Speaker: Gretchen Kahre-Holland. Gretchen reflects on two opportunities presented by the pandemic: to go into retreat, and to emerge with a fresh perspective on how to relate with our own minds and with others. Rinpoche once advised his students to "pray that your life falls apart---but not to put it back together in the same way"; more recently, he advised us to treat the pandemic as a retreat. As we emerge from this "retreat" and prepare to gather at NSS in person for the first time since 2019, we have an opportunity to apply Rinpoche's advice. As we put our lives back together, we can reflect on how we want to engage with our own minds and with the Sangha, using our experience and natural intelligence to cultivate an open, curious, and fresh approach. In this way, we can overcome the cycle of discontent, craving, and speed that characterizes modern life.

Reflections (Link #663)

At the heart of the Buddhist path is the individual practitioner who integrates the teachings with his or her own experience. Posting weekly since August of 2009, the Link Podcast features pithy teachings by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Dungse Jampal Norbu, and Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel that illustrate the creativity and practicality that are the hallmarks of being a successful meditator. Talks by students of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche offer an intimate window into the spiritual paths of Western students of Buddhism as they bring the teachings to life in their own unique and personal ways. Most talks in this podcast draw from a weekly Live broadcast on Sundays at 10 am Mountain Time.

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Speaker: Sasha Dorje Meyerowitz. Sasha describes how discipline is a natural feature of our longing to attain a state of awakening. The Latin word ‘disciplina’ refers to teaching, learning and knowledge. A disciple is someone who listens and learns. In the conventional world, our lives are not patterned towards practice; practice feels inconvenient and seems to contradict our belief in finding happiness in samsara. The diligent practitioner recognizes that discipline aligns our actions and intentions, fortifying us against neurotic habits. The discipline of directing our minds towards the Dharma and away from ego-clinging provides us with a greater experience of confidence and freedom.

Discipline: Form and Inspiration (Link #709)

Speaker: Jill Oppenheimer. Jill explores the practice of self-reflection and shares her experience of working with hindrances that can arise as part of this process. The point of all Buddhist teachings is to reduce self-importance and make room for the truth, and this begins with self-reflection. It involves turning the mind inward and looking without judgment at whatever arises in our experience. Jill explains the necessity to pause before engaging in self-reflection as it is only with the discipline of shamatha and vipashyana that the wisdom to self-reflect is available. She explores how confusion can arise if we hold hopes of certain outcomes and try to use the practice of self-reflection to fix things. We also need to appreciate that self-reflection is not just a single practice but involves many skillful means such as simmering practice, analytical meditation, mindfulness, observing thoughts without judgment and contemplating the eight worldly concerns and the four immeasurables.

Exploring Self-Reflection (Link #708)

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 enlightened essence because the practice stirs up the qualities of enlightened essence (wisdom, love and power). Enlightened essence is the limitless source of all worlds, all positive qualities, all goodness. What separates us from allowing this essence to flow freely through us is grasping to a limited self; the path is simply to purify the obstacles that block us from recognizing the absolute nature. From there, we become a limitless source of love.

Love: Immeasurable and Universal (Link #707)

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 experience was dependent on his attitude. Knowing there is no happiness to be found in outer circumstances, he allowed himself to relax into his discomfort and a positive mindset blossomed. That mindset allowed him to walk through the world and offer everything as if he owned it; his enjoyment and appreciation became a mandala of offering.

Around the World in 72 Days (Link #706)

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 first learn to recognize our emotions, then apply antidotes. To learn about the relative-based, Mahayana approach, Greg recommends reading 'Light Comes Through' by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche as it covers the five, self-centered emotions and their antidotes. For the absolute-based, Vajrayana approach, he suggests we bring the pain of the emotion into our experience and then stare at it, seeing its emptiness and luminosity. Thus, the fruitional aspect (the goal of the Mahayana and Vajrayana) is not to end up emotionless but to have one's nature shine forth with non-dual wisdom and compassion.

Reflections (Link #663)

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