Buddhist Geeks

We speak with Lama Surya Das this week about what it takes to integrate spiritual understanding into our lives as 21st century citizens. He explores the question of whether our sense of time has sped up in the “over-information age,” and how we can change our relationship to time. He also shares the outlines of what he calls the Six Building Blocks of a Spiritual Life—a post-traditional model aimed at integrating the inner and outer dimensions of life. We conclude our discussion by looking at what he calls, “Positive Buddhism.” Positive Buddhism is a formulation of the Buddhist teachings that emphasize some of the more life-affirming aspects of the awakened life, instead of some of the more life-denying aspects, such as suffering, renunciation, and non-attachment. This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1, The Tao of Twitter. Episode Links: www.Surya.org The Mind is Mightier Than the Sword ( http://amzn.to/cmIOru ) Positive Psychology ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology ) Awakening

When it comes to leveraging the technologies of our time, Lama Surya Das is one of the most active American Buddhists around. He blogs, tweets, skypes, hosts webinars, and participates in virtual retreats. And yet he acknowledges that if it were completely up to him, he’d be leading meditation retreats in-person and writing books. We speak with Surya Das on why he has decided to engage these technologies, as opposed to treating them merely as distractions or as “necessary evils,” as so many teachers do. We explore both the upsides and downsides of what he refers to as, “beaming, streaming media.” As he points out during the interview, he feels he has two feet firmly planted in the old tradition, and two feet firmly planted in the new. What happens when someone is immersed in both? This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, Living in Buddha Standard Time. Episode Links: @LamaSuryaDas ( www.twitter.com/LamaSuryaDas ) www.Surya.org The Tao of Twitter: The Spirit in the Machine ( http://bit.ly/9wtD4c

We’re joined this week by Flamenco guitarist and Zen practitioner Ottmar Liebert. Ottmar shares the story of how he broke with his childhood religion of Catholicism, started doing Transcendental Meditation, and then found his spiritual home in the Zen tradition. We also discuss the nature of practice, and compare how it manifests in both music and meditation. We also explore the distinction between solitary practice and performance, seeing what parallels to music we might find in Zen. Episode Links: www.OttmarLiebert.com Petals on the Path ( http://www.ottmarliebert.com/music/album/petals-on-the-path ) Letter to a Young Musician #1 ( http://www.ottmarliebert.com/diary/?p=6374 )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

“You need not make efforts to create non-conceptuality. You need not regard thoughts as a fault. And so that your practice does not succumb to famine, from the beginning have a bountiful crop. Not searching for a state that is calmly resting, vividly clear, and filled with bliss, bring into your experience whatever arises without taking it up or discarding it.” – Orgyenpa We’re joined again this week by one of our favorite Buddhist Geeks, Robert Spellman. In our discussion with him, we delve into the often tenuous relationship that meditators have to their own thoughts. Robert shares a profound teaching from a 13th century Tibetan teacher, Orgyenpa, on how to relate to the thinking mind. He also talks about the difficulty in getting personally identified with insights, and explores what is meant by “non-meditation.” For those meditators out there who are interested in having a more empowering and healthy relationship to their own minds, this promises to be a very interesting interview. Episode Links: www.Robe

We’re joined again by meditation teacher Jason Siff to conclude our exploration of the fundamental ideas and practices behind his unique approach of Unlearning Meditation, or what he calls Recollective Awareness. We begin with exploring what recollection, or mindfulness, is and how it can be harnessed through a practice of meditative journaling. Jason continues his deconstruction of the type of prescribed practices which suggest doing something “all of the time” and suggests instead that we find out for ourself what meditation is about and where it is leading. We wrap up the discussion by exploring a different way of developing samadhi, a method that Jason describes as “drifting off in meditation.” This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1, Unlearning Meditation. Episode Links: Skillful Meditation Project ( http://www.skillfulmeditation.org ) Unlearning Meditation: What to Do When the Instructions Get In the Way ( http://amzn.to/c0iBUm ) A Mindful Balance ( http://www.alanwallace.org/spr08wallace_

“Meditation instructions that disallow thinking, reflection, or being open to the full range of experience usually imply a distrust of the mind.” – Jason Siff We’re joined by meditation teacher and author Jason Siff, to explore what happens when meditation instructions and techniques get in the way. Jason explains that meditation instructions and rules contain within them certain limitations, that can lead to impasses in our practice. We explore Jason’s approach, Recollective Awareness, as well as discussing the role that both trust and intention play in untangling these unhelpful meditation habits. This is part 1 of a two-part series. Episode Links: Skillful Meditation Project ( http://www.skillfulmeditation.org ) Unlearning Meditation: What to Do When the Instructions Get In the Way ( http://amzn.to/c0iBUm )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

