PODCAST · religion
Open Question
by Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel
How do we navigate our lives in the midst of uncertainty? How do we bring our deepest intentions together with our actions? What is the purpose of spirituality? How can we accommodate both the beauty and the pain of life?These questions may never find a definitive answer,but they are questions to live by. At OQ we feel that if you have a genuine question you should explore it, continue to ask it, and then pay attention. I am Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, a Buddhist student and teacher. Please join me as I share some intimate and rich dialogues with accomplished practitioners of diverse wisdom lineages.To learn more please visit: https://www.elizabethmattisnamgyel.com/oqpodcast
Episodes
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OQ 703 - TWO TRUTHS: NOT TWO, NOT TRUE
In episode 703, Elizabeth asks the question: "If the absolute nature is not to be found within the nature of appearances themselves, where else would we find it?" She takes us on a journey to explore this question through the Buddha's teaching on dependent arising, Nagarjuna's two truths, and a...
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OQ 702 - What Am I Looking At?
Elizabeth has a curious encounter at the local post office, which ignites a profound inquiry into what keeps us from the nature of appearance.
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OQ 701 - The Great Escape
In episode 701, Elizabeth takes us through a classical teaching on the 12 links of dependent origination, which explores the genesis of our confusion, the dazzling spectacle of samsara, and how we can free ourselves from it. "When we feel confused about why we are practicing" she suggests, "just...
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OQ 603 - DISRUPTION!
Elizabeth explores absolute bodhicitta through the story of the 11th century spiritual quest of Naropa. His training, under Mahasiddha Tilopa, illustrates the necessity of disrupting delusion in the context of spiritual awakening. At the heart of it all lies a deep examination of the meaning and...
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OQ 602 - Sujata's Offering
In the context of a recent pilgrimage in India, Elizabeth opens up the topic of "engaged" bodhicitta and the six paramitas. She weaves in the story of Sujata, the young woman known for generously offering a bowl of sweet milk-rice to Siddhartha who was debilitated after years of austerities....
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OQ 601 - Across The Valley
In episode 601, Across the Valley, Elizabeth uses the analogy of two communities situated on opposite sides of the valley where she lives to consider our tendencies towards fundamentalism and rightness. "What happens" she asks, "when everyone feels absolutely right?" The Bodhisattva Vow is a...
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OQ 505 - Looking Into the World
In this episode Elizabeth reflects upon the provocative poem by renowned Buddhist teacher, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, entitled, "Looking Into the World." "It's not a cozy poem," she says, "It's an incantation to NOT trust, a reflection on loneliness, and a tribute to the freedom and confidence…
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OQ 504 - Hook And Ring
Devotion is one of the many expressions of faith. When understood clearly, devotion can hasten the process of awakening for the student on the spiritual path, ripening and maturing them in a simple and direct way. Elizabeth brings us through various definitions of devotion, explores devotion as…
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OQ 503 - The Ineffable
All great spiritual lineages point us back to that which defies concept and language. Authentic practitioners describe awakening as being touched by a sense of awe, overcome by the beauty, fierceness and power of being. To be in AWE is a natural human experience. Ironically, so is the discomfort...
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OQ 502 - Hail The Impossible!
At 7:15 am on August 7th, 1974, 1,300 feet above a gathering crowd, French high wire artist, Philip Petit, renowned for his unauthorized public stunts, stepped onto a 131-foot wire rigged between the twin towers of New York City's World Trade Center. In this episode, Elizabeth recalls Petit 's...
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OQ 501 - The F Word
In this episode, Elizabeth takes us on a journey through the term 'faith.' We may assume we know what faith is, but most of us have never truly explored its nuance or spectrum of meanings. We often use the term faith to refer to: dogma, fundamentalism, doctrine, confidence, devotion conviction,...
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OQ 405 - The Self: Bearing Witness
Elizabeth shares the classic Buddhist narrative of Avaloketeshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and asks us to contemplate the story carefully, adding, "because something similar could happen to you." Continuing her exploration of the self, Elizabeth navigates the common responses to our...
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OQ 404 - The Self: When Does Bread Become Toast?
In previous episodes we engaged in the liberating practice of looking and not finding, as we searched for something singular or independent. In this episode, Elizabeth explores the topic of permanence - the 3rd in this triad of classical Middle Way inquiries. Elizabeth drops back into her...
