Season 2 Episode 4 - Bodhgaya Series

With Thukten Yeshi from Bhutan, we meet again to talk about his recently published novel The Monk Without Dharma - How will Tompo, the protagonist realise the emptiness of all phenomena and reach the rainbow body?

The brilliant reader-friendly fiction with short paragraphs is a genuine self-discovery journey on the realisation of the emptiness of all phenomena.

Available on Amazon and in Nepal at Tibet Bookstore on Tridevi Margh

See also : Season 1 Episode #27 Nothing Is As It Appears

Episode #3 - Bodhgaya Series - What is it like to follow His Holiness the Dalai Lama and photograph him for a significantly close distance? This is what Neal Watkins did for 15 yrs + and here he tells us a bit about his experience also with various sanghas in India. Join me in welcoming Neal to the podcast.

Mentioned in the conversation:

Kalachakra

Root Institute for Wisdom Culture - Bodhgaya

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Taking Refuge meaning

Spiti Valley

Teaching Archives of the HHDL

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Episode #2 Bodhgaya Series - Connecting body and mind thru subtle practices that awaken mindfulness - Arkanhom is an newly established Association based in France and Jean-Pierre is its President.

Episode Language: French

Website under construction

Episode #1 - Bodhgaya Series - Antoine is from France and with him we embark on a magical wheel of yoga known as Thrul khor - Here in the special location that is Bodhgaya, with lots of background sounds, dive in this special sacred form of yoga .

More about Trul Khor

Finds us on IG - FB - and YouTube as Dhamma on the Sidewalk

Episode #36 - [French] In talented African storytelling tradition, Venerable Panñabodhi, a Theravadin Monastic, unveils how Buddhism landed in the Congo back in the ‘60s - and what brought him today to be invited at the Vajrayana Kadampa Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal. Filled with facts woven with resilience, courage and determination the storytelling navigates the journey of threading Buddhists waves in Southern Congo.

Mentioned:

Akong Rinpoche

Phra Visuddhivides of Wat Thai Dhammaram - Waterloo - Belgium

Venerable Panñabodhi

Episode #35 - Gautam lives to serve others. Inspired by Buddhist precepts of not killing, not lying, not taking that which is not given, not having sexual misconduct and no taking intoxicants. Established in 2011, Metta Nepal serves the needs of under-privileged groups, especially children.

With 4 teams of volunteers named after the Brahmavihara - the Sublime Qualities - Metta, Loving Kindness; Mudita, contentment for others, Karuna, compassion, Upekha, Equanimity - Gautam lives by the urgency of serving.

Mentioned in the conversation: Phra Visuddhivides - Abbot of Wat Thai Dhammaram - Waterloo, Belgium

Monks and Nuns from Malaysia and Singapore from the Mahayana Tradition.

Contact Gautam Maharjan FB

Contact Metta Nepal FB

Metta Nepal on YouTube

Short Footage of Metta Nepal scholarship program

With Episode #34 we continue the Food Musings - this time adding notes about Verses being chanted before taking a meal. But really, why is food so important?

The Anumodana Chant at the end is from Amaravati Buddhist Monastery and is available here

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Episode #33 - A second meeting with Shiva Rijal, a University professor at Kathmandu University where he reads, teaches and inspires his students on Shakespeare and spirituality with a particular focus on Buddha’s teachings. Shiva loves to analyse and ponder about the human condition and how the human tragedy, a beloved topic of work for Shakespeare, is actually equivalent to samsara - life as it is described in Buddhist wordings.

The conversation is open ended and unfiltered - Hope you enjoy it. ~The book mentioned half-way in the conversation is Ed Douglas - Himalaya - a Human History

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Previous episode on Shakespeare, Shiva and the Buddha is Episode #23.

Episode #32 - Renunciation, the precepts, keeping them. A few more musings.

It is the end of the year - I have had a difficult 2 months - and I emerge with new ideas for 2025 -

Episode #31 - Just a few musings on living on precepts -

Buddhism is not about seeking happiness - rather entraining the mind at removing that which empedes serenity to settle in.