[This episode originally aired on January 10, 2023]  The image of remaining like a log comes up in a number of different traditional Buddhist texts  •  think of a log rotting slowly in an ancient forest — it just lies there placidly, providing sustenance and a home for various critters as it gradually dissolves into the forest floor  •  sometimes remaining like a log is talked about in terms of vigilance: maintaining vigilance over one's mind and heart  •  usually we associate vigilance with putting a guard at the door; so what does the remaining like a log have to do with vigilance?  •  there are many ways that we lose our minds and hearts: our mind strays, or we're captured by some attachment or aversion or mental dullness  •  the idea of remaining like a log is that when we notice our mind is captured by the bandits of emotional chaos, mental fixations, distractedness, fickleness or wildness, we simply remain like a log — we recognize these tendencies within ourselves and just stay put  •  It's not an image of struggling; it’s an image of simply grounding ourselves, letting ourselves settle into our own particular forest floor of in the midst of our mental and emotional chaos.

[This episode originally aired on January 3, 2023]  In exploring the idea of transmission, we're looking into how the teachings are passed on, how the teachings are taught, and how the student can access the teachings  •  but what do we mean by transmission?  •  a helpful analogy is to think of music: you can learn to play all the notes in a song, but the music is not there  •  so what makes the actual music?  •  there's a famous jazz phrase: “it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing” •  that “swing” is related to the notion of transmission: it’s something that happens beyond the notes, beyond the words, beyond the videos  •  something alive and essential to what dharma is all about is transmitted, but it’s not the same as the words, the teachers, the students, or the rituals  •  transmission can be thought of as the living essence of a tradition;  that living essence is non-conceptual, but we are pointed to it by various conceptual and physical means  •  it is that direct, non-conceptual understanding that brings the dharma alive, that brings us fully alive, opening and energizing wisdom and compassion for the benefit of ourselves and all beings.

[This episode originally aired on December 27, 2022]  I'd like to introduce three simple short meditation practices that help us tune in to the rich and ongoing process of exchange that marks our lives altogether  •  we're always giving something out to the world and receiving something from it  •  we are affected by others and we affect others in so many ways; and we're also quite susceptible to the energies and the outpourings from those around us  •  in the first practice we begin by looking at the simple and ordinary process of breathing, feeling the qualities of the different rhythms of the breath  •  this is working with exchange at the simple bodily level  •  the second practice is referred to as meeting suffering with kindness and compassion  •  to begin with, you could look within to see how much love and compassion is there  •  how do you experience that? what happens when you send it out? can you send it out? does it flow out or is it more buried within?  •  the third practice is connected with the idea of space  •  here, you relate to the outbreath as letting go into space; when breathing in, you let that outer spaciousness mix completely with the spaciousness within you and your state of mind and consciousness  •  you're simply stirring space and infusing space with tenderness and love. 

[This episode originally aired on December 20, 2022] One of my favorite nursery rhymes contains quite a bit of wisdom: “Row row, row, row your boat gently down the stream; merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream”  •  if we think of the stream as a stream of teachings, then we could consider the Buddha as the source of the stream  •  from that beginning a great river continues to flow over thousands of years  •  where does this stream flow? It flows into an ocean, which you could say is the awakening of the practitioner  •  you have a boat to carry you down this stream, and you have a set of oars to row with  •  what kind of effort do you apply? it's a steady effort, but it's also a relaxed effort: you're rowing gently, but regularly and persistently  •  and how are you doing all this? you're doing it merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily  •  it's not a big struggle; there's a sense of delight  •  in fact it could be dreamlike because it's not so solid, it's not so frozen  •  we're in a shifting and changing world; it's so dreamlike and so unreal in so many ways, but so beautiful and colorful at the same time. 

[This episode originally aired on January 15, 2024]  The phrase, “When you lose your mind, come back” describes a lot of what happens in meditation: repeatedly losing our minds, and repeatedly bringing ourselves back  •  the moment we’ve noticed we’ve lost it is the moment we can return  •  what are we returning to? the simplicity of the present moment  •  another phrase Trungpa Rinpoche used quite a lot was, “Don’t think too much”  •  what are the benefits and what are the limits of thinking and conceptual understanding?  •  in the Buddhist tradition scholarship is highly valued  •  however, to be a realized person, to live a dharmic lifestyle, you don’t need to be a scholar; you don’t need to be all that clever  •  “coming back” in this context could mean coming back from the tangle of conceptual notes and fascinations to something immediate and basic and close to the heart  •  Trungpa Rinpoche used the term “intellect and intuition” when referring to these two streams  •  they are not in opposition or at war; there’s a sense of sophistication in the interplay between these two. 

