Category: Buddhism
Blog: Buddhist Perspectives on Grief and Loss
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In Robert Thurman’s prelude to his translation of Bardo Thodol, commonly translated as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, he takes to task scientific materialists’ perspective that death is a terminal state, a state of nothingness where life is destroyed. He points out that these materialists “have never observed even one material thing become nothing. Why should the energy reality of a state of awareness [life] ……be the exception to the law of physics that energy is conserved and only transformed?”
I have always appreciated Dr. Thurman’s willingness to take on monolithic prejudices, in the name of science, in response to spiritual questions. I have always felt the wholesale rejection of notions such as the possibility of life after death and the existence of spirit was highly unscientific. In order to step into the universe of life beyond death from the Buddhist perspective, we have to allow ourselves to be disabused of the ways in which we may have unwittingly digested the viewpoints of scientific materialism on these subjects simply because they dominate in our education system.
Video: Robert Thurman Discusses Man of Peace with Isa Gucciardi
Isa Gucciardi sits down with renowned Buddhist scholar, Dr. Robert Thurman, who has co-written a no-holds-barred graphic novel about the life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Blog: Embraced by the Sacred Feminine at Menla
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
While I was on my way from California to Menla Retreat in New York, three feet of snow had been falling at Menla. Robert Thurman and I had scheduled our Embracing the Sacred Feminine course at the Spring Equinox with the idea that the Great Mother would be revealing herself through emerging bulbs and leaf buds. The weather in the Catskill Mountains is, however, unpredictable at any season. So, rather than sunning myself under budding apple trees at Menla, I found myself with bare trees, silent snow, and dark nights. Yet the power of the land of Menla became even more evident in the dark sparkle of winter.
A Meeting of the Ways with Diane Solomon and Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.: Embracing the Sacred Feminine at the Spring Equinox
Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D., and Diane Solomon, host of A Meeting of the Ways, continue their discussion about the Spring Equinox and explore the concept of the Sacred Feminine and its relationship to the spring season. They touch upon some important insights about the Sacred Feminine that have emerged from the classes that Isa has taught on the subject for the last 15 years. Isa also talks about her collaboration with thought leader and Buddhist scholar, Dr. Robert Thurman, in co-teaching a class called Embracing the Sacred Feminine, and discusses the role of the feminine within Buddhist philosophy.
Blog: Embracing the Feminine
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
As I am preparing to return to Menla Retreat in the beautiful Catskill Mountains in Phoenicia, New York to teach Embracing the Sacred Feminine with Robert Thurman, I am struck by the change in public discourse around the feminine experience that has occurred since the last time we taught this class together. With the ascendance of a president who grants permission, through his words and actions, to publicly humiliate women without negative consequence, others have become emboldened to repudiate women’s rights. This repudiation, demonstrated in the U.S. Senate, demonstrated in the struggle for women’s reproductive rights, and demonstrated in the rejection of a woman president can only be a function of a larger misogyny. Misogyny has always been part of the cultural fabric – not only in the U.S., but also in many, many other cultural settings. Yet the current bald demonstration of it at this point in our history is shocking.
Blog: The Two Truths: Finding Meaning in Difficult Situations
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In a recent dinner conversation with friends, the Buddhist concept of the Two Truths came up. In Buddhist philosophy, the Two Truths offers an explanation of the nature of reality. The discussion wound around to how I introduced adapted elements of the Two Truths to students in the Depth Hypnosis Foundation Course. This adaptation is a bit like an overview, making the concept a little easier to grasp and apply in a Western context.
Video: What Makes You Happy with Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Thupten Jinpa answers the question, “What makes you happy?” Excerpted from a talk given at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. Thupten Jinpa is the author of A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, and English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Blog: Ask Isa: Overcoming Guilt as a Reaction to the State of the World
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Question: I feel very guilty about the state of the world and my relatively good life. I have so much and others are in such pain and have so little. My response is to over-give in an effort to help, but it never seems to be enough and I just end up feeling worse about myself and about the state of the world. How do you live with the knowledge that so much is wrong in the world and then not do something about it?
Video: Finding a Teacher with Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Thupten Jinpa talks about working with a teacher and other ways of deepening the practice of mindfulness and meditation. Excerpted from a talk given at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. Thupten Jinpa is the author of A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, and English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Video: Stanford Compassion Study Results with Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Thupten Jinpa discusses the positive results arising out of the Stanford Compassion Studies and the Compassion Cultivation Training he developed. Excerpted from a talk given at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. Thupten Jinpa is the author of A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, and English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Video: Self Compassion with Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Thupten Jinpa discusses the idea of self compassion and how the Tibetan Buddhist concept differs from the Western. Excerpted from a talk given at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. Thupten Jinpa is the author of A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, and English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Video: Letting Go of Negative Emotion with Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Thupten Jinpa explains how mindfulness and compassion practices can help us let go of negative emotion and lead happier and healthier lives. Excerpted from a talk given at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. Thupten Jinpa is the author of A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, and English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Video: Catching Emotional Triggers with Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Thupten Jinpa discusses the importance of catching emotional triggers and how mindfulness practices can help. Excerpted from a talk given at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. Thupten Jinpa is the author of A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, and English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Video: Personal Practice with Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Thupten Jinpa offers suggestions for developing a personal meditative practice. Excerpted from a talk given at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. Thupten Jinpa is the author of A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, and English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Video: Mind Training Techniques for the West with Thupten Jinpa, Ph.D.
Thupten Jinpa answers the question of how Mind Training, including meditation and compassion practice can be helpful to people in contemporary societies. Excerpted from a talk given at the Sacred Stream Center in Berkeley, CA. Thupten Jinpa is the author of A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, and English translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.