Renowned Buddhist teacher Gil Fronsdal outlines how a connection to the body is the gateway into the present moment.

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This time on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Gil Fronsdal dives into:

• Reminding ourselves to be in the present moment
• Finding the dharma in the here and now
• Our lived spaces of awakening
• Not being in conflict with reality
• Staying aware and being able to trust ourselves
• Relishing in our own uniqueness and allowing it to flower
• The importance of the body in Buddhist practice
• Watching the rhythms in our body
• The body as a royal road to the unconscious

This episode is also brought to you by Dharma Moon. Join Buddhist teachers David Nichtern and Professor Robert Thurman for a free online event on Tuesday, March 4th at 6pm ET. Together, they'll explore the power of lineage, tradition, and the evolution of mindfulness practices. They’ll also discuss Dharma Moon’s renowned mindfulness meditation teacher training program. Visit dharmamoon.com/lineage for more info and to reserve your spot for the free online event with David Nichtern and Professor Robert Thurman!

About Gil Fronsdal:

Gil Fronsdal is the co-teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council. Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He currently serves on the SF Zen Center Elders’ Council. In 2011 he founded IMC’s Insight Retreat Center. Gil has an undergraduate degree in agriculture from U.C. Davis where he was active in promoting the field of sustainable farming. In 1998 he received a PhD in Religious Studies from Stanford University studying the earliest developments of the bodhisattva ideal. He is the author of The Issue at Hand, essays on mindfulness practice; A Monastery Within; a book on the five hindrances called Unhindered; and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications. You may listen to Gil’s talks on Audio Dharma.

This recording was originally published on Dharmaseed

“The body is really like a meditation hall. So much unfolds. So much emphasis in Buddhism is made for practicing within the body, becoming embodied, where we feel like we are inhabiting our body rather than just pulling it around.” – Gil Fronsdal

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Beginning with the Buddha’s teaching of Anapanasati, Trudy Goodman explores the breath as our most reliable and loving life-long companion.

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This week on the BHNN Guest Podcast, renowned Buddhist teacher Trudy Goodman explores:

• The breath as our life-long, trusted companion
• The Buddhist teaching of breath-awareness (Anapanasati)
• Developing heartful awareness along with the breath
• Coming back to the ‘teddy bear’ of our breath
• Staying with the breath while being aware of other things in our minds
• A guided breath practice and deepening our sense of focus
• Breath practice as a method of relaxation
• The tender caress of the breath in the body

About Trudy Goodman:

Trudy is a Vipassana teacher in the Theravada lineage and the Founding Teacher of InsightLA. For 25 years, in Cambridge, MA, Trudy practiced mindfulness-based psychotherapy with children, teenagers, couples and individuals. Trudy conducts retreats and workshops worldwide.

Learn more about Trudy’s offerings at trudygoodman.com

This talk was originally published on Dharmaseed

The breath is our life-long companion, it’s our partner. It’s the partner that never deserts us, never goes away, never betrays us. It’s always with us, as long as we’re alive, in each moment of our existence. It’s such a trustworthy companion all the time.” – Trudy Goodman

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Exploring Bhakti, Buddhism, and lessons from wise teachers, Krishna Das and Robert Thurman come together for a wide-ranging discussion.

This recording is from the 2020 Cultivating Wise Hope Virtual Retreat. Find more heart-focused teachings like this, along with practices and digital courses from Ram Dass and friends with Ram Dass’ Inner Academy: Learn More

Today’s podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.

In this episode, Krishna Das and Robert Thurman discuss:

• The miracles of Maharaj-ji
• How all people are wholly embraced by divine love
• Bhakti as devotional heart-to-heart merging
• An exploration of dreams and being happy to let go
• Being brave enough to have a heart and experience wonder
• A breakdown of the three parts of ‘Om’
• Sovereignty and the tremendous power we all have
• Recognizing that Nirvana is everywhere
• Lessons from Jesus and Christianity
• Looking to Kali and being fierce but always with love

About Krishna Das:

Layering traditional Hindu kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Grammy nominee Krishna Das has been called yoga’s “rock star.” With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das – known to friends, family, and fans as simply KD – has taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, becoming a worldwide icon and the best-selling chant artist of all time. His album ‘Live Ananda’ (released January 2012) was nominated for a Grammy in the Best New Age album category.

KD spent the late ’60s traveling across the country as a student of Ram Dass, and in August 1970, he finally made the journey to India, which led him to Ram Dass’ own beloved guru, Neem Karoli Baba, known to most as Maharaj-ji. Krishna Das now travels the world sharing his kirtan practice and wonderful stories of his life, of Maharaji-ji, of his life on the Path and discusses bringing chanting into our lives through retreats and workshops. To date, KD has released 15 well-received albums, most recently Trust in the Heart released in October 2017.

