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Ignorance, Anger, Confusion, Greed, Jealousy, Arrogance, Cynical close-mindedness, Laziness, Disturbing/Wrong views, Low self-esteem, Fear . . .
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In Buddhism they are known as Kleshas, mental hindrances that cloud our mind, setting the stage for unwholesome (i.e., self-centered) intentions and actions.
They are persistent -- sneaky, lurking -- like highway robbers, always ready to pounce . . . contaminating our perspectives while bringing about unfavorable moods and vulnerabilities.
But, while cunningly virulent, their nature is impermanently transient . . . just thoughts; here one moment and gone the next, at times stubborn but neither fruitful or necessary -- and we possess the seeds of mind-clarifying opponents to our Kleshas' effects.
Enter the mindful wisdoms of Lojong (ancient and accessibly practical Tibetan/Mahayana mind trainings).
(Length: 12 minutes)
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Written and shared here by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty of Naropa University in Boulder, CO (mwinwood@gmail.com), with musical accompaniment by San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
"Omniscience" -- defined by Merriam-Webster as "having infinite awareness, understanding and insight; possessed of universal or complete knowledge."
Otherwise known in our Mahayana perspectives as perfectly evolved wisdom, compassion and a complete understanding of everything that could ever be understood in order to fully awaken; to become a brilliantly pure 'helper' of other beings . . . aka Buddhahood.
Fact or fiction? Fairy tale, wishful thinking or Buddhist contemplative mind-science? Is this each sentient beings' (yes, including yours) attainable potential, our embryonic "True Nature" . . . or an imaginatively egoistic dream-scape?
Some are doubtful, others skeptical or cynical, and then there's those who simply knee-jerk into ridiculing the notion.
But perhaps -- for the thoughtful -- doubt serves as a prolific gateway along the path . . .
(Length: 13 minutes)
The Elegant Mind is shared here by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty at Naropa University (Boulder, CO) with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
(contact: mwinwood@gmail.com)
Direct Experiential Realization, often identified in Buddhist thought as requisite 'kin' to the Awakening Mind; slippery to describe with words alone . . . not referring to intellectual understandings or belief systems, perhaps best understood as authentic, unmediated experience(s) of reality.
Join us in an accessible discussion of Direct (and Indirect) Realizations; we unpack 'wisdom' notions from the Heart Sutra; the non-dual perspectives reflected within the Avatamsaka (aka Flower Garland) Sutra's allegory of Indra's vast, multi-dimensional jeweled Net, the role of intellect and related practical how-to's included-in and emerging-from Shamatha (calm abiding) and Vipassana (insight) meditation practices.
(Length: 25 minutes)
The Elegant Mind is shared here by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty at Naropa University (Boulder, CO) with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
(contact: mwinwood@gmail.com)
For your consideration: core Buddhist philosophy, primarily focusing on the Four Noble Truths (including the Eightfold Path) and the authentic learning/empowerment(s) of direct experience.
-- Includes a discussion on the Dukkha-provoking, mistaken-views/notions of ‘Self', practical thoughts on karmic inclinations, Nirvana and the 'Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths', a teaching said to have been shared by Asanga, the influential Buddhist philosopher in the 4th century CE.
(Length: 25 minutes)
The Elegant Mind is presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega. Please send along comments, questions, etc. to mwinwood@gmail.com. Thank you.
'TEACHERS' (aka those we learn from) . . . are everywhere, and always have been.
Consider the people you've encountered while traveling along the path(s) of your life -- both in your past and those who are here now.
Try to clear your mind of feelings of attachment and/or aversion and ask yourself, with an openly honest heart: “What has this person and/or situation taught me? How have they influenced me, enabling me to be the best person I am today?"
Be patient with this, allow contemplation . . . perhaps you will experience an expanding clarity through which you see and appreciate your teachers (and yourself) with increasing -- and profoundly empowering -- understanding(s).
(Length: 13 minutes)
The Elegant Mind is presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega. Please send along comments, questions, etc. to mwinwood@gmail.com. Thank you.
Can cultivating genuine kindness and compassion actually make/keep us physically healthier?
Stress-created/supported chronic inflammation is a stubborn low-level attack on our body, it causes significant wear-and-tear over time and is linked to many diseases (i.e., heart disease, diabetes, etc.) as well as some neuro-degenerative conditions.
