The Vajrayana Art of Joie de Vivre (Link #765)

Speaker: Bob Reid. Following up on two LINKs from August 2024, Bob talks about the four immeasurables practice with a focus on loving-kindness. He describes loving-kindness as the sense of care, warmth and tenderness that we feel towards others in our life as well as to ourselves. He goes on to explain how it is the care towards oneself that is particularly difficult for westerners who have become accustomed to a competitive culture based on comparison and critique. Bob stresses how we all equally wish for happiness and to obtain the causes and conditions of happiness. He suggests we can be curious and investigate with an open mind when thoughts of being hard on ourselves arise, allowing ourselves to be fully present with our minds while also not believing our thoughts. Finally, as practitioners, we can open our hearts to the three jewels and surrender to Guru Rinpoche. In doing so our heart can recognize that our nature is the same as the deity's.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This two-hour talk, originally given on September 14, 2024 to an online, European audience was split into two parts for rebroadcast on August 24 and 31, 2025. In this second part, Rinpoche explains that as we begin to have some objectivity towards our suffering and recognize the causes of it, we can find a tremendous sense of compassion for ourselves and others, and wisdom begins to dawn.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This two-hour talk, originally given on September 14, 2024 to an online, European audience was split into two parts for rebroadcast on August 24 and 31, 2025. In this first part, Rinpoche begins by saying that in order to cultivate compassion, we must first recognize, open up to and understand our own suffering. This involves looking more deeply and clearly at our fears, our guilt, the desire to be perfect and the habit of indulging our emotions.

Speaker: Michael Velasco. Michael recounts the early days of becoming a student of Mangala Shri Bhuti, and a series of auspicious coincidences he encountered before meeting his teacher. Unsuspecting of what was to come, Michael shares how he has been the beneficiary of myriad opportunities to fully enter the path including pilgrimages, living in India and spending his life in service. He expresses deep gratitude for how fully the Dharma has transformed his life through the extraordinary generosity of his teacher's efforts to "increase his capacity" over the years. Having been given these gifts, including the gift of self-reflection, he realizes he can now relax into the tremendous opportunity to transform his mind on this noble path of the Bodhisattva.

Speaker: Joey Waxman. Joey reflects on Rinpoche's book, It's Up to You, asking why we resist seeing ourselves as ordinary. We cling to self-importance seeking comfort, resources, and reputation while fearing loss, discomfort, or criticism. This clinging arises from the belief in a fixed self. If dismantled, we uncover our Buddha-nature, which is the same as the Buddha's, and see our connection to all beings, even insects, without hierarchy. When obscurations fall away, we gain the freedom to benefit others with creativity and joy. The path begins with self-reflection: look deeply in the mirror and you may discover you are gazing at the body of a Buddha.

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse Jampal Norbu examines how we let go of holding onto principles and concepts in order to enter into an authentic relationship with how things appear, and therefore act from a place of harmony. Investment in our personal principles and ideas can become neurotic, preventing us from relating with a flexible frame of mind to the interdependent nature of our experience. For example, in valuing generosity, we might expect it to be reflected in the world around us in a particular way. Dungse-la encourages us to be uncompromising with our ego attachments and value bodhicitta as a basic principle, which provides us with a skillful means to respond to life's specific situations.

Speaker: Polly Banerjee-Gallagher. Polly explores how deeply-rooted habits can block our ability to appreciate the blessings of practice. Drawing from Rinpoche's book Diligence and teachings from the 2023 Shedra, Polly discusses the four key factors shaping positive and negative habits. She explains their fluid and dynamic nature and our power to change them. The Dharma offers tools like Lojong slogans, prayer and mantras to support this work. Polly concludes the talk with a reflection on the Four Reliances of the Kadampa tradition, highlighting their guidance in cultivating habits that support our Dharmic journey.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. In this LINK, originally given on February 5, 2017 from Crestone, Colorado, Rinpoche explains how we can cultivate happiness though the practice of bodhicitta and serving others.

Speaker: Scott Gallagher. Scott describes how he accommodates the powerful imagery and energy of a space like Tara Dzong, where he was recently in retreat. He shares how he normally thinks of himself as a solitary being on the path with a small view, but his experiences have revealed a much larger world that is available to him. In retreat, Scott recognized the many different forces at play in his life, leaving him with a valuable reminder that, even if he cannot see them, these forces can have a significant impact on his life moving forward.

Speaker: Jennifer Shippee. Jennifer expounds on how all sentient beings, without exception, are connected in their desire to be happy and to avoid the pain of suffering. Jennifer invites us to contemplate equanimity, loving-kindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy on a daily basis. By establishing a deep familiarity with the bodhisattva vow and the four immeasurables contemplation, how we relate to the world will naturally shift.