MORE INFORMATION and OFFERINGS VISIT: https://krishnadas.com/ KRISHNA DAS ON SOCIAL: FACEBOOK: facebook.com/KrishnaDasMusic INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/krishnadasmusic YOUTUBE: / krishnadasmusic X: @krishnadas #KrishnaDas

About Robert Thurman:

Robert Thurman is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Columbia University and President of the Tibet House U.S., and is the President of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. His new book, Wisdom Is Bliss: Four Friendly Fun Facts That Can Change Your Life, is now available.

“To be fully alive in union, in heart-merger with love, it has to be beyond heartbreak. Yet, beyond heartbreak is not without coming back and being brave enough to have a heart and expressing. It has to be still wonder. You still have to be living in wonder.” – Robert Thurman

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Visionary artist, Martina Hoffmann, describes her encounters with spirit through dreams, nature, psychedelics and more.

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In this episode, Martina Hoffman offers a talk on:

• Encountering spirit through dreaming, nature, and more
• The interweaving of creativity and spirit
• Attempting to express the ineffable
• Entering into meditation through art
• Martina’s expansive spiritual evolution
• Lucid dreaming and transitioning from dream to awakening
• Out of body experiences and feeling everything deeply
• Martina’s experience with psychedelics and receiving grace
• The many ways that one can heal (physically, spiritually, emotionally)
• Letting go and embracing new beginnings
• How challenging moments prepare us for the final journey

About Martina Hoffmann:

German-born, Martina Hoffmann partially grew up in Cameroon, West Africa. She studied art education with and sculpting at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. During this time she also met the Fantastic Realist, Robert Venosa, and greatly inspired by his work, began her work as a painter. During their 30 year relationship they closely worked together, taught workshops worldwide and shared studios, both in the US as well as in Europe. Today Martina Hoffmann works as a painter and sculptress and remains a central figure in contemporary Visionary Art. Her paintings offer the viewer a detailed glimpse into her inner landscapes – imagery that has been inspired by expanded states of consciousness. Her Visionary Realism is decidedly feminine and places the ‘Universal Woman’ in an intimate cosmos. She transcribes her ecstatic experiences but also her subtle reflections on the nature of women in a realistic style which marries the fantastic to the sacred. Check out Martina’s work on her website.

“My eyes opened, this beautiful blue sphere appeared in front of me and was suspended by electric energy. I made a painting of it. It had a message that said don’t be afraid. They explained to me how I had to go through this process to help me become the person I was supposed to be.” – Martina Hoffmann

About The Host, Jackie Dobrinska:

Jackie Dobrinska is the Director of Education, Community & Inclusion for Ram Dass’ Love, Serve, Remember Foundation and the current host of Ram Dass’ Here & Now podcast. She is also a teacher, coach, and spiritual director with the privilege of marrying two decades of mystical studies with 15 years of expertise in holistic wellness. As an inter-spiritual minister, Jackie was ordained in Creation Spirituality in 2016 and has also studied extensively in several other lineages – the plant-medicine-based Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, Sri Vidya Tantra, Western European Shamanism, Christian Mysticism, the Wise Woman Tradition, and others. Today, in addition to building courses and community for LSRF, she leads workshops and coaches individuals to discover, nourish and live from their most authentic selves. 

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Guiding us along the path, Gil Fronsdal shows how to develop spirituality into enduring inner strengths rather than solitary experiences.

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In this episode, Gil Fronsdal teaches listeners about:

• Developing personal, inner strengths
• The tendency of meditators to over-value spiritual experiences
• Wisdom as one of our inner strengths
• The clarity of awakening and seeing the functions of our heart and mind
• How something arises and how something ceases
• What it means to be awake in the here and now
• Recognizing all of the times we are in the past or the future
• Shedding, letting go, and simplifying our experience
• Finding the path in the present moment
• Remaining composed and settling our entire being
• How the Buddhist path does not have a destination

About Gil Fronsdal:

Gil Fronsdal is the co-teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council. Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He currently serves on the SF Zen Center Elders’ Council. In 2011 he founded IMC’s Insight Retreat Center. Gil has an undergraduate degree in agriculture from U.C. Davis where he was active in promoting the field of sustainable farming. In 1998 he received a PhD in Religious Studies from Stanford University studying the earliest developments of the bodhisattva ideal. He is the author of The Issue at Hand, essays on mindfulness practice; A Monastery Within; a book on the five hindrances called Unhindered; and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications. You may listen to Gil’s talks on Audio Dharma.

