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This podcast site contains timely discussions and interviews from the Pacific Northwest concerning practical notions and methodologies for all -- regardless of level of experience or knowledge -- who are curious, interested or an ongoing student/practitioner of Himalayan (aka Tibetan) Buddhism. ＜br＞ The Chenrezig Project is a Buddhist study/discussion group located in Boulder County, CO. Mark Winwood (mwinwood@gmail.com), the Chenrezig Project’s founder and a member of the teaching faculty at Naropa University in Boulder, hosts these broadcasts. We are involved in an ongoing variety of teachings, writings, community events, etc. To learn more, please visit our website at www.ChenrezigProject.org. ** ** ** Our podcasts feature music composed and performed by Bobby Vega. Bobby has been playing and creating music for more than four decades. He began his professional career as a bass player in 1973 (at the age of 16) on Sly Stones’ single “I Get High on You.” A Bay Area musician’s musician, Bobby has played with artists ranging from Joan Baez and Etta James to Santana and the Jefferson Starship and he was added to Bass Player Magazine’s Top 100 Bassists of all time in 2017. An accomplished composer, Bobby has collaborated on the soundtracks for the TV documentary Vietnam: A Television History, the Francis Ford Coppola film One from the Heart, and the Sega video game Sonic The Hedgehog. Four decades and nearly 5,000 gigs after he first began playing bass, Bobby Vega continues to develop his complex and heady blend of rhythm & blues, rock, funk, technique, and tone, “laying it down” with incredible feeling and groove. More about Bobby and his music may be found at www.bobbyvega.com. Elegant Mind Podcasts. © 2018-2021, Mark Winwood. All Rights Reserved. Contact: mwinwood@chenrezigproject.org

Podcast episodes

Check latest episodes from Tibetan Buddhism: The Elegant Mind podcast

Kleshas: Like Highway Robbers . . .

2023/12/04

Ignorance, Anger, Confusion, Greed, Jealousy, Arrogance, Cynical Doubt, Laziness, Wrong Views, Low Self Esteem, Fear. In Buddhism these are known as Kleshas, mental hindrances that cloud our mind, setting the stage for unwholesome (i.e., self-centered) intentional actions. They are stubborn -- sneaky, lurking -- like highway robbers, always ready to pounce . . . contaminating our perspectives while bringing about unfavorable moods and vulnerabilities. But they are transient . . . just thoughts, and so . . . enter Lojong (Tibetan mind training). (Length: 12 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.

Some Thoughts on Mindfulness Practice

2023/08/04

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.

Dharma in the ”Wild Place”

2023/06/01

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.

Turn Suffering Into Compassion -- A Tonglen Meditation

2023/04/18

"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).

Trees, Indra’s Net and the Unfolding Archaeology of All that Is

2023/03/27

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.

Guided Meditation: Breath Contemplation / River of Metta

2023/02/17

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.

A Dharma Crucible

2023/01/24

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 Vibrational Resonance of Mantras

2022/12/23

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.

’Splendid’ Impermanence

2022/10/15

Everything is changing, advancing . . . collectively and individually . . . moment-by-moment. Until instinctive insights begin to manifest, reactions to impermanence set many of our challenges into motion, swirling into what Siddhartha termed afflictive mind-states (aka kleshas) of "dukkha" – ignorance-sourced confusions and complications leading to insecurity, discontent, stress, anxiety . . . catchword “suffering”. But with understanding comes appreciation and, once embraced, impermanence becomes profoundly fertile . . . vast and empowering . . . bringing forth perpetual opportunities . . . fluid, evolving, blossoming. Impermanence -- it's the Greatest Show on Earth . . . fantastically alive . . . playing non-stop, both outside and inside your mind. (Length: 12.5 minutes) Written and presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.

The Waiting Room

2022/07/30

Visualize a vast railroad terminal resembling New York City’s Grand Central Station, with newly dead people entering all the time, mulling around, eventually moving from the waiting room toward the track on which their departure train sits, ready to take them away on a sojourn through the Bardo of Becoming to their next destination. And while we will all be there one day, the specific train for which each of us is ticketed differs, and the experiences of our journey upon it -- as well as the conditions resident within our destination -- are not randomly determined. Rather, they are earned by Why and How we do the things we do in this life. (Length: 10 minutes) Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with accompanying music composed and performed by the San Francisco Bay-area musician Bobby Vega. Read by Kathy Ambrose.

Lao Tzu and the Mahayana Path

2022/06/30

The legendary Lao Tzu was living and teaching a harmonious way of being -- simple, modest and true -- traveling throughout China centuries before Siddhartha's birth. Upon achieving enlightenment, Siddhartha Buddha refined, deepened and shared similar ways to all who were inclined to listen. Then, after his death, these teachings were assembled and gradually morphed into what we today know as Buddhism's Mahayana curriculum. The teachings of Lao Tzu . . . The awakened Bodhisattva path . . . Both so ancient, yet so relevant today. (Length: 13 minutes) Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with accompanying music composed and performed by the SF-bay area musician Bobby Vega.

(Instant) Karma Redo?

2022/05/17

Consider: How convenient would it be to have a 'Karma' Replay Command Center into which we could call when needed to replay an action or moment we had participated in? An at-the-ready 'redo' button for any occurrence that, upon reflection, we'd like to correct or fix the 'why' or 'how' we behaved with others . . . and thereby repairing or 're-contenting' the unwholesome karmic seed that had been planted in our mindstream. Nice to have? You bet. Useful? Sure thing. Necessary? Let's talk . . . (Length: 12 minutes) Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with accompanying music composed and performed by the SF-bay area musician Bobby Vega.