Kulavadhuta Satpurananda (Khyapababa) was initiated into the secret oral tradition of the great Indian lineage of Buddhist tantra at the age of five. He then spent decades practicing under great Indian gurus and mystics. Kulavadhuta is an artist, teacher and research guide in Buddhism, Tantra, Sufism, and the Indigenous practices of Mystics of India and Tibet. And at the heart is an Avadhuta, one who has transcended worldly concerns and even the dharma. 

Time notes:

00:00:00 Introduction

01:05:80 Spiritual matriarchy from birth

0:6:30 Early spiritual experiences

00:10:00 Near-death experiences as a child

00:11:00 Knowledge making him an orphan

00:14:00 Spiritual experience with Baba Ramnath Aghori

00:22:00 Cremation ground practice

00:22:56 Internal conflict around Ma, the divine goddess

00:28:00 Renunciation with  Ma Annandamoyee

00:30:00 Leaving his family and material support, for spiritual life

00:34:00 Museum iconography consultant and designer

00:37:00 Confirmed as an Avadhuta

00:41:00 Self-initiated into Buddhist tantra

00:44:00 Why Vedas are not Khyapababa's cup of tea

00:49:00 Comparing Christian Gnostic, Wrathful Sufi Order, and Leftist Tantra

00:55:00 2 Essences of cremation ground practice

00:57:00 5 Deaths

00:50 Compassionate exorcism

01:03:00 Taking obstacles as the game of life

01:08:00 Life beyond the world and dharmas

01:11:00 Meeting his spiritual partner and marrying at 60

01:15:00 Meaning of a tantric practitioner

01:16:00 On tantric partnership and 5 elemental relationship

01:23:00 Baul traditions historical Siddhas

01:30:00 Ngakpa robes, dreadlocks, and earrings

01:34:00 Non-importance and samadhi

01:38:00 Baba shares a doha by Lalan Shah Fakir of Kushthiya, Bangladesh,19th Century.

Lalan made it clear in his teaching songs that Vajrayana came up to Vaishnavism and Sufism to create Sahajiya Bauls of Bengal. His Teachings are pointing out to Voidness and Tantrayoga.

01:38:48 Closing: Khyapababa sings about the Guru

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Podcast website & transcripts

https://oliviaclementine.com/podcasts

Watch here:

https://oliviaclementine.com/kunzang-choden-bhutanese-nobility-museum-temple-tour-part-two/

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Kunzang Choden, one of Bhutan’s most well-known authors, brings us on a tour of her ancestral home in Bhumtang’s Tang Valley, which was turned into museum. This space offers a first-hand view of daily life for Bhutanese religious nobility during the 19th and 20th centuries. We then go to the main temple and see some of the chapels held in this two-story space dedicated to different deities.

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If you missed Part One: 

An Interview with Kunzang Choden

https://oliviaclementine.com/kunzang-choden-bhutanese-heritage-dorji-linga-part-one/

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Tour Time Notes:

Museum Tour

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:26 Weaving, textiles, ghos and kiras

00:14:46 Trading & Tools

00:17:30 Rice room

00:18:28 Alcohol distillation

00:27:41 Traditional medicine

00:29:27 Altar room

00:30: Origin and History of Ogyen Choling

00:32:00 Printing place

00:34:00 Library of rare books

00:37:45 Masks, Ritual instruments and dress

00:40:00 Family temple

Temple Tour

00:42:00 Tara Temple

00:51:46  Main Temple

00:53:00 Longchenpa, Dorji Lingpa, and geomancy

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The Ogyen Choling

https://www.oling.bt

Podcast website & transcripts

https://oliviaclementine.com/podcasts

Kunzang Choden is one of Bhutan’s most legendary authors. We meet in Bhutan in the Tang Valley, where Kunzang’s family has lived since the 15th century, land that is tied to the Tibetan yogic master Longchenpa and treasure revealer Dorji Linga. 

This is part one of two.

To watch the video version, you can visit the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql8T0ZqtrBM

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Time notes:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:41 Lineage land and Kings

00:03:47 Treasure revealer Dorji Lingpa

00:10:18 Intense childhood recollections

00:15:00 Intergenerational homelife

00:19:50 Seasonality

00:28:42 Kunzang’s way of writing

00:30:00 Recording dreams

00:32:00 Kuzang’s new memoir

Ogyen Choling

https://www.oling.bt

Podcast website & transcripts

https://oliviaclementine.com/podcasts

Todays conversation takes place at Rinpoche's residence in Bhutan, where she shares advice as well as her experiences being an emanation of Vajravarahi, a treasure revealer, diviner, and a manifester of miracles. Rinpoche spends most of her time in the Zhemgang District at her monastery for nuns and monks that is also a home to orphans, elders, physically unable and terminally ill people who want to devote their life to the dharma.

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:59 Being the Incarnation of Vajravarahi

00:03:45 Intention and Action

00:05:56 Being a female tulku

00:06:38 No shortcuts 

00:11:40 Revealing treasures

00:16:47 Why Rinpoche stopped teaching

00:22:00 Pure dharma

00:22:00 Manifesting miracles

00:25:49 Obstacles and karma

00:32:00 Divination through Dreams

00:34:00 Practicing carefully and properly

00:37:00 A message to great masters

Thank you to both Karma Lhazom, who you'll hear offering the English translation of Rinpoche as well as to Tshering Tashi who offered the initial translation during our meeting.

