Dharma Ocean 174qf

In the second part of this talk on the training of a Bodhisattva, Reggie discusses the last five of the six paramitas: discipline, patience, exertion, meditation, and wisdom. Through examples, he shows how the truth of each paramita is not necessarily what we might think. This talk was given at the 2003 Winter Dathün retreat held in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Today we listen to the first part of a talk Reggie offered at a Bodhisattva Vow ceremony. He says that the arising of tenderness and love in our hearts naturally inspires us to help sentient beings through taking the bodhisattva vow, cultivating bodhicitta, and training in the six paramitas. This talk was given at the 2003 Winter Dathün retreat held in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

In this episode, Caroline discusses the somatic unfolding of the awakening heart. She says that the journey involves three concentric circles: an outer circle of enchantment, an inner circle that is like a ring of fire, and a third circle of complete freedom—the clear circle of brightness. This talk was given in 2016 at a course Caroline taught in Boulder, CO called In Love with Life. To find out about the  Winter Meditation Intensive, please visit our program calendar.

In this talk, Reggie speaks to the groundlessness that we experience when situations don’t fit into the known world of ego. In such moments, strong feelings of anxiety, fear, and ambiguity might arise. Instead trying to secure territory, he encourages us to turn toward the feelings and open to the uncertainty.This talk was given in 2006 at the June Meditating with the Body retreat held in Crestone, CO. To find out about the  Winter Meditation Intensive, please visit our program calendar.

In this talk, Reggie describes the moment when we check-out during experiences that are painful, unsettling, or disconcerting. He says such moments of intensity offer an opportunity to step through our fear and resistance, open to our feelings, and rest with the sacredness of the situation. This talk was given at the 2011 Winter Dathun retreat held at the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, CO. To find out about the Winter Meditation Intensive, please visit our program calendar.

Here, Reggie points to the process that unfolds on the journey of somatic meditation: personal stories fall apart and we come to trust the intimacy, humor, openness, and love that emerges when our solid sense of self is dismantled. This talk was given in 2009 at the September Meditating with the Body retreat held at the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, CO. To find out about the Winter Meditation Intensive, please visit our program calendar.

In this talk, Caroline discusses the true nature of reality—the Dharmakaya—that we experience when we rest in the space of the lower belly in the practice of yin breathing. She says that this space is open, free, and not constrained by conditioned “parts.” This talk was given at the 2016 The Body Loves retreat held at the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, CO. To find out about the 10-week Awakening the Body online program, please visit our program calendar.  

In the second part of this talk, Reggie asks: where does the Life Force come from? He says that the empty nothingness of space gives birth to the primordial isness and rabid ion we feel when we rest with the raw energy that emerges from the emptiness of being. This talk was given at the 2009 Winter Dathün retreat held at the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, CO. To find out about the 10-week Awakening the Body online program, please visit our program calendar.

Here, Reggie speaks to the utter power of the Life Force that courses through our body as pure unadulterated love. This force, he says, speaks the message of this lineage: to trust our uncompromising, wild, reckless, implacable lust for being alive. This talk was given at the 2009 Winter Dathün retreat held at the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, CO. To find out about the 10-week Awakening the Body online program, please visit our program calendar.

In today’s episode, Reggie discusses the meditative journey of individuation. He acknowledges societal obstacles, such as institutional bureaucracies, that can undermine inspiration and waylay personal development. True freedom requires taking responsibility for our life and completely trusting the inner voice of our body. This talk was given in 2009 at the September Meditating with the Body retreat held at the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, CO. To find out about the 10-week Awakening the Body: The Way of Somatic Meditation online program, please visit our program calendar.

In today’s episode, Caroline asks a shrine hall of retreatants: what are we doing here? The answer: letting be. In this process, we discover the felt sense, or non-conceptual awareness of the body, which has distinct qualities: loving presence, attentiveness, attunement, responsiveness, and reliability. This talk was given at the 2014 Winter Dathün retreat held at Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado. To find out about the online courses The Boundless Heart and Loving the Self and Awakening the Body, please visit our program calendar.

In this teaching, Reggie discusses the experience of pain as understood in the Vajrayana tradition of meditation. When we let go of judging and rejecting, moments of pain are experienced as sacred ornaments of tenderness that connect us to Life in all of its depth, power, and beauty. This talk was given at the 2011 Advanced Meditating with the Body retreat held at The Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, CO. To find out about the annual Meditating with the Body residential retreat and online courses please visit our program calendar.

In this talk, Caroline teaches on bodhicitta, the wakeful intelligence of the body that is concentrated in the heart. She says that the essence of bodhicitta is space, the manifestation is love, and the activity is connection. This talk was given at the 2016 The Body Loves retreat held at the Blazing Mountain Retreat Center in Crestone, CO. To find out about our two online courses The Boundless Heart and Loving the Self and Awakening the Body please visit our program calendar.

Here, Reggie points to the often hidden and unrecognized dimensions in the life journey of the Buddha. He says that Thich Nhat Hahn’s book Old Path White Clouds shows how the Buddha’s renunciation of conventional norms was quite radical and threatening to the cultural establishment of his day. This talk was offered at a Dhyanasangha Weekend and shared with the Public Broadcasting Service in of the film The Buddha. To explore more of Reggie’s teachings on the Buddhist tradition, please explore the Dharma Ocean teaching library and audio store.

In today’s episode, we listen to a talk Caroline offered on the experience of the natural state in childhood. She offers a Vajrayana of the story of the Buddha who, at age 9, recognized rigpa while sitting under a rose apple tree. This talk was given in 2016 at the November Meditating with the Body retreat held at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England. To find out about the  Meditating with the Body retreat led by Gaia Mika and Jeff Gonzalez, please visit our program calendar.

Here, Reggie teaches on experiences of pain that we encounter on the path of meditation. He says that people often judge pain as a bad thing, but the foundation of Buddhist practice is the First Noble Truth: the more we try to avoid pain, the more we suffer. This talk was given at the 2002 Winter Dathün retreat held in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. To find out about residential retreats and online programs please visit our program calendar.

Going deeper into the theme of refuge, Reggie teaches on the difference between the inner and outer view of taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Inner refuge means that we are committing to our non-existence, the nature of reality, and relationships of integrity. This talk was given at the 2002 Winter Dathün retreat held in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. To find out about residential retreats and online programs please visit our program calendar.

In this talk on refuge, Reggie discusses the history of refuge in the Buddhist tradition and describes the different styles of “emergency ego” that arise when we find ourselves challenged by reality. He says that surrendering ego is the basis for the practice of refuge. This talk was given at the 2002 Winter Dathün retreat held in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. To find out about the residential retreats and online programs please visit our program calendar.  

In the second part of this talk on the path of dharma, Reggie discusses the developmental journey that unfolds as we deepen in our meditation practice. When meditation becomes the ground of life, transformation becomes a way of being. This talk was given at the 2004 Winter Dathün retreat held in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. To find out about the Meditating with the Body retreat led by Caroline Pfohl and Manuela Mischke-Reeds, please visit our program calendar.

In this teaching on the path of Dharma, Reggie encourages us to trust inspiration, stay with discomfort, and leap to the unknown. Each stage of the path—Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana—involves ever deeper levels of these themes. This talk was given at the 2004 Winter Dathün retreat held in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. To find out about the Meditating with the Body retreat led by Caroline Pfohl and Manuela Mischke-Reeds, please visit our program calendar.