JMMTA Podcast 8 Khenpo Pema Wangdak Pt - 1

Tasha Delek! And Happy 2018. On an unusually warm day in early December, Lauren Bielski sat down to discuss mindfulness and how students in the west might best investigate Buddhist ideas with Khenpo Pema Wangdak. This austere but gentle person was born in Western Tibet, raised in India, and became a monk in the Sakya tradition. Sakya is known for its systematic approach to tantric teachings called the lamdrey—the path and the goal—and for its rigorous application of Buddhist logic. Khenpo Pema settled in NYC to teach back in 1982, becoming the first of a younger generation of Tibetan teachers to settle here in the U.S. We'd talked with Khenpo Pema about his life and experience of Buddhism as a native to its traditions, where cultivating a spiritual life is a cultural norm and as typical as going to prep school and pursuing a professional career path. As interest and intrigue in all forms of Buddhism and the related core concept of mindfulness have recently undergone renewed popularity in the West, we also asked about whether—and how—a serious student born and raised here might approach studies of concepts, and ethical guidelines for “becoming a better, more self aware, less angry person.” This podcast is part one of several more to come from this discussion. Later in the year there will be a video of this interview so, if you find the insights revealed by Lama Pema to be helpful, be sure to check back for future podcast interviews with him or go to TibetanMuseum.org to watch the video of this talk from the library at The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art when it is available.