Buddhist author Lodro Rinzler throws Trungpa Rinpoche’s ‘coconuts of wakefulness’ at Raghu while offering some Buddhist advice for anxious times.
Lodro Rinzler is a Buddhist meditation teacher and award-winning author of 7 books, including the bestseller The Buddha Walks Into A Bar, and new book Take Back Your Mind: Buddhist Advice for Anxious Times. He is co-founder of MNDFL Meditation studios in NYC, and was named one of ’50 Innovators Shaping the Future of Wellness’ by SONIMA. Rinzler’s work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Good Morning America, CBS, and NBC. He has taught meditation for 20 years in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and has spoken across the world at conferences, universities, Google, Harvard, and the White House. Lodro resides in the Hudson Valley with his wife and their four-legged family of animals. More at LodroRinzler.com
Join us October 24th for an Immersive Ram Dass Experience & Concert live inside the WISDOME LA featuring Journey – a 360 virtual reality Ram Dass psychedelic experience by Tripp; concert performances by Krishna Das, John Forté (formerly of the Fugees), East Forest, Justin Boreta of Superposition with Nailah Hunter, and Nina Rao; as well as a day summit featuring key figures in Ram Dass’ life including Buddhist teachers Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman, Kirtan artist Krishna Das, actor/comedian Pete Holmes, author and teacher Mirabai Starr, LSRF Director Raghu Markus, and more. Get tickets here.
Buddhist Roots // Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche // Accessibility & Integration
Welcoming Buddhist meditation teacher and award-winning author, Lodro Rinzler, Raghu invites him to share the external causes and conditions which brought about the deep internal transformation represented through his work, offerings, and life journey on the path of Buddhism. Born into a Buddhist household in NYC, Lodro describes the dharmic grace of growing up with parents who were students of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Raghu recalls a personal Trungpa story involving Ram Dass & Carlos Castañeda.
“One of the many things [Ram Dass] and [Trungpa Rinpoche] had in common is this accessibility factor. Not the sense of: ‘This is something that you theoretically should be interested in,’ But: ‘This is how it’s integrated into your everyday life.'” – Lodro Rinzler
Open yourself to the brilliant wisdom of both Ram Dass and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, on Ep. 39 of Here & Now
Anxiety & Polarization // Uncertainty & Groundlessness // Coconuts of Wakefulness (11:08)
Segueing with the brilliant Anne Lamott quote, “My mind is a bad neighborhood that I try not to go into alone,” Raghu asks Lodro to speak to the lonely, polarizing, anxiety-ridden modern times we live in. Offering Buddha-based solutions inspired from his book Take Back Your Mind, Lodro invites us into becoming comfortable with uncertainty and groundlessness; before throwing “coconuts of wakefulness” at Raghu with Trungpa’s poem Timely Rain.
“Isn’t this an interesting time to get comfortable with not knowing? That if we could get really good at being with uncertainty and groundlessness now, here in this instance, then we will be better prepared for every other moment in life when it comes up. Because there’s never going to be a lack of times when we feel uncertain and groundless.” – Lodro Rinzler
Roshi Joan Halifax joins Raghu for an exploration of radical uncertainty and wise hope, on Ep. 342 of Mindrolling
Stories & Stress // Buddha’s Second Arrow // Mindfulness & Mini-Me (18:00)
As the two volley tangible examples of how our mind-stories snowball our anxiety-moments into longer-term stress, Lodro offers the Buddha’s Second Arrow allegory for how to focus on healing the root of the issue; while Raghu offers wisdom on how to overcome our ‘mini-me’ ego anxieties by using mindfulness.
“Mindfulness is not just a ubiquitous term out there in western spiritual culture. It is real if you can come from a perspective that is not the little ‘mini-me’ guy back there thinking that they’re running the show. If you can just move out of that place in your head into the still small voice in the middle of your chest—from there you can see the motivations, the self-interest, and not judge it; just be with it.” – Raghu Markus
JoAnna Hardy takes us on a nature journey through Buddha’s Second Arrow realization, on Ep. 84 of the BHNN Guest Podcast
Self-Talk & Karma // Body, Speech, Mind // Understanding & Love (38:38)
After basking in stories of Tibetan Buddhist Masters whom they have had the blessing of learning from, Raghu and Lodro turn the conversation to a Dr. Robert Thurman inspired segment on mindful speech, self-talk, interactions, karma, impermanence, Buddhism-as-realism, understanding, love, other-ing, communication, and the connection between body, speech, and mind.
Dr. Robert Thurman joins Raghu to share ‘Four Friendly Fun Facts That Can Change Your Life,’ on Ep. 408 of Mindrolling