This recording was originally published on Dharmaseed

“The right attitude, the right intention, is to begin finding that way of being that simplifies our experience. One of the right intentions is the intention of letting go, of renunciation. You can’t take a lot of baggage with you, even good baggage, if you want to walk the path.” – Gil Fronsdal

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Exploring how to untangle the threads of intense desire, teacher Trudy Goodman offers direction on meeting the Dharma.

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This time on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Buddhist teacher Trudy Goodman discusses:

• Being incarnated into this desire-body
• Diversity within desire and being tuned into different frequencies
• The pressure to conform to expectations
• Difficulty in knowing our deepest desires and embodying them
• Being determined to do what we want
• Coming home to the true self which is underneath everything
• Heartbreak and obstacles to connection as a place of learning
• Developing our ability to be with intense sensation and maintaining awareness
• Leaning into the call of the dharma

This recording from the Big Bear Retreat Center was originally published on Dharmaseed

About Trudy Goodman:

Trudy is a Vipassana teacher in the Theravada lineage and the Founding Teacher of InsightLA. For 25 years, in Cambridge, MA, Trudy practiced mindfulness-based psychotherapy with children, teenagers, couples and individuals. Trudy conducts retreats and workshops worldwide.

Learn more about Trudy’s offerings at trudygoodman.com

“This place of heartbreak, of the obstacles to love, connection, longing, relationship, this place is really the place that we learn how to hold this world of desire with a peaceful heart.” – Trudy Goodman

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Lama Tsultrim Allione shares the practice of feeding our demons in order to dissolve that which prevents us from being free.

In this episode from the 2023 Summer Mountain Retreat, Lama Tsultrim Allione shares:

• How she first discovered Buddhism and meditation
• The beauty within silence and quiet attention to our surroundings
• Lama Tsultrim’s first trip to India and studying the mystic east
• Her connection with Ram Dass and Maharaji’s early devotees
• The practice of feeding our demons (the parts of ourselves that drain us)
• Dissolving that which prevents us from being free
• Fighting our demons versus feeding our demons
• The demons of the fear of abandonment, depression, anxiety, and addiction
• Parts of ourselves that are trying to get attention
• The difference between the wants and needs of our demons
• A guided practice for listeners

About Lama Tsultrim Allione:

Lama Tsultrim Allione is the bestselling author of Women of Wisdom (1984), Feeding Your Demons (2008), and Wisdom Rising Journey into the Mandala of the Empowered Feminine (2018). Lama Tsultrim is the founder of Tara Mandala, a 700-acre retreat center with a three-story temple and library dedicated to the divine feminine in the Buddhist tradition near Pagosa Springs, in southwest Colorado. She leads a vibrant international community with over forty groups around the world. 

Learn more about Lama Tsultrim Allione’s work at Tara Mandala

“I know that demons means a lot of different things in this country, in different cultural contexts. What I mean by it is the different parts of ourselves that drain us, that cause us to be not free. In fact, the word mara, which is the word for demon in Sanskrit, means that which blocks freedom.” – Lama Tsultrim Allione

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On this episode of the BHNN Guest Podcast, East Forest and Marisa Radha Weppner discuss the role of song in psychedelics and explore how the ethereal can be accessed through music.

In this episode, East Forest and Marisa Radha Weppner discuss:

• The many ways we can arrive at non-ordinary states
• The power of intention when making music
• How music can act as a bridge to the ethereal
• How music can influence emotional states and brain states
• Music as a birthright and how anyone can be and is a musician
• The exponential growth rate of society
• Reclaiming creativity as a necessary technology
• Psychedelics and music as propellers into a trance state
• Truly giving ourselves over to the music
• Having a guide or therapist to work with
• The impact of intention and set and setting

About East Forest:

East Forest is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, and ceremony guide. Since 2008, East Forest’s “lush” (Rolling Stone) and “blissful” (NPR) music has blended ambient, neoclassical, electronic, and avant-pop to explore sound as a tool for inner journeys and consciousness expansion. Known for being the first musician to collaborate with Ram Dass, his latest endeavor is the feature-length film Music for Mushrooms, a narrative documentary showcasing the transformative power of psychedelics, music, and community.

“If you think about psychedelic ceremonies across human history, almost all of them were guided by songs and music. The same thing is used in the background of stores, birthday parties, weddings, working out, music is everywhere. But, it is the one thing that guides a ceremony typically. It could be been dancing, it could’ve been you always walk, no, it’s music. It’s showing us the power and potential of how it’s deeply connected to non-dual, to the mystery itself, it’s a kind of bridge.” – East Forest

About Marisa Radha Weppner:

Marisa Radha Weppner is a mom, author, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, DJ, teacher, minister, psychedelic therapist, community organizer, life coach, podcaster, and entrepreneur. She has taught yoga since 2002. Known for her authentic self-expression, she empowers others to embody their soul’s wisdom, bringing a real-world mix of eastern spirituality and western psychology to her students. Her online yoga classes and book “Vinyasa Yoga Made Simple: 27 days of Self Discovery” are available through udaya.com. You can listen to her meditation album “Guidance” on all streaming platforms, or tune into her podcast Love, Service, Wisdom.