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OQ 403 - The Self: Into The Watery Depths
Continuing with the theme - The Self: Walking the Middle Way Path, we meet the 2nd Century spiritual genius, Nagarjuna, who is considered the father of the Middle Way school. Nagarjuna once paid homage to the Buddha, saying, "I prostrate to he who has abandoned all views." Looking into the topic…
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OQ 402 - The Self: Mind and Its World
The most intimate relationship you will ever have is the relationship you have with your SELF! Ironically, when looking for a singular, permanent or autonomous self, all we find is a myriad of dynamic, contingent relationships. In this episode, Elizabeth introduces us to the Buddha's most…
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OQ 401 - The Self: Beyond Existence and Extinction
Many of us can recall our earliest encounters with the quandary of death. As children, we possess a natural longing to make sense of the world; to find explanations for things that disturb or amaze us. Throughout our lives, we are continually confronted by the conundrum of existence and…
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OQ 305 - Sacred World: Life is Rich!
Our life - our world - can be rich…and it can also be a bitch. We walk the terrain of multiple - maybe infinite - grounds. We move in and out of these overlapping spaces.They are not geographical territories, but rather various ways we encounter our human condition as our mind and its world…
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OQ 304 - Sacred World: Where is "THE" World?
What do you see when you think about the world? You might picture a rainforest or desert. You might envision a crowded subway terminal. You might imagine a household or a war zone. You might think: "the world is a mess," or feel touched by the beauty and the beings that inhabit it. Where exactly…
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OQ 303 - Sacred World: The Shimmering Apparition
In Open Question 303, Elizabeth explores the power of words and what it means to go beyond them in the tradition of Prajnaparamita.
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OQ 302 - Sacred World: Awakening Natural Intelligence
The Buddha Nature teachings of Mahayana Buddhism reason that all beings possess natural intelligence. We can observe in ourselves and others that the instinct for wellbeing drives everything we do. We bend toward wellbeing like a plant bends toward the light of a sunny window. How is it then…
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OQ 301 - Sacred World: Through the Eyes of Prajnaparamita
Most spiritual traditions offer teachings on "sacred world"-the promise of a life beyond struggle-the search for a place of ease. This is a noble human quest. And yet, the "sacred" often seems to be a place other than where we find ourselves now. How do we reconcile the tension between the...
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OQ 209 - The Beloved Community
Marc Andrus is the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California. His leadership is focused on key issues related to peace and justice, civil rights, and the environment. Bishop Andrus has just released a new book: Brothers in the Beloved Community: The Friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin...
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OQ 208 - Opening the Heart Sutra
In this episode Elizabeth shares her love of the most quintessential text of Mahayana Buddhism: The Heart Sutra. She weaves heartfelt commentary through a musical composition of the text, performed by Chime Mattis. This insightful and devotional presentation can be used as both practice and...
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OQ 207 - Our Human Being
Elizabeth shares that, as machine intelligence and global culture become more a part of our world, she feels a need to examine and clarify what it means to be human. She brings the inquiry into a Buddhist context by questioning the Buddha's assertion that the human realm provides the great...
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OQ 206 - Don't Be So Predictable
In this episode, Elizabeth and her son, Dungse Jampal Norbu, discuss his project the "Everybodhi Podcast". In his podcast, and this interview, Dungse Jampal offers a fresh and contemporary look at one of Mahayana Buddhism's seminal texts - "The Seven Points on Mind Training", or as it's more...
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OQ 205 - Science Magic Grace
In this episode, Elizabeth speaks with her dharma friend, Jakob Leschly, a long time practitioner, teacher and translator for Siddhartha's Intent. They cover many topics in this conversation, including the differences between modern science and Buddhist science, the practice of critical inquiry…
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OQ 204 - These Dark Times
Elizabeth explores the process of finding courage in the face of adversity. "It is only through looking life squarely in the face," she says, "that we find liberation." She reminds us that this world we try so desperately to secure, doesn't ultimately lend itself to trustworthiness, and that, our...
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OQ 203 - Dwelling Place of the Ancestors
In this episode, Elizabeth speaks with Buddhist teacher and author, Judy Lief, about the future of Buddhism in the context of lineage in contemporary culture. Judy candidly shares her thoughts on creating welcoming dharma environments; the tension between innovation and tradition and the...
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OQ 202 - Seagull on a Buoy
In this episode, Elizabeth explores the idea and experience of lineage. Lineage is an important part of human existence and culture. What we know and how we see life, has something to do with a continuum of worldview and experience that has been passed down to us. In the context of Buddhism,...