[This episode originally aired on January 8, 2024]  At our core is our tender heart, tinged with a touch of sadness  •  it is sweet and vulnerable  •  this soft spot may be deeply buried, but it is always there  •  even very simple or momentary experiences can connect us with this heart: you might watch a pair of swallows fly back and forth, over and over, bringing food to their hungry chicks, and something melts or softens in you  •  it is so beautiful to be touched in this way  •  but this inner core of tenderness can also make us feel threatened and vulnerable  •  so we learn to armor up, to wrap that tenderness in layers of protection  •  we begin to buy into the dichotomy between strength on the one hand and vulnerability on the other  •  and little by little, we dull our feelings to hide our vulnerability  •  but as we hide that openness and vulnerability, we also cut off the tender wellspring of kindness and compassion  •  the posture of meditation, with its strong back and soft belly, symbolizes the integration of strength and vulnerability  •  when these two are in harmony, we may discover that our vulnerability is not actually a weakness, but our greatest source of strength  •  when we bring vulnerability and strength together in harmony, we begin to live in this world in a more confident, fresh, and vivid way. 

[This episode originally aired on January 1, 2024]  Trungpa Rinpoche emphasized the importance of understanding space  •  he encouraged us to explore our experiences of boredom, our discomfort with stillness, and our tendency to fill space  •  he pointed out that the basic energy pervading all of space is love and kindness; so to cultivate greater kindness and love, it makes sense to relate to space and its qualities  •  he introduced three aspects or qualities of space  •  the first is that space is indestructible, because it doesn't come from anywhere and doesn’t go anywhere; it is unborn, it is unceasing, and it is impossible to manipulate  •  the second aspect of space is that it accommodates birth and death: things are always arising and dissolving within it, and space accommodates all of that  •  the third aspect of space is that it creates obstacles  •  it seems to rebel against our ideas of importance and what we'd like to accomplish  •  this aspect of space reminds me of the kind of space that people can experience in the vicinity of a dying person  •  in that space, all projects and activities and preoccupations just dissolve on the spot  •  I'd like to invite you to explore these qualities of space in your daily life experience and in your meditation practice.

[This episode originally aired on December 25, 2023]  Today I'd like to explore the topic of space  •  the idea of space as it relates to meditation practice is connected with the notion of “gap” — noticing gaps at the end of each outbreath, noticing the little refreshing moments between things, which we often miss  •  our connection with space can be an almost embodied or physical sense of things: we can sense when a space seems threatening or welcoming  •  we can begin to explore our relationship with space very simply by noticing our tendency to keep ourselves occupied when discomfort arises  •  can we just be at ease with ourselves? can we relax in space?  •  when there is too much space we start to feel groundless; but when there is not enough space we begin to feel claustrophobic  •  so we look for some kind of spacious quality that we can manage, to fit between those extremes  •  but trying to manage space is like trying to corral the sky; it can't be done  •  space dissolves any such schemes and strategies  •  maybe we need to drop all of our strategies for a moment, and let wisdom arise spontaneously from the freedom and vastness of space.

[This episode originally aired on December 18, 2023]  In this episode, I'd like to explore the idea of walls — our internal walls, as well as the walls we create between ourselves and others  •  we're told we need to have clear boundaries; at the same time, we have the challenge of how to bridge the gap between self and others  • the wall between ourselves and others is not always so visible; it can take us by surprise as we try to connect in some way  •  there are times when we deliberately create walls: when we are developing a meditation practice, we wall off distractions and preoccupations in order to create a little island of sanity of some sort, as a form of protection for our mind  •  maybe the fundamental question is whether we're creating walls to protect our sanity, or whether we're creating walls to protect our confusion  •  walls can be about connecting, or about disconnecting  •  we need to explore how to make use of walls to connect with others, as opposed to shutting ourselves down and separating from others. 

[This episode originally aired on December 11, 2023]  I've been thinking a lot recently about peace, especially the Buddhist view of peace  •  it's one of those ironic things: throughout history people have longed for peace and prayed for peace, yet we seem unable to free ourselves from conflict, war and struggle  •  what’s more, our desire for peace can actually manifest as aggression: “if I can defeat my enemy, then I'll be able to finally have some peace”  •  when we talk about peace, what do we really mean? how is peace talked about in different aspects of the dharma?  •  Trungpa Rinpoche taught that we should be quite clear and precise as to the definition of the word: “In Buddhism, peace has nothing to do with pleasure. Peace is just simply peace. It is nonaggression. Nothing takes place. We simply quiet down. And in doing so, things become very clear”  •  peace is the absence of grasping, and it starts right at home with our own state of mind  •  the kind of peace that can develop from letting go of our fixation and grasping is incredibly energetic and powerful  •  according to Martin Luther King, peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal  •  it is simple, immediate, and direct  •  the force of peace is just as strong as the force of hatred and anger; and actions rooted in peace are even more courageous and forceful than actions springing from hatred.