Mangala Shri Bhuti - The Link

Speaker: Dungse Jampal Norbu. Dungse-la explores ideas about AI and how it can expose assumptions about the causes of happiness and suffering. He illustrates how technology can be a way of recreating the eight worldly concerns, similar to how social media serves as a platform on which to build a reputation, digging one deeper into samsara. He encourages us to look into our reliance on outer means for happiness, contrasting that to the foundation of Dharma practice being self-reflection. As a method of support, Dungse-la underscores the importance of connecting with the four immeasurables: equanimity, loving-kindness, compassion and sympathetic joy.

Speaker: Joseph Waxman. Joey unpacks a poignant talk given by Rinpoche at the 2015 Nyingma Summer Seminar. The talk centered on obscurations that veil our true nature. These include emotional obscurations such as attachment, aggression and jealousy, cognitive obscurations such as grasping at phenomena as real, and habitual obscurations such as the self-perpetuating momentum of delusion. That said, Rinpoche's talk specifically delved into one key obscuration to penetrate, which is feeling like a schmuck. Joey explores this and another vital point of this teaching wherein Rinpoche said, "Buddhanature taking precedence over ‘schmuckness’ is the path of Buddhism".

Speaker: Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. This talk was originally given by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche during a three-day, weekend program at Naropa University in November 2002. The first talk included detailed instructions on the practice of meditation. The second and third talks from this 2002 series will air later in 2026.

Speaker: Sarah Gomes. Sarah recounts how she met the Dharma through the writings of Pema Chödrön during a difficult period in her life. She experienced an immediate sense of meaning, particularly in the teaching that ‘within suffering lies the potential for transformation’. Sarah has been a student of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche for 24 years and supports the living presence of the Dharma at the Mangala Shri Bhuti Center, Guna Norling, in Salvador de Bahia. She holds a deep commitment to the practice of life release and is a founding member of the local animal protection sanctuary. She strives to bring the teachings into every aspect of her daily life, believing that the Dharma reveals its true power when it moves beyond intellectual understanding and reaches the heart, transforming our words, choices, and the way we engage with the world.

Speaker: Daisuke Inaba. Dai-san discusses his seva activities, the challenges they present, and his findings in working with challenges. He divides a period of service into beginning, middle, and end and offers methods for dealing with difficulties that arise at each stage. In the beginning, there is procrastination and distraction, which he overcomes by setting up a physical and mental environment supportive of service. In the middle, discursive thoughts arise, which he addresses with a breathing practice similar to shamatha. In the end, pride and arrogance "slowly and sneakily creep in", which he surmounts by dedicating the merit and appreciating the opportunity to serve. Dai-san offers this three-part method as a beneficial antidote to self-absorption and an aid to achieving happiness and confidence in seva.