Mangala Shri Bhuti - The Link

Speaker: Nicholas Carter. "We are all moving towards death". With this fundamental recognition, Nick contemplates how the Dharma offers meaning, purpose, and direction in aging and death. He acknowledges the profound inspiration he has received from older women in his life who are aging with clarity and courage. Nick emphasizes how strength in Dharma practice brings contentment, allowing us to surrender to our lives and embrace aging. Furthermore, he points to mindfulness and vigilant introspection as essential practices that bring clarity of mind and the capacity to be present as we age in the Dharma.

Speaker: Katsutoshi Okabayashi. Oka-san uses "closing shop" as a metaphor for letting go, and "preparing to open" as a means of finding freedom through gratitude. Though sadness may arise from facing endings, openness dawns, which brings joy and natural cheerfulness. This is achieved by working with the mind daily, to continually let go with appreciation and welcome the future. Oka-san finds that the four immeasurables practice reveals how fragile and unsteady the mind is, particularly when pride arises. Pride's corresponding belief is that everything is achievable through personal will and effort. Relying on the help and support of others, one can step out of this self-centered state. When we recognize that our existence is the result of the care, guidance, and generosity of others, especially our parents, gratitude naturally arises.

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse-la emphasizes the importance of reflection as we enter into a new year. It is, "the time to take time" to bear witness to what has unfolded and to allow that experience to shape our aspirations for the future. As we enter 2026 and the Year of the Fire Horse, we are invited to renew our connection to the Dharma and recommit ourselves to the bodhisattva vow. The key is simply to show up with an open heart and an open mind to whatever arises, like the lotus opening in the middle of a swamp. From this space, he encourages us to set strong, bold aspirations to fulfill that vow in the year ahead.

Speaker: Sasha Dorje Meyerowitz. While gathering information for one of Rinpoche's books, ‘It's Up To You’, Sasha describes the profound impact that revisiting past teachings on ignorance had on him- "an openness to a new way of being". Sasha realized that ignorance and buddhanature are two sides of the same coin. The root cause of suffering is ignorance, and because it is universal, it is not personal. This dispels the urge to blame ourselves. Buddhanature is our true nature, obscured by ignorance. Ignorance stems from grasping to self and dissolving that attachment sets us on the path to freedom. Sasha offers a few practices that assist in moving away from ignorance toward the call of our true nature.

Speaker: Jill Oppenheimer. Jill reflects on how clarity of intention and confidence in practice unveil the causes of happiness and suffering. She analyzes three primary obstacles to clarity and stability of mind: ego-clinging, lack of enthusiasm, and internet use. She emphasizes the antidotal qualities of developing confidence in buddhanature, cultivating joy through the care of others, and setting the intention not to waste precious time. Jill concludes with a poetic reflection: "Joy is riding the waves of my mind, enthusiasm is the wind in my sails, and intention is the clear map to my destination".

Speaker: Mary Albrittain. Mary shares a number of personal experiences that have allowed her to bring suffering onto the path of awakening. Having faced profound loss, including the deaths of loved ones and health issues of her own, Mary meets these experiences with curiosity and compassion. She asks, "How do I transform suffering into awakening? How do I meet what is inevitable with care?" Suffering can bring us to our knees, not in defeat but in supplication, transforming how we live, love, and see the world.

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse-la discusses Dharmic investments in mind and meritorious action. He discusses the unexamined premise of investing in external factors that we believe will bring us closer to our goal of obtaining happiness and being free from suffering. Dungse-la examines the basis of a good investment from external and internal perspectives, capping the discussion on investing in merit, the best long-term investment strategy of all.

Speaker: Vanessa Waxman. "Be content! Be content! Be content!". That is what Rinpoche told her. Vanessa shares her reflections on advice from her guru and the art of being content. She begins by contemplating how one stays in the present moment, remaining content, when one is anxious about the next unknown future event. How does one come to know, 'the grass is greener right here, right now'? By examining the teachings and the lessons she has learned from practice, Vanessa shares experiences in examining her own habitual thinking.

Speaker: Bill Roberts. Using the first and second noble truth as a starting point, Bill talks about the deep fear of failure and unrelenting anxiety that overshadowed his career as an actor. Offering his experience as a window into the workings of ego, Bill states that until we choose to boycott the demands of this indefatigable tyrant, even spiritual practice can become a place where we perform the drama of failure. Two helpful practices are bodhicitta and "putting the mind of fear in the cradle of loving kindness", which become an endless offering to the world: not to fix, save or even help, but to allow the heart's openness to express itself as love.

