoga, and bardo yoga—and also explains why he thinks the 6 yogas are a perfect compliment for the modern lifestyle.

Episode Links:

www.GlennMullin.com

The Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa ( http://amzn.to/cEm5jP )

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Making Joy Our Default Oct 18, 2010

Show notes

Insight meditation teacher James Baraz joins us to explore the many facets of joy, happiness, and well-being. We begin by finding out how joy became an important part of James’ practice, since in his early years with Buddhism he was, in his own words, “dead serious about practice.” It turns out that part of what helped him break the spell was the Advaita Vedanta teacher, H.W.L Poonja, as well as the teachings that the Buddha himself gave on joy and well-being. We also look at the positive psychology movement, which James pulls from often in his teachings on Joy, comparing and contrasting positive psychology with Buddhist psychology. And finally we discuss what it means to cultivate Joy, and how that cultivation relates to a recognition of Natural Joy (the joy that’s present without any special effort).

Episode Links:

www.JamesBaraz.com

Awakening Joy: 10 Steps That Will Put You on the Road to Real Happiness ( http://amzn.to/bnPnPR )

Authentic Happiness ( http://amzn.to/9DIPlr )

H.W.L Poonja ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._W._L._Poonja )

Nibanna for Everyone, by Ajahn Buddhadassa ( http://www.scribd.com/doc/265212/Nibbana-for-Everyone )

Dvedhavitakka Sutta: Two Sorts of Thinking (Majjhima Nikaya 19) ( http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.019.than.html )

Transcendental Dependent Arising ( http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel277.html )

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Living as a River Oct 11, 2010

Show notes

Bodhipaksa is a teacher from the Triratna Buddhist Community, formerly the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. He joins us this week to explore the Buddhist teachings on impermanence and “change blindness.” We also explore one of the central practices that he teaches, called the 6-elements practice—one of the primary methods found in the earliest strata of Buddhist teachings. Finally, we explore the importance of enlightenment in his teaching, what is traditionally called stream-entry, but which he refers to as “entry-level enlightenment.”

Episode Links:

www.bodhipaksa.com

Living As a River: Finding Fearlessness in the Face of Change ( http://amzn.to/aMZqzN )

Dhatu-vibhanga Sutta: An Analysis of the Properties ( http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.140.than.html )

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Living in Buddha Standard Time Oct 04, 2010

Show notes

We speak with Lama Surya Das this week about what it takes to integrate spiritual understanding into our lives as 21st century citizens. He explores the question of whether our sense of time has sped up in the “over-information age,” and how we can change our relationship to time. He also shares the outlines of what he calls the Six Building Blocks of a Spiritual Life—a post-traditional model aimed at integrating the inner and outer dimensions of life. We conclude our discussion by looking at what he calls, “Positive Buddhism.” Positive Buddhism is a formulation of the Buddhist teachings that emphasize some of the more life-affirming aspects of the awakened life, instead of some of the more life-denying aspects, such as suffering, renunciation, and non-attachment.

This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1, The Tao of Twitter.

Episode Links:

www.Surya.org

The Mind is Mightier Than the Sword ( http://amzn.to/cmIOru )

Positive Psychology ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology )

Awakening the Buddha Within ( http://amzn.to/9HeJJ0 )

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The Tao of Twitter Sep 28, 2010

Show notes

When it comes to leveraging the technologies of our time, Lama Surya Das is one of the most active American Buddhists around. He blogs, tweets, skypes, hosts webinars, and participates in virtual retreats. And yet he acknowledges that if it were completely up to him, he’d be leading meditation retreats in-person and writing books. We speak with Surya Das on why he has decided to engage these technologies, as opposed to treating them merely as distractions or as “necessary evils,” as so many teachers do. We explore both the upsides and downsides of what he refers to as, “beaming, streaming media.” As he points out during the interview, he feels he has two feet firmly planted in the old tradition, and two feet firmly planted in the new. What happens when someone is immersed in both?

This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, Living in Buddha Standard Time.

Episode Links:

@LamaSuryaDas ( www.twitter.com/LamaSuryaDas )

www.Surya.org The Tao of Twitter: The Spirit in the Machine ( http://bit.ly/9wtD4c )

Dzogchen Center ( http://dzogchen.org )

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Intimacy through Practice Sep 13, 2010

Show notes

We’re joined this week by Flamenco guitarist and Zen practitioner Ottmar Liebert. Ottmar shares the story of how he broke with his childhood religion of Catholicism, started doing Transcendental Meditation, and then found his spiritual home in the Zen tradition. We also discuss the nature of practice, and compare how it manifests in both music and meditation. We also explore the distinction between solitary practice and performance, seeing what parallels to music we might find in Zen.

