Mangala Shri Bhuti - The Link

Rinpoche reflects on how the Cricket World Cup united one billion people of all classes, colors and ages in a moment of pure joy. He contemplated how we could cultivate this same sympathetic joy in our daily lives towards even the smallest act of savings a bug and the power of our mind to bring about real happiness and contentment in this way, despite our external conditions.

Scott describes the impact Kongtrul Rinpoche' s introduction to the way ego mind works has on our mind. With that knowledge, when strong clinging to the self comes about, we know what to do, though letting go at first may seem counterintuitive to the whole process ego sets up. So we must ' shoot the hostage' ... Listen to find out more.

In this talk Elizabeth discusses how to not close down around either beauty or suffering. She describes bearing witness as the inner practice of the Bodhisattva where as one serves one awakens and moves toward connectedness and interdependence.

Expanding the view beyond the self and the resultant relief from the suffering of the five negative emotions and the concept of "Small Self, Large Self".

2011 Losar Address.

The final talk in a series of four recordings of Rinpoche played in February, 2011, all taken from teachings he gave during the Fall/Winter semester at Guna Institute, 2010 - 2011.

The third in a series of four recordings of Rinpoche played in February, 2011, all taken from teachings he gave during the Fall/Winter semester at Guna Institute, 2010 - 2011.

The second in a series of four recordings of Rinpoche played in February, 2011, all taken from teachings he gave during the Fall/Winter semester at Guna Institute, 2010 - 2011.

The first in a series of four recordings of Rinpoche played in February, 2011, all taken from teachings he gave during the Fall/Winter semester at Guna Institute, 2010 - 2011.

When we hear about the emptiness things, we might visualize that emptiness is like a hologram, having form but no substance. However, nothing we think of can actually prepare us for what the real experience of emptiness is like in life. The way our conventional mind works cannot grasp it. Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche describes the sunyata or emptiness experience as "a state where things fade out (stet) and future possibilities have not arisen." It also can be experienced as not knowing what to do.

Rebecca recounts how she entered the Buddhist path and her experience as a student of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche over the last 20 years.

What does Trungpa, Rinpoche mean by "don' t trust"? He is not addressing things that are conventionally untrustworthy such as drug dealers, used car salesmen or large corporations. He is talking about the world always changing and not behaving according to our preferences.

The beginning of the new year is a time when people often make resolutions to change. They might want to quit a bad habit such as smoking or excessive drinking, or to cultivate something such as healthy eating in order to lose weight. But often these good intentions fall by the wayside and are never carried out. In order to actually accomplish one' s intention, one needs in addition to intention, a vision.

New Year is a good time to review the past year to evaluate what has worked for us and what has not, what has been beneficial to others and what has not. Since we are human and not perfect, we are subject to errors and confusions. But these can be remedied. If we contemplate our mistakes with joy and without guilt, if we face our errors in judgment with courage and learn from our mistakes, we can have a clear conscience

Joey Waxman, one of Mangala Shri Bhuti' s khenchungs, examines his own motivation for practice, and asks the question, "how do you develop disciplne without being hard on yourself", in this personal and honest link

Elizabeth suggests that we need to examine where our mind is coming from when we feel driven. Is it tight, fearful and contracted? Is there something inside that is unsettled? That discomfort is often then projected to the outside world. If we stop, look at our minds and relax with the discomfort, we might find things are not what we think. Things can shift very quickly. Loneliness can change into fullness, fixation can change into openness.

Dungse Jampal Norbu continues his exploration of karma. While dieties and our teachers ' supplement' our path, we each must clarify how our intention informs our actions as we seek to walk toward awakening.

Kongtrul Rinpoche reminds us how fast time passes, from a day to a month, a year and then our entire life. What will we have made of this precious opportunity? How do we determine what is important, and not? Will we talk in the footsteps of those who have made communicating the dharma to others their priority?

Speaker: Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel. Elizabeth comments on the poem, "The Art of Disappearing", by Naomi Shahib Nye, exploring renunciation as desirable rather than a loss of things desirable.

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse Jampal explores karma in this eloquent and insightful talk. By identifying two types of karma, personal and general (general meaning phenomena like gravity), we can address what in our karma we can do something about through practice and the view. The Q and A contains engaging discussion of topics such as fate.