Links

Rinpoche and her foundation:

https://dorjephagmofoundation.org/about/khandro-dorje-phagmo/

Podcast website & transcripts

https://oliviaclementine.com/podcasts

Pearl Garland membership

https://www.pearlgarland.com/

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo is a bhikṣuṇī, author and founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India. She also spent twelve years living and practicing in a remote cave in the Himalayas. 

Today's timenotes:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:17  8th Khamtrul Rinpoche

00:06:45 Togden and togdenma (yogi and yogini) lineage and history

00:8:05 16th Karmapa and Khampagar

00:09:30 Requests leading to the Togdenma revival

00:10:36 Jetsunma's cave retreat in  Lahaul

00:14:15 Finding proper Togdenma mentors

00:21:22 Togden Acho

00:24:24 Becoming officially Togdenma

00:28:31 Khampagar lineage in Tibet

00:31:00 Practice group system

00:33:00 Togdenma practice path and contemporary additions

00:40:00  Full bhikkhunī ordination with HH Je Khenpo.

00:44:35 The four fold sangha

Links:

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

https://tenzinpalmo.com/

Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery

https://dglnunnery.com/

Podcast website & transcripts

https://oliviaclementine.com/podcasts

Today’s episode is the final part of three parts

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00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:49 Signs, visions, dreams

00:12:00 Protector land spirits

00:16:00 Tests, conceptual collapse and faith

00:20:00 Meditation boxes

0023:30 Sky burial

00:28:00 Sri Lanka vipassana reform

00:29:30  Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok and Larung Gar

00:32:00 Modernity, realization and tacit knowledge

00:39:00 Old world preservation

00:43:50 Yidam neuroscience and dilution

00:46:00 Changes in education system

00:49:00 Yogini tulkus and titles

00:57:00 The Gebchak way, peer-pressure and self-responsibility

01:03:00 Becoming a translator

01:07:00 Disrobing

01:10:00 Historical rarity of terms Rigpa and dzogchen

01:12:00 Character of yoginis and aspirations

༓

Listen to Part One here:

On Gebchak's History & Yogic Activity in the Realm of the Meditators https://oliviaclementine.com/elizabet...

༓

Listen to Part Two here:

On Embodied Practitioners of Tsa-lung Inner Fire & Dzogchen

https://oliviaclementine.com/elizabeth-mcdougal-gebchak-yoginis-part-two/

༓

Podcast website & transcripts

https://oliviaclementine.com/podcasts

~

About Elizabeth

Elizabeth McDougal, known also as Tenzin Chozom, grew up in Western Canada and then trained as a Buddhist nun in India and on the Tibetan Plateau for seventeen years. Towards the end of her time as a nun – she studied a Masters of Indian philosophy at Banaras Hindu University and then a PhD (2021) at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on the modernisation of Tibetan Buddhist practice lineages and on pedagogy as a crucial bridge in translating pre-modern wisdom traditions to the modern world. Elizabeth currently lives in Australia with her human and animal family where she lectures at Nan Tien Institute in applied Buddhist studies. She continues to serve as a Tibetan-to-English translator for Gebchak Wangdrak Rinpoche and other practice lineage lamas. Elizabeth published a book in 2024 called “The Words and World of Gebchak Nunnery: Tantric Meditation in Context.”

Images included:

1: Of two Gebchak yoginis by Jerome Raphalen

2: Yoginis looking out in ceremony to a sacred feminine vulva form in the landscape

Today’s episode is part two of three parts.

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Time notes:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:02:15 Subtle body, mind and prana

00:11:30 Yidam and reflections of the universe

00:13:40 Tsa-lung and trulkhor

00:18:51 Modernization influence on dedication, asceticism and health.

00:24:00 Chu Rey, wet sheet ceremony

00:31:00 Tsa-lung lama Jamtsen Chodron

00:33:40 Chudlen retreats

00:37:00 Mundane and sacred, collective and individual

00:39:00 Togal and trekchod 100 day winter practice

00:46:00 On memorization and reading as a means of realization

00:50:00 Tantric practice form of learning

01:00:00  Yogin Pema Dorje and a song of devotion

01:06:00 Yogin Pema Drimed

01:13:00 Sherab Zangmo and Urgyen Chodron

01:16:00 Sky burial

01:21:00 Recognizing signs

01:24:00 Cultivating a whole person

༓

Listen to Part One here:

On Gebchak's History & Yogic Activity in the Realm of the Meditators

https://oliviaclementine.com/elizabeth-mcdougal-the-gebchak-yoginis-part-one/

About Elizabeth:

Elizabeth McDougal, known also as Tenzin Chozom, grew up in Western Canada and then trained as a Buddhist nun in India and on the Tibetan Plateau for seventeen years. Towards the end of her time as a nun – she studied a Masters of Indian philosophy at Banaras Hindu University and then a PhD (2021) at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on the modernisation of Tibetan Buddhist practice lineages and on pedagogy as a crucial bridge in translating pre-modern wisdom traditions to the modern world. Elizabeth currently lives in Australia with her human and animal family where she lectures at Nan Tien Institute in applied Buddhist studies. She continues to serve as a Tibetan-to-English translator for Gebchak Wangdrak Rinpoche and other practice lineage lamas. Elizabeth published a book in 2024 called “The Words and World of Gebchak Nunnery: Tantric Meditation in Context.”