Episode Links:

www.OttmarLiebert.com

Petals on the Path ( http://www.ottmarliebert.com/music/album/petals-on-the-path )

Letter to a Young Musician #1 ( http://www.ottmarliebert.com/diary/?p=6374 )

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Non-Meditation and the Nature of Thought Sep 06, 2010

Show notes

“You need not make efforts to create non-conceptuality. You need not regard thoughts as a fault. And so that your practice does not succumb to famine, from the beginning have a bountiful crop. Not searching for a state that is calmly resting, vividly clear, and filled with bliss, bring into your experience whatever arises without taking it up or discarding it.” – Orgyenpa

We’re joined again this week by one of our favorite Buddhist Geeks, Robert Spellman. In our discussion with him, we delve into the often tenuous relationship that meditators have to their own thoughts. Robert shares a profound teaching from a 13th century Tibetan teacher, Orgyenpa, on how to relate to the thinking mind. He also talks about the difficulty in getting personally identified with insights, and explores what is meant by “non-meditation.” For those meditators out there who are interested in having a more empowering and healthy relationship to their own minds, this promises to be a very interesting interview.

Episode Links:

www.RobertSpellman.com

Orgyenpa ( http://www.kagyuoffice.org/kagyulineage.karmapa2.html#Orgyenpa )

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A Different Way of Approaching Meditation Aug 30, 2010

Show notes

We’re joined again by meditation teacher Jason Siff to conclude our exploration of the fundamental ideas and practices behind his unique approach of Unlearning Meditation, or what he calls Recollective Awareness.

We begin with exploring what recollection, or mindfulness, is and how it can be harnessed through a practice of meditative journaling. Jason continues his deconstruction of the type of prescribed practices which suggest doing something “all of the time” and suggests instead that we find out for ourself what meditation is about and where it is leading. We wrap up the discussion by exploring a different way of developing samadhi, a method that Jason describes as “drifting off in meditation.”

This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1, Unlearning Meditation.

Episode Links:

Skillful Meditation Project ( http://www.skillfulmeditation.org )

Unlearning Meditation: What to Do When the Instructions Get In the Way ( http://amzn.to/c0iBUm )

A Mindful Balance ( http://www.alanwallace.org/spr08wallace_comp.pdf )

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Unlearning Meditation Aug 23, 2010

Show notes

“Meditation instructions that disallow thinking, reflection, or being open to the full range of experience usually imply a distrust of the mind.” – Jason Siff

We’re joined by meditation teacher and author Jason Siff, to explore what happens when meditation instructions and techniques get in the way. Jason explains that meditation instructions and rules contain within them certain limitations, that can lead to impasses in our practice. We explore Jason’s approach, Recollective Awareness, as well as discussing the role that both trust and intention play in untangling these unhelpful meditation habits.

This is part 1 of a two-part series.

Episode Links:

Skillful Meditation Project ( http://www.skillfulmeditation.org )

Unlearning Meditation: What to Do When the Instructions Get In the Way ( http://amzn.to/c0iBUm )

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Bodhisattva, Superstar Aug 16, 2010

Show notes

We’re joined this week by filmmaker Michael Trigilo, to explore some of the themes from his newest allegorical documentary, “Bodhisattva, Superstar.” Included in our conversation are questions around what it means to be “spiritual but not religious”, what purpose Religion serves and what difficulties come with it, and why anger is such a hot topic in the Buddhist tradition? We also discuss controversy in spiritual communities—with Michael highlighting his own experience of disappointment and disillusionment—and how these controversies and scandals can become opportunities for a more transparent “cultural conversation” to occur. Finally he shares what he hopes both Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike might get from watching this edgy and sophisticated Buddhist documentary.

Episode Links:

Bodhisattva, Superstar ( http://www.starve.org/superstar/ )

“The Buddha” on PBS ( http://www.pbs.org/thebuddha/ )

Bewitched, Buddhist, and Bewildered ( http://conceptualart.dreamhosters.com/npr/archives/102 )

The Kalama Sutra ( http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wheel008.html )

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