Chapter 1 of “Pointing Out Instructions”
Introduction to the retreat Ken: Welcome to you all. Many of you’ve come quite far to be here and many of you I’m meeting in the flesh for the first time. Some of you have met me innumerable times but I haven’t met you. By that I mean the podcast, which has become quite interesting […]
Chapter 1 of “Mahayana Mind Training”
Three kinds of meditation: presence, energy and purification Ken: Okay good. So, we’re going to begin. This evening I just want to do a brief introduction to the topic of mind training. And strictly speaking we should call this Mahayana mind training, because there are many, many forms of mind training. Mahayana mind training is […]
Chapter 1 of “Mind Training in Seven Points”
The importance of lineage Ken: A great source of power and strength in the Buddhist tradition, in my mind, is the emphasis on lineage. In the Kagyu tradition, the lineage prayer, which is part of the preliminary practices, has 43 or 44 teachers in it. So it’s quite a long list now. And it goes […]
Chapter 1 of “Five Elements Five Dakinis”
The language of the five elements Ken: Mercury was the symbol for fire in the old system of cures. Air refers to all the thinking we do, and again void is the space in which all of those emotional movements can arise, and activity arises. And then we get to the way mind is. Earth […]
Chapter 1 of “Death: Friend or Foe?”
Student introductions Ken: Welcome to the spring retreat. I called it Death: Friend or Foe. When I was in high school, we studied a poem which was called Victorian House by a Canadian poet. I can’t remember his name, but I always remember one line from the poem which says, “Death for man is his […]
Chapter 1 of “Chö: Cutting Through the Thickets of Thinking”
Introduction: two themes Ken: This is our first full day of retreat. It’s very good to be here. It’s very, very clear from the sense in the meditation hall here, and also in the interviews that everybody comes to this retreat with a pretty clear and pretty strong intention, and that makes for a good […]
Chapter 1 of “Living Awake: Money and Value”
Defining a healthy person Ken: Living Awake: Money and Value, Sunday, December 2, 2007. I’ve been asked to do that now for the podcasts because people want the date. Okay, this is a huge topic. In preparing for this I went through about three or four, at least, different ways of approaching this. And I […]
Chapter 1 of “Four Immeasurables”
Reactive vs. higher emotions Ken: We’re going to begin what is a six session class on the four immeasurables. As all of you know, we’re going to be meeting every other week, not every week as we have in the past. On the alternate weeks the regular Tuesday group will be meeting here. Anybody in […]
Chapter 1 of “Heart Sutra Workshop”
The meaning of the Heart Sutra Lama Palden Drolma: So, we’re very happy to have Ken McLeod here, an old Kalu Rinpoche person, from way back, 1970? Or ’69? Or ’70. And Ken studied for a long time, was a translator for Kalu Rinpoche, did two three-year retreats under Rinpoche, and then Kalu Rinpoche sent […]
Chapter 1 of “Ideology & Wisdom”
Shooting arrows in the dark Ken: The title of our program is Ideology and Wisdom. Now, when Joanne and I were discussing my coming up here for another visit, I explained to Joanne that I am not particularly comfortable coming to a group of people and talking about something, because I have no idea whether […]
Chapter 1 of “Ganges Mahamudra: Tilopa’s Pith Instructions to Naropa”
The Ganges Mahamudra text Ken: January 5th, 2010. Ganges Mahamudra, first class. The text for our course is this, which you should all have a copy of: Pith Instructions on Mahamudra. It actually has two or three different names, The Pith Instructions on Mahamudra, the Mahamudra in Twenty-Eight Verses, and The Ganges Mahamudra, three different […]
Chapter 1 of “Living Awake: Making Things Happen”
The Living Awake workshops Ken: This is, I think, the third workshop in the Living Awake series. This one is Living Awake: Making Things Happen. February 3, 2008. That’s the right day, isn’t it? Good. Got one thing right. The aim of this series is to explore, learn, how to be awake in the activities […]
Chapter 1 of “Living Awake: Surviving Stressful Times”
Economic chaos: student’s experiences Ken: Okay, so the question I wanted to start with, then, is, “How many of you are being affected directly by what is happening?” Now, that’s going to take different forms for different people. A lot of people who are in retirement or close to retirement have taken a hit in […]
Chapter 1 of “Then and Now: A Commentary on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation”
Working with ancient teachings Ken: This evening is the first of this series of classes, for which I grabbed this title of Then and Now out of thin air. The idea for this class came from a number of requests of, “We’d really like to learn something about Tibetan Buddhism, not just about meditation practice.” […]
Chapter 1 of “Anything is Possible”
Introduction Valerie: Hello everyone. I think it’s time for us to begin. I’m Valerie Brewster and on behalf of the Cass Street Sangha and A Snail’s Pace, welcome to Anything is Possible. I am so excited to see all of you here today and to be introducing our speakers. Both Bill Porter and Ken McLeod […]
