Episodes
The Two Truths in Unity is more than abstract Buddhist philosophy with no impact on our lives and hearts. In this episode, Lamas Yeshe & Zopa present an integrated approach to engaging listening, contemplating, and meditating on the Two Truths of apparent and genuine reality in Unity. They provide a few examples of realtime ways to engage that Unity so that it impacts our lives here and now. Their discussion is interspersed with resting meditaiton and meditative inquiry. PRAJNA...
Published 11/01/24
Lamas Yeshe & Zopa present Genuine Reality from the stance of reasoning, on its own, as a counterpart to our previous episode. Hear what "genuine reality" means in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Learn how to employ our powers of reasoning to connect with what is real based on our own inward experience. PRAJNA SPARKS follows the lunar calendar. Look for new episodes on the new moons. Tibetan singing bowl interludes by Shivnee Ratna RESOURCES ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meet...
Published 10/02/24
Published 10/02/24
In a new twist, Lamas Yeshe & Zopa present Genuine Reality from the stance of contemplation and meditation first. Hear how song and your own experience provide us with the raw material for exploring genuine reality, here and now. Contemplation through song and follow a guided meditation to connect with what is true based on our own joy and inward experience. HERE ARE THE LYRICS TO OUR SINGING CONTEMPLATION, "FRIENDS"--JOIN US IN BELTING IT OUT! FRIENDS: A Song of Those who are Full...
Published 09/03/24
Beginning an exploration of how mind impacts our experience, Lamas Yeshe & Zopa describe how the Buddha's teachings describing apparent reality, one of two truths our mind's experience, and how an accurate understanding of it can facilitate a spacious opening of curiosity and presence in our lives. Contemplate quotes about apparent reality and follow a guided meditation to connect with the interdependence of each and every moment of our inward experience. For text of quotes used in...
Published 08/04/24
Rounding off this series on the Four Yogas of Mahamudra, Lamas Yeshe & Zopa describe how the Mahamudra attainments of one-pointedness, nonconceptuality, one taste, and nonmeditation can inform and guide our shamatha meditation practice here and now, whatever our level of experience. View our latest newsletter at https://prajnafire.substack.com/p/embodying-mind?r=1i7u42 Mahamudra, the signature practice of the Kagyu lineage, is known for its spare, direct, and swift approach. Yet this...
Published 07/05/24
Exploring the mind in Mahamudra practice brings us increased intimacy with its qualities as we practice, experience, and realize the Four Yogas of Mahamudra. Lamas Yeshe & Zopa describe the Yoga of One-Pointedness, the practice, meditative experience, and realization of wholness, unity, complementarity of all things in emptiness. Contemplate a passage about One-Pointedness and follow a guided meditation to connect with the essence of all experience, inseparable from experience and...
Published 06/06/24
Exploring the mind in Mahamudra practice brings us increased intimacy with its qualities as we practice, experience, and realize the Four Yogas of Mahamudra. Lamas Yeshe & Zopa describe the Yoga of Nonmeditation, the practice, meditative experience, and realization of wholness, unity, complementarity of all things in emptiness. Contemplate quotes about Nonmeditation and follow a guided meditation to connect with the essence of all experience, inseparable from experience and...
Published 05/08/24
Exploring the mind in Mahamudra practice brings us increased intimacy with its qualities as we practice, experience, and realize the Four Yogas of Mahamudra. Lamas Yeshe & Zopa describe the Yoga of One Taste, the practice, meditative experience, and realization of wholness, unity, complementarity of all things in emptiness. Contemplate quotes about One Taste and follow a guided meditation to connect with the essence of all experience, inseparable from experience and...
Published 04/08/24
Exploring the mind in Mahamudra practice brings us increased intimacy with its qualities. Lamas Yeshe & Zopa describe the nonconceptual character of mind, and its empty essence, as well as our thought, feeling, sensory and other experiences. Contemplate quotes about mind's nonconceptuality and follow a guided meditation to connect with raw sense impressions free of conceptual overlays. PRAJNA SPARKS follows the lunar calendar. Look for new episodes on the new moons. Tibetan singing...
Published 03/11/24
On the cusp of the lunar new year, Lamas Yeshe & Zopa reflect on the hold of new-ness on the human psyche, reflected from nature around us, and how to harness the power of freshness in our practice at opportune, if arbitrary, moments in time. To join in the recitation of the Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra for today's practice, click here for the beautiful translation by Ari Goldfield (plus a few Prajna Fire edits). https://bit.ly/AspirationMahamudra PRAJNA SPARKS follows the lunar...
Published 02/10/24
What is mind? Lamas Yeshe & Zopa unveil the tip of the iceberg that is the experiential exploration of this quintessential sphere of experience. PRAJNA SPARKS follows the lunar calendar. Look for new episodes on the new moons. Tibetan singing bowl interludes by Shivnee Ratna RESOURCES ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meet Lama Yeshe & Lama Zopa, in Tricycle Magazine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://bit.ly/3xRySck FOLLOW US ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our Global Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for regular updates on Prajna...
Published 01/11/24
Lamas Yeshe and Zopa invite everyone into the brave heart of courageous walking the world with powerful presence in troubling times. PRAJNA SPARKS follows the lunar calendar. Beginning November 2023, we are shifting to a once per month schedule. Look for new episodes on the new moons. Tibetan singing bowl interludes by Shivnee Ratna RESOURCES ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meet Lama Yeshe & Lama Zopa, in Tricycle Magazine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://bit.ly/3xRySck ⁠A Song of Awakening, by Lama Yeshe, in...
