The Kind Heartfulness Podcast

Lama Gerry Prindiville is a teacher in the Chokling Tersar tradition of Tibetan Buddhism with nearly two decades of experience leading retreats. He studied Buddhist philosophy and Tibetan language for five years at Rangjung Yeshe Institute before completing two traditional three-year meditation retreats under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. At Rinpoche's request, much of his time since the first long retreat has been spent teaching — including more than fifteen Vajrasattva retreats across the United States and Mexico. His approach is grounded and experiential, less concerned with the exotic than with how practice meets an ordinary day. He's also a longtime backpacker with over two thousand miles on the trail, and that connection to the natural world runs through the way he teaches. In this conversation we get into war stories from long retreat, the practical work of learning to be with our own minds, and Gerry's conviction that retreat isn't reserved for people who can disappear for years — that anyone can learn to make one, even if it's only for a weekend.

What happens when a text written a thousand years ago starts to change how you speak to a colleague, or how you meet your own mind at three in the morning?

This episode we're joined by Verena Pfeiffer, a senior teacher in the Rigpa community, to talk about Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara — why a text like this still speaks to us, and how to actually work with it in the middle of an ordinary day: at work, in traffic, in the small frictions of family life.

Verena's path began in 2005 and deepened quickly. She took part in the seven-month teaching periods of Rigpa's three-year retreat from 2006 to 2009, and has studied since 2007 at Rigpa Shedra East in Pharping, Nepal, under Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche. Today she teaches at the Shedra, guiding students through the Bodhicharyavatara itself, and leads retreats internationally — including a much-loved annual weekend at Dzogchen Beara in Ireland, where she's known for the calm, spacious atmosphere she creates for contemplation. She has a particular love for exploring the dharma with younger practitioners, and for putting these teachings into language that's genuinely usable on an ordinary Tuesday. Originally from Germany, Verena now lives in the Netherlands with her partner and their much-adored dog.

How can ancient wisdom be lived in the middle of family, creative work, and the chaos of modern life? ​In this episode of The Kindheartfulness Podcast, we sit down with Juri Henley-Cohn, an actor working across film, television, and theater. While many recognize him as Shimon in The Chosen, Juri is also a father, a dedicated student of Phakchok Rinpoche, and a key member of the Samye Institute. ​Together, we explore his unique journey of "Breaking the Script." Juri shares how his work as an actor—stepping into the lives and minds of others—reinforces his Buddhist practice, and vice versa. We discuss the art of "living the Dharma" not just in a monastery, but in the middle of a busy career and the responsibilities of fatherhood. ​Highlights of the conversation include: • ​The Interplay of Performance and Presence: How the vulnerability of the stage mirrors the path of awakening. • ​Ordinary Modern Life: Juri's particular interest in bringing spiritual principles into daily family and work dynamics. • ​Beyond the Persona: How Juri uses his acting background to deepen his spiritual practice and vice versa. ​Whether you are an artist, a parent, or simply looking for ways to stay grounded in a fast-paced world, Juri's perspective offers a beautiful blend of depth and practicality. For more information about Juri: https://www.JuriHenley-Cohn.com or on IMDB https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1687772/ And his app Savor: https://www.savorapp.ai

What happens when we stop seeing the mind as a computer and start seeing it as an emergent, relational system? In this episode, Erric sits down with Amy Cohen Varela, Chairperson of Mind & Life Europe, to discuss the past, present, and future of contemplative science. Recorded following their meeting at the European Summer Research Institute (ESRI) at Gomde, this episode moves beyond the "history" of the Mind & Life Institute to explore what these teachings mean for us today. Amy shares her unique perspective on: • The Origin Story: Witnessing the first meeting in Dharamsala between Francisco Varela and the Dalai Lama. • Enactivism Today: Why the "mind-as-computer" metaphor fails and how consciousness truly emerges. • The Science of Kindness: How "Ethical Know-How" turns abstract philosophy into a lived, compassionate presence in the world. Join us for an Amy-centric look at the intersection of deep science and the kind heart. Amy Cohen Varela is Chairperson of the Mind & Life Europe Board and involved with Mind and Life since its inception. She is also a clinical psychologist specialized in psychodynamic therapy and philosophy. Amy studied comparative literature at Brown and Columbia Universities before moving to Paris in the early '80s, where she received her degree in clinical psychology at the University of Paris 7, with a specialty in psychodynamic theory and practice, and in parallel, completed psychoanalytic training. Click https://mindandlife-europe.org/european-summer-research-institute-esri/ for information about the next ESRI at Gomde in Austria You can find more about Mind & Life Europe at: https://mindandlife-europe.org/