Speaker: Jen Kern. Jen reflects on maitri aspiration and how it leads to warm-hearted courage and "buddhanature self esteem". She contemplates two profound questions related to maitri that came up after recent talks given by Rinpoche: "Why am I still putting up walls of protection and closing down when I aspire to expand?" "How am I shirking my responsibility to self-reflect, be present with fear, and shine a light on obscurations?" Jen discovered that her fear of self-cherishing resulted in a failure to direct loving-kindness to herself, which then became an obstacle to feeling genuine compassion and open-heartedness. Reflecting on the benefits of "placing the fearful mind in the loving cradle of maîtri", she leads listeners in a loving-kindness practice that starts with oneself.

Speaker: Fredi Kaufmann. Fredi reflects on how language shapes experience and spiritual growth. Words are creative forces- our inner and outer speech manifest reality. Cultivating kind, compassionate self-talk supports well being and transformation. On the Buddhist path, mantra recitation is a sacred language, which becomes a means of transformation. Mantras hold vibrational power beyond meaning. Repetition of mantras or prayers calms the mind, aligns us with deep aspiration, and reveals the mind's nature. Over time, repetition rewires thought patterns and allows sacred words to surface in daily life, aligning us with deep wisdom and compassion.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This previously-recorded teaching was originally given by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche to the Sangha on December 6, 2015 in Crestone, Colorado. Rinpoche extensively explains the meaning of four famous lines from the Sakya tradition that address being a spiritual practitioner, renunciation, bodhicitta and the ultimate view.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This previously-recorded LINK was the third teaching of a weekend program called, "Breeze of Simplicity", given to the Naropa University student body by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel in October 2012. Part 1 aired on the September 21st LINK, and included an introduction to shamatha and calm abiding practice. Part 2 aired on September 28th where Rinpoche introduced the five (5) obstacles and the eight (8) antidotes. Today's teaching includes the nine (9) ways of resting.

Speaker: Rebecca Henry. Having recently lost her father, Rebecca shares poignant memories through poetry and verse on the profound love she and her dad shared. She immediately saw the many ways her father had been training her throughout her life to become a practitioner. Rebecca shares that his passing and what they shared in the final days was a most precious training that exemplified confidence, spontaneous presence, unpredictability and proving that living does not need to make sense.

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Generally speaking, we tend to separate our spiritual practice from the rest of our life, especially when the demands of a busy life set in. Dungse-la encourages us to bring Dharma into our life holistically. He also discusses the disparate impact that negative thinking has on our minds compared to positive thinking. Oftentimes what becomes a habitual tendency begins without much thought, such as scrolling on our phones. Unraveling from this requires time, clarity and intention to improve our life, specifically our internal life. As we become free from neurotic emotions and ego-grasping, our life becomes free, and our ongoing circumstances improve because we are now moving in a positive direction. The trick is to keep moving. As practitioners, we are not seeking temporary experiences; we are seeking complete and total freedom.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This previously-recorded LINK was the second teaching of a weekend program that was given to the Naropa University student body by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel in October 2012. In Part 2, Rinpoche gave detailed instructions on shamatha meditation including the five (5) obstacles and the eight (8) antidotes.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This previously-recorded LINK was the first teaching of a weekend program that was given to the Naropa University student body by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel in October 2012. Part 1 included an introduction to shamatha and calm abiding as a practice that Buddhism offers to the world at large.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This is a recorded reading of notes taken from a LINK talk given by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche on September 14, 2025.

Speaker: Bob Reid. Following up on two LINKs from August 2024, Bob talks about the four immeasurables practice with a focus on loving-kindness. He describes loving-kindness as the sense of care, warmth and tenderness that we feel towards others in our life as well as to ourselves. He goes on to explain how it is the care towards oneself that is particularly difficult for westerners who have become accustomed to a competitive culture based on comparison and critique. Bob stresses how we all equally wish for happiness and to obtain the causes and conditions of happiness. He suggests we can be curious and investigate with an open mind when thoughts of being hard on ourselves arise, allowing ourselves to be fully present with our minds while also not believing our thoughts. Finally, as practitioners, we can open our hearts to the three jewels and surrender to Guru Rinpoche. In doing so our heart can recognize that our nature is the same as the deity's.

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This two-hour talk, originally given on September 14, 2024 to an online, European audience was split into two parts for rebroadcast on August 24 and 31, 2025. In this second part, Rinpoche explains that as we begin to have some objectivity towards our suffering and recognize the causes of it, we can find a tremendous sense of compassion for ourselves and others, and wisdom begins to dawn.