LAMA SURYA’S “AWAKENING NOW: PODCAST- EP. 73 "Finding Truth and Enlightenment At Home"
We don’t need to sit on a 20-hour flight to the East to find liberation. Lama Surya Das shares a talk on the possibility of finding truth and freedom right where you are.
“There is a master in India and his name is Punja-ji. One of my friends stuck a video camera in his face. He said, ‘Oh master, there are many seekers of truth. Friends and sangha members in the West and in America. They are seeking truth. They want to know what to do. Do you have any advice for them.’ The master said, ‘Stay...
Lama Surya's "Awakening Now: Podcast- EP. 72- "Awakening with Mindful Awareness"
Lama Surya looks at the possibilities for awakening presented by The Buddha’s teachings. He explores the important role that mindful awareness plays in this awakening.
“Buddhism is based on The Buddha’s enlightenment experience that he promised anybody can experience by cultivating such a path. Why become a mere Buddhist if you can become a Buddha?” – Lama Surya Das
Inter-meditation: Let Death be your Guru -
an interview with CJ Liu
CJ Liu interviews Lama Surya Das on the chapter in his book on Death and Dying and the Lojong practice. Find out why the Buddha said that death was his teacher. What is inter-meditation? How is it different than closed eye solitary meditation on the cushion? What are misunderstandings we have about equanimity? What is the middle path between nihilism and obsession with the material? How can you comfort someone who is terminal? Lama Surya Das outlines the structure of the Tonglen practice.
LAMA SURYA’S “AWAKENING NOW” PODCAST – EP. 71- Paul Samuel Dolman
Lama Surya Das is joined by Paul Samuel Dolman for a chat that touches on the importance of remembering our true natures, bringing awareness to social action, and learning to love the world by starting with ourselves.
“My mind is crazy like all minds are, my egoic mind will run wild. If I just bring it home with meditation, I ground myself and remember that I am an infinite being. I need constant reminding.” – Paul Samuel Dolman
LAMA SURYA’S “AWAKENING NOW” PODCAST – EP. 70 “Caught Up in the Trees”
Lama Surya Das explores the ways in which our egos allow our innate and limitless awareness to get caught up in the trees of our desires and fears.
“This is the bigger picture. Not getting caught up in the trees, but glimpsing the whole forest at once. Not being lost in the trees, but also having the bigger picture in mind as we negotiate relative decisions and turnings amidst the alleys and byways of skyscrapers – the big forest.” – Lama Surya Das
Fulfillment Prayer
May all those who offered me food & nourishment this year
attain the sublime happiness of total peace and contentment.
May all those who offered me drink and dessert,
who served, who received, who honored me,
who helped or collaborated and co-created with me,
or who made offerings to me and my altruistic spiritual mission---
May they attain happiness and well-being,
be well and joyful, and enjoy complete
fulfillment, peace, & harmony.
With love and blessings,
Lama Surya Das
Lama Surya’s “Awakening Now” Podcast – Ep. 69 "Clear Light and The View"
How can our practice loosen up our fixed perspective of “I” relating to “it?” Lama Surya Das introduces the Clear Light practices of the Dzogchen Buddhist tradition that addresses this question of identity.
This Clear Light practice is part of the six yogas of Naropa and the chenpo practice that leads directly into the tantra mahamudra in dzogchen. Letting go and letting Buddha breathe through you – or even better – just allow thinking to proceed unhindered, in the bigger context of awareness.” – Lama...
So much to face lately, or is it always that way? I thought the old adage was that as you age, you worry less- so they lied, huh? Is this what my late mother called "The illusory promise of the Golden Years and Happy Hereafter?"
I recently saw an entire article dedicated to helping us sort through, and deal with all of this worry, anxiety, and uncertainty. While there were many sane rebuttals and remedies, what I realized, as a seeker and questioner myself-- is that what I've come to truly trust is my own common sense, inner discernment, and bullshit detector too---educating myself...
Lama Surya’s “Awakening Now” Podcast - Ep. 68 – The Buddha in Your Backyard with CJ Liu
Radio host CJ Liu joins Lama Surya Das for a conversation about how we can get in touch with our inner Buddha nature when we are distressed or overwhelmed with the suffering and injustice in the world.
“We need to listen to each other because we are talking to each other and not listening. This person says this and the other person is not listening to what the other person is saying, they are taking a little fragment of that and going off in some other direction. You are not listening because your...
Lama Surya's "Awakening Now" Podcast- Ep. 67 – The Heart Sutra
This week on the Awakening Now Podcast, Lama Surya Das explores the wisdom of the Heart Sutra and the clear view of Prajñaparamita.
Gate gate paragate parasaṃgate bodhi svaha | Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond, Enlightenment hail!” – Prajñaparamita Mantra, The Heart Sutra
