Buddhist Geeks

Join us this week as we speak with Dr. Peter Grossenbacher, director of the Consciousness Laboratory at Naropa University, about his research on meditation and contemplative spirituality.
Along with finding out about the specific work that Dr. Grossenbacher is engaged in in the Consciousness Lab, listen in as we ask we ask such questions as: Can awareness be defined through empirical methods? And if so, what methods might those be? And finally, can the emphasis on objectivity found in much of mainstream science be applied to subjective research?
This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, How Did Descartes Die?
Episode Links:
The Naropa University Consciousness Laboratory ( http://naropa.edu/consciousness )

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B. Alan Wallace joins to us to compare and contrast two fantastic dream practices. One comes from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, going all the way back to India, with the yogi Naropa. This practice, called Dream Yoga, is a type of insight practice which utilizes the dream state in order to wake up. The other practice, called Lucid Dreaming, comes out of the pioneering research of Dr. Stephen LaBerge. Lucid dreaming breaks down the same goals that Dream Yoga aspires to, but into smaller and more attainable goals. It is also firmly grounded in the scientific method.
Listen in to hear Dr. Wallace, who is authorized to teach both of these methods, discuss the similarities and differences in these two different approaches.
Episode Links:
The Lucidity Institute ( http://www.lucidity.com )
Train your Mind, Change your Brain ( http://bit.ly/1RYFWH )
Building the Dream Body ( http://www.wie.org/j39/zane.asp )
Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies ( http://www.sbinstitute.com )

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Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, an esteemed teacher in the Bon Buddhist tradition of Tibet, joins us again to continue describing the importance of dream yoga as part of the larger system of the 6 yogas of Naropa.
Rinpoche guides us through the three different kinds of dreams that we can have, including samsaric dreams, dreams of clarity, and clear light dreams. He also discusses the importance of dream practice, for those that have a naturally tendency toward being active in their dreams, comments on the methodology of lucid dreaming, that Western dream research Stephen LaBerge has created, and explains the importance of dream yoga in relationship to the process of death and the bardo.
This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1, Sleep as a Spiritual Journey.
Episode Links:
The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep ( http://bit.ly/IjSZC )
Ligmincha Institute ( https://www.ligmincha.org )

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“Look to your experience in dreams to know how you will fare in death. Look to your experience of sleep to discover whether or not you are truly awake.” – Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, an esteemed teacher in the Bon Buddhist tradition of Tibet, joins us to discuss the importance of sleep in relation to the spiritual path. Since we spend nearly a third of our lives asleep, the focus on sleep and dream practice becomes of utmost important for those practitioners that want to make the best of the time they have.
Listen in to find out more about the Bon tradition, the dissolution of the sense of self during sleep, and the way that dream practices can contribute to greater awareness during both sleep and death.
This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, The Yogas of Dream and Sleep.
Episode Links:
The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep ( http://bit.ly/IjSZC )
Ligmincha Institute ( https://www.ligmincha.org )

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Melvin McLeod, Editor-in-Chief of the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma magazines, concludes his conversation with us, this time discussing the inevitable tensions that arise in Buddhist media. These tensions center primarily around going deep vs. spreading wide. Listen in to hear how these magazines find the middle ground between condemning Buddhism to the irrelevant on the one hand (too much depth) and selling out on the other (too much breadth).
Also at the end Melvin shares the specific ways that their publications are looking to integrate new media technologies into their projects. Exciting times!
This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1, Peering Under the Hood of Buddhist Media.
Episode Links:
BuddhaDharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly ( http://www.thebuddhadharma.com )
Shambhala Sun ( http://www.shambhalasun.com )
One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism ( http://bit.ly/dy5egV )

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“Buddhism offers the most profound critique or criticism of life imaginable in it’s analysis of the role of ego, and of the nature of samsara, as well as in its basic doctrine of emptiness. There could hardly be a more profound critique of life then to say that neither your nor it exists.” – Melvin McLeod
Melvin McLeod, Editor-in-Chief of the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma magazines, joins us to share his perspective on the differences and similarities that Buddhist media sources have with more traditional media. Listen in to find out more about the philosophical underpinnings of a publication that has at it’s heart a commitment to the teachings of non-ego.
This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, The Inevitable Tension: Going Deep vs. Spreading Wide.
Episode Links:
Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place ( http://bit.ly/KnkeU )
Shambhala Sun ( http://www.shambhalasun.com )
BuddhaDharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly ( http://www.thebuddhadharma.com )

