Dharma Ocean

Episode 274: For the Welfare of All – Part II

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The Somatic Practice of Pure Awareness

Episode 274: For the Welfare of All – Part II

The post Episode 274: For the Welfare of All – Part II appeared first on Dharma Ocean Foundation.

Episode 273: For the Welfare of All – Part I

The post Episode 273: For the Welfare of All – Part I appeared first on Dharma Ocean Foundation.

Episode 274: For the Welfare of All – Part II

In the second part of this talk on the training of a Bodhisattva, Reggie discusses the last five of the six paramitas: discipline, patience, exertion, meditation, and wisdom. Through examples, he shows how the truth of each paramita is not...

Episode 273: For the Welfare of All – Part I

Today we listen to the first part of a talk Reggie offered at a Bodhisattva Vow ceremony. He says that […]

Episode 272: Clear Circle of Brightness

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Episode 271: Loss of Reference Points

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Episode 270: Being with the Journey

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Episode 269: Practice Dismantles

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Episode 268: Basic Space

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Episode 267: Life Force – Part II

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Episode 266: Life Force – Part I

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Episode 265: Journey of Individuation

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Episode 265: Journey of Individuation

In today’s episode, Reggie discusses the meditative journey of individuation. He acknowledges societal obstacles, such as institutional bureaucracies, that can undermine inspiration and waylay personal development. True freedom requires taking responsibility for our life and completely trusting the inner voice...

Episode 264: Loving Presence

In today’s episode, Caroline asks a shrine hall of retreatants: what are we doing here? The answer: letting be. In this process, we discover the felt sense, or non-conceptual awareness of the body, which has distinct qualities: loving presence, attentiveness,...

Episode 263: Sacred Mysteries

In this teaching, Reggie discusses the experience of pain as understood in the Vajrayana tradition of meditation. When we let go of judging and rejecting, moments of pain are experienced as sacred ornaments of tenderness that connect us to Life...

Episode 262: Awakening Heart

In this talk, Caroline teaches on bodhicitta, the wakeful intelligence of the body that is concentrated in the heart. She says that the essence of bodhicitta is space, the manifestation is love, and the activity is connection. This talk was given...

Episode 261: Stripped Down to Nothing

Here, Reggie points to the often hidden and unrecognized dimensions in the life journey of the Buddha. He says that Thich Nhat Hahn’s book Old Path White Clouds shows how the Buddha’s renunciation of conventional norms was quite radical and...

Episode 260: Under the Rose Apple Tree

In today’s episode, we listen to a talk Caroline offered on the power of encountering the natural state in childhood. She offers a Vajrayana account of the story of the Buddha who, at age 9, recognized rigpa while sitting under...

Episode 259: Pain is Not a Problem

Here, Reggie teaches on experiences of pain that we encounter on the path of meditation. He says that people often judge pain as a bad thing, but the foundation of Buddhist practice is the First Noble Truth: the more we...

Episode 258: Surrendering Ego – Part II

Going deeper into the theme of refuge, Reggie teaches on the difference between the inner view and the outer view of taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Inner refuge ultimately means that we are committing to: our non-existence,...

Episode 257: Surrendering Ego – Part I

In this talk on refuge, Reggie discusses the history of refuge in the Buddhist tradition and describes the different styles of “emergency ego” that arise when we find ourselves challenged by reality. Surrendering ego is the basis for the practice...

Episode 256: Path of Dharma – Part II

In the second part of this talk on the path of dharma, Reggie discusses the developmental journey that unfolds as we deepen in our meditation practice. When meditation becomes the ground of our life, transformation becomes our way of being. This...

Episode 255: Path of Dharma – Part I

In this teaching on the path of Dharma, Reggie encourages to trust inspiration, stay with discomfort, and leap to the unknown. Each stage of the path—Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana—involves ever deeper levels of these themes. This talk was given at the...

Episode 254: Lineage of Dismantling – Part II

In the second part of this talk on the esoteric tradition of meditation, Reggie suggests that mahamudra practices of direct experience serve as a compelling gate for modern people who long to connect with reality. By dismantling concepts, we meet...

Episode 253: Lineage of Dismantling – Part I

This talk begins with an account of the ancient forest tradition of meditation that began with the Buddha. Reggie discusses the values represented by these meditators and says that our lineage is in alignment with other sanghas that practice with...

This talk begins with an account of the ancient forest tradition of meditation that began with the Buddha. Reggie discusses the values represented by these meditators and says that our lineage is in alignment with other sanghas that practice with...

Episode 252: The Impediments of Religion – Part II

In the second part of this talk on genuineness in spirituality, Reggie says that relaxation in somatic meditation allows us to see how the forces of oppression, control, and busyness in the world are also within us. When tension in...

Episode 251: The Impediments of Religion – Part I

In this talk on our natural spiritual inheritance, Reggie remarks on the impediments presented by religious institutionalism, consumerism, and fundamentalism to the unfolding of each unique human life. In the modern world, authenticity is a lonely journey. This talk was given...

