Dharma Glimpses with Judy Lief

[This episode originally aired on August 16, 2022]  Bodhisattvas are those who dedicate their lives to attaining enlightenment themselves, and to providing situations that lead to the enlightenment …

[This episode originally aired on August 9, 2022]  Impermanence applies not only to the world around us, but to our internal world as well  •  we assume that we are a solid reference point, and every…

[This episode originally aired on August 2, 2022]  In Buddhism some practices are designated as meditation practices, such as working with mindfulness and awareness  •  other practices, called contem…

[This episode first aired on July 26, 2022]  Random labeling, or kuntak in Tibetan, is a two-step process: first we select some portion of our perception and give it a label; then, once we’ve done t…

[This episode originally aired on July 19, 2022]  The Tibetan term for compassion—karuna—can be translated as “noble heart”  •  in the Buddhist teachings, compassion is almost always linked with ano…

[This episode was originally published on July 12, 2022]  Recently I came across a disturbing study indicating that people who spend a lot of time in silent meditation practice can actually become le…

The focus of this episode is listening  •  we might think of listening as something passive, but it is actually a very active process, one that is closely associated with paying attention  •  a tradi…

The Buddha's life can be seen as a template for our own journey along the Buddhist path  •  the Buddha grew up in a palace, surrounded by safety, comfort, and security  •  but growing up in such a sh…

As you get older, your sense of physical balance declines a bit;  and so you might think, well, I'll just try to be balanced and just stay there  •  but if you're working with a trainer, they deliber…

In this episode, I'd like to explore the topic of confusion  •  a traditional chant has the line, “Grant your blessing so that the path may clarify confusion”  •  as you practice meditation and see h…

In this episode, I'd like to focus on awareness, or vipashyana  •  while mindfulness refers to stabilizing, grounding, and focusing the mind, vipashyana is about clarity, openness, curiosity, and inq…

The Eightfold Path is one of the early teachings the Buddha gave after his enlightenment  •  they are guidelines for living in accordance with the Dharma; they are guidelines for how to comport yours…

As a student of Chögyam Trungpa, I heard the phrase “back to square one” quite a lot  •  he implied that doing something over and over again is very important — in our dharma practice, in our meditat…

Buddhism is often referred to as a path; not as a set of beliefs or a doctrine, but as a trail, a path, a walkway  • it's a direction, or a guideline, or a map of sorts; you have an idea of trying to…

Walking meditation is often introduced in the context of group practice: you're sitting and a gong rings, and then you stand up and begin walking; then another gong rings and you go back to sitting  …

In this episode I'd like to explore the topic of walking meditation  •  in some ways walking meditation is a link between stillness and movement; it is a bridge between the quiet and peaceful state o…

In this episode I'd like to explore the role of self reliance on the Buddhist path  •  the basic idea is that nobody can walk your path for you; even if we encounter the wisest teachers and most supp…

Today I'd like to explore the question of sacredness  •  there is a tendency to think that there are certain special things in life that are sacred, and then there's the rest of life, which is secula…

This episode focuses on the faults and shortcomings we see in ourselves and in other beings:  how do we become friends with ourselves, with all our faults, without excusing them and without concealin…

In this episode, I'd like to focus on meditation in action, and particularly on speech  •  in Buddhism there is a tremendous respect for the spoken word  •  speech is powerful; it can be beneficial, …