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OQ 201 - Unconditional Well Being
Elizabeth speaks with her own teacher, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, about the practice of patience. This practice, Rinpoche says, can protect our hearts and minds in a complex world, opening up new vistas of peace and richness for ourselves and others. It is, as the Buddha said, "a great armor."...
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OQ 110 - Dharma in Hell
In this final episode of Open Question season one, Elizabeth speaks with Fleet Maull, prison activist, Buddhist practitioner, and author of "Dharma in Hell" and "Radical Responsibility." He has a fascinating story to tell us about his 14 years of Buddhist practice in prison, starting the first...
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OQ 109 - A Student's Sacred Outlook
The Buddha said: "You are the agent of your own awakening, there is no other agent than you." This is an empowering statement, but it also implies that we need to take up the task of our own spiritual evolution. In this conversation, Elizabeth and Willa Miller, an authorized dharma teacher and...
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OQ 108 - Taming the Wild Horse: the Ritual of Well-Being
Elizabeth explores the value and potency of ritual in our personal lives, culture, and spiritual practice. She also shares a meaningful conversation she had with Chief Arvol Looking Horse, the head of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nations, about the role of ritual and ceremony in indigenous...
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OQ 107 - Every Breath a Prayer
Lyla June Johnston is an indigenous environmental scientist, doctoral student, educator, community organizer and musician of Din-ay (or Navajo), Cheyenne, and European lineages. She is from Taos, NM. Elizabeth first encountered Lyla at The Festival of Faiths annual gathering in Louisville, KY.…
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OQ 106 - Expanding the Self to Include Others: A Meditative Inquiry
In this episode, Elizabeth guides us through a process of inquiry and meditation grounded in the path of the bodhisattva. These teachings provide us with a clear and practical directive for cultivating a healthy relationship with others. We often look at the "ego" as a hindrance to spiritual...
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OQ 105 - A Deep Dive
Elizabeth speaks with Lama Willa Miller, a teacher in the Kagud lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Willa is the spiritual director of Natural Dharma Fellowship, located in Boston. Starting from their initial meeting 35 years ago, Elizabeth and Lama Willa discuss entering a lineage, the value of...
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OQ 104 - Natural Vitality: a Meditative Inquiry
The natural expression of mind will never cease. To stop experience is not the point of meditation. The crucial question is: How do we poise the mind in meditation? Is there a way to clearly observe the rich energy of mind regardless of it expression? Is it possible to allow ourselves to have a...
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OQ 103 - The Haunted Dominion of Mind
Anam Thubten Rinpoche joins Elizabeth to discuss how, as spiritual practitioners, our traditions provide us with tools to work with challenge. In particular, their dialogue brings us to our "inner cemetery" - the shadowy territory of experience we often leave uncharted....
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OQ 102 - A Moment of High Magic
Elizabeth speaks with her dear friend and teacher, Lorain Fox Davis, both a Cree and Blackfeet elder. They discuss the tremendous possibility in home sheltering, the difference between being alone and feeling isolated, the unstoppable movement of life, and the nature of prayer.
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OQ 101 - A Call to Inner Brilliance
In this episode, Elizabeth explores the term "Open Question" and how the practice of "Open Questioning" has been such a powerful approach along her own spiritual path. https://www.elizabethmattisnamgyel.com/OQpodcast-introduction
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
How do we navigate our lives in the midst of uncertainty? How do we bring our deepest intentions together with our actions? What is the purpose of spirituality? How can we accommodate both the beauty and the pain of life?These questions may never find a definitive answer,but they are questions to live by. At OQ we feel that if you have a genuine question you should explore it, continue to ask it, and then pay attention. I am Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, a Buddhist student and teacher. Please join me as I share some intimate and rich dialogues with accomplished practitioners of diverse wisdom lineages.To learn more please visit: https://www.elizabethmattisnamgyel.com/oqpodcast
HOSTED BY
Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Open Question have?
Open Question currently has 40 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Open Question about?
How do we navigate our lives in the midst of uncertainty? How do we bring our deepest intentions together with our actions? What is the purpose of spirituality? How can we accommodate both the beauty and the pain of life?These questions may never find a definitive answer,but they are questions to...
How often does Open Question release new episodes?
Open Question has 40 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Open Question?
You can listen to Open Question on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Open Question?
Open Question is created and hosted by Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel.
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