This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features an interview with David Nichtern, a senior Buddhist teacher, meditation guide, Emmy award–winning composer and musician, and founder of Dharma Moon. David is the author of two books with Wisdom: Awakening from the Daydream and Creativity, Spirituality, and Making a Buck. In this episode, David and host Daniel Aitken explore the theme of the sword of prajna, or wisdom, including various translations of the word prajna, what discernment means in practice, how prajna is free from aggression, how to develop prajna, groundlessness and comfort, how to use the sword of prajna, and much more. Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you! The post David Nichtern: Unsheathing the Sword of Prajna (#127) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast features an interview with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo. Tenzin Palmo is a bhikṣuṇī in the Drukpa lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and a brilliant teacher who is able to touch the hearts of many with her presence, her profound understanding of the Dharma, and its relevance and application in daily life. Tenzin Palmo is an author and founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India. She also spent twelve years living and practicing in a remote cave in the Himalayas, three of those years in strict meditation retreat. Tenzin Palmo and Daniel discuss understanding emptiness, recent advances in consciousness studies, women in Buddhism, Dharma in daily life, and much more. Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you! The post Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo: Emptiness, Dzogchen, and Women in Buddhism (#126) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features a conversation with Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison. Koshin is an author, Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, and certified chaplaincy educator. Koshin and host Daniel Aitken discuss the Commit-to-Sit: 90-Day Commitment to Practice he ran earlier this year; his most recent book, Wholehearted; his wisdom for making all of life a place of practice, from the bedsides of the dying, to intimate relationships, and to the heart of New York City and beyond. Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you! The post Koshin Paley Ellison: Making All of Life a Place of Practice (#125) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features a conversation with beloved teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. Rinpoche and host Daniel Aitken discuss practice during lockdown (this episode was recorded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic), working with anxiety and stress, how to choose which teachings to follow, how to understand the nature of your mind, how Rinpoche structures his teachings for his students, and much more. Rinpoche is the author of several bestselling books and oversees the Tergar Meditation Community, an international network of Buddhist meditation centers. He is the son of the renowned meditation master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and was formally enthroned as the seventh incarnation of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche by Tai Situ Rinpoche when he was twelve years old. When he was twenty years old, Rinpoche was appointed as the functioning abbot of Sherab Ling Monastery. In addition to his extensive background in meditation and Buddhist philosophy, Mingyur Rinpoche has held a lifelong interest in psychology, physics, and neurology. He teaches regularly throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you! The post Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche: Dharma for Difficult Times (#124) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features a conversation with renowned translator and scholar Robert Thurman. Dr. Thurman and host Daniel Aitken cover topics such as the not-self; the nature of nirvana; how we try to conceive ultimate reality and its true nature; understanding the importance of negation; and much more. Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you! The post Robert Thurman: Mind, Self, and Reality (#123) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features a conversation with renowned translator and scholar Vesna A. Wallace. She and host Daniel Aitken discuss the Kalachakra Tantra, including the subtle body in the Kalachakra, what makes the Kalachakra unique, and much more. Vesna teaches South Asian and Inner Asian religions and advanced Sanskrit courses in the Department of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara. Her two areas of specialization are Indian Buddhism, particularly Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, and Mongolian Buddhism. She has authored and translated four books related to Indian Buddhism, three of which pertain to the Kalachakra tantric tradition in India, and has published numerous articles on Indian and Mongolian Buddhism. Her most recent book is an edited volume on Mongolian Buddhism titled Buddhism in Mongolian Culture, History, and Society. Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you! The post Vesna Wallace: Exploring the Kalachakra Tantra (#122) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

Guy Armstrong, a respected teacher and author, shares his insights after leading meditation retreats for decades. He discusses his journey from intellectual understanding of Buddhism to profound Vipassana practice in Southeast Asia. Listeners will enjoy his reflections on Mahasi Sayadaw's teachings and the contrasts between Western retreat structures and traditional monastic training. Armstrong also illuminates the concept of choiceless attention in mindfulness, while exploring the evolution of Buddhist thought and its embrace of compassion and emptiness.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features a conversation with Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, the lineage holder of Shangpa Kagyu. Rinpoche and Daniel discuss  what it means to be a lineage holder; how lineage helps preserve the Dharma; the difference between tradition and lineage; how to connect with a lineage; how to think about doubt in the practice; how and why renunciation is important for our lifelong practice, including how Rinpoche has applied the practice of renunciation in his own life; what it’s like to be recognized and trained as a tulku in today’s world; Rinpoche’s latest social engagement projects; why retreat is important, and the kind of joy you can discover on long retreat; and much more. Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you! The post Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche: Lineage, Renunciation, and Engaged Buddhism (#120) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features a conversation with Ven. Sangye Khadro, a Tibetan Buddhist nun and author of the bestselling book How to Meditate: A Practical Guide. Ven. Khadro (Kathleen McDonald) tells us how she discovered Buddhism and how she wrote How to Meditate, including how she teaches meditation to Westerners who typically come to Buddhism in adulthood. She also describes different varieties of meditation and offers suggestions for those with little experience trying to begin their own practice. Ven. Khadro speaks on her favorite aspects of monastic life, and how it allows for an enhanced practice of ethics within a supportive community. Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you! The post Ven. Sangye Khadro: How to Meditate (#119) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

This episode of the Wisdom Podcast, recorded live as a Wisdom Dharma Chat, features a conversation with Lama Alan Wallace, author, scholar, president of the Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies, and Founder, President, and Director of Contemplative Training at the Center for Contemplative Research. Lama Alan has also edited, translated, written, and contributed to more than forty books on Tibetan Buddhism, medicine, language, and culture, as well as the interface between science and religion. In this conversation, recorded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lama Alan gives timely teachings on the benefits of inner and outer solitude. He offers advice on how to not feel like a victim of circumstances, but instead reframe periods of involuntary solitude as opportunities to slow down, practice cultivating the mind, and reassess both personal and societal trajectories. You’ll hear about this and so much more in this truly inspiring episode You may also like: The Joy of Solitude: An Excerpt from Focused and Fearless by Shaila Catherine   Remember to subscribe to the Wisdom Podcast for more great conversations on Buddhism, meditation, and mindfulness. And please give us a 5-star rating in Apple Podcasts if you enjoy our show—it’s a great support to us and it helps other people find the podcast. Thank you! The post Lama Alan Wallace: Solitude and Resilience (#118) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.