Published 12/12/23
Lamas Yeshe and Zopa invite everyone into the brave heart of courageous walking the world with powerful presence in troubling times. PRAJNA SPARKS follows the lunar calendar. Beginning November 2023, we are shifting to a once per month schedule. Look for new episodes on the new moons. Tibetan singing bowl interludes by Shivnee Ratna RESOURCES ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Meet Lama Yeshe & Lama Zopa, in Tricycle Magazine⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://bit.ly/3xRySck A Song of Awakening, by Lama Yeshe, in...
Published 11/13/23
Lamas Yeshe and Zopa invite everyone into the loveliness of celebrating the Buddha Shakyamuni throughout the year in the practice of du chen - grand times, festivals, or quite simply, holidays at four points in the Tibetan calendar. The Lamp Prayer recited during the meditation portion of this episode is available here including Tibetan pronunciation and English text. https://www.prajnafire.com/sparks-songs This is the English text for ease of reference: May the bowl of this lamp become...
Published 10/29/23
Lamas Yeshe and Zopa discuss the single phrase that encapsulates all of the Buddha's teachings: "tame the mind." Teachings by Drupon Khenpo Lodro Namgyal mentioned in this episode occurred via Zoom online, October 13 to 15, 2023. Translation to English (by Lama Yeshe), as well as French, Mandrin, and Spanish available. Use this link to register and attain access to recordings of Drupon Khenpo's teachings through January 2024....
Published 10/14/23
Lamas Yeshe and Zopa discuss the tragedy that is samsara, fourth of the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Dharma, a set of contemplations to reoirent the mind away from the deceptiveness of samsara and towards liberation and buddhahood. This is a five-part series exploring each of the four thoughts and their contemplative practice, offered to support Prajna Fire's ⁠⁠⁠⁠Ngondro Prep School. Read more about this dynamic four-month online program...
Published 09/29/23
In this bonus episode, Lama Yeshe reads her piece "A Song of Awakening," published in the collaborative offering "Glimpses of Buddhanature" in the Fall 2023 issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Guide. Read the full article online here https://www.lionsroar.com/glimpses-of-buddhanature/ You are welcome to share this free audio track with anyone who may benefit from listening to it ... https://www.prajnafire.com/downloads PRAJNA SPARKS follows the lunar calendar. Look for new...
Published 09/23/23
Lamas Yeshe and Zopa discuss karmic cause and effect, the thrid of the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Dharma, a set of contemplations to reoirent the mind away from the deceptiveness of samsara and towards liberation and buddhahood. This is a five-part series exploring each of the four thoughts and their contemplative practice, offered to support Prajna Fire's ⁠⁠⁠Ngondro Prep School. Read more about this dynamic four-month online program...
Published 09/15/23
Lamas Yeshe and Zopa discuss death and impermanence in the context of our own Mortality, the second of the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Dharma, a set of contemplations to reoirent the mind away from the deceptivenss of samsara and towards liberation and buddhahood. This is the first in a five-part series exploring each of the four thoughts and their contemplative practice, offered to support Prajna Fire's ⁠⁠Ngondro Prep School. Read more about this dynamic four-month online program...
Published 08/30/23
Lamas Yeshe and Zopa describe the Priceless Human Existence, first of the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Dharma, a set of contemplations to reoirent the mind away from the deceptivenss of samsara and towards liberation and buddhahood. This is the first in a five-part series exploring each of the four thoughts and their contemplative practice, offered to support Prajna Fire's ⁠Ngondro Prep School. Read more about this dynamic four-month online program...
Published 08/16/23
Lamas Yeshe and Zopa introduce the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind to Dharma, a set of contemplations to reoirent the mind away from the deceptivenss of samsara and towards liberation and buddhahood. This is the first in a five-part series exploring each of the four thoughts and their contemplative practice, offered to support Prajna Fire's Ngondro Prep School. Read more about this dynamic four-month online program here. https://www.prajnafire.com/event-info/ngondro-prep PRAJNA SPARKS...
Published 08/01/23
As Prajna Sparks Podcast celebrates our third anniversary this summer, we honor three years together with you with rebroadcasts of the most popular episodes of the last three years. This Friday, close on the heels of today's new moon, Tibetan Buddhists celebrate Chokor Duchen, the holiday commemorating the Buddha's first public discourse, relating the Four Truths of Noble Beings. And this Sunday, July 23, 2021, marks Prajna Spark's podcast's third anniversary. What better topic, to cap off...
Published 07/17/23
As Prajna Sparks Podcast celebrates our third anniversary this summer, we honor three years together with you with rebroadcasts of the most popular episodes of the last three years. In the midst of the sacred time in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar between the holidays commemorating the Buddha Shakyamuni's enlightenment and his first public discourse, when we recall and reflect on his seven weeks of solitary solitude near the bodhi tree, in the forest along the Niranjana River, we offer this...
Published 07/03/23
As Prajna Sparks Podcast celebrates our third anniversary this summer, we honor three years together with you with rebroadcasts of the most popular episodes of the last three years. On this Father's Day new moon weekend, we honor all the fatherly beings who raise us up into wholesome humanity by offering the fundamentals for re-envisioning forgiveness, in a practice that can serve as the pivot for life-altering evolution grounded in generosity, aspiration. Revisit the highlights of Prajna...
Published 06/18/23