http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2010/12/the-mirage-of-self/
To see the universe as it is, you must step beyond the net. It is not
hard to do so, for the net is full of holes. – Sri Nisargadatta
Also worth listening to:
http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2010/12/bg-201-pragmatic-buddhism/
We’re joined this week by Buddhist teacher, Ken McLeod, to explore an
approach he has coined “Pragmatic Buddhism.” We explore his early
Buddhist training, which included 2 back-to-back 3-year retreats,
completed under the guidance of Ven. Kalu Rinpoche. He describes this
period as part boarding school, prison, and seminary. He shares why
it was such a huge culture shock coming out of that traditional
training, and ties that in with the way Buddhism has evolved in
various cultures up to this point. Ken goes on to share 4 ways that
he has adapted his own teaching style to reflect our culture,
touching on issues of translation, power, questioning, and the
meaning of practice itself.
This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, Resolving the
Questions that Drive Us.
http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2011/02/bg-207-the-tantric-cousins/
This week we speak with spiritual teacher Sally Kempton. Sally was a
student of the influential Hindu guru Swami Muktananda and taught in
his lineage for many years. She shares with us her journey of first
being introduced to Swami Muktananda, how she became a teacher, and
why she shifted from being a swami to teaching in a more secular
capacity later on.
During the 2nd half of the discussion Sally shares with us some of
the history of the tantric non-dual system of Kashmir Shaivism, which
is a close cousin to Indian Tantric Buddhism. She compares and
contrasts the two systems, and also goes into detail concerning some
of the crucial texts, practices, and philosophical tenets of the
tradition.
This is part 1 of a two-part series.
http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/2011/01/bg-204-virtual-vajrayana/
Senior Shambhala teacher David Nichtern joins us to geek out about
some of the potential consequences of our rapidly developing
technologies on the Vajrayana tradition. We speak extensively about
the ramifications of greater degrees of virtual reality, how our
sense experiences (what in Buddhism are referred to as the ayatanas)
are already virtual, and how visualization practice, in particular,
could be impacted by these developments. We also speak about the
importance of “authentic presence”–or what David’s son Ethan calls
“Keepin’ in Real”–as Buddhism moves forward into future generations.
