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AUGUST 2026 NEWSLETTER
IN THIS NEWSLETTER: • From The Wisdom Seat • The Wisdom Seat Events • Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody • A Teaching Keeping my Practice Fresh: It's About the Basics By Judy Hirsh I recently had the honor of joining The Wisdom Seat Board. Since I live on the west coast I'm the Board member you're least likely to see in person at Pawo Khandro Ling. I welcome this opportunity to share a bit about myself. My sitting practice and studying the Dharma in the tradition of
Jul 30
Music as Dharma with Alexander deVaron
On June 25, we gathered on Zoom, with Bill sitting at Alex deVaron's piano, for a conversation about music, presence, and dharma. Alexander deVaron is a composer, music theorist, and longtime Buddhist teacher who began teaching in Shambhala in 1986 and spent five years living at Karme Choling. His primary teachers have been Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, and he has spent decades exploring where Buddhism and music actua
Jul 25
JULY 2026 NEWSLETTER
IN THIS NEWSLETTER: • From The Wisdom Seat • The Wisdom Seat Events • Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody • A Teaching Lojong Slogan # 59: Don't Expect Applause Recently this Lojong or Mind Training slogan spontaneously arose in my mind. Why? Maybe because Wisdom Seat offers a class on Lojong? Maybe because I haven't really practiced these slogans deeply for a while? More likely because I haven't heard applause for a long time? No - Why not slogan # 1 "First train in
Jun 30
Michele Martin - Studying with the Lamas of India and Nepal
Interview by Joanna Rotté (A Sky Lake Series) View this episode's page on Libsyn Michele Martin has two graduate degrees in literature from Yale University and has been a Buddhist practitioner in the Karma Kagyu lineage for over forty years. She is a founding board member of the Tibetan Buddhist Research Center and has spent more than thirty years studying with and translating for Tibetan lamas in Nepal and India. She is the author and translator of Music in the Sky: The Life
Jun 28
JUNE 2026 NEWSLETTER
IN THIS NEWSLETTER: • From The Wisdom Seat • The Wisdom Seat Events • Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody • A Teaching The Martial “Art of Love” In the “Art of Love” Aikido Master Morihei Ueshiba reveals an astounding truth: to perfect any martial art, the warrior must learn to love. Such teaching seems so counter intuitive. One would think that to master Jujitsu or Samurai disciplines of Kyudo or Kenjutsu, a warrior would need to master restrained violence, disciplin
May 31
Larry Mermelstein - Stories of the Late Great Chogyam Trungpa
Interview by Joanna Rotté (A Sky Lake Series) View this episode's page on Libsyn Larry Mermelstein has been a close student of the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche since 1971. He is a founding member and Executive Director of the Nalanda Translation Committee, a senior teacher in the Vajradhatu-Shambhala community, and a consultant for Shambhala Publications. He resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This interview was conducted in person by Joanna Rotte before a live audience at
May 13
Strange Friends: Barry Boyce on The Dharma Protectors
The dharma protectors are among the most striking figures in Tibetan Buddhism. Fierce, wrathful, often terrifying in appearance. For the May Mindful Gathering, Barry Boyce joined Bill Moriarty and the community to talk about what they actually are and what it means to work with them in practice. Barry laid out three levels of protector practice: outer, inner, and secret. At the outer level, protectors guard teachers and places. At the inner level, they protect the teachings f
May 12
MAY 2026 NEWSLETTER
IN THIS NEWSLETTER: • From The Wisdom Seat • The Wisdom Seat Events • Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody • A Teaching One of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s deepest desire was to bring the vajrayana teachings to the West. Over the past few years vajrayana students of VCTR celebrated his Parinirvana which is on April 4. This fell on a Saturday this year. We gathered at Pawo Khandro Ling, which is the Wisdom Seats shrine room. We assembled both in person and online to ce
Apr 30
What You Never See: Planning a Buddhist Retreat
A Mindful Gathering with Susanna Lack, Rhea Colmar, and Bill Moriarty On April 30, 2026, The Wisdom Seat hosted a Mindful Gathering on one of the least visible parts of community life: what it actually takes to plan and hold a group retreat. Every retreat has a visible side and an invisible one. Susanna Lack and Rhea Colmar joined Bill Moriarty to discuss what planning and holding a group retreat actually involves - from choosing a venue and approaching teachers, to managing
Apr 30
Embracing the Wisdom of Death, Dying and Illness
On April 16, The Wisdom Seat held an open discussion on death, dying and illness. There was no agenda, specific topics, or desired outcomes. Just an open discussion to share inner reflections on death and dying. As a community, we explored: how can we support ourselves and each other to deepen our experience of our mortality? How can we further our exploration of our own impermanence? What wisdom is to be found hidden beneath the surface of the reality of the human condition?