“I bet if we go back in human history there wasn’t even a word for musician it was just what we all did as humans together. Now, it’s become something different that we are or aren’t, that we relegate to a certain subset of the population. But I would say we all are musicians and part of our awakening takes us back to that.” – Marisa Radha Weppner

About Jackie Dobrinska:

Jackie Dobrinska is the Director of Education, Community & Inclusion for Ram Dass’ Love, Serve, Remember Foundation and the current host of Ram Dass’ Here & Now podcast. She is also a teacher, coach, and spiritual director with the privilege of marrying two decades of mystical studies with 15 years of expertise in holistic wellness. As an inter-spiritual minister, Jackie was ordained in Creation Spirituality in 2016 and has also studied extensively in several other lineages – the plant-medicine-based Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, Sri Vidya Tantra, Western European Shamanism, Christian Mysticism, the Wise Woman Tradition, and others. Today, in addition to building courses and community for LSRF, she leads workshops and coaches individuals to discover, nourish and live from their most authentic selves. 

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In this retreat recording, Gil Fronsdal applies Buddhism to parenting and explains family life as one of the best forms of practice.

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This time on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Gil Fronsdal explains:

• Buddhism as a training for all aspects of our lives
• Finding balance, freedom, and compassion in the day-to-day
• Family and children as one of the greatest forms of practice
• Equanimity as the crown jewel of Buddhism
• How children are more influenced by how we are rather than what we say
• Our emotional presence as an integral part of our children’s development
• How anger and anxiety can pass onto our children
• Stepping back and looking at our priorities
• Taking responsibility to show up for practice
• Controlling ourselves and staying present
• Being accepting and allowing our children to be themselves
• Making space when our children say hurtful things
• Gil’s own stories and examples as a father
• Modeling equanimity and acceptance towards ourselves

About Gil Fronsdal:

Gil Fronsdal is the co-teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council. Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He currently serves on the SF Zen Center Elders’ Council. In 2011 he founded IMC’s Insight Retreat Center. Gil has an undergraduate degree in agriculture from U.C. Davis where he was active in promoting the field of sustainable farming. In 1998 he received a PhD in Religious Studies from Stanford University studying the earliest developments of the bodhisattva ideal. He is the author of The Issue at Hand, essays on mindfulness practice; A Monastery Within; a book on the five hindrances called Unhindered; and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications. You may listen to Gil’s talks on Audio Dharma.

“We can’t really control the world and there are enough times we can’t control our children. But, we can control ourselves, or part of ourselves. When we can’t control the situation around us, can we at least monitor ourselves enough so that we can stay balanced, not caught, not lost, not distracted, but really stay present in an effective way?” – Gil Fronsdal

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Defining relationships as a triangle between God, Self, and Other, Stephen and Ondrea Levine discuss opening and softening our hearts.

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In this archival episode, Stephen and Ondrea Levine explore:

• How relationships open our hearts in hell
• The difficulty in relationships as a path to purification
• How easy it is to be in a relationship, how hard it is to relate
• Relationships as a triangle between God, Other, and Self
• How fear and cruelty dissolves in a willingness to approach the truth
• Trying to let go of what keeps hearts separate
• Dying into life, letting the heart burst, and going on
• Practices that help us connect to ourselves and to forgive
• The tremendous work we can do at home
• Healing parental relationships
• How grief keeps us separate
• Each moment of love as complete and precious
• Learning how to love by watching how unloving we often are

About Stephen & Ondrea Levine:

Stephen Levine was an American poet, author and Buddhist teacher best known for his work on death and dying. He was a friend and colleague to many Be Here Now Network Teachers. Along with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg, Stephen is responsible for making the teachings of Theravada Buddhism more widely available to students in the West. He also helped establish the Living/Dying Project with RamDev and Ram Dass.

For over thirty-two years, Stephen and his wife Ondrea Levine provided emotional and spiritual support for those who are life-threatened, and for caregivers. Through their healing and forgiveness workshops, many writings, and endless compassion, Stephen and Ondrea have touched the lives of thousands of people all over the world. They are the authors of numerous books, including Who Dies, Embracing the Beloved, and A Year to Live, among others. Find more talks and writings from Stephen and Ondrea at levinetalks.com.

“Relationship offers us an opportunity to open our heart in hell. The difficulty of relationship is one of its most exquisite opportunities for purification, for healing.” – Stephen Levine

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