Dear Friends,

It has been 8 weeks since we began responding as an organization to the threat of COVID-19, with significant alterations to how we go about our work. At that time, an already-scheduled visit and podcast recording with Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche proved to be auspicious. As a valued spiritual teacher, Rinpoche provided welcome words of inspiration and guidance on working with our worried minds while making practical decisions to ensure safety. (See Windhorse Journal entry #054 – “Taking Care in Pandemic: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche’s Reflections on our Mental Priorities”.) Indeed, what can be drawn upon is one’s life force—called  windhorse (Tibetan: lungta) in Shambhala teachings: the unlimited energy of basic goodness and inherent wakefulness. And it’s at the heart of the following podcast discussion. [Read more…]

Dear Listeners,

In this second entry of the two-part podcast on trauma (first entry #27) we, Dave Dunlap and Polly Banerjee Gallagher, along with the moderator, Chuck Knapp, delve into personal examples and experiences of working with trauma. As Dave expressed in his introduction to our first podcast, “the discussion we engaged in captures only a small part of the story. We are not pointing to a single way to treat trauma, or even the idea that trauma is something that can be treated away.” With that understanding we continue our discussion recognizing that trauma is a vast and deep topic that is difficult to articulate cohesively without getting lost in a fog and missing the heart of what we mean. To our wonder, what came out of this discussion was our genuine connection to our shared experiences as human beings. [Read more…]