The Magic of Vajrayana: Ken McLeod & Michael Taft in conversation
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- Ken McLeod, author of the new book, The Magic of Vajrayana, visits The Alembic for a short talk, but mainly an extended Q&A session - an AMA if you wish - on Vajrayana, Tibetan Buddhism, and related topics.
One of the more innovative Buddhist teachers today, Ken McLeod is known for his clear explanations, poetic translations, and pragmatic approach to practice. He is one of the first generation of Western teachers in the Tibetan tradition and one of the few to be authorized to transmit the full scope of these teachings to students. His approach resonates strongly with those whose path lies outside established institutions.
He completed the traditional three-year retreat program two times under his principal teacher, Kalu Rinpoche, translated for many teachers, and helped set up Buddhist centers in Canada and the United States. After his teacher’s passing, Ken founded his own organization, Unfettered Mind, in Los Angeles. His approach of one-on-one consultations roiled the Buddhist world in the early ‘90s, but was quickly recognized as a viable way to teach and guide students in the West. He made individual interviews a central feature of the many retreats he taught in California, New Mexico, and British Columbia. Through numerous small groups in Southern California, he developed the materials that became the encyclopedic meditation manual Wake Up to Your Life.
Now retired from formal teaching, he lives in Northern California where he hikes and writes. His writings and translations include The Great Path of Awakening (1987), Wake Up to Your Life (2001), An Arrow to the Heart (2007), Reflections on Silver River (2014), A Trackless Path (2017), and The Magic of Varjayana (2023), as well as a corpus of articles and translations in Tricycle and other Buddhist magazines.
An archive of Ken's work including podcasts from retreats and classes can be found at unfetteredmind.org.
Alembic cofounding teacher Michael W. Taft is a non-traditional meditation teacher, bestselling author, and podcaster. As a mindfulness coach, he specializes in secular, science-based mindfulness training in retreats, groups, corporate settings, and one-on-one sessions. Michael is the author of several books, including the bestselling The Mindful Geek, Nondualism: A Brief History of a Timeless Concept, and Ego (which he co-authored), as well as the editor of such books as Hardwiring Happiness by Rick Hanson and The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young.
He has often taught meditation at Google, worked on curriculum development for SIYLI, and is currently core faculty at Wisdom Labs, in San Francisco. Michael is also a featured teacher on the Simple Habit app, and an official advisor to the Therapeutic Neuroscience Lab. He was previously editor-in-chief of Being Human, and was the long-time editorial director of Sounds True.
From Zen temples in Japan to yogi caves in India, Michael has been meditating for over thirty five years and has extensive experience in both Buddhist Vipassana and Hindu Tantric practice. Michael is a senior facilitator in Shinzen Young’s Unified Mindfulness system, and is a teacher of meditation groups around the Bay Area. He currently lives in Oakland, California, and is founding editor of the iconoclastic mindfulness meditation blog and podcast Deconstructing Yourself.
Poetically speaking, Ken McLeod speaks to my soul 🙏🏽❤️
This really is touching my heart
I’ve watched this half-a-dozen times since it was posted. Everyone was so thoughtful, engaged, and compassionate. Thank you to all the people involved.
Thank you for letting us into this.
I get Mr Rodgers had a kid with Michael Taft vibes from this. Very wholesome. Brings me back to simpler time in my life when I was around wholesome people who gave me the impression the world was inherently wholesome, but just had a few bad people in it. Normal was “true” back then.
McLeod has allegations of sexual and romantic impropriety and abuses of power against him by more than one woman. In one case, the woman claims that she left her husband for him and then he dumped her, prompting her to say something to the effect of "I guess I should just slit my throat" to which she claims he replied "I'd use your wrists"... if there is truth to these allegations, it'd be interesting to know her reaction to him being compared to Mr Rogers lmao
@@NothingTheGreat I read that account, but didn't hear about the other women.
@@NothingTheGreat She'd probably say watch out for wolves in sheeps' clothing, and that what she couldn't see before is obvious now, and maybe Ken played a part in that: Buddhist teachers can be egocentric deceiving even them(no)selves.
@@PatriciaIvan Yes, perhaps that's even what she would say verbatim to the syllable. Thanks, Patricia
Thank you, a very nice companion to the book.
The audio seems quite quiet though, anyone else notice this?
Very helpful! Thank you!
Thank you so much!
ok, Ken name the women scientists