But what if a collection of consistent Tibetan Buddhist mind-training contemplative/meditative methodologies ('Lojong') could actually lower our oft-automatic inflammatory responses to various everyday stressors . . . cultivating and maintaining authentically greater, deeper physical health?
Ancient Wisdom practices > Modern Psychology > Physiological Medicine . . .
Interconnectedly powerful? For your consideration . . .
(Length: 14 minutes)
The Elegant Mind is shared here by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty at Naropa University (Boulder, CO) with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
(contact: mwinwood@gmail.com)
A brief, accessible and practical discussion on Forgiveness: Compassion's unsung -- and often misunderstood -- hero.
Far from being a sign of weakness or acceptance of wrongdoing (which is often how so many people instinctively view it), forgiveness isn't about ignoring suffering or condoning harmful misdeeds, nor is it weak or powerless.
Forgiveness is a courageous, sometimes difficult mind/heart-felt activity that enables us to let go of stubbornly abiding fear, anger and resentment . . . and here's the 'thing': we don't forgive for any other person's sake, but profoundly for our own Benefit, our own Freedom, our own Well-being, our own best 'Is-ness'.
(Length: 16 minutes)
Conceived and shared here by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty at Naropa University (Boulder, CO) with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
contact: mwinwood@gmail.com
Disbelief, Wariness, Incredulity . . .
There are many Mahayana Buddhist perceptions and perspectives, notions and insights, practices and methodologies that on the (worldly/samsaric) surface initially might not make sense . . . ideas requiring an open mind in order to penetrate and allow the practical understandings that arouse our curiosity and interest sufficient to lean-in abit and engage -- bringing deeper learning, more penetrating contemplative experiences . . . and progressively awakening moments.
For your consideration . . . a questioning mind is an essential catalyst for both intellectual alertness and developing confidence in one's spiritually innate qualities.
(Length: 17 minutes)
Written and shared here by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty at Naropa University (Boulder, CO) with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
contact: mwinwood@gmail.com
Ongoing advances in Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), most recently -- and explosively -- led by China's DeepSeek scientists, have stunned the tech/financial world in ways splashed about as pivotal 'wake-up' or 'Sputnik' moments.
Certainly, we live in rapidly shifting times . . . but perhaps there ARE things more practically meaningful than global/political/market cyber-tech developments.
For your consideration: here's a brief discussion of what -- beyond the epochal A.I. algorithms -- authentically engaged, high-performance 'DeepSeek'ing Dharma can awaken/manifest in each of us . . . compliments of our very own human Mind.
(Length: 14 minutes)
Written and shared here by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty at Naropa University (Boulder, CO), with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
contact: mwinwood@gmail.com
Visualize a vast railroad terminal resembling New York's Grand Central Station, with freshly deceased people entering all the time, mulling around, eventually trudging from the station waiting room toward the track on which their departure train sits, ready to take them on the journey through the Bardo of Becoming to their next rebirth.
Consider: While we will all be there one day, the specific train for which each of us is ticketed differs, and the experiences of our time upon it -- as well as the individual conditions awaiting at our destination -- are not randomly assigned or determined.
Rather, they are earned by us -- moment-by-moment.
It's classic Cause-and-Effect . . . based upon the Why's and How's of what we do in this life.
(Length: 10 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood, a member of the teaching faculty at Naropa University (Boulder, CO), with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega. Read by Kathy Ambrose.
contact: mwinwood@gmail.com
This time of year can be difficult for many -- obligatory family gatherings, stress, pressure, stale relationships, contrived cheer, awkward communications, discomfort.
But consider: perhaps there's no more fertile setting for meaningful Dharma practice -- and the profound rewards that accompany it -- than with and within our own families.
-- Herein, a tale in which a modern day Bodhisattva provides thoughtful perspectives regarding some not-so-uncommon holiday challenges . . .
(Length: 16 minutes)
Presented by Mark Winwood, an adjunct faculty member at Naropa University (Boulder, CO) and founder of the Chenrezig Project, with music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega in collaboration with Chris Rossbach.
contact: mwinwood@gmail.com
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Years ago, a Tibetan craftsman created the Thangka for her, presenting a luminous Gautama Buddha surrounded by empowering deities and Dharma protectors.
She's spent abundant meditative hours in the Thangka's presence; fondly sitting with it, adoring and appreciating it as one would a most precious friend.
In all their time together, the Buddha had remained Nobly silent, never audibly speaking to her . . . until today.
