Dharma Ocean Podcast

Episode - Spirituality and Trauma – Part I: In the first part of this talk on trauma and the spiritual journey, Reggie addresses the question: should we work with a therapist and heal our traumas before we engage the path of dharma? He says that the journey of somatic...

In this talk, Dignity in Depression, Reggie discusses how the Meditating with the Body practices help us open to the wisdom of emotions. Emotions, like those associated with depression, can challenge our thinking, illuminate what is false, and invite us into a...

In Depression is a Gateway, Reggie shows how depression can be a powerful force of transformation. He says that when we let go of thoughts and judgments, and take the energy of depression as an object of mindfulness, it can liberate us from the reference points that...

Reggie begins the third part of this talk on maitri, Making Friends with Ourselves – Part III, by describing how Chogyam Trungpa made room for his students’ meltdowns. He says that we ourselves develop this capacity when we practice loving-kindness from an embodied...

In part two of this talk on loving-kindness, Making Friends with Ourselves, Reggie discusses the second and third aspects of maitri practice: meeting our meltdowns with gentleness, and welcoming the damaged aspects of ourselves with love. This talk was given at the...

At the beginning of this talk, Making Friends with Ourselves, Reggie says that maitri is a practice in which we make room for all of the things that go on for us that we typically think are unacceptable. By developing an attitude of loving-kindness toward ourselves,...

In the second part of this talk on the practice of bodhicitta shamatha and vipashayana, Knowing with the Heart Reggie talks about how we experience the world when we see it through the eyes of the heart. It is a practice of knowing others from the standpoint of their...

Reggie discusses the mahamudra approach to working with the heart in meditation practice. He says that the space of the heart shows us how to open beyond the ways we habitually shut down to feelings, experiences, and people.

Reggie begins the second part of this talk on open heartedness by saying that “the heart, in its own state of being, is the awakened state.” Through somatic meditation practice, we discover the enlightened qualities of the heart: vast, free, warm, responsive, and without judgment.

In working with the heart in our meditation practice, we may discover that we are not receptive to the feelings that arise in that space. In this talk, Reggie discusses the ways we defend against experiences of vulnerability when we judge uncomfortable feelings.

Organized religions have a history of denying the indigenous roots of human spirituality. In this talk, Reggie says that as meditators we are recovering a primordial connection with the land, our deep ancestors, and the vast community of all beings.

Here, Reggie points to the immensity of the space at the core of our being. He says that in the practicing lineage eternity is our guide—not books, philosophy, or intellect. It is through meditation that our ideas about reality fall away and we connect directly with the fire of the life force.

In this talk, Noble Silence, Reggie addresses Winter Dathün retreatants who are entering the third week of a month long meditation retreat. He encourages them to honor the practice of silence so as to more fully abide in the depths of being. This talk was given at the...

In The Dathün Journey, Reggie offers an overview of the spiritual journey that unfolds in a month long Winter Dathün meditation retreat. He says that when we surrender to the practice forms of a Dathün, impulsiveness and distraction dissolve and we discover a vast...

In meditation retreat we commit to a practice container that is designed to decrease distraction. In this talk, Human Freedom, Reggie discusses the wisdom that awakens when we surrender to sacred forms: we relax, our minds settle, and we discover the river of our true...

This is Reggie’s opening talk, Entering Retreat,  to a cohort of meditators at the beginning of month-long meditation retreat. He explains that in retreat we enter a liminal space where conventional logic doesn’t apply. In letting go, we become sensitive to the...

In the second half of this talk, Drop to the Depths,  on the importance of relating to the depths in meditation practice, Reggie explains how our relationship with the earth unlocks the reality of the unseen world. The Vajrayana journey is about becoming intimate with...

Vajrayana teachers show us how to drop into the depths of being. In this talk, Drop to the Depths, Reggie talks about the feminine reality that we encounter when we descend into the space of the earth. Through the process of ego dissolution, we arrive at a blissful...

This is the third part of Reggie’s talk on the Vajrayana approach to the practice of shamatha and vipashyana, Thread of Relativity. He explains how meditation teaches us to ignore what we think about our life and instead follow the sacred thread of relativity. It’s a...

In the second part of this talk on the practice of shamatha and vipashyana, Thread of Relativity, Reggie says that the process of meditation allows us to connect with the vast, empty, boundless quality of awareness. This space compels us to drop preoccupations and...

In this talk, Thread of Relativity, Reggie discusses the two main aspects of the practice of meditation: shamatha and vipashyana. Through shamatha, we learn to step away from our thinking. Vipashyana is a discovery of how things actually are. This meditative process...

In this talk, Touching the Totality, Reggie encourages us to use the tools offered in the Tibetan tradition of Vajrayana meditation to receive the message of eternity offered in each moment of experience. The purpose of life is discovered, he says, when we touch the...

Today, we listen to the second half of Reggie’s talk Fire of Experience, on how we cultivate an unmediated relationship with experience through the practice of meditation. He says that ego shuts down the life of experiences through judgment. When we stop judging, the...

Today, we listen to a teaching Reggie offered on the purpose of ritual on the path of meditation, The Purpose of Ritual. The context is a lhasang fire offering, a Vajrayana ritual often engaged at the beginning of retreats. He says that ritual is the primordial...

In this talk, Dancing with the Unseen World, Reggie discusses how the beings of the unseen world protect us when they interrupt the expectations of ego. Our relationship with the unseen world, he says, is essential to the success of retreat. This talk was given at the...

