Speaker: Chris Holland. Chris examines buddhanature as the foundation of enlightened qualities, including love. In this talk, he sets the stage to understand the genuine or absolute ground of buddhanature in order to see how the path functions. He describes absolute ground as a living presence, primordially existent with radiant qualities, the "enlightened essence" or absolute nature. Love is the radiance of absolute nature. Chris sees the Four Immeasurables practice as the "structure" of...

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse-la shares his experience of travel and the unique opportunity it brings to step out of our comfort zone and actively engage with our mind. He describes the difference between being a pilgrim or a tourist, the latter being one who seeks fun and comfort, the former being one who brings Dharma practice along for the ride, perhaps even seeking discomfort. Experiencing his own discomfort, Dungse-la closely examined his own mind and discovered that his...

Speaker: Greg Seton. Greg delves into working with emotional pain, outlining the process from a ground, path and fruition perspective. Emotional pain or "klesha" in Sanskrit is loosely translated as "affliction". It causes pain and contaminates our thoughts, feelings and actions. The afflicted ego-mind is the cause of klesha. It is afflicted because it struggles to maintain what it constructs as self-image and becomes attached to that mental image, which is painful. In the path, we need to...

Speaker: Scott Kleihege. Scott delves into the topic of conceptual mind in this LINK given from Fort Collins, Colorado.

Speaker: Catherine Houston. Catherine shares her experience of the parinirvana of her root teacher, Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche, and her experiences in retreat following his passing.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This is a previously-recorded talk given by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche from Northshire Book Store in Manchester, Vermont on August 31, 2018. The talk was from Rinpoche's 2018 Book Tour, 'Training in Tenderness: Buddhist Teachings on "Tsewa", the Radical Openness of Heart That Can Change the World'.

Speaker: Kate Dobbertin. Kate speaks about her journey to bring her heart to a state of well being by breaking down the false realities within herself. Kate describes how being nearer to her mother during a time of illness and her siblings brought to light various attachments and storylines to reflect upon and investigate more deeply. Being part of a lineage built on self-reflection, coupled with Kate's hunger to shift her consciousness to a larger reality, she delved into what obscures her...

Speaker: Natasha Carter. Natasha discusses how the practice of staying open allows her to see more clearly her patterns of mind, particularly when the mind is disturbed and agitated. Caring for elderly parents can be challenging, but Natasha uses this as an opportunity to lean into her discomfort to cultivate self-awareness. Reading Rinpoche's book, "Peaceful Heart" with her mother has provided a framework for reflecting on her repetitive patterns of anger, irritation and remorse that...

Speaker: Daisuke Inaba. Dai-san analyzes the ways in which he's dealt with unexpected life events, including things about himself he hasn't wanted to face. Dai-san described some recent, unexpected events that caused damage to the entrance gate at Tashi Gachil. Staying present with the events and calmly investigating the source, Dai-san was able to respond with equanimity, instead of panic and blame. In looking back over his 25 years as a student of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, he remembered...

Speaker: Mary Cobb. Mary shares her experience of meditation on the Vajrayana path of Tibetan Buddhism.

Speaker: Mary Lee Mooney. Mary Lee reflects on discovering that she had been neglecting one of the three pillars- study, and how she has come to embrace it on her path as a practitioner. Over the past few years, spurred on by the forced solitude of the pandemic lockdown, Mary found that her interest in study had grown. Becoming a lobpon for MSB's online courses encouraged her as the wealth of the contemplations in these classes changed her view. Mary shared that studies didn't come easily to...

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. Rinpoche describes how to understand our relationship to our mind, and what supports our well being. There are two sides to the mind: thoughts and emotions. Thoughts are made up of our perceptions and the labels we put on them. We will always remain vague about what holds us back and what supports us to move forward, until we learn how to self-recognize our experiences. In order to remove vagueness and establish clarity we must "bring everything out onto the...

Speaker: Amy Hayes. As a ngondro practitioner in the refuge section, Amy introduces the idea of prostration as a mudra of refuge. Amy demonstrates how, through the humbling act of prostrations, our bodies become vehicles of refuge using the Refuge Prayer as her main point of reference. The Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) are companions we take along the path. The Buddha is our own enlightened nature, the Dharma the teachings, and through our connections with Sangha our hearts can...

