Buddhist Geeks

Episode Description: We’re joined today by Vidyuddeva, a young Zen teacher who spent 5 years in monastic training with Zen Master Steve Hagen. Vid is now a teacher in his own right, and teaches with both the iEvolve Practice Community as well as with the Integral Spiritual Center (founded by Ken Wilber). In this episode, […] The post BG 134: The Erotic Embrace of Life and Meditation appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: Erik Curren is a business leader, community activist, author, Buddhist meditator, and politician—who is running for state legislature in Virginia during the 2010 election period. We were contacted by Erik’s campaign manager, who told us that Erik’s Buddhist background was causing a backlash of religious intolerance from some camps, including his fellow Democrats. […] The post BG 133: Erik Curren: The Buddhist Politician appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: This week we’re joined by Reverend Danny Fisher–a Buddhist Chaplain and author. Danny shares with us his reasons for becoming chaplain, where the notion of chaplaincy or service to others comes from in the Buddhist tradition, and what it’s like to undertake a Buddhist-based divinity program. In the 2nd half of our conversation […] The post BG 132: Buddhist Chaplaincy, Buddhist Youth appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: This week we speak with esteemed scholar, and the former professor of Buddhist Studies at UC Berkely, Dr. Lewis Lancaster. Lewis shares with us the important history of the Buddhist tradition, focusing in particular on the unique attributes of Buddhism that made it the first “world religion,” a religion that is able to […] The post BG 131: Buddhist History 101 appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: Zen teacher Norman Fischer—a teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi—joins us again to speak about the religion, evolution, and Buddhism’s unique role in both. The conversation begins with an overview of American sociologist Robert Bellah’s schema on the evolution of religion throughout the ages. We then discuss the important role that […] The post BG 130: Buddhism and the Evolution of Religion appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: As Buddhism transitions to the West, we see that it is doing so in a couple different ways. Some forms look more like their original Asian roots, while others are secular and non-Religious in their presentation. Zen teacher Norman Fischer, an early 2nd generation teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, calls […] The post BG 129: Buddhism May Need a Plan B appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: This week, I speak with non-dual teacher and former Tibetan monk, Peter Fenner. Peter was a monk for nearly a decade before he disrobed, realizing that the Buddhist practices he was engaged in weren’t leading him to what he was looking for. He then looked to Western psychotherapeutic technologies, and in the process […] The post BG 128: Peter Fenner – Entering into Natural Meditation appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: This week we speak with Gen-X Zen teacher Brad Warner, author of the newly released Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate. We talk a little bit about his book, which leads to a critique of what we might call “Popular Buddhism.” We then ask Brad about an article he wrote called, “Satori […] The post BG 127: Pop Buddhism & Satori Porn appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: This week we speak with Shambhala acharya and cultural anthropologist, Gaylon Ferguson. Gaylon speaks about the view of Natural Wakefulness, in short that innate wisdom is there from the beginning. We also discuss the four foundations of mindfulness as they were taught by Chogyam Trungpa, and the differences between emphasizing naturalness and training […] The post BG 126: Natural Wakefulness appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: We’re joined again by Tami Simon–founder of the spiritual media company Sounds True and senior student of Vajrayana teacher Reggie Ray. This week we ask her about her new podcast series, Insights at the Edge, where she has been interviewing many of the best spiritual teachers in the world. Jokingly, Tami said that […] The post BG 125: Insights at the Edge appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: In this episode we speak with Tami Simon–founder of the spiritual media company Sounds True and senior student of Vajrayana teacher Reggie Ray. Tami shares us with us the intimate details of her initial meeting with Reggie, and the amazing results that followed. She also describes what she has learned from beginning to […] The post BG 124: You Will Get the Dharma You Need appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: This week we speak to the Buddhist-inspired musician Ravenna Michalsen. She explains why dharma music need not sound the way we think it should (think monks chanting in Asian in a cave). Instead, Ravenna’s music crosses musical genres and stretches our notion of what dharma music is. We also discuss the life and […] The post BG 123: Dharma Music Can Sound Like Anything appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: This week, Adam Engle, the business mastermind behind the Mind and Life Institute, joins us to discuss both the evolution of the project as well as its larger impact. The first Mind and Life Dialogue was held in Dharamsala, India in 1987 with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Since then, Adam says, it […] The post BG 122: The Evolution of the Mind and Life Dialogues appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: Alan Chapman is a Western magick practitioner, and the author of the newly released book, Advanced Magick for Beginners. Alan found his way into the field of Chaos magick through the work of Aleister Crowley and since has worked with a powerful technique called “the Holy Guardian Angel,” which very much like the […] The post BG 121: The Great Work of Western Magick appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.

Episode Description: Dr. Susan Blackmore–a psychologist and long-time Zen practitioner–shares with us the discoveries that she made while writing her latest book, Ten Zen Questions. Listen in to find out what she discovered after many, many hours of asking questions, such as: “Am I conscious now?”, “What was I conscious of a moment ago?”, & […] The post BG 120: The Mystery of the Mind: Ten Zen Questions appeared first on Buddhist Geeks.