Today's episode is part one of three parts that will be shared over the coming weeks. 

Time notes:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:51 Elizabeth’s early years at Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s retreat place, and about the Togdens and Togdenmas

00:07:14 What led Elizabeth to Gebchak gonpa.

00:09:00 The initial meeting between Wandrak Rinpoche and the Gebchak yoginis

00:15:00 How Elizabeth spent her time at Gebchak gonpa

00:18:40 Nangchen as a fertile ground for yogis

00:23:00 Gebchak founder Tsang-Yang Gyamtso & the Rime period

00:29:37 The way of the yogin scholar

00:37:00 The first Tsokyni Rinpoche's, vision 

00:44:00 Karma mudra and the early years at Gebchak with yogins and yoginis

00:55:00 Origin and preservation of practice texts at Gebchak

00:56:00 The yogini Sherab Zangmo

00:59:00 Rebuilding Gebchak

01:05:00 The Royal Family

01:08:00 Gebchak practice path

01:15:00 16 retreat divisions and yidam accomplishment

01:28:00 Typical day during drubchen periods

01:34:00 Typical day outside drubchen

~

About Elizabeth:

Elizabeth McDougal, known also as Tenzin Chozom, grew up in Western Canada and then trained as a Buddhist nun in India and on the Tibetan Plateau for seventeen years. Towards the end of her time as a nun – she studied a Masters of Indian philosophy at Banaras Hindu University and then a PhD (2021) at the University of Sydney.

Her research focuses on the modernisation of Tibetan Buddhist practice lineages and on pedagogy as a crucial bridge in translating pre-modern wisdom traditions to the modern world.

Elizabeth currently lives in Australia with her human and animal family where she lectures at Nan Tien Institute in applied Buddhist studies. She continues to serve as a Tibetan-to-English translator for Gebchak Wangdrak Rinpoche and other practice lineage lamas. 

Elizabeth published a book in 2024 called "The Words and World of Gebchak Nunnery: Tantric Meditation in Context."

~

Podcast website & transcripts

https://oliviaclementine.com/podcasts

This is a visual episode that is meant to be watched.

You can watch it here: https://oliviaclementine.com/tibetan-handicraft-society-master-carpet-weavers/

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Today’s episode takes place at the Tibetan Handicraft Society in McCleoud Ganj, in northern India. This Handicraft Society was founded in 1963 to support Tibetan refugees, and Tibetans who have grown up in exile and Tibetan arts and culture.

Today we learn about this member run society and see some of these master weavers as they bring these traditional Tibetan carpets to form.

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:58 Tenzin Rigsang on the Handicraft Society’s origin and purpose

00:04:10 On material sourcing and design

00:06:33 How the cooperative is organized and the influence of modern times on this traditional art.

00:8:35 Dawa Dolma on how long it takes to weave a carpet

00:09:27 Tsering Dolkar on her path to becoming a weaver

00:11:02 Tsetan as she completes a carpet.

Glimpses of weavers and carpet makers Yangchen Galmo, Tenzin Worser, Tsetan, Tseyang, Tala, Kelsang Tsokey and Daju.

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The Tibetan Handicraft Society

https://tibetan-handicraft-society.site123.me/

Order carpets here or contact the society for more custom commissions

https://tibetan-handicraft-society.site123.me/on

Love & Liberation website & transcripts

https://oliviaclementine.com/podcasts

Maya Khosla is a biologist and writer. She has spent thousands of hours hiking, backpacking, and documenting forests, including post-fire regeneration.

Time notes:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:07 The message of fire

00:02:00 3 types of traditional fire practice in India.

00:03:22 Rebirth after fires

00:08:00 Intimacy and the effect of hand burning versus machine work on land

00:15:00 Main causes of fires in California

00:18:00 Misunderstandings on preparing one's home in a fire-prone area. Thinking like an ember

00:19:00 Keeping a house safe in a fire and Dr. Jack Cohen

00:21:00 “The Sierra, A History” poem read by Maya Khosla

00:24:00 Decaying forests and close associations

00:29:00 What you see in a newborn forest

00:30:00 Healthy mature forests

00:324:00 Symbiotic elemental collaboration

00:36:00 Wild Elders

00:39:50 Seed places

00:41:04 “The Oak” Poem read by Maya Khosla

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Maya Khosla

https://www.mayakhosla.com/

Podcast website & transcripts

https://oliviaclementine.com/podcasts

Have your music played on Love & Liberation:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScv8PanRA-TLoo-PVbfhpH6mlMslpuKad3PqQH8cgkMHGz1YQ/viewform