We’re joined this week by filmmaker Michael Trigilo, to explore some of the themes from his newest allegorical documentary, “Bodhisattva, Superstar.” Included in our conversation are questions around what it means to be “spiritual but not religious”, what purpose Religion serves and what difficulties come with it, and why anger is such a hot topic in the Buddhist tradition? We also discuss controversy in spiritual communities—with Michael highlighting his own experience of disappointment and disillusionment—and how these controversies and scandals can become opportunities for a more transparent “cultural conversation” to occur. Finally he shares what he hopes both Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike might get from watching this edgy and sophisticated Buddhist documentary. Episode Links: Bodhisattva, Superstar ( http://www.starve.org/superstar/ ) “The Buddha” on PBS ( http://www.pbs.org/thebuddha/ ) Bewitched, Buddhist, and Bewildered ( http://conceptualart.dreamhosters.com/npr/archives/102 ) The Kalama Sutra (

We’re joined this week by clinical psychologist and Buddhist practitioner John Welwood. John has spent his entire adult life exploring the intersection between Eastern and Western psychological approaches. In our discussion we cover the following topics: the three realms of human experience, spiritual bypassing (a term that John coined), the Buddhist perfections, waking up and growing up as different tracks of human development, and the ways that spiritual awareness can be used in service of psychological growth and well-being.Episode Links:www.JohnWelwood.comToward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation ( http://amzn.to/bKvera )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

We’re joined again by British meditation teacher, Christopher Titmuss, to continue our exploration into the powerful, and often challenging, realm of human sexuality. Christopher shares a couple of stories of monks dealing with sexuality, one a traditional story and the other a story of a 92 year old monk that he practiced with in Thailand. He also explains that if sexual energy, which is a natural part of our humanity, is repressed than it can wreak havoc on how we engage in the world.Finishing up our conversation with Christopher, we ask him if there’s anything he’d like to share with the Buddhist Geeks listeners. He responds with a very interesting caution on not over-emphasizing the development of the mind, over the development of the heart and the vibrancy of our “feeling lives.”This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to Part 1, The Place of the Erotic.Episode Links:www.ChristopherTitmuss.orgSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-

We’re joined this week by Insight meditation teacher and engaged activist Christopher Titmuss. Our main topic of exploration is the place of sexuality, eros, and love in the practice of Dharma. Contained within that topic we explore what is often meant by the word ‘desire’ in English, and how that differs from the what the Buddha taught as the source of suffering, tanha (often translated as thirst or craving).Christopher explains some of the historical reasons that Buddhism has not be able to provide many helpful suggestions concerning sexuality, and also challenges what he sees as a common orthodox among Western teachers and practitioners in regards to sexuality and relationships. We conclude our conversation by exploring the importance—in a cultural climate where long-term monogamous relationships are becoming more and more rare—of treating the ending of relationships with greater care. “How,” Christopher asks, “if we are ending a relationship, can we make a transition from intimacy to that of a caring frie

Secular Buddhist teacher Stephen Batchelor joins us to explore some of the ideas presented in his newest book, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. We start off by examining the two Buddhist doctrines of karma and rebirth, using the original teachings of the Buddha, especially the “imponderables” as a touchstone for the conversation. Stephen’s basic claim being that the belief in rebirth doesn’t have sufficient evidence behind it, and it actually takes away from the core practices and teachings of the Buddha. We conclude the interview by exploring the difference between agnosticism and atheism, which Stephen claims can be integrated together into what he calls an “ironic atheism.” Episode Links: Stephen and Martine Batchelor ( http://www.stephenbatchelor.org ) Buddhism Without Beliefs ( http://amzn.to/bHGkI7 ) Confession of a Buddhist Atheist ( http://amzn.to/9WL5X1 )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to

This week we speak to vipassana meditation teacher, and psychotherapist Trudy Goodman. Trudy completes the story of her early Zen days, and also describes how she transitioned into becoming a vipassana teacher. She also shares some of her training in psychology, wherein she studied with the famous child developmentalist, Jean Piaget in France. She was eventually led her to work with children diagnosed with extreme developmental disorders, and with adults as well. Trudy shares how her practice of meditation was crucial in supporting people in their own therapeutic process, and how the key for all therapists who want to practice some sort of mindful therapy is to really practice and become familiar with their own mind.This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1, Zen, Vipassana, & Psychotherapy.Episode Links:Jean Piaget ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget )InsightLA ( http://www.insightla.org )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/

This week we speak to vipassana and Zen teacher, Trudy Goodman. Trudy shares how she got into both Buddhist meditation and psychotherapy, and uses her story to illustrate the powerful ways that these different methods can compliment one another. Trudy also reflects on the differences between her experience in Zen training with Korean Zen Master Seung Sahn, and her practice of vipassana meditation.This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, The Mindful Therapist.Episode Links:Zen Master Seung Sahn ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seung_Sahn )Insight Meditation Society ( http://www.dharma.org )InsightLA ( http://www.insightla.org )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

This week we’re joined by Zen teacher Jiun Foster, who is actively involved in teaching dharma in the virtual world of Second Life. We speak with him about what it’s like being a participant in Second Life, and what the limitations and strengths of Second Life are, compared to other social media technologies.Finally, we patch in Adam Tebbe, the wizard behind the curtain, to share some details of the organization he helped start, that is responsible for getting so many good dharma teachers onto Second Life.Episode Links:Kannonji Zen Retreat ( http://kannonjiretreat.com )Five Mountain Buddhist Seminary ( http://five-mountain.org )Zen Sitting Group of Cincinnati ( http://cincinnatizen.org )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

