OM AH HUM - in detail!
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you do Vajrayana, you will say these syllables again and again. And again. What do they look like...
The Wearing of the Zentra.
Wed, 02 Jul
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Dos, don'ts, and who cares (some do) about wearing the red-and-white striped "Ngagpa shawl".
The Ganges Upadesha - Mahamudra Instructions
Wed, 18 Jun
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A crucial text for the mahamudra tradition of, in particular, the Kagyu traditions descended from Ma...
Double Dorje Series 2 is coming
Wed, 04 Jun
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Season 2 is coming soon
Wayback in the 1960s
Wed, 12 Mar
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Final episode of Season One! Groping towards the dharma in the midlands of England in the 1960s. Boo...
Paraphernalia - Bits and Bobs
Wed, 05 Mar
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Note: the next episode, no 44, will be the last of Season 1. Season 2 is in the works! Buddhism is a...
Termas and Tertons - Treasures from Out There!
Wed, 26 Feb
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Termas and tertons – spiritual treasures and their finders – are an inescapable feature of some ...
Tulkus – what’s THAT about?
Wed, 19 Feb
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Most traditions of Buddhist practice have nothing that resembles the tulku tradition. In the Tibetan...
Bitten by the Ghosts of the Stones
Wed, 12 Feb
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Come with me over the plains of Amdo in a little blue and white bus 30 years ago. We have a couple o...
Bread and Butter Verses
Wed, 05 Feb
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Some verses you'll hear again and again. Not a definitive list – there ain’t no such thing. But ...
What is the Lama for? Actually?
Wed, 29 Jan
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Q: Is the lama your boss? Big daddy? Friend? Mate? Therapist? A: Mostly not Then what? Words or p...
Empowerments
Wed, 22 Jan
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Empowerments – what happens? You’ve been to a Buddhist ceremony. Perhaps you knew it was an empo...
Am I a vajrayana practitioner?
Wed, 15 Jan
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Or are you a vajrayana practitioner? Is it a question of rites and rituals and pictures and mantras?...
Namo Buddha - best of three?
Wed, 08 Jan
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Namo Buddha - the smallest, but perhaps most beautiful, of the three stupas of the Kathmandu valley:...
Ultimate Practices? Mahamudra and Dzogchen
Wed, 01 Jan
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Mahamudra and dzogchen are often spoken of as the “highest” practices of Tibetan Buddhism. How v...
The Seven line prayer to Guru Rinpoche
Wed, 25 Dec
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Beside the best-known mantras used in popular Tibetan-style Buddhism – the famous “Mani”, Tara...
Emptiness. Or nothing?
Wed, 18 Dec
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Emptiness (shunyata, or tongpa in Tibetan) is an utterly core theme in Buddhist teaching. When we fi...
Ngondro: Do I really have to?
Wed, 11 Dec
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
When you start to get “serious” (whatever that is and however you try to define it) about your v...
Pharping - Can I go back?
Wed, 04 Dec
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A powerful Vajrayogini shrine, Guru Rinpoche caves, and much, much more. Pharping is one of the most...
Bardos: Are you dead yet?
Wed, 27 Nov
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What does the “Tibetan Book of the Dead” tell us about being dead? Will we see the Peaceful and ...
Karma - it's not fate!
Wed, 20 Nov
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The fruit of our actions – our karma – is said to be unavoidable. Sooner or later, every action ...
Sankhu and the Princess
Wed, 13 Nov
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
She was a new bride, but for the help she gave I call her a princess! The pilgrimage trip to the Vaj...
Dakinis - what the **** are they?
Wed, 06 Nov
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
In dreams, in the wild, dark woods where reality starts to break apart and become entangled in visio...
Big cycles, little cycles
Wed, 30 Oct
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
From monster practice cycles that need a whole Dharma Centre to work through in a year to the handfu...
When dear ones die
Wed, 23 Oct
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The two certain things in life are, famously, death and taxes. If you are rich enough, you may be ab...