Today on the Kind Heartfulness Podcast, we're honored to welcome Barbara Bogatin — a world-class cellist and long-time practitioner of Buddhist meditation. A member of the San Francisco Symphony since 1994, Barbara's musical career has taken her from the stages of the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera to intimate chamber ensembles across the world. But Barbara's path is more than music. She's also a dedicated student of Buddhism, with over three decades of Vipassana practice and deep study of the Dharma. Her lifelong meditation practice deeply informs not just how she plays, but how she lives — and teaches. Together with her husband, neuroscientist Clifford Saron, she leads workshops like "The Buddha, the Brain, and Bach," weaving together insights from Buddhist contemplative traditions, neuroscience, and the art of performance. In today's episode, Barbara reflects on how mindfulness and Dharma practice have shaped her as a musician, a teacher, and a human being — and how we can all bring more presence and compassion into our own lives. You can find out more about Barbara at here website: https://www.barbarabogatin.com/home Scroll down the page to find out about her upcoming workshops such as The Buddha, the Brain and Bach or Mindfulness for Musicians.

In Tibetan Buddhism, lineage is everything — a sacred thread connecting teacher to student across generations. But what happens when modern meditators enter the mix? Anthropologist and Buddhist practitioner Dr. Ana Christina Lopes joins us to explore how tradition evolves when it meets real lives and real practice. Is lineage just about preserving the past, or can it also be a living, creative force?

Tune in as we unpack how today's practitioners are not only inheriting the Dharma, but actively reshaping it.

Dr. Ana Cristina focuses on the translation and study of sūtras, particularly the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra. Ana Cristina received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Sao Paulo and her MA in Buddhist Studies from Columbia University. She studied Classical Tibetan as part of her PhD research, in postdocs at Columbia and Harvard universities, and at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute. Ana Cristina was faculty at University of Virginia and UNC-Greensboro. She also taught at RYI-Austria and Stanford University, where she is Visiting Fellow at the Center for South Asia. She is the author of Tibetan Buddhism in Diaspora: Cultural re-signification in practice and institutions (Routledge, 2015)

Once again, we have the great honor to have Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche as our guest. In this episode, Rinpoche talks about why Buddhism is so appealing in today's world, the confluence of Buddhist philosophy and modern science, and what we can do to ensure Buddhism is able to continue to thrive. Rinpoche, recently inaugurated a spectacular new temple in Lubini, the birthplace of Buddha. It was selected the 9th most important place to visit in 2025 by the New York Times. Rinpoche explains why he felt it was so important to build this temple, a lifelong aspiration of his. Some of his answers might surprise you.

Our guest this month is the neuroscientist Dr. Clifford Saron, one of the world's leading scholars of the tangible effects of mediation. We have a free and wide-ranging conversation about meditation, science, objectivity and spirituality from a pioneer in the field of neuroscience and contemplative science. Clifford Saron, PhD, is a Research Scientist at the Center for Mind and Brain Institute at the University of California–Davis. Cliff has had a long-standing interest in the effects of contemplative practice on physiology and behavior. In the early 1990s, he conducted field research investigating Tibetan Buddhist mind training under the auspices of the office of H.H. the Dalai Lama. Cliff directs the Shamatha Project, a multidisciplinary longitudinal investigation of the effects of intensive meditation on physiological and psychological processes central to well-being. His research team is investigating how meditation experience may mitigate the effects of the pandemic on chronic stress and cellular aging, as well as examining consequences of compassion vs. mindfulness training on engagement with suffering. Cliff also studies sensory processing and integration in children with autism spectrum disorders to better understand how these children experience their everyday sensory environments.

You can find out more about his work at https://mindbrain.ucdavis.edu/people/clifford-saron and his lab at http://saronlab.ucdavis.edu/