Shows
Open QuestionOQ 602 - Sujata's OfferingIn the context of a recent pilgrimage in India, Elizabeth opens up the topic of “engaged” bodhicitta and the six paramitas. She weaves in the story of Sujata, the young woman known for generously offering a bowl of sweet milk-rice to Siddhartha who was debilitated after years of austerities. Revived and refocused, Siddhartha then made his way to the shade of a pipal tree and attained enlightenment, becoming The Buddha. Join the pilgrimage and explore India’s conspiracy of great giving.2025-05-0822 minOpen QuestionOQ 601 - Across The ValleyIn episode 601, Across the Valley, Elizabeth uses the analogy of two communities situated on opposite sides of the valley where she lives to consider our tendencies towards fundamentalism and rightness. “What happens” she asks, “when everyone feels absolutely right?” The Bodhisattva Vow is a commitment to create connection with others, without bias, by looking inward at the mechanisms of reification, and then applying the Buddha’s Middle Way Beyond The Extremes.2025-02-1423 minOpen QuestionOQ 505 - Looking Into the WorldIn this episode Elizabeth reflects upon the provocative poem by renowned Buddhist teacher, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, entitled, “Looking Into the World.” “It’s not a cozy poem,” she says, “It’s an incantation to NOT trust, a reflection on loneliness, and a tribute to the freedom and confidence that comes from standing on our own two feet.” You have to put your familiar views aside to explore this one!2024-12-0422 min
Life with One EyeThe Mystery of Life - Chapter 10: Meditation and the Search for the CelestialChogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Wisdom Seat, Michael C, Susan P, Jacquie M, Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, Carl Jung. Audiobook. Mature listeners only (18+).
2024-10-1324 minOpen QuestionOQ 504 - Hook And RingDevotion is one of the many expressions of faith. When understood clearly, devotion can hasten the process of awakening for the student on the spiritual path, ripening and maturing them in a simple and direct way. Elizabeth brings us through various definitions of devotion, explores devotion as an experience, and considers the cultural and interpersonal challenges that can arise through misunderstanding the nature of the teacher/student dynamic.2024-09-2123 minOpen QuestionOQ 503 - The IneffableAll great spiritual lineages point us back to that which defies concept and language. Authentic practitioners describe awakening as being touched by a sense of awe, overcome by the beauty, fierceness and power of being. To be in AWE is a natural human experience. Ironically, so is the discomfort that leaves us restless with the experience, making it almost impossible to bear. Our inability to bear the ineffable gives rise to dualism and our conflict with faith.2024-07-0619 minOpen QuestionOQ 502 - Hail The Impossible!At 7:15 am on August 7th, 1974, 1,300 feet above a gathering crowd, French high wire artist, Philip Petit, renowned for his unauthorized public stunts, stepped onto a 131-foot wire rigged between the twin towers of New York City's World Trade Center. In this episode, Elizabeth recalls Petit 's "impossible" display of human courage and confidenceas an analogy for faith, why we need to cultivate it, what it is, and how it works.2024-05-0123 min
EveryBodhi PodcasteB 133 - Mind Your Own BusinessThe Lojong mind training slogans don’t offer practitioners advice so that we might simply become nice or agreeable people. Mind training aims to aid us in genuine transformation, but we need to challenge ourselves to understand its deeper, nuanced layers. In this episode, Jampal Norbu is joined by Dharma teacher, Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, in contemplation of Verse 26: “Do Not Ponder Others’ Business”.2024-04-2527 minOpen QuestionOQ 501 - The F WordIn this episode, Elizabeth takes us on a journey through the term ‘faith.' We may assume we know what faith is, but most of us have never truly explored its nuance or spectrum of meanings. We often use the term faith to refer to: dogma, fundamentalism, doctrine, confidence, devotion conviction, just to name a few. In the context of contemporary culture, there are those who suggest that we replace the world faith with spirituality, but Elizabeth requests us not to write-off faith so glibly. Faith carries with it the undeniable tension between our search for security and the li...2024-02-1322 min
Mangala Shri Bhuti - The LinkShowing Up in Life and Death (Link #688)Speaker: Stephanie Kindberg-Velasco. Stephanie reflects on the past year focusing on several Sangha members who've died and also on Rabjam Rinpoche's visit to Boulder, Colorado. Her contemplation of these events is guided by by Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel's question: "When are we at our best?" Stephanie relates how the Sangha shows up for one another around sickness and death, and the opportunity it provides for directing our minds away from self clinging and towards tsewa, for example through the practice of tonglen. This applies not only to those who are dying but also to working with our own suffering.2023-12-3155 minOpen QuestionOQ 405 - The Self: Bearing WitnessElizabeth shares the classic Buddhist narrative of Avaloketeshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and asks us to contemplate the story carefully, adding, “because something similar could happen to you.” Continuing her exploration of the self, Elizabeth navigates the common responses to our challenging human experience: fixing, despairing or withdrawing…all of which are rooted in misunderstanding. Elizabeth takes inspiration, instead, from Avaloketeshvara's example to bear steadfast witness to experience.2023-11-2125 min