Join the Geeks of the Round Table as we discuss an article published on Salon.com entitled, Dive-bar Dharma. The geeks explore several questions, sparked by this article, including whether or not we should update ancient metaphors with more contemporary metaphors? Also of interest is how far teachers should go in adapting the teachings of the Buddha to the culture and counter-cultures that they teach within? How do we discover the fine between making the dharma more fresh and relevant and of sensationalizing it? This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, Every Generation Creates the Dharma Anew. Episode Links: Dive-bar Dharma ( http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/02/20/dharma_in_dive_bars/ ) Buddhist Peace Fellowship ( http://www.bpf.org )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Geeks at www.buddhistgeeks.org/subscribe

"Real creative expression, to me, is a process of discovery … It’s entering the mystery." – Daido Roshi John Daido Loori, Roshi continues his discussion with Robert Spellman on the intersection between contemporary art and contemplative awareness. The two teachers share revealing stories about their understanding of the importance of meditative awareness in the creative process, and of specific exercises that one can do to tap into deeper ways of seeing, participating, and merging with the creative process. This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1, Zen Mountain Monastery: Zen and the Arts. Episode Links: The Eight Gates of Zen: A Program of Zen Training ( http://bit.ly/11HmaQ ) Zen Environmental Studies Institute ( http://www.mro.org/zesi/ ) Robert Spellman ( http://www.robertspellman.com ) Zen Mountain Monastary ( http://www.mro.org/zmm/ )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Get full access to Buddhist Gee

John Daido Loori, Roshi abbot of the Zen Mountain Monastery in NY and well-known Buddhist author, joins us to discuss the history and development of his teaching, especially with regards to the key role that Art plays in Zen practice. Naropa University teacher Robert Spellman joins us as guest host to ask Daido Roshi about the 8 gates of zen, Roshi’s training with Minor White, the difference between Western and Eastern forms of art, how the wildness of nature relates to Buddha-Nature, and ethical issues of taking responsibility for one’s state of mind and their art work. This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to part 2, Everything Arises in the Mind of the Yogi. Episode Links: Mysticism – by Evelyn Underhill ( http://bit.ly/aQOOs ) Zen Mountain Monastary ( http://www.mro.org/zmm/ ) Robert Spellman ( http://www.robertspellman.com ) Minor White ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_White ) The Eight Gates of Zen: A Program of Zen Training ( http://bit.ly/11HmaQ )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/priva

Where does awareness tend to locate itself? And how is this important in our experience and understanding of the Buddhist path of awakening? This week Diane Musho Hamilton—Zen sensei and Big Mind lineage holder—joins us again to discuss the importance of what Ken Wilber calls the three faces of spirit. Using this powerful notion as a lens we explore questions about how and why lineage is passed down, the way that Buddhism adapts to new cultures and why it is particularly vulnerable to being destroyed, how cultural development impacts the tradition, issues surrounding the master-disciple relationship, and finally whether or not one can regulate the erotic impulse. This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to part 1: Discover Yourself as a Perspective-Taking Being. Episode Links: BigMind.org Women Who Sleep with Their Gurus … and Why They Love It ( http://bit.ly/1HO1QHI ) Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind ( http://bit.ly/732ga )See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pri

Diane Musho Hamilton, Zen sensei and Big Mind lineage holder, joins us to discuss her personal story on the path of awakening. From experiencing the death of several friends at a young age, to studying with Chogyam Trunpga in the mid-80s, to becoming the first lineage holder of a unique new spiritual process called Big Mind, join us as Diane shares the intimate details of her life as a seeker (and non-seeker). In this dialogue we also touch in on the importance that the work of integral philosopher Ken Wilber has had on her teaching, especially with regards to what Wilber calls the three primordial perspectives. These three perspectives can be summarized by the pronouns, “I” (first-person), “we” (second-person), and “it” (third-person). Find out why these perspectives are so important to someone who is trying to bring together the spiritual quest with all of their other endeavors. This is part 1 of a two-part series. Listen to Part 2, The Three Faces of Spirit: Where is Awareness Locating Itself? Episode Link

We continue our discussion with Buddhist teacher and author, B. Alan Wallace, on the impact of the recently completed Shamatha Project. Dr. Wallace shares the astounding levels of concentration that were achieved during the 3-month retreats he led and tells us more about the achievement of shamatha. Find out how deep the students on this retreat went, and why nearly %20 of them decided to continue on with intensive retreat practice after it was over!Dr. Wallace also discusses the potential impact that a study of this magnitude could have on the scientific community as well as the culture-at-large. Questions that the study aimed to answer included, “Is it possible to train attention?” & “Does meditation have an effect on ethics?”. While the answers may be obvious to meditators, having them scientifically validated could have a major impact on the fields of education, mental health, and psychology.This is part 2 of a two-part series. Listen to Part 1: Reverberations from The Shamatha Project.Episode Links:T