Apr 17
Anam Thubten - The Wisdom of Meditation in Everyday Life
View this episode's page on Libsyn Host Bill Moriarty introduces a 2019 public talk from Anam Thubten: "The Wisdom of Meditation and Everyday Life" in the Dzogchen tradition. Anam Thubten describes meditation with an object (breath, body sensations, mantras, ordinary objects, sound) and meditation without an object (open awareness: "rest in the natural state of your mind"). Anam Thubten grew up in Tibet and at an early age began to practice in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan
Apr 15
Causes and Conditions: How Did Things Get Like This?
Video starts about 2 minutes in. The March Mindful Gathering was on Dependent Origination, one of the Buddha's core teachings. Michael used the metaphor of Indra's Web to explain it: everything finds its nature in relationship to everything else, rather than existing as independent objects with independent causes. Nothing that is happening in the world today happened overnight. What does it mean to really sit with that? From there the conversation opened up into territory tha
Apr 1
APRIL 2026 NEWSLETTER
IN THIS NEWSLETTER: • From The Wisdom Seat • The Wisdom Seat Events • Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody • A Teaching The Wisdom Seat board recently met to work through the results of our first community survey, and I am happy to share with you some updates shaped from your suggestions and feedback. Thank you to everyone who participated. How can I know what programs Wisdom Seat offers? Now there is one place, a public google calendar, where we have all ou
Mar 28
Engaging the Paradoxes of Our Modern World: A Recap of "The Wisdom of Mindfulness Meditation"
On Thursday, February 5, 2026, Andrew Safer and Michael Carroll came together for an enriching conversation on mindfulness meditation and how we can engage with the profound paradoxes of our modern world. The session explored how insight, skill, and compassion can help us navigate a world filled with both abundant resources and heartbreaking crises. The Challenge We Face We live in a time of extraordinary possibility, yet we're simultaneously confronted by widespread tragedie
Mar 2
March 2026 NEWSLETTER
IN THIS NEWSLETTER: • From The Wisdom Seat • The Wisdom Seat Events • Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody • A Teaching I recently had the opportunity to prepare and practice a talk in a teacher training program. My chosen topic was the role of play in Buddhism, a topic I’ve thrown around in my head for many years. Our reference text was Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s commentary on the lojong slogans so I thought this was a good opportunity to explore viewing lojo
Feb 26
Synchronizing Mind and Body: A Community Discussion Recap
On January 27, 2026, we gathered on Zoom to explore Chapter Five of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior , titled "Synchronizing Mind and Body." It was a facilitated group discussion where everyone was invited to share their reflections, questions, and insights, whether they were familiar with the teaching or encountering it for the first time. If you missed it and want to explore this teaching on your own, we recommend reading Chapter Five an
Jan 31
FEBRUARY 2026 NEWSLETTER
IN THIS NEWSLETTER: • From The Wisdom Seat • The Wisdom Seat Events • Programs To Consider • Wisdom's Melody • A Teaching According to this year’s Tibetan lunar cycle, the New Year falls in late February. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche adapted this tradition in the west as Shambhala Day beginning in 1978. For both traditions it is a time of spiritual renewal, celebrating cultural traditions (like the delectable dumplings called momos!) & in the days leading up to the
Jan 29
Andrew Hyman - president of Applied Mindfulness Training
View this episode's page on Libsyn Andrew is a consultant at Bain & Company, a firm that provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. He's also the president of Applied Mindfulness Training. Andrew and Michael talk shop about "what exactly does a consultant do?" and reminisce about Andrew's father Patton Hyman, founder of AMT and a close friend of Michael's. This episode was originally produced by Applied Mindfulness Training as part of their Mindful Voic
Jan 24
Chris Kayser - an actor in the Atlanta area for over 40 years
View this episode's page on Libsyn Michael Carroll sits down with Chris Kayser, who has been earning a living as an actor in the Atlanta area for over 40 years. Most recently he performed in a play about death and has been coming to terms with his own cancer diagnosis. He and Michael discuss how both acting and death can bring us vividly into the present, and the role that mindfulness plays on the stage and in life. From: https://www.alliancetheatre.org/blog/chris-kayser-belo
Jan 10
Dr. Michael Baime - founder of The Penn Program for Mindfulness
View this episode's page on Libsyn Michael Carroll sits down with Dr. Michael Baime, founder of The Penn Program for Mindfulness to talk about how applying mindfulness helps both patients and doctors manage stress and heal through sharing an authentic human connection. https://www.pennmedicine.org/services/mindfulness?redirect=1&referrer=pennmed&source=fsu https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/people/michael-baime This episode was originally produced by Applied Mindfulness Training as pa
Dec 27, 2025
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