The Kind Heartfulness PodcastRedefining Faith with Elizabeth MattisRedefining Faith with Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel NamgyelToday we discuss the F-word, faith. Normally we think about faith as something we have or we don’t, and mostly we try to avoid the topic all together. Elizabeth and Erric playfully explore the activity of faith in practice. Uncovering a perhaps a more intriguing, gradual way to engage with faith, one you might not have expected. Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel has studied and practiced the Buddhadharma for over 35 years under the guidance of her root teacher Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. She is the author of two books, The Power of an Open Question and The Log...2023-10-0937 minOpen QuestionOQ 404 - The Self: When Does Bread Become Toast?In previous episodes we engaged in the liberating practice of looking and not finding, as we searched for something singular or independent. In this episode, Elizabeth explores the topic of permanence - the 3rd in this triad of classical Middle Way inquiries. Elizabeth drops back into her grandmother’s kitchen for a tour of the nature of time, what it might mean to ‘live in the moment,’ and the difference between impermanence and emptiness.2023-09-0824 min
o lugar não é um podcast#15 Como sofisticar a mente | Acolher o indesejávelAlguns dias depois do ensinamento especial que recebemos da Lama Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, nos reunimos em um encontro despretensioso para levantar alguns pontos essenciais dos capítulos de sabedoria que exploramos da semana 8 até a semana 14 de nosso estudo do livro Acolher o indesejável. Aqui no podcast, você ouve as falas de Gustavo Gitti e Stela Santin durante este encontro. Já estamos chegando no final do estudo – falta só mais um capítulo – e como parte do processo de integração de tudo que estudamos e praticamos esse ano, iniciaremos um novo ciclo, em que iremos voltar no que...2023-09-0833 minOpen QuestionOQ 403 - The Self: Into The Watery DepthsContinuing with the theme - The Self: Walking the Middle Way Path, we meet the 2nd Century spiritual genius, Nagarjuna, who is considered the father of the Middle Way school. Nagarjuna once paid homage to the Buddha, saying, “I prostrate to he who has abandoned all views.” Looking into the topic of views, Elizabeth will take us on a fascinating quest.2023-06-2224 min
Open QuestionOQ 402 - The Self: Mind and Its WorldThe most intimate relationship you will ever have is the relationship you have with your SELF! Ironically, when looking for a singular, permanent or autonomous self, all we find is a myriad of dynamic, contingent relationships. In this episode, Elizabeth introduces us to the Buddha’s most essential insight - dependent arising - and guides us through a classic Middle Way investigation, leading us to a deeper understanding of mind and its world.2023-04-2526 min
Open QuestionOQ 401 - The Self: Beyond Existence and ExtinctionMany of us can recall our earliest encounters with the quandary of death. As children, we possess a natural longing to make sense of the world; to find explanations for things that disturb or amaze us. Throughout our lives, we are continually confronted by the conundrum of existence and extinction. How do we straddle the tension between our longing to exist and our fear of extinction? Are these dualistic constructs an accurate framework? And what does it mean to either be or not be?2023-02-2122 min
o lugar não é um podcastConfiar em nosso estado naturalNo último encontro que antecede o início do Intensivo SIM de 2023, Gustavo Gitti compartilhou instruções introdutórias que podem nos ajudar a retornar e a confiar mais em nosso estado natural. Ouvimos citações de Ailton Krenak, Lama Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, e uma contemplação aberta da comunidade sobre o significado da palavra "natural". O Intensivo SIM 2023, que vai contar com a presença de seres extraordinários, se inicia neste dia 6 de fevereiro com um encontro mais informal, de preparação para o que vem por aí, e começa pra valer na segunda-feira seguinte com no...2023-02-0630 minEveryBodhi PodcasteB 124 - We Die As We LiveJampal Norbu considers the 18th verse of Lojong, “The Mahayana Instructions for the transference of consciousness are the five thoughts. Conduct is vital.” We examined how the Five Strengths apply to everyday life in the previous episode. Now, we will see how the Five Strengths apply to the end of life. Dharma teacher Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel joins Dungse Jampal for a thoughtful dialogue on how mind training can make a difference at the pivotal moment of disillusionment. Theme music by Matt Quentin.2023-01-2454 minOpen