Bob Thurman Podcast: Buddhas Have More Fun!

This podcast explores what happens at the moment of death and beyond according to Buddhist wisdom found in the ‘Bardo Thodol’ known in English as the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Explaining the different stages of existence: life, death and the in-between Professor Thurman provides practical meditation methods for living more fully in our daily lives and to help one prepare for the moment of death. Includes a detailed explanation of Vipassana (Insight Meditation), Shamatha (Calm Abiding Meditation) and their context within the Tibetan Buddhist Mind Training & Inner Sciences Tradition. Image by Mathew Macquarrie via www.unsplash.com. To listen to more recordings from this & other past programs please consider becoming a Tibet House US Member. The song ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved. Excerpted from a lecture given on October 29, 2015 at Menla Retreat Center, as part of a retreat called “Death & Deathlessness: Buddhist Insights and Practices for Life, Death, and the In-Between” with Dale Borglum & Robert A.F. Thurman.

Recorded on July 4th Independence Day Robert Thurman discusses the history of the American Holiday, Spiritual Evolution, Constitutional Monarchies, Mass incarceration, Thomas Jefferson’s Second Inaugural Address, Summer & the tradition of going on retreat within Buddhism. In this podcast Professor Thurman calls on the listener to re-examine the concept of a spiritual retreat by understanding it’s context within a modern materialistic language of advancement. “Becoming Enlightened is like graduating but the school, it is the school of reality, the different kinds of reality: the illusionary reality that is not really what it seems to be then there is the real reality which luckily we were been told by those who claimed to have attained it, attain knowledge of it, direct experience it of is blissful, is happiness or freedom from suffering.” Robert AF Thurman To listen to more recordings from past programs with Robert AF Thurman at Tibet House US in New York City + Menla in Phoenicia, New York in the Catskills please consider becoming a Tibet House US Member. To read the article ‘Happy Birthday America. One Small Suggestion by Stephen Fry’ referenced in this podcast by Robert Thurman please visit www.newyorktimes.com. Pride Flag Evolution by Peter Hershey via www.unsplash.com The song ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.  

In this podcast Professor Thurman provides the context of the Buddha’s Enlightenment before launching into a succinct explanation of The Four Noble Truths. Opening this week’s episode with a discussion of the historical and spiritual setting in which the Buddha attained enlightenment, Robert A.F. Thurman gives an introduction to his discoveries and how they are applicable to modern society. “A human being is a part of the whole, called by us, the ‘universe,’ – a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion, to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” Albert Einstein Podcast includes an overview of each of the Four Noble Truths and their relationship to compassion, emptiness and the blissful nature of reality. Buddhism 101 : The Four Noble Truths Image by Joao Silas via www.unsplash.com. “Buddhism 101 : The Four Noble Truths – Episode 124 of the Bob Thurman podcast was recorded at the 2016 Anxiety, Depression & Addiction Retreat at Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York with Mark Epstein M.D. This podcast is apart of the ‘Buddhism 101’ Series using classic teachings from the Robert Thurman archive to elucidate basic concepts of the tradition. is apart of the Buddhism 101 series using classic teachings from the archives of Robert AF Thurman to elucidate basic concepts of the tradition. To learn more about the work of Mark + Bob join them for a Tibet House US Retreat in the heart of the Catskill Mountains please visit www.menla.org. The song ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved. To listen to more recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman programs please consider becoming a Tibet House US Member.  

In this podcast Professor Thurman & Richard Freeman discuss interdependence, the need for compassion for self & others before detailing the subtle energetic system of the nervous system known in the yoga tradition as the chakras. Using references to ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ Maz Kantana, The Kalachakra Tantra, Wilhelm Reich & Freud’s Primal Scene Professor Thurman guides an exploration of the chakra system, psychonauts & yogic practices focusing on the central channel. “Inner science focuses on the soul, spirit, and mind as embodied in the physical body in its environment. It is not simply a name for religious mind control through belief and ritual. It develops various theories but is primarily an experimental science, proceeding by contemplative observation of the mind, senses, emotions, and intellectual faculties. Its laboratory is the mind-body complex itself, as well as the whole range of mental states experienced in waking, dreaming, sleep, meditative trance, and even out-of-body, virtual reality situations. Its technology is yoga, the yoking of conscious attention to empirical exploration, transformative discovery, and healing modification.” Robert Thurman “Buddhist Inner Sciences 101: Chakras” is apart of the Buddhist Inner Sciences 101 Podcast Series taken from the Bob Thurman & Tibet House US archives which are intended to provide an introduction to the yogic, meditative & theoretical practices of the tradition. These recordings are intended to be general overviews & one should be studying with a qualified teacher before attempting or engaging in the practices. Recorded on July 4th, 2016 at ‘Buddha & The Yogis Retreat’ with Robert Thurman, Richard Freeman & Mary Taylor at Menla in Phoenicia, New York.