(Length: 12 minutes)
Written and presented by Mark Winwood, a faculty member at Naropa University in Boulder, CO and founder of the Chenrezig Project, with music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
contact: mwinwood@gmail.com
Call it what you will: enlightenment, realization, awakening, illumination, profound maturity, sageness, bliss . . . noble and empowering . . . brilliant and humble . . . courageous and practical . . . the 'stuff' of poetry.
Cultivating the enlightening mind is, for those who venture in its direction with diligence and authenticity, an adventurous journey on the path toward that which is most profoundly -- and exquisitely -- down-to-earth.
(Length: 11 minutes)
Written and shared here by Mark Winwood, on the teaching faculty at Naropa University (Boulder CO) and the founder of the Chenrezig Project (mwinwood@gmail.com) with musical accompaniment by San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
We often cannot change our external environment. We certainly cannot change many (or most) of the people we encounter.
But Mindfulness practice can lead us to clearly 'see' -- and help us to genuinely understand -- what is happening in the present moment (i.e., as it is happening) rather than being confused and/or lost in our thoughts, opinions and reactions.
Through experiential mindfulness, we can insightfully change in remarkable ways.
And consider: once we are changed, everything changes.
(Length: 17 minutes)
Written and shared here by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project (mwinwood@gmail.com) with musical accompaniment by San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
From a divine 17th century French Canadian cathedral . . . to a young couple presenting Medicine Buddha-oriented offerings in the midst of northern Colorado's 'Rawah Wilderness' -- a tale of bountiful faith and practice touching distant times and realms.
(Length: 14 minutes)
Written and shared here by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project (mwinwood@gmail.com), with musical accompaniment by San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega in collaboration with Chris Rossbach.
"Tonglen" is a Tibetan term that implies 'exchanging oneself with others’.
It refers to a meditation practice found in Himalayan/Mahayana Buddhism which allows the awakening of genuine compassion. "Tong" translates as 'giving or sending', and "len" as 'receiving or taking.'
Tonglen practice is experiential; it gradually wears away our habitually obsessive grasping at a false sense of self (e.g., stubborn ego fixation / relentless identification with the personality).
Through meditative visualization(s), Tonglen effectively reverses our familiar pattern of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure. As this occurs, we finally liberate ourselves from the deeply rooted -- and destructive -- prison of selfishness.
(Length: 45 minutes. Included herein: Tonglen discussion followed by a guided meditation which begins at approximately 20 minutes.)
Written and shared here by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project (mwinwood@gmail.com).
Reflections on Buddhist Dharma, Indra’s Jewel Net and the Trees with which we share our planet . . . as metaphor for the vast intra-connectedness of phenomena, ideas and life.
Since all things are intimately -- and infinitely -- intertwined with one another, every action is echoed throughout time and space, creating a butterfly effect across the cosmos . . . and practically, within each moment of our experience(s).
Let your contemplative imagination take wing . . .
(Length: 14 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood and presented here by Kathy Ambrose, both of the Chenrezig Project. Accompanying music composed and performed by the renowned San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega, joined by the Turtle Island String Quartet.
For your contemplation: Appreciative thoughts and kindness-empowering visualizations are shared in this gentle meditation.
As the River flows . . . May all beings be happy -- May all beings be safe -- May all beings be well -- May all beings be peaceful and at ease.
Sit comfortably, focus, center . . . approach and enter your meditative mind. Or simply listen.
(Length: 28 minutes)
Written and shared here by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project.
It is auspicious awareness for Dharma practitioners to remain mindful of how each of our lifetime's event/moments present opportunities for empowering wisdom to arise and abide.
Then, as insights blossom, long-held perspectives and self-oriented attitudes, no longer useful or relevant, may transform in vastly unexpected ways.
Consider: the flourishing of these insights -- and how we engage with them -- depends on no one but ourselves.
(Length: 13 minutes)
Written and shared here by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
The inherently potent merging of Tibetan Buddhism-supported mind states, in concert with the vibrational qualities of Sanskrit sounds and syllables, provides a direct, enriching stimulus to the energies -- and results -- of our Dharma practice.
This has been understood and experienced by practitioners for centuries, who will recite teachings and prayers in their own Tibetan language but have preserved and practice their mantra recitations in Sanskrit, knowing a mantra's intrinsic 'merit' lies mainly in its vibrational qualities rather than in any psychological meaning that society, culture, civilization or humans have placed on it.
But initial 'mantra practice' challenges are not uncommon here in the West . . .
(Length: 15 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, shared here by Kathy Ambrose with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
