Lama Surya Das – Ep. 23 – Enjoy the View
Surya Das explains that Dzogchen is not just a practice of the mind, but rather an exercise of the Spirit, a dance with the…
Lama Surya Das is one of the foremost Western Buddhist meditation teachers and scholars, one of the main interpreters of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, and a leading spokesperson for the emerging American Buddhism. The Dalai Lama affectionately calls him “The Western Lama.”
Surya has spent over forty five years studying Zen, vipassana, yoga, and Tibetan Buddhism with the great masters of Asia, including the Dalai Lama’s own teachers, and has twice completed the traditional three year meditation cloistered retreat at his teacher’s Tibetan monastery. He is an authorized lama and lineage holder in the Nyingmapa School of Tibetan Buddhism, and a close personal disciple of the leading grand lamas of that tradition. He is the founder of the Dzogchen Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and its branch centers around the country, including the retreat center Dzogchen Osel Ling outside Austin, Texas, where he conducts long training retreats and Advanced Dzogchen retreats. Over the years, Surya has brought many Tibetan lamas to this country to teach and start centers and retreats. As founder of the Western Buddhist Teachers Network with the Dalai Lama, he regularly helps organize its international Buddhist Teachers Conferences. He is also active in interfaith dialogue and charitable projects in the Third World. In recent years, Lama Surya has turned his efforts and focus towards youth and contemplative education initiatives, what he calls “True higher education and wisdom for life training.”
Lama Surya Das is a sought after speaker and lecturer, teaching and conducting meditation retreats and workshops around the world. He is a published author, translator, chant master (see Chants to Awaken the Buddhist Heart CD, with Stephen Halpern), and a regular blog contributor at The Huffington Post, as well as his own AskTheLama.comblog site where he shares his thoughts and answers questions from the public each week.
Surya Das has been featured in numerous publications and major media, including ABC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, New York Post, Long Island Newsday, Long Island Business Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, The Jewish Free Press, New Age Journal, Tricycle Magazine, Yoga Journal, The Oregonian, Science of Mind, and has been the subject of a seven minute magazine story on CNN. One segment of the ABC-TV sitcom Dharma & Greg was based on his life (“Leonard’s Return”). Surya has appeared on Politically Correct with Bill Maher, and twice on The Colbert Report.
Surya Das explains that Dzogchen is not just a practice of the mind, but rather an exercise of the Spirit, a dance with the…
Sound advice on the importance of theoretical and experiential learning within the context of any spiritual framework. The initial inspiration may come through text,…
Surya Das offers a teaching on the wisdom of allowing, encouraging us to familiarize ourselves with a simple yet engaged lifestyle, learning to live…
Surya Das reflects on the bigger picture of the Great Perfection, as it relates to the art of acceptance within our practice. A little…
What is our perspective? How do we nurture a new perspective that is more interconnected with our fellow humans? Lama Surya Das chats with…
Surya Das responds to audience questions on a variety of topics including transmission from teachers, the role of lineage, and working with reactivity. He…
Daily life is where the rubber meets the road on the spiritual path, as we attempt to integrate our takeaways from retreat, travels, and…
Surya Das responds to audience questions on a variety of topics including appropriate responses to fear, working with your demons, and the meditative practice…
Surya Das describes the natural and awe-inspiring state of Dzogchen, before we begin to think and conceptualize the world around us. This initial moment…