Bob Thurman Podcast: Buddhas Have More Fun!

In this episode Professor Thurman discusses how to deepen our mental realism about what we are, what our inner world & processes are by applying the famous Buddhist Eightfold Path. There is a great difference between Buddhist psychology and Western psychology (not a religious difference, but a scientific one). Buddhist psychology does not accept that you have to be unconscious, and that you are going to be driven forever by unconsciousness drives and energies. Although the ordinary, habitual, instinctual driven person is driven by a huge unconscious, and Freud made a great discovery about it, yet we can become conscious of our unconscious. That's what mindfulness is about. In this way, the Eightfold Path offers us instruments in how to gain freedom in our inner processes, rather than being driven by the unconscious — in other words, how to be a master of all energies that we are enfolded with. This episode was recorded on January 3, 2015 at the "New Year's Yoga & Meditation Retreat" at Menla Mountain Retreat, taught by Sharon Salzberg, Robert Thurman, Carolyn Christie, & Brooke Myers. To learn about this annual event, please visit: www.menla.us. Becoming Conscious of the Unconscious - Ep. 49 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Photo by m wrona on Unsplash The “Force for Good” Course, which Professor Thurman discussed in the end of the podcast, is available as a Livestream Talk Series with Q & A. ‘A Force For Good’ is a Tibet House US course to further the Dalai Lama’s contemporary world initiatives. This on-going series was inspired by Daniel Goleman’s ‘A Force For Good: The Dalai Lama’s Vision for Our World‘. To learn more about this year’s Force For Good Series please click the image above or visit: www.tibethouse.us. Listen to more archive recordings from from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. 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 shares the stories of great sinners transforming into great saints, of work-ability of the human mind and preciousness of human life. The miracle stories will go well with your celebratory New Year dinner! Opening this podcast with an introduction to the Buddhist perspective human nature and on the individual's ability to transform themselves ethically through understanding and selfless compassion. Podcast includes an exploration of the Tibetan saints (Bodhisattvas) Tilopa, Marpa & Milarepa lineage, the Six Yoga of Naropa, the use of channel grounds as meditative tools and a short history of Buddhist oral teaching traditions. Includes a recommendation of the 100,000 Songs of Milarepa which features the mystical, supra-normal and psychic stories of the Tibetan hemit yogi whom Henry Miller called "the St. Francis of Tibet" by Robert A.F. Thurman. Saints and Miracles - Ep. 48 of the Bob Thurman Podcast was recorded on November 24, 2015 in a class taught by Professor Thurman at Columbia University.   Saints and Miracles : Tilopa, Marpa & Milarepa - Ep. 48 of the Bob Thurman Podcast via www.himaylanart.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. 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.

Celebrate tonight the welcoming of the Infinite Divine in the form of an innocent child, reaching out not only to humans, but also to non-humans by being born in a manger, and not just to one tribe, but to all of the world, represented by the three wise men. Professor Thurman wishes a Merry Christmas to all of us. This podcast was recorded on December 24, 2015 by Professor Thurman specially for the Christmas Eve at his residence in Catskills, Woodstock, NY. Christmas Podcast: Buddhists Love Jesus Too! Image by Christina Varga, all rights reserved, used with persmission. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘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 explains the meaning of the cornerstone Buddhist concept of Bodhichitta, which is of two kinds: love & compassion and wisdom of emptiness. Enlightenment is a complete manifestation of it . . . This episode was recorded on December 5, 2015 at the "Shamans and Siddhas: Meeting at the Crossroads of Shamanism & Tantrism" retreat at Menla Mountain Retreat, taught by Isa Gucciardi & Robert Thurman. Two Kinds of Bodhichitta : Shantideva - Episode 47 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via www.himalayanart.org.  