Episode 250: The Practicality of Spirituality

In this talk, Reggie says that the tantric path does not separate spiritual practice from the ordinary circumstances of everyday life. Rather, tantric meditation invites us to see the sacredness within the earthiness, messiness, emotions, and chaos of our human...

Episode 249: Genuine Spirituality – Part II

In the second part of this talk on genuine spirituality, Reggie describes the outer, inner, and secret forms of the retreat container. By respecting the forms, practicing silence, and staying present to waves of pain, we come to discover the...

Episode 248: Genuine Spirituality – Part I

Spiritual materialism is the ambitious ego-centered approach of striving for perfection through meditation practice. Here, Reggie speaks to genuine spirituality—the willingness to face our insecurities, depression, anger, darkness, and pride with an open heart. Such an approach, he says, is...

Episode 247: Meditating with the Elements

Here, Reggie says that when we practice with the elements we discover that their basic nature is space. For instance, by allowing our awareness to completely enter the into the life of fire, we touch the emptiness, openness, and warmth...

Episode 246: Practicing in Cold Places – Part II

In Part 2 of this talk on the challenges, demands, and grittiness of retreat practice, Reggie says that the way through is trust—trust in the disruptions, uncertainty, anxiety we feel. In the Vajrayana, difficult emotions are a source of inspiration...

Episode 245: Practicing in Cold Places – Part I

After circumstances did not unfold according to plan, a group of devoted practitioners in England erected a tent so that a late autumn retreat could go on. Reggie offers a talk of encouragement, sharing lore about the hardiness of the...

Episode 244: Invoking the Primeval Fire – Part II

You are listening to the Dharma Ocean Podcast. In the second part of this talk on entering into relationship with the energetic aspect of the elements, Reggie says that the journey of becoming who we are is surrendering to the...

Episode 243: Invoking the Primeval Fire – Part I

In this talk, Reggie discusses the burning quality of space that is felt when we open to heightened awareness of emptiness. By offering our agendas, strategies, and concepts to the primordial Fire, Life is liberated to flare forth—utterly wild and...

Episode 242: The Edge of Fear

In this talk, Reggie reflects on the fear we experience on the somatic journey of meditation when we lose reference points and enter into the world of the shadowlands, a world that is utterly new and unfamiliar—the realm of our...

Episode 241: The Life of Chögyam Trungpa

Here, Reggie introduces his teacher, Chögyam Trungpa. He offers a short account of Trungpa’s journey from Tibet, to England, and then to North America, and discusses how he transmitted the Vajrayana Buddhist teachings to his Western students. This excerpt is from...

Episode 240: Initiation and Growth – Part II

In the second part of this talk on the journey of somatic meditation, Reggie describes the initiatory process we experience when we enter the depths of the body. Initiations, he says, involve a process of dysregulation and entrainment with the...

Episode 239: Initiation and Growth – Part I

Reggie opens this Meditating with the Body retreat with a talk on the primordial sacredness of the human person. He says that the esoteric spirituality of the body that we are practicing has endured throughout the ages. No matter the...

Episode 238: Way of the Siddhas

Here, Reggie explores the roots of somatic meditation in ancient India. He says that the history of Buddhism was mostly written by monastics and reflects a “renunciation” approach to spirituality. However, there is a more unknown history of practice exemplified...

Episode 237: Beholding the Beloved – Part II

In the closing talk of their weekend program on the path of consort relationship, Reggie discusses the three vows of the consort relationship, and Caroline offers guidance on how to integrate consort practice into everyday life. This talk was given in...

Episode 236: Beholding the Beloved – Part I

Here, we listen to the first part of Reggie and Caroline’s concluding talk from their weekend program on consort relationship. They reflect on lessons learned in their own relationship, sharing insights about staying connected, the importance of daily meditation practice,...

Episode 235: The Spiritual Journey of Intimate Relationship

Today, we listen to Reggie’s opening talk for an online course he taught on meditation and the journey of intimate relationship. He says that the tantric consort tradition shows us how to discover ever deeper levels of love and relationality...

Episode 234: Form Holds Freedom – Part II

In the second part of this talk on container principle, Reggie offers pith meditation instruction: let the form hold experience. Using the example of ballet dancers doing plies, he says that fidelity to form in meditation practice allows us to...

Episode 233: Form Holds Freedom – Part I

In the first part of this talk on container principle, Reggie says that mindfulness meditation is often used as a technique to try to stabilize the ego by creating a sense of control, perfectionism, and safety. True meditation holds and...

Episode 232: Heart of Awakening – Part II

In the second part of this talk on bodhicitta, Reggie says that after his enlightenment, the Buddha heard the cries of suffering in the world and felt a welling of compassion that compelled him to help free sentient beings from...

Episode 231: Heart of Awakening – Part I

In the first part of this talk on the experience of bodhicitta as related to trauma, Reggie tells the story of how the Buddha's experience unfolded on the night of his enlightenment and describes his ultimate realization Life in its...