What the tsok? What to expect.
Wed, 16 Oct
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Tsok pujas are a big feature of Tibetan-style Buddhism as it is actually practiced, but newcomers of...
Secret Teachings in Tibetan Buddhism
Wed, 09 Oct
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
When secret teachings are spoken of in Tibetan Buddhism, the word "secret" is much closer in meaning...
Pilgrimage. And did those feet...
Wed, 02 Oct
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
How does pilgrimage fit into the Buddhist way of doing things? Plus the Guru Rinpoche mantra sung t...
Cut and chop, cut and chop! Yes, it's Chöd.
Wed, 25 Sep
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Chöd - a vast stream of Buddhist practice! Here is a taste. Chöd Chödpa - (images of) Jamgön...
Jyekundo / Yushu: travelling in East Tibet
Wed, 18 Sep
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A traveller's tale from eastern Tibet three decades ago! The great prayer wheel at Mani Dunkhor. So...
Lost and lonely in samsara
Wed, 11 Sep
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Refuge, the Three Jewels and the Bodhisattva vow... Words or phrases you might want to look up: Re...
Bad gurus, tosh gurus and good gurus
Wed, 04 Sep
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A heavy criticism of the whole "Shambhala" cult, describing the behaviour of Chogyam Trungpa and his...
The Four Revolting Thoughts
Wed, 28 Aug
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
More often called the "Four Thoughts to Turn the Mind": precious human birth, impermanence, karma an...
The Mantra of Guru Rinpoche - with tunes!
Wed, 21 Aug
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
The Guru Rinpoche (or "Vajra Guru") mantra. Includes four tunes for singing! Approximate script at ...
Tantra - is it all about sex?
Wed, 14 Aug
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
To what degree does sex have anything to do with Buddhist tantra? Terms you might want to look up: ...
Going to "take teachings". Eh?
Wed, 07 Aug
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What do Buddhist practitioners and students mean when they go to "take teachings"? What to expect, h...
The colours of the mantra go round and round...
Wed, 31 Jul
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Another look at the mani (OM MANI PEME HUNG). The six syllables, their six colours, and the six worl...
How is a sadhana built?
Wed, 24 Jul
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What is the structure of a typical sadhana practice? What parts must it have, what can it have, and ...
Spooky beings - is anybody there?
Wed, 17 Jul
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Tibetan Buddhist practice refers a lot to beings on "the other side" who might help or hinder. Do we...
True Nature of the Mind - a conundrum!
Wed, 10 Jul
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What is "Direct Introduction" to the true nature of the mind, also known as "pointing out instructio...
Manis and manis and...
Wed, 03 Jul
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
About THE MOST FAMOUS of Tibetan Buddhist mantras - what it is, reciting it and singing it - with tu...
Ato Rinpoche - you will be missed. And what about your two eyes?
Wed, 26 Jun
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Some memories of Ato Rinpoche who "rested his intent" recently, and what he spoke of as his "two eye...
The Double Dorje - itself!
Wed, 19 Jun
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
What is a double dorje when it is a ritual instrument - a "diamond sceptre". And what is the Double ...
The Lama! What?
Wed, 12 Jun
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
In Tibetan Buddhism, "the Lama" is a many-sided word. It means much more than just a person, even a ...
Who is a Ngagpa?
Wed, 05 Jun
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
A ngagpa is a heavy-duty kind of non-monastic practitioner of the path of mantra in Tibetan Buddhism...
Tips for total beginners
Wed, 29 May
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
If you have sensed the magic around Tibetan Buddhism but don't know where to start, these tips might...
Remembering Thrangu Rinpoche
Wed, 22 May
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Recalling the life and achievements of Thrangu Rinpoche one year since he passed on. Thrangu Rinpoc...
Trailer
Wed, 15 May
Contributed by Lukas • Default Dataset
Yes, it's a trailer for the Double Dorje In the early weeks of this podcast I included an approximat...