Speaker: Cary Yang. Cary's question, ‘What have I learned so far?’ as a practitioner and student stems from a conversation with her mother who was curious to know. Cary provides deep reflections on Rinpoche's 2024 Year of the Wood Dragon Losar address, which deals with developing positive habits of mind, including seeing the best in others to create the optimal atmosphere for tsewa to arise. Contrastingly, a disturbed mind blocks the opportunity for tsewa. She refers to Patrul Rinpoche who,...

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse-la speaks about "sonam" or merit, and explains how things manifest in our lives. Merit is the energy that brings joy. We cannot be dependent on circumstances for our happiness and well-being as it is dependent on sonam. We know that even those who have wealth are sometimes unable to appreciate their wealth. What's more, we are naturally predisposed to avoid suffering, and rather than seeking to find an outer remedy for our suffering, we need to generate...

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This is a previously-recorded talk given by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche in Boston, Massachusetts on May 19, 2018. The talk was from Rinpoche's 2018 Book Tour, 'Training in Tenderness: Buddhist Teachings on "Tsewa", the Radical Openness of Heart That Can Change the World'.

Speaker: Joseph Waxman. Joey explains how to listen to the Dharma, how to interpret the words and integrate them into our lives. Language never expresses the absolute truth; language can only express the relative truth. In that way, understanding the context of the words is necessary so we can come as close to understanding the meaning as they are given. Joey talks about the three wisdoms as our path to understand the teachings completely so they become part of us, and not just words we hear....

Speaker: Christopher Kreider. Christopher explores what it means to be a student of the Longchen Nyingtik Lineage. He begins by exploring the meaning of lineage and the line of transmission from teacher to student. Christopher reflects on the ways he has assumed personal responsibility for the Lineage through his relationship to Phuntsok Choling, seeing the Center as if it was his own. He contrasts this definition of "ownership" to the dominant capitalist model in which self worth is equated...

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse-la speaks about self reflection as the entry to Dharma practice, about disillusionment, and appreciation for our present opportunity as practitioners, particularly as we enter the new year. Topics include a profound appreciation for this precious human life, reflections on the past year to motivate us to make changes when we see how they contribute to our suffering and disillusionment, and the power of aspiration for the future. In order to rise above our...

Speaker: Stephanie Kindberg-Velasco. Stephanie reflects on the past year focusing on several Sangha members who've died and also on Rabjam Rinpoche's visit to Boulder, Colorado. Her contemplation of these events is guided by Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel's question: "When are we at our best?" Stephanie relates how the Sangha shows up for one another around sickness and death, and the opportunity it provides for directing our minds away from self-clinging and towards tsewa, for example, through the...

Speaker: Nicholas Carter. Nick shares his personal insights from many years of service, study, practice and retreat at Longchen Jigme Samten Ling Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado, where he resides. Nick defines these three aspects of Dharma- introspection, diligence and dependent origination, and how to apply them in life and practice. He is an example of someone who has turned his life towards the Dharma and is committed to fulfilling his bodhisattva vow under all circumstances,...

Speaker: Hillary Campbell. Hillary uses the metaphor of a three-tiered torma to outline the qualities of the Three Jewels: the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Her analogy is based upon Rinpoche's book, "Like A Diamond". She shares personal examples of how being challenged by study and service has served to deepen her appreciation of the Three Jewels and what they have come to mean for her. The question and answer in Hillary's LINK provides the listener with a glimpse into her unique upbringing in...

Speaker: Mary Newton. Mary talks about how Dharma helps her to engage with life and its vicissitudes. While dwelling on thoughts and feelings can mire us in a samsaric mindset, they are also a means of letting go when we are able to step back and analyze them. Mary gives the poignant example of being diagnosed with cancer, and feeling that she just wanted to give up and have it all be over with. But then she recalled what Rinpoche has taught us; that what we have not faced in this life will...

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche.This LINK was originally given by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche on May 6, 2012 in Bir, India. Rinpoche talks about the importance of simplifying one's life and moving away from the eight worldly concerns. Simplifying one's life is a practical form of renunciation and should be done before one regrets it. He encourages us to prioritize our life's activities based on merit, and to examine our motivations before beginning the process. Creating a simplified life...

Speaker: Bob Reid. Bob summarizes two talks given by Rinpoche at this year's Shedra. In these talks, Rinpoche discusses the topic of habitual obscurations, one of the four obscurations that hinders the progress of practitioners. Rinpoche tells us that the biggest habitual obscuration we face as practitioners is American culture conditioning. Bob sheds light on these talks with clear and concise examples, elaborating on the eight worldly dharmas, and providing a summary of the Rinpoche's...