In The Power of Posture, Reggie discusses how we suffer when we freeze against the natural flow and movement of experience. This defensiveness is expressed as holding and tension in the body. In somatic meditation, we release tension and liberate the karma of unlived...

In this episode, Holding Experience, we listen to a talk Reggie offered on the importance of holding our experience. When we remain rooted in our bodies, no matter the intensity of the energy we feel, we liberate karma from cyclical patterns of existence. This talk...

When we open to the depths of space in meditation practice, tremendous energy arises in our state of being. In this talk, Welcoming Confusion, Reggie offers a teaching on how to relate to the intensity of energy in a straightforward way. He says that when we sit with...

In this talk, Offering to the Fire, Reggie offers a teaching on the practice of lhasang: a ritual in which we offer our ego to a fire. In offering our agendas, ambitions, judgments, and self-importance we become ever more empty, open, and free. This talk was given at...

In this talk, The Human Soul, Reggie addresses the conventional Buddhist notion of “no-soul.” He says that, from the perspective of Vajrayana Buddhism, the soul is the essential nature that transcends life and death. It is felt in the constantly unfolding sacredness...

In the second part of this talk on the journey of dharma, When Reality Strikes, Reggie says that fundamental personal transformation involves stripping away ego identifications and opening to vastly different states of being. Like Indra’s net, we discover that our...

In this talk, When Reality Strikes, Reggie says that the true dharma is always a surprise. When reality strikes, our lives are upended and we are presented with a choice: leap to the groundlessness, or try to shore up the bubble of ego. This talk was given at the 2010...

In today’s episode, We Are All Hard Cases, Reggie acknowledges the bravery and courage we exhibit when we make the journey together as a community of practitioners who love and care for one another. In spite of our fears, we take a chance on love. This talk was given...

In the second part of this talk on love, Ocean of Love, Reggie discusses the ways in which we turn away from the intimacy of space. He says that in retreat, we learn how to open to the fundamental emptiness of our lives. From that emptiness, energy is born. The...

In this talk, Ocean of Love, Reggie says that we are all held in an ocean of love. This love is the fundamental nature of the universe, and within it we progress through our lives, always invited to an experience of open heartedness that connects with all that is....

In Healing Beyond Dependency, Reggie discusses the journey of empowerment that occurs when we work with gifted healers. True healers, he says, enable us to individuate and develop a direct relationship with reality that is free of the trappings of psychological...

This week we listen to the second part of Reggie’s talk on cultivating gentleness and openness toward all aspects of life through the practice of maitri. Loving-kindness, he says, begins with ourselves: we establish a ground of trust, simplify our lives, sit with...

In this talk, Loving Kindness – Part I, Reggie addresses the pervasive culture of self-hatred that drives aggression and the forces of destruction in our world. He says that when we meditate with a heart of loving-kindness, our defenses soften and we discover an...

Today we listen to the second part of Reggie’s talk on the practice of developing loving-kindness for the difficult and unwanted aspects of life, Guests for Tea. He says that when we stop judging ourselves, open to the wisdom of our emotions, and honor the upwelling...

In today’s episode, Guests for Tea, Reggie discusses the ways we hold our lives hostage through judgment, self-criticism, and perfectionism. Maitri, he says, employs the inherent power of loving-kindness to naturally shift self-aggressive tendencies. It is a practice...

Today we listen to the second part of Reggie’s talk on the mahasiddhas of ancient India. The spiritual journey of the siddha Naropa, he says, demonstrates the inherent risk associated with the practice of Buddhist tantra: the grittiness of reality challenges our most...

In this talk, The Indian Siddhas, Reggie discusses the mahasiddhas of ancient India: ordinary people who attained realization in the midst of everyday life. Their example, he says, reminds us of how spiritual transformation occurs within the exact circumstances of our...

In today’s episode, Our Basic Nature, we listen to a talk Reggie gave on the bright space of our inner being that we discover through the practice of meditation. Practice, he says, unites our relative life with the freedom of infinity. This talk was given at the 2014...

In today’s talk, Pure Awareness, Reggie discusses the importance of posture in the practice of pure awareness, and addresses recent historical scholarship regarding the contributions of Chan Buddhism in the development of Mahamudra practice in Tibet. These...

In the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa, we commit to all the manifestations of life through intensive meditation practice. In this talk, Reggie acknowledges that such a commitment is often quite challenging because somatic meditation practice brings us into direct...

This is the second part of the talk we began listening to last week on the importance of authenticity when teaching the dharma. Reggie reflects on lessons learned from his teacher, Chogyam Trungpa. Genuineness, he says, is an expression of one's fundamental...

Today in the talk Being Genuine, Reggie warns of the dangers of using spiritual language, teachings, and forms to hide our humanity. He says that the dharma is not a commodity. To teach the true dharma, we must practice regularly, speak directly from personal...

In today’s talk, Journey of Sacred Relationship, Reggie discusses the importance of the consort relationship in the vajrayana transmission of the practicing lineage. Consorts, he says, protect the openness of teaching spaces by interrupting attempts at securing...

In this talk, Non-Theism, Reggie discusses the non-theistic view of the spiritual journey. Theism, he says, is an approach to spirituality marked by an allegiance to ideas about purity, brightness, and heavenly perfection. Non-theism, on the other hand, celebrates the...

In Wisdom in Discomfort, Reggie discusses the claustrophobia we feel when we commit to the tight confines of a retreat environment.  A good retreat, he says, is very uncomfortable from the standpoint of ego. There is wisdom in the discomfort: by not getting what we...