Saka Dawa, named for the star prominent during the fourth month in the Tibetan calendar, like the Theravadin observance of Vesak is considered the most sacred month in which the Buddha displayed the deeds of birth, enlightenment & Parinirvana. In this Podcast Professor Thurman gives an overview of the Buddhist holiday, a detailed accounting of the details of the Buddha’s Enlightenment as explained in the Buddhist cannon and illustrates the connections to the Kalacharkra Tantra as revealed by Tibet’s yogic tradition & taught by the 14th Dalai Lama. Saka Dawa Strawberry Moon Image © Jenny Waters via Flickr.com To listen to more recordings from past programs with Robert A.F. Thurman at Tibet House US in New York City + Menla in Phoenicia, New York in the Catskills please consider becoming a Tibet House US Member. The song ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

The Buddha’s core teachings call for a series of revolutions in the individual’s perspective which then affect the surrounding community, culture & society in what Professor Thurman defines as a cool revolution. This podcast explores the themes of awakening consciousness, spiritual activism, transformative medicine of Buddha, facing wide ranging crises in our human condition today and the inner revolution. “The tradition of nonviolence, optimism, concern for the individual, and unconditional compassion that developed in Tibet is the culmination of a slow inner revolution, a cool one, hard to see, that began 2,500 years ago with the Buddha’s insight about the end of suffering. What I have learned from these people has forever changed my life, and I believe their culture contains an inner science particularly relevant to the difficult time in which we live.” -Bob Thurman via Infinite Life This episode is an excerpt the Bob Thurman archives recorded at the 2006 dialog with Ashok Gangadean from Global Lens called ‘Infinite Life: The Inner Revolution’ is apart of the ‘Buddhism 101’ Series using classic teachings to elucidate basic concepts of the tradition. Cool & Inner Revolutions : Buddhism 101 Photo by Steven Libralon on Unsplash  

Traditional Tibetan Medicine as preserved in Tibet with it’s practical synthesis of Ayurvedic, Chinese & Greek diagnosis systems is widely regarded as one of the greatest gems of Tibetan Culture. Opening this special podcast with recitation of the mantras of Avalokiteśvara, Tara & The Medicine Buddha Professor Thurman provides a detailed history of Traditional Tibetan Medicine and his own Buddhist studies with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Wangyal, Yeshi Dhonden & Dr Nida Chenagtsang. Image © Gaby Altenberger via www.flickr.com. To listen to more recordings from past programs with Robert AF Thurman at Tibet House US in New York City + Menla in Phoenicia, New York in the Catskills please consider becoming a Tibet House US Member. The song ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

In this podcast Professor Thurman discusses how Buddha Nature can be understood as being a form of Loving Activism found through the realization of Emptiness. Includes a reading from the introduction to the AIBS Publication “Sublime Continuum Treatise Commentary” by Bo Jiang. Emptiness, or selflessness, is a foundation in all forms of Buddhist thought & education. In contemporary scholarship, its critical, negational impact is widely misunderstood as a form of nihilism. Revealing the radically life affirming call to action to all sensitive beings found in the Buddha’s teachings through the recent works by the Wachowski sisters (The Sense8 Netflix Television Series & The Cloud Atlas) Professor Thurman unpacks the Buddhist Centrist notion of Buddha Nature in humorous language even today’s binge watching seekers can understand. © Image by Just1of7billion via Flickr. To listen to more recordings from past programs with Robert A.F. Thurman at Tibet House US in New York City + Menla in Phoenicia, New York in the Catskills please consider becoming a Tibet House US Member. The song ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.

Engaging the wit, wisdom & practical solutions offered by the Buddhist concept of fierce compassion Robert AF Thurman’s special Mother’s Day podcast is an exploration of cool revolutions & the cool heroes found in every home: women. Citing The Guardian’s Carole Cadwalladr research into Oligarchs, the Brexit Vote & the rise of President Donald Trump as an example of cool leadership in this podcast Professor Thurman outlines the important non-violent global resistance that women are the center of. Buddhism’s Cool Heroes : Women – Ep. 118 of the Bob Thurman Podcast photo by Rebecca Cook/Reuters. This special Mother’s Day podcast was recorded on May 12th in Woodstock, New York.  

Examining the form Buddhist traditions have taken in America in terms of the Eight Fold Path & the services they provide Professor Thurman suggests American Buddhism can be best defined as a Buddhism without Buddhism. Recorded at the Awakened Leadership Conference hosted by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation in 2009. To learn more about their work please visit: www.fredericklenzfoundation.org. This podcast is a part of the on-going series ‘American Buddhism’ exploring current events from a modern Buddhist Centralist perspective with Professor Robert AF Thurman. “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Buddha” Image from www.thetattooedbuddha.com. To listen to more recordings from this & other past programs please consider becoming a Tibet House US Member. The song ‘Dancing Ling’ by Tenzin Choegyal from the album ‘Heart Sutra‘ (2004) by Ethno Super Lounge is used on the Bob Thurman Podcast with artist’s permission, all rights reserved.