Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 3 (Impermanence, Part 1)

We continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher, following Rinpoche's teachings from San Francisco in 1999-2002. We started Chapter Two, "Impermanence" (from p.39 in the Padmakara translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher), and spent most of our time discussing our understanding of impermanence and how we can live our lives with an awareness of impermanence. A recording of our conversation is available here.

The topics we covered included:

• Impermanence and death: how we relate to the process of death and dying
• The difference between "post hoc", reactive applications of impermanence (e.g. "this too shall pass" once something bad - or good - has happened) compared to impermanence as a view to be applied as an approach to life
• Impermanence and flow: How life/reality has the interdependent, fluid, nondual quality of flow. How our (eternalist) tendency to solidify experience (and create a sense of permanence) leads us to interrupt the flow of life as we attempt to cling to (or reject) experience.
• The difference between flow as impermanence/nonduality/compassion and flow as a 1960s-style (or New Age) "going with the flow"
• What creates blocks to our remaining in the flow? Where do we lack awareness of (aspects of) flow? How do we choose not to engage in the flow?
• Impermanence and compassion: how meditation on impermanence gives rise to tenderness, the genuine heart of sadness, and compassion
• Impermanence as path

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 2 (The Freedoms and Advantages)

We continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher, following Rinpoche's teachings from San Francisco in 1999-2002. A recording of our conversation is available here.

We completed Chapter One, "The Difficulty of Finding the Freedoms and Advantages" (to p.37 in the Padmakara translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher).

The topics we covered included:

• How emotional habits can get in the way of Dharma practice
• The pitfalls of developing emotional attachments and expectations towards the teacher
• The application of the Six Paramitas in all aspects of practice and life (cf. §2.2.2 on p.18)
• The benefits of contemplation on precious human birth and "the difficult of finding the freedoms and advantages" to develop the inspiration for practice

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 1 (The Proper Way to Listen to the Spiritual Teachings)

This week we started Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro, The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We will be following Rinpoche's teachings from San Francisco in 1999-2002. A recording of our conversation is available here.

We started at the beginning of Chapter One with "The Proper Way to Listen to the Spiritual Teachings" (p.7 in the Padmakara translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher), and went as far as "The Six Stains" (§2.1.2, p.15)

Bodhicitta, Post-Meditation and 'Good Work'

In our conversation on 1 November (where we were joined by sangha members from Victoria and Edmonton via skype) we explored bodhicitta and post-meditation, looking at the question of what does it mean to benefit beings in our everyday lives, particularly in our work. We based our conversation on Howard Gardner's articles 'What is Good Work" & "Achieving Good Work in Turbulent Times" (available here). A recording of our conversation is available here.

The topics we covered include:

• The importance of mentorship (especially for younger people)
• The contrast between work and spiritual life, and what does "spirituality at work" actually mean (what Christian/Buddhist perspectives might have in common, and where they differ)
• Broadening our circle of concern and sphere of influence
• How it's often unclear what is the right or best thing to do from an ethical perspective (i.e. even if we have an enlightened intention, what should we do?)
• Action and enlightened engagement (from the perspective of Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika)
• Western approaches to ethics (Aristotelian virtue ethics, Kantian deontology, consequentialism and utilitarianism) and how these are different from bodhicitta and Buddhist approaches to ethics (in particular the role of intention/motivation)

Rinpoche on student/teacher relationship

Here's a lovely video of Rinpoche being interview about the student/teacher relationship. Enjoy!

Buddhist History (Week 8) - Tibetan Buddhism (part 2)

Our conversation on 11 October (Week 8 of Buddhist history) was the second of two sessions looking at the history of tantra and Tibetan Buddhism, and also completing Conze's book "Buddhism: A Short History" by looking at Buddhism in the West and the modern world. We also revisited Alan Wallace's article "The Spectrum of Buddhist Practice in the West" (available here). The recording is available here.

Buddhist History (Week 7) - Tibetan Buddhism (part 1)

Our conversation on 27 September (Week 7 of Buddhist history) was the first of two sessions looking at the history of tantra and Tibetan Buddhism. The recording is available here.