Podcast
Open Question
Hosted by Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel · EN
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
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
OQ 702 - What Am I Looking At?
Apr 1700:22:50Tap to summarizeElizabeth has a curious encounter at the local post office, which ignites a profound inquiry into what keeps us from the nature of appearance.
Transcribe →OQ 701 - The Great Escape
Feb 1000:23:20Tap to summarizeIn 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 look at the wheel of becoming and it will remind you that there is nothing mystical about liberation. It is very matter-of-fact and within our reach."
Transcribe →OQ 603 - DISRUPTION!
Sep 200:24:50Tap to summarizeElizabeth 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 experience of what is real.
Transcribe →OQ 602 - Sujata's Offering
May 8, 202500:22:38Tap to summarizeIn 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. Revived and refocused, Siddhartha then made his way to the shade of a pipal tree and attained enlightenment, becoming The Buddha. Join the pilgrimage and explore India's conspiracy of great giving.
Transcribe →OQ 601 - Across The Valley
Feb 14, 202500:23:11Tap to summarizeIn 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 commitment to create connection with others, without bias, by looking inward at the mechanisms of reification, and then applying the Buddha's Middle Way Beyond The Extremes.
Transcribe →OQ 505 - Looking Into the World
Dec 4, 202400:22:41Tap to summarizeIn 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 that comes from standing on our own two feet." You have to put your familiar views aside to explore this one!
Transcribe →OQ 504 - Hook And Ring
Sep 21, 202400:23:13Tap to summarizeDevotion 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 an experience, and considers the cultural and interpersonal challenges that can arise through misunderstanding the nature of the teacher/student dynamic.
Transcribe →OQ 503 - The Ineffable
Jul 6, 202400:19:26Tap to summarizeAll 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 that leaves us restless with the experience, making it almost impossible to bear. Our inability to bear the ineffable gives rise to dualism and our conflict with faith.
Transcribe →OQ 502 - Hail The Impossible!
May 1, 202400:23:10Tap to summarizeAt 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 "impossible" display of human courage and confidenceas an analogy for faith, why we need to cultivate it, what it is, and how it works.
Transcribe →OQ 501 - The F Word
Feb 13, 202400:22:20Tap to summarizeIn 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, just to name a few. In the context of contemporary culture, there are those who suggest that we replace the world faith with spirituality, but Elizabeth requests us not to write-off faith so glibly. Faith carries with it the undeniable tension between our search for security and the limits of our ability to know. Faith keeps us connected to the heart of the human condition.
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