Words Of My Perfect Teacher (Week 22) - Guru Yoga (Part 1)

The recording of our discussion about guru yoga (from 13 March) is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 21 (Kusali)

The recording of our discussion about kusali (chöd) practice (from 6 March) is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 20 (Mandala)

The recording of our discussion about mandala offering (from 27 February) is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 19 (Vajrasattva)

The recording of our discussion about Vajrasattva (from 20 February) is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 18 (Bodhicitta III) - includes DJKR Moscow teaching on Bodhicitta from 17 July

On 25 July, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher, continuing with Chapter Two, "Arousing Bodhicitta: The Root of the Great Vehicle" (continuing with section III.2, "Training in the bodhicitta of application: the six transcendent perfections", starting at "Transcendent concentration", p.248 in the First Edition).

We started by listening to and discussing Rinpoche's teaching on bodhicitta given in Moscow on 17 July, which was part of his ngöndro teaching on The Excellent Path to Enlightenment (Rinpoche's teaching is included as part of the recording of today's conversation).

The topics we talked about included:

• The importance of aspiration bodhicitta and not being too hard (or too loose) with oneself
• Reducing the distinctions among the Eight Worldly Dharmas during the journey towards realising ultimate bodhicitta
• The importance of giving up distractions and creating a protected space (or retreat boundary) in order to support one's practice (see section III.2.5.1 "Giving up distractions" in The Words of My Perfect Teacher)
• How any action includes all six paramitas, and how we can use this as a checklist to check our own practice of application bodhicitta (see section III.2.6.3 "Wisdom through meditation" in The Words of My Perfect Teacher)
• Atisha's teaching that "The best diligence is to give up activities"
• Jigme Lingpa's teaching that "Transcendent generosity is found in contentment; its essence is simply letting go"

A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 17 (Bodhicitta II)

On 11 July, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro, TheWords of My Perfect Teacher, continuing with Chapter Two, "Arousing Bodhicitta: The Root of the Great Vehicle" (starting at section I.4 "meditation on sympathetic joy"). A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 16 (Bodhicitta I)

On 27 June, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher, starting Chapter Two, "Arousing Bodhicitta: The Root of the Great Vehicle" (from p.195). A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 15 (Refuge II)

On 6 June, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher, continuing Chapter One, "Taking Refuge" (from "How to Take Refuge" p.177). A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 14 (Refuge I)

On 23 May, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, beginning Part Two, "The Extraordinary or Inner Preliminaries." We started Chapter One, "Taking Refuge" (p.171), and also talked about Rinpoche's recent Dharma Gar teachings on Refuge. A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 13 (How to Follow a Spiritual Friend)

On 02 May, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro, The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We continued with Chapter Six on "How to Follow a Spiritual Friend". A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 12 (Karma IV)

On 25 April, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We concluded Chapter Four on Karma, "Actions: Cause and Effect" (from The Words of My Perfect Teacher), Chapter Five on "The Benefits of Liberation," and started Chapter Six on "How to Follow a Spiritual Friend" (p.137). A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 11 (Karma III)

On 28 March, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro, The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We continued Chapter Four on Karma, "Actions: Cause and Effect" (from The Words of My Perfect Teacher). A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 10 (Karma II)

On 28 February, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We continued Chapter Four on Karma, "Actions: Cause and Effect" (from p.105 in the Padmakara translation ofThe Words of My Perfect Teacher). A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 9 (Karma I)

On 21 February, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We started Chapter Four on Karma, "Actions: Cause and Effect" (from p.101 in the Padmakara translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher). A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 8 (Samsara, Part 4 - The Asura and God realms)

On 14 February, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We reached the end of Chapter Three, "The Defects of Samsara" (from p.92 in the Padmakara translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher), completing the sections on the sufferings of the asura (demigod) and god realms (sections 5 and 6). A recording of our conversation is available here. Some of the topics we talked about include:

• The pride and jealousy of gods in other religions (e.g. Christianity and Islam), and how this interpretation of the nature of god is based on strong dualism (i.e. extreme views)
• The difference between renunciation as path (e.g. to give up a particular "samsaric pleasure" such as a latte, or to adopt some form of spiritual practice such as taking vows or going on retreat, as a way of cultivating discipline) and renunciation as view (e.g. the advice "do not adopt and do not abandon": once we no longer see nirvana as a separate realm "over there", then we see that our current realm is equally samsara or nirvana - it all depends on our awareness and perception, so renunciation is about changing our inner world rather than making changes in the external world)
• The benefits of wandering, as "If you stay in one place too long, you will find fault even with the Buddha" (p.98)
• How renunciation is about cultivating nonduality, full self-expression and openness to experience, rather than the common misunderstanding of renunciation as harsh, nihilistic self-sacrifice (just as the Buddha initially tried the path of the ascetic, before realising that extreme paths cannot lead to enlightenment). Although the six realms are suffering, that does not mean Buddhism is a negative/depressive path. In fact, renunciation is the only means to be able to live fully.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 7 (Samsara, Part 3 - The Human realm)

On 7 February, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro, The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We continued with Chapter Three, "The Defects of Samsara" (from p.81 in the Padmakara translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher), spending our time on the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness and death, and completing the section on the sufferings of the human realm (sections 4.2 and 4.3). A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 6 (Samsara, Part 2 - The Hungry Ghost & Animal realms)

On 31 January, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro, The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We continued Chapter Three, "The Defects of Samsara" (from p.72 in the Padmakara translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher), and completed the sections on the hungry ghost (preta) realm (section 2) and the animal realm (section 3). We started on the human realm, covering the three fundamental types of suffering (section 4.1). A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 5 (Samsara, Part 1 - The Hell realm)

On 17 January, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro, The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We started Chapter Three, "The Defects of Samsara" (from p.61 in the Padmakara translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher), and completed the section on the hell realms. A recording of our conversation is available here.

Words of My Perfect Teacher - Week 4 (Impermanence, Part 2)

On 10 January, we continued Patrul Rinpoche's commentary on the Longchen Nyingtik ngöndro,The Words of My Perfect Teacher. We concluded Chapter Two, "Impermanence" (from p.39 in the Padmakara translation of The Words of My Perfect Teacher). A recording of our conversation is available here.

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