Speaker: Ava Evans. Ava gives a personal account of how her practices of bodhicitta and tonglen have been essential in navigating grief and loss. Her commitment to walk the path of a bodhisattva and follow Rinpoche's advice that, "our hearts must be strong and brave" have provided the support she needed to care for her brother during his battle with brain cancer until his death, and her father's decline into dementia. Turning toward suffering and bearing witness to their pain allowed Ava to step out of her limited sense of self and extend love, patience and compassion to her family members. In doing so, she touches the buddhanature in herself and her loved ones, strengthening her understanding that we are all the same. These experiences have also brought a deeper connection to her own mind's nature to always be in touch with itself. The power of that recognition allows confusion to be transformed into compassion and wisdom, which is the ultimate ally in difficult and uncertain times.

Speaker: Pat Noyes. Pat talks about her exploration of the Dharma as it pertains to a current mental health challenge within her family. She offers a compilation of foundational teachings, practices and contemplations that have helped in understanding the pain and fear she experiences. Starting with the four noble truths, Pat shares her search for a way through suffering by drawing on the words of her teachers. What gets her to the cushion when times are bleak are Rinpoche's teachings on the 51 mental states, tonglen, impermanence, karma, the four immeasurables, the four thoughts, and the four seals. Pat shares with us how these teachings and practices can help us all in overcoming the mental and emotional obscurations that keep us bound in samsara.

Speaker: Michael McIlmurray. Michael describes how working with honey bees is a vehicle for his practice of mindfulness. As an example, a beekeeper's movement in the apiary can accidentally squash and kill the bees. Honoring his bodhisattva vow of not harming others, he brings mindful awareness and patience in caring for the bee colonies. His practice of patience also includes accepting his mistakes. Michael describes how being stung by a bee may result in a flash of anger or resentment, which provides an excellent opportunity to examine and work with these emotions, remaining calm and composed in the moment. Beekeeping also enhances Michael's ability to visualize the Buddhanature of vast numbers of beings including all beings’ collective quest for happiness.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This is the second part of a two-hour teaching Rinpoche gave in 2018 at the annual, Source of Mahamudra program held at Pema Osel Do Ngak Choling in Vershire, Vermont. The talk was split for rebroadcast over two consecutive weekends while Rinpoche and the Sangha were engaged in the annual Shedra program. In Part 1 (MSB podcast LINK #726), Rinpoche spoke about negative thinking and attachment, and the importance of mind training especially as we age. In Part 2, he provides the remedies.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This is the first part of a two-hour teaching Rinpoche gave in 2018 at the annual, Source of Mahamudra program held at Pema Osel Do Ngak Choling in Vershire, Vermont. The talk was split for rebroadcast over two consecutive weekends while Rinpoche and the Sangha were engaged in the annual Shedra program. In Part 1, Rinpoche speaks about negative thinking and attachment, and the importance of mind training especially as we age. In Part 2, he provides the remedies (MSB podcast LINK #727).

Speaker: Elizabeth Ready. Elizabeth discusses various pith instructions of the guru, from Dzigar Kongtrul's request to generate bodhicitta before we listen to the teachings, to Patrul Rinpoche's encouragement to generate the unsurpassable skillful means of the Mantrayana. She recounts Bob Reid's talk on the three supreme methods: the supreme aspiration for the benefit of beings, the supreme view of trutal, the ineffable, luminous nature and the supreme dedication that all attain enlightenment at the end of any activity or practice, all of which are teachings on the ground, path and fruition. She describes how relative and ultimate bodhicitta are at the heart of all the pith instructions we receive at MSB, the thread that runs through all the teachings. She asks, "What is there other than resting in that genuine heart of enlightenment and how heartfelt is our wish?"

Speaker: Mark Kram. Mark shares his experience exploring emptiness, the foundational Mahayana teaching that is distilled in the Heart Sutra, 'The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom'. He explains that our wisdom increases directly as a function of how close we are to understanding this teaching. Each of us must arrive at the realization of emptiness through our own process of contemplation and meditation. Yet, because the Heart Sutra so profoundly upends our ideas about what is real, it is critical to examine our assumptions and notions before we can fully engage with emptiness. We come to understand that our mistaken "reality" is shaped by the physical senses, emotions, cultural experiences, the conceptualising mind and by the "vulgar illusions" of language itself.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This previously-recorded Personal LINK was given by Rinpoche on May 30, 2004 at Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado. It was re-broadcast in two parts, Part 1 on September 1st and Part 2 on September 8th, 2024. Please refer to Part 1 for a full summary of the talk.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This previously-recorded Personal LINK was given by Rinpoche on May 30, 2004 at Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado. The talk was split into two parts, aired on consecutive weekends while Rinpoche and the Sangha are engaged in the annual Mahayoga and Sadhana of Mahamudra programs at Pema Osel Do Ngak Choling in Vershire, Vermont. In this talk, Rinpoche encourages us to not waste this precious tendrel of having met the Mahayana and Vajrayana Dharma. He stresses that our connection to Guru Rinpoche is not random. The path we follow being part of the Nyingma lineage comes directly from Guru Rinpoche and his great kindness. Not only is the Nyingma path connected to Guru Rinpoche, but all the schools have a strong connection to his enlightened mind and have flourished due to his kindness. As such, he strongly encourages his students to make daily, heartfelt aspirations to be reborn in the Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain.

Speaker: Inigo Batterham. Inigo shares his experience with mental illness and addiction, juxtaposed against an unfolding Dharmic path. He emphasizes how his life has been indelibly altered by great masters such as H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and how Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche's guidance and constant presence have helped him manage his addiction and mental struggles and turn his mind towards the Dharma.