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“At any moment the Yellowstone caldera could blow up, wipe out %99 of the life on the surface of the planet, and probably all humans, and in our last minutes the degree of equanimity with which we face that prospect is the test of our dharmic fortitude and wisdom.” – James Hughes
In our final episode with professor James Hughes we tackle the less rosy side of Transhumanism, which has to do with massive existential threats and risks. Though there are many natural risks that could threaten humanity as a whole, including large asteriod collisions, gamma bursts, and super volcanoes, the Transhumanist recognize a whole host of other ways that we could threaten ourselves with advanced technologies.
In addition to discussing these threats and all of the possible side traps on the way toward a more techno-utopian future, James ties these together with our understanding of the dharma. He argues that even in a techno-utopian future (assuming we make it), we will still have to deal with annica—the ever changing flow of reality.
This is part 3 of a three-part series. Listen to part 1, Transhumanism and the Authentic Self and part 2, Cyborg Buddhas & Techno-Utopian Pure Lands!
Episode Links:
The Cyborg Buddha Project ( http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/cyborgbuddha ( http://bit.ly/Wh12u )
Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond To The Redesigned Human Of The Future
The Lifeboat Foundation ( http://www.lifeboat.com )

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With radical advances in science in technology would it be possible for us to turn our world into a so-called, “Buddha Realm” or would it be more likely that we create some sort of God Realm, where awakening is discouraged because the conditions are so radically pleasant? And how specifically could these advances help us develop spiritually, on the path toward Buddhahood?
This week, we discuss this and other questions with professor James Hughes, author of the upcoming book Cyborg Buddha. If you want to have your views regarding technology and it’s relation to the Buddhist path challenged, please listen in!
This is part 2 of a three-part series. Listen to part 1, Transhumanism and the Authentic Self and part 3, Existential Threats and Risks: We Can’t Escape Impermanence!
Episode Links:
The Cyborg Buddha Project ( http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/cyborgbuddha )
Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond To The Redesigned Human Of The Future ( http://amzn.to/1HOESA8 )
Technologies of Self-Perfection ( http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/hughes20040922/ )

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“The longer our lives, the more we’ll have a chance to see that there’s no self living them.” – James Hughes
What is Transhumanism and how is it related to Buddhist practice? Will technology enable us to radically extend our lifespans, help us control our thoughts and emotions, and bring about the potential to upload our consciousness into virtual reality spaces? And if so, what are the deeper implications for our contemplative traditions. Will these advances actually support the deepening of wisdom? According to professor James Hughes, a Buddhist practitioner and leading voice in the Transhumanist movement, these advances will enable us to deconstruct the notion and experience we have of an “authentic self” and will support the development of happiness, and the cessation of suffering. Listen in to find out how…
This is part 1 of a three-part series. Listen to part 2, Cyborg Buddhas & Techno-Utopian Pure Lands! and part 3, Existential Threats and Risks: We Can’t Escape Impermanence!
Episode Links:
The Illusiveness of Immortality ( http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/430/ )
Zen and the Brain ( http://bit.ly/KxYDq )
The Cyborg Buddha Project ( http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/cyborgbuddha )
Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond To The Redesigned Human Of The Future ( http://bit.ly/Wh12u )

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“I do not believe in an after life, although I am bringing a change of underwear.” – Woody Allen
The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche joins us again, this time to discuss the importance of the teachings of rebirth in the Western context. He also gives many detailed suggestions on how to work with suffering in practice, especially when your awareness of it becomes more acute–a common occurrence in practice. We finish off this fantastic dialogue with Rinpoche hearing his thoughts on transplanting Buddhism to the west to form a genuine form of western buddhism.
This is part 3 of a three-part series. Listen to part 1, Analytical Meditation: Going Beyond Coffee Table Dharma and part 2, The Best Preparation for Dying Well is Living Well.
Episode Links:
Bodhi Magazine ( http://www.bodhionline.org )
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche ( http://dpr.info )
Mind Beyond Death ( http://bit.ly/OJHKT )

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