QuestionOQ 305 - Sacred World: Life is Rich!Our life - our world - can be rich…and it can also be a bitch. We walk the terrain of multiple - maybe infinite - grounds. We move in and out of these overlapping spaces.They are not geographical territories, but rather various ways we encounter our human condition as our mind and its world engage in the playful exchange we call, ‘experience.’2022-11-2227 minOpen QuestionOQ 304 - Sacred World: Where is "THE" World?What do you see when you think about the world? You might picture a rainforest or desert. You might envision a crowded subway terminal. You might imagine a household or a war zone. You might think: “the world is a mess,” or feel touched by the beauty and the beings that inhabit it. Where exactly is “the” world? Is it conscious or material? Does it exist within our individual mind streams or outside of us? Is it cruel, mundane or sacred? Is it one or many? Is “the” world even findable?2022-09-1320 min
The Wisdom Seat Podcast4: Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel: Women, Wisdom and The Buddhist Path: The awakening of feminine energy in modern timesElizabeth Mattis Namgyel Women, Wisdom and The Buddhist Path: The awakening of feminine energy in modern times Feminine wisdom or prajnaparamita in Sanskrit is considered the very foundation of all the teachings and practice lineages of the Buddha. You might say that such feminine wisdom is the very heart of awakening, offering us insight into our mind, reality and our relationship to the world around us. But how can the prajnaparamita teachings help us engage the challenges of the modern world – especially during these times of rapid social change, technological innovation and cultural upheaval? During this te...2022-08-092h 20Open QuestionOQ 303 - Sacred World: The Shimmering ApparitionIn Open Question 303, Elizabeth explores the power of words and what it means to go beyond them in the tradition of Prajnaparamita.2022-07-1523 minMangala Shri Bhuti - The LinkFinding Agency within the Hinayana (Link #615)Speaker: Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel. Elizabeth discusses the Hinayana vehicle on the first of three weekends at the 25th annual Nyingma Summer Seminar. She emphasizes the need for analysis which she translates as "to loosen or to set free". A flexible mind is needed to traverse the path of the three yana system. This path is based on having a realistic view of what it means to be alive. Having a sense of agency counteracts feeling we are living in a state of emergency all the time. In the Hinayana we have a choice to feel like a victim or own...2022-07-101h 54
Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers & PractitionersGuided Practice: Four Immeasurables: Loving-kindness, Compassion, Joy, and EquanimityStay tuned after the meditation for Comfortable with the Fluidity of East-West, Tradition-Modernity, Dungse-la’s interview with ODA co-host Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön.DUNGSE JAMPAL NORBU is son and Dharma Heir of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche in the Mangala Shri Bhuti community. His mother is Dharma teacher Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel.Dungse la has lived and traveled extensively in Asia, but spent much of his youth in Colorado. If you were to ask Dungse la how long he has been studying the Buddhist path, he would say, “Since I was born.”When Dungse la was st...2022-06-2122 min
Opening Dharma Access: Listening to BIPOC Teachers & PractitionersDungse Jampal Norbu: Comfortable with the Fluidity of East-West, Tradition-ModernityDUNGSE JAMPAL NORBU is son and Dharma Heir of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche in the Mangala Shri Bhuti community. His mother is Dharma teacher Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel.Dungse la has lived and traveled extensively in Asia, but spent much of his youth in Colorado. If you were to ask Dungse la how long he has been studying the Buddhist path, he would say, “Since I was born.”When Dungse la was still an infant, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche instructed Kongtrul Rinpoche to train Dungse la to uphold and continue Kongtrul Rinpoche’s lineage, particularly that o...2022-06-0732 minOpen QuestionOQ 302 - Sacred World: Awakening Natural IntelligenceThe Buddha Nature teachings of Mahayana Buddhism reason that all beings possess natural intelligence. We can observe in ourselves and others that the instinct for wellbeing drives everything we do. We bend toward wellbeing like a plant bends toward the light of a sunny window. How is it then, that we create so much suffering? To bring our actions together with our true intentions requires discernment, or prajna. Prajna is our inherent resource—but unrecognized, it remains dormant. How do we wake it up?2022-05-2321 minOpen QuestionOQ 301 - Sacred World: Through the Eyes of PrajnaparamitaMost spiritual traditions offer teachings on "sacred world"-the promise of a life beyond struggle-the search for a place of ease. This is a noble human quest. And yet, the "sacred" often seems to be a place other than where we find ourselves now. How do we reconcile the tension between the spiritual and temporal aspects of life? This is our conundrum2022-03-1018 min