Prince Siddhartha was asserting his human right to seek his own flourishing and fulfillment as a human individual rather than serve the community as a king at the wish of his father and of his society. He didn't consider that he was able to really help people who he was supposed to be helping as their ruler. In this episode Professor Thurman discusses the topic of human rights and buddhism, as well as other engaging topics. This episode was recorded on December 10, 2015 in a class taught by Professor Thurman. Human Rights and Buddhism – Episode 46 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via www.himalayanart.org. Listen to more archive recordings from from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘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 episode Professor Thurman talks about the Seventeen Great Scholars of Nalanda. They taught at Nalanda, which was a renowned Buddhist University, which traditionally is said to have grown out of a monastery established during the Buddha's time. His Holiness the Dalai Lama often says that he is not necessarily a follower of this or that particular school of Tibetan Buddhism. Rather he traces his spiritual ancestry or lineage to the Seventeen Great Pandits of Nalanda. Professor Thurman also explains the three main dispensations of Buddhist teachings, and shares with us a compelling biography of the great master Shantideva, one of the Seventeen Great Pandits. This episode is an excerpt from the lecture given at Tibet House US in New York City, October 21, 2015, as part of a lecture series called “The Infinite Lifestyle: The Nalanda Path of Transcendent Perfections.” Shantideva: Seventeen Great Pandits of Nalanda - Episode 45 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via Wikimedia. To watch the full recordings from this + other past events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. Learn about joining the Tibet House US Membership Community with a monthly tax-deductible donation by visiting: www.tibethouse.us. 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.

What does it mean to become a Buddha? Does it mean to disappear into space separate from everything? To feel superior? To become a servant of others? In this episode Professor Thurman discusses what it means to be a Buddha, talks about extreme views of absolutism and nihilism and about the necessity of critical and analytical thinking when listening to the teachings. Buddhism 101 : What does Buddha Feel? - Ep. 44 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Amitabha/Amitayus Image via www.tibethouse.us. This episode is an excerpt from the lecture given at Tibet House US in New York City, October 28, 2015, as part of a lecture series called “The Infinite Lifestyle: The Nalanda Path of Transcendent Perfections.” This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us.

We all know what anger is. When a situation is going wrong for us — when something we wanted to see happening doesn't, or when something we don't want to see happening is happening — we get frustrated. That frustration is a fuel of anger. Some people may advise: "Just swallow your anger," but if you still are feeling angry and are merely not expressing it, your anger can become internalized and make you depressed. Therefore other people choose to express it… But there are also other ways to approach it. In this podcast Professor Thurman talks about anger. Drawing from the Way of the Bodhisattva, the renowned work of the famous Buddhist scholar and saint Shantideva , he explains the ways of preventing anger from overwhelming you. This episode is an excerpt from the lecture given at Tibet House US in New York City, November 4, 2015, as part of a lecture series called “The Infinite Lifestyle: The Nalanda Path of Transcendent Perfections.” Shantideva: Anger Management - Ep. 43 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via www.himalayanart.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘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.

"Since I and other beings, both, in wanting happiness are equal and alike, what difference is there to distinguish us, that I should strive to have my happiness alone?" In this podcast Professor Thurman discusses the ideas, advanced by Buddhist teachers, in this case skillfully expressed by saint and scholar Shantideva: it's by abandoning self-preoccupation and by cultivating concern for others, that we can experience happiness, and not by ignoring other beings, as we are much more used to doing. By expanding our field of attention to thinking of how what we do affects others, we can shift our habit of self-concern for "others-concern", and that can make us happier. This episode was recorded on October 27, 2015 in a class taught by Professor Thurman. Shantideva: Exchanging Oneself for Others - Ep. 42 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via www.himalayanart.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘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.

When we look at mother-beings and see how they really are—quite unhappy, having a lot of problems, growing old—we naturally wish to relieve their unbearable feelings, and this wish takes a form of unbearable compassion. We are afraid that this will be an unpleasant experience for us, but there is a difference, Professor Thurman explains, between compassion and empathy. Once we feel the suffering of others together with them, we wish to get rid of beings' suffering and think how to make them feel happy in the midst of their frustrations or dis satisfactions. And we make a heroic resolve or determination, that we will help them to be free of suffering. This episode was recorded on October 27, 2015 in a class taught by Professor Thurman. Heroic Resolve: Conceiving the Bodhisattva Spirit - Ep. 41 of the Bob Thurman Podcast Image via www.himalayanart.org. This week’s episode’s of the Bob Thurman Podcast was brought to you in part through the monthly support of the Tibet House US Membership Community and Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa in Phoenicia, New York. Listen to more archive recordings from past Robert A.F. Thurman teachings + public events please consider becoming a Tibet House US member. To learn about the benefits of Tibet House US Membership please visit: www.tibethouse.us. The songs “Trance Tibet” & ‘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.