Advertise on podcast: And then..? KVP Podcast

"But Mr Hastings, you're not that sort of person," his headmistress told Charles Hastings when he left his job as a primary school teacher to attend a three-year retreat in France. Decades later, Charles still agrees with her. In this episode of "And then..?", Charles, a senior editor at Khyentse Vision Project since 2021, sits down with Kelly Tracey, our Senior Assistant Editor and Editorial Coordinator. Their conversation begins with Charles’s overland journey to Kathmandu in 1968, when he meditated for the first time on a rock at the Turkey-Iran border, and continues through the years in India that led him to his root teacher, Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche. Charles also shares memories of his two three-year retreats in France, where great masters came to teach, reflects on the long years of ordinary work and family life, and explains why, once you meet the right teacher, there is "no free lunch."

KVP podcast “And then..?” continues with Heidi Nevin, one of KVP's most prolific in-house translators. Heidi has been translating Tibetan texts into English for more than 26 years, following years of retreat and study in India, China, and Nepal under the guidance of Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche. In this open-hearted conversation with Inna German, Heidi talks about growing up on an 86-acre off-grid homestead in Maryland as a second-generation Buddhist, a year in China that ended in obsession with meditation and a barely-passed exam, four years of solitary retreat, and the winding path through Nepal and Darjeeling that led her to Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche.

In the first episode of AND THEN?, our Executive Director Dolma Gunther sits down with Do Tulku Rinpoche, KVP's traditional expert scholar, translator and spiritual guide of Arya Tara’s Net—for a wide-ranging conversation about his life, his practice, and his work with Khyentse Vision Project. Rinpoche reflects on growing up in a close-knit Tibetan refugee community in South India, the unexpected phone call that changed his life at seventeen, and eleven years of rigorous study at Dzongsar Monastery in Bir. He speaks candidly about the challenges of monastic life, the journey to Germany, and what it means to teach the Dharma to a meme-obsessed generation. The conversation also touches on his deep connection to the Khyentse lineage, the joys and frustrations of translation work, and his heartfelt advice for practitioners navigating the future of the Dharma. Chapters: 00:00:12 Childhood in India 00:08:18 Recognition as a Tulku 00:16:22 Enrollment in Dzongsar 00:19:54 Challenges of Monastic Life 00:24:34 Moving to Germany 00:28:33 Teaching the Dharma 00:32:46 Involvement with Siddhartha's Intent Sangha 00:34:18 Discovering the Guru 00:35:27 Devotion and Change 00:37:06 Connection to KhyentseLineage 00:40:11 Khyentse Vision Project 00:43:46 Translation and Scholarly Work 00:46:11 Fascination with Khyentse Wangpo 00:49:07 Text Translation Challenges 00:53:11 Future of Dharma 00:57:30 Advice for Practitioners 00:59:39 Daily Life and Hobbies