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On Open Question Podcast, Buddhist teacher, Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, explores topics central to the Mahayana view - emptiness, dependent arising and bodhicitta - using a fresh mix of language, storytelling and guided inquiry. Elizabeth invites listeners to establish a practical understanding of these topics to enhance their daily lives.
Elizabeth has studied and practiced Buddhism since 1985 under the guidance of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. After completing a six year retreat, she was appointed Retreat Master at the Samten Ling retreat center in Colorado. Elizabeth is the author of two books, The Power of an Open Question and The Logic of Faith. She is a teacher in the Mangala Shri Bhuti lineage, and is the founder/president of Middle Way Initiative, an educational non-profit.
For more information, please visit: www.middlewayinitiative.org
Elizabeth has studied and practiced Buddhism since 1985 under the guidance of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. After completing a six year retreat, she was appointed Retreat Master at the Samten Ling retreat center in Colorado. Elizabeth is the author of two books, The Power of an Open Question and The Logic of Faith. She is a teacher in the Mangala Shri Bhuti lineage, and is the founder/president of Middle Way Initiative, an educational non-profit.
For more information, please visit: www.middlewayinitiative.org
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In episode 703, Elizabeth asks the question: "If the absolute nature is not to be found within the nature of appearances themselves, where else would we find it?" She takes us on a journey to explore this question through the Buddha's teaching on dependent arising, Nagarjuna's two truths, and a curious teaching she received directly from her own teacher. The investigation reconciles common confusions about the essential teaching of the two truths.
Elizabeth has a curious encounter at the local post office, which ignites a profound inquiry into what keeps us from the nature of appearance.
In episode 701, Elizabeth takes us through a classical teaching on the 12 links of dependent origination, which explores the genesis of our confusion, the dazzling spectacle of samsara, and how we can free ourselves from it. "When we feel confused about why we are practicing" she suggests, "just look at the wheel of becoming and it will remind you that there is nothing mystical about liberation. It is very matter-of-fact and within our reach."
Elizabeth explores absolute bodhicitta through the story of the 11th century spiritual quest of Naropa. His training, under Mahasiddha Tilopa, illustrates the necessity of disrupting delusion in the context of spiritual awakening. At the heart of it all lies a deep examination of the meaning and experience of what is real.
In the context of a recent pilgrimage in India, Elizabeth opens up the topic of "engaged" bodhicitta and the six paramitas. She weaves in the story of Sujata, the young woman known for generously offering a bowl of sweet milk-rice to Siddhartha who was debilitated after years of austerities. Revived and refocused, Siddhartha then made his way to the shade of a pipal tree and attained enlightenment, becoming The Buddha. Join the pilgrimage and explore India's conspiracy of great giving.
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