Chapter 10 of “Power and Presence”
A review of the four steps of standing up Ken: Thank you. This is October 11th. Our last teaching session. We have two things to do today or here. One is to cover four hours of material in half an hour. And the other is to conclude the story. Okay. The last point is receive […]
Chapter 10 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
Events that shatter our illusions about life Ken: One of the first aspects of an event such as the tsunami in Southeast Asia is the suddenness and the unexpectedness of it. If you read any of the accounts, for most people, there was just no warning. There was suddenly a wall of water, I think […]
Chapter 9 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
A vision of the way we want to experience life Ken: Against the Stream, Santa Monica. I’m very grateful to Matthew for inviting me. I haven’t given a talk to such a large group of people for a very long time. And my preferred way of proceeding is through questions. So I’m just going to […]
Chapter 5 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
Easy to uncover, difficult to stabilize Ken: This morning I’m going to try to do two things, talk about the three jewels, buddha, dharma, and sangha, because these are the very basis of practice and what Buddhism is about. And the second is to talk about appropriate efforts for the student. And that’s one of […]
Chapter 6 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
Where does prayer fit in? Ken: I’m not very good at giving talks. I think I’m better at some kind of interaction, so we’re just going to start off right there. When the White Heron Sangha, through Nancy, invited me to come up here, I was up here once before, last year, and I very […]
Chapter 4 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
Two traditional frameworks Ken: I am going to use a couple of traditional frameworks. I’m going to experiment with a couple of traditional frameworks and talk about a holiday season. The two frameworks will be familiar to many of you. One is the three marks of existence, our old friends, impermanence, suffering and non-self, or […]
Chapter 7 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
The medieval contract Ken: We’re going to talk about the student teacher relationship and Jeff suggested to talk about this as it applies in modern times, right? Jeff: Seems to be where we are. Ken: Yes. [Laughs] Well, in traditional Tibetan Buddhism in general, and really very much of Asian Buddhism works from an essentially […]
Chapter 8 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
A pause, a departure, and questions that matter Ken: July 8th at Against the Stream in Hollywood. This morning is the last time I’m going to be here for a while. I don’t know what the future holds. I’ve been teaching here, in Los Angeles, for the last twenty-five years or so, and for various […]
Chapter 3 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
Three bases for relationships Ken: Are we all set? I can say happy Valentine’s Day again. Okay. We’re recording this. They go up on the internet podcasts. I want you to know that so that if you start talking about your girlfriend or boyfriend, they’re going to hear every word you say. People do that […]
Chapter 2 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
Practicing a different way of experiencing life Ken: First thing I want to say about meditation is that there are many different kinds, and I’m going to talk this evening and lead you through a process in the approach to meditation practice that I personally have found most fruitful. So this is a very prejudiced […]
Chapter 1 of “Stand-Alone Talks”
Curiosity as the basis of practice Ken: Last week it was suggested that I talk about interacting around practice, right? How do you actually do that? In thinking about this, I thought I’d open it up to a bit of a larger topic. I’m not quite sure what to call the topic, but if you’ll […]
Chapter 3 of “Learning Mahamudra”
The inseparability of experience and awareness Ken: This evening, I want to do two or three things. It’s a little ironic. This is, in a certain sense, the central section of mahamudra that falls on this holiday. And I guess a lot of people had trouble negotiating the traffic, or they decided this class wasn’t […]
Chapter 4 of “Learning Mahamudra”
Reports and questions Ken: Some traditions have really cheery ways of looking at things. Dilgo Khyentse was once asked why do we practice? And he said, “To make the best of a bad situation.” [Laughter] But here’s something from the Sufi tradition: I have heard all that you have had to say to me on […]
Chapter 5 of “Learning Mahamudra”
Student questions Ken: All right. How are you doing with mahamudra? [Pause] “No answer came the stern reply.” Joe: I’m finding it quite fruitful, as a matter of fact, and I wanted to check my thinking on one thing, my understanding. So far, we’ve been investigating three different ways of practicing. Ken: You’d better remind […]
Chapter 6 of “Learning Mahamudra”
Student questions Ken: Well, this is our last class, and we have a number of things to do. The main topic for this evening is the development of experience or understanding in mahamudra practice. This is a tricky topic for various reasons. So that’s one thing to do. The second thing we have to do […]