This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features host Daniel Aitken joined by Malcolm Smith—translator in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and long-time practitioner of Dzogchen. Malcolm Smith has been a student of the Great Perfection teachings since 1992, his main Dzogchen teachers being Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and the late Kunzang Dechen Lingpa. He is a veteran of a traditional three-year solitary Tibetan Buddhist retreat, a published translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts, and was awarded the Ācārya degree by the Sakya Institute in 2004. He graduated in 2009 from Shang Shung Institute’s School of Tibetan Medicine, and has worked on translations for renowned lamas since 1992, including H.H. the Sakya Trichen Rinpoche, Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, Khenpo Migmar Tseten, Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche, Khenchen Könchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche, and more.

In this lively discussion, Malcolm and Daniel talk about:

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The post Malcolm Smith: Dzogchen, Sakya, and Translation (#148) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast features an interview with special guest Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes, Head of the Department of South Asian, Tibetan, and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna. Host Daniel Aitken and Klaus-Dieter discuss:

The post Klaus-Dieter Mathes: Mahamudra and Shentong (#147) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features a conversation with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and host Daniel Aitken. Rinpoche is the author of two bestselling books and oversees the Tergar Meditation Community, an international network of Buddhist meditation centers. He is the son of the renowned meditation master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and was formally enthroned as the seventh incarnation of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche by Tai Situ Rinpoche when he was twelve years old. In addition to his extensive background in meditation and Buddhist philosophy, Mingyur Rinpoche has held a lifelong interest in psychology, physics, and neurology. 

Mingyur Rinpoche and Daniel talk about:

The post Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: Recognizing Awareness (#146) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast features Heidi I. Köppl, translator and interpreter for Tibetan lamas such as Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche and Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and editor-in-chief of Tara’s Triple Excellence Online Meditation Program. Heidi translated at the Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Nepal for more than a decade and has been a faculty member at the Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies. Heidi has a degree in Tibetology from the University of Copenhagen, and has translated works such as Illuminating the Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva and Establishing Appearances as Divine.

Heidi and host Daniel Aitken discuss

Be sure to check out Heidi’s upcoming events and teachings at dharmasun.org/calendar including From Kindfulness to Pure Perception, a workshop taking place July 30 & 31, 2022 from 9 to 10am EDT (New York). This workshop explores the two mindsets of seeing how kindfulness can be the basis for pure perception, and experiencing the felt sense of our own innate kindfulness and pure perception.

You can also find Tara’s Triple Excellence Online Meditation Program which starts with a free 12-day course at dharmasun.org/tte.

The post Heidi I. Köppl: Roots of Duality (#145) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features Karma Trinlay Rinpoche, a highly accomplished Buddhist teacher and meditation master. Born in 1975 to an American mother and French Father, and recognized by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, Rinpoche is the first reincarnated Westerner of French and American origin to be recognized in the Karma Kagyu tradition of Vajrayāna Buddhism.  In 1978 he started the traditional training of tulkus under the guidance of the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche in India.  A charismatic speaker, Rinpoche is respected for his lucid mind and diligence in both study and practice. He has taught in Buddhist centers and universities throughout the world. 

Throughout this podcast, Rinpoche and Daniel discuss:

The post Karma Trinlay Rinpoche: Life as a Tulku (#144) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast features Wisdom author Venerable Bhikkhu Anālayo: scholar, author, and meditation teacher. Born in Germany in 1962 and ordained in Sri Lanka in 1995, Ven. Bhikkhu Anālayo completed a PhD thesis on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta at the University of Peradeniya in 2000, and is faculty member and scholar at several academic institutions. Ven. Bhikkhu Anālayo has authored several books on meditation and early Buddhism, such as Satipatthāna: The Direct Path to Realization, Superiority Conceit in Buddhist Traditions, Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research, and his most recent book Early Buddhist Oral Tradition. He also teaches the Wisdom Academy online course Foundations of Mindfulness.  

In this episode, host Daniel Aitken and Ven. Bhikkhu Anālayo celebrate the launch of Early Buddhist Oral Traditions, and discuss 

The post Ven. Anālayo: Early Buddhist Oral Tradition (#143) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features poet, writer, and Sanbo Zen teacher Henry Shukman.  Henry is Guiding Teacher at Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, studying primarily with Joan Rieck Roshi, John Gaynor, Ruben Habito Roshi, and continuing his training under Yamada Ryo’un Roshi. He also trained in mindfulness practice with Shinzen Young, and has published nine books to date, including fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. He writes regularly for Tricycle, The New York Times, and other publications, most recently having published his memoir One Blade of Grass.

He and host Daniel Aitken discuss:

The post Henry Shukman: Radical Simplicity (#142) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features contemporary Tibetan artist Rabkar Wangchuk. Traditionally trained, Rabkar studied for seventeen years at Gyudmed Tantric University, where he also received training in Tibetan thangka painting and arts. After moving to the West, Rabkar’s style has continued evolving into its own unique form, bringing humor and a depth of meditative searching and self-awareness to the work. We’ll be celebrating the launch of Rabkar’s first solo exhibit, Mystery of Life, which includes his colorful pop-art acrylic paintings, mineral pigment on silk pieces, and 3D installations. 

In this episode, Rabkar and Daniel discuss

The post Rabkar Wangchuk: Mystery of Life (#141) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features special guest His Eminence the 12th Zurmang Gharwang Rinpoche as he and host Daniel Aitken celebrate the launch of Rinpoche’s most recent book, Mahāmudrā: A Practical Guide. H.E. Gharwang Rinpoche was born into the Sikkimese Royal Court and was recognized by H.H. the 16th Karmapa as the incarnation of the Gharwang Tulku. Rinpoche is the supreme lineage holder of the Whispered Lineage of the Zurmang Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. As head of the Zurmang Kagyu School, Rinpoche is the spiritual leader of monasteries and nunneries in Tibet, India, Nepal, and Bhutan.

In this episode, H.E. Gharwang Rinpoche and Daniel discuss

The post Mahāmudrā: A Practical Guide (#140) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast features an interview with special guest Matthew Kapstein Ph.D., Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago, director of Tibetan Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études Paris, and co-editor of the online Oxford Bibliographies of Buddhism. His numerous publications include Buddhism Between Tibet and China, Reason’s Traces,  Contributions to the Cultural History of Early Tibet, and The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism.

Matthew Kapstein and host Daniel Aitken discuss

The post Matthew Kapstein: The Reluctant Professor (#139) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.