Turning: Everyday Buddhism

Welcome to the second episode of the re-launch of my podcast, now called "Turning" (although still under an Everyday Buddhism subhead). In this episode I will be talking about the concept of "Grace" and how it signaled an obvious change in my spiritual lens and the beginning of my "Turning."

According to the late Rev. Dr. Albert Bloom, "Grace is one of the most significant concepts or insights to emerge in the history of religion."

Grace is how I understood the reason a bad fall on ice caused me to land on the other side of the gateless-gate I had built by grasping at fear. It wasn't self-effort that enabled me to finally let go. I tried before but could not let go. It was because of a web of nature's conditions, which were outside of my control, and possibly my lack of focus on what was under my feet that caused me to slip and fall. And that fall, and the subsequent injuries and medical events forced me to give up grasping at what wasn't and accept the consequences of what was.

Grace as taught across most religions traditions—including Buddhism—emphasize the unearned nature of grace, a profound change in your life or your perspective that is not the result of human effort. The change initiated by grace is typically presented as a catalyst for transformation. The fall I took and the medical consequences that followed caused me to face my biggest boogeyman, the worst possible scenario I had imagined in my delusionary, fear-based reality. And those circumstances were given to me by grace, resulting in a profound transformation.

I invite you to come along and explore with me as I take the first steps into my new transformed reality while looking back to see how I got here. I hope you join me on this road and explore the turning with me.

Welcome to the first episode of the re-launch of my podcast, now called "Turning" (although still under an Everyday Buddhism subhead). In this first episode, "Why Turning" I explain a bit about how "Everyday Buddhism" shifted into "Turning."

I'm still Wendy Haylett and I'm still talking to you about Buddhism, but also about a personal transformation in my spiritual journey.

You'll hear what can happen if you "keep going", a mantra from my teacher, Rev. Koyo Kubose that you've heard me talk about many times in this podcast. You'll hear what happens when you allow yourself to sit in the the questions and to live in the mystery and gradual revelation of what life is. All of this is part of journey I find myself on.

I invite you to come along and explore with me as I take the first steps into my new transformed reality while looking back to see how I got here. I hope you join me on this road and explore the turning with me.

It's a pleasure to share a conversation with Ani Lodro Palmo, an ordained Tibetan Buddhist nun and Director of the Vajra Vidya Monastery in Crestone, Colorado; and a spiritual teacher and author with more than three decades of monastic experience.

Ani has devoted her life to spiritual practice and shares her understanding of the Dharma as an author of the books, All That Appears & Exists: The Buddha's Teachings to Awaken the Heart and Turn Suffering Into Joy and her most recent, The End of Suffering: Finding Love, Self-Compassion, and Awakening in a Chaotic World.

As a recognized teacher of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and meditation, Ani Lodro's insights are deeply rooted in the unbroken lineage of Buddhist wisdom, through the Karma Kagyu lineage of The Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche.

Although Ani has decades of monastic experience within Tibetan Buddhism, she teaches how the frustrations and dissatisfaction of our everyday lives can be understood and transcended through wisdom and compassion. She writes and speaks in an accessible way, with the gentle encouragement of a friend that is helpful to both new seekers and seasoned practitioners alike.

Her teachings are available through retreats, online sessions, and publications.

In the conversation we talked about a wide range things, including:

• How we tend to misunderstanding what suffering is.
  
  
• Gurus and reincarnation as a part of Tibetan Buddhism, but not a necessary part.
  
  
• The Four Noble Truths as a path to awakening.
  
  
• Taking the mystique from karma, as Ani writes: "transforming [it] from an enigmatic doctrine into a practical guide for conscious existence…. rooted in intention and behavior."
  
  
• Her teaching of the "7 Simple Truths to End Suffering":
  (1) Thoughts are nothing, they are no things;
  (2) Labels and thoughts create our reality;
  (3) When we look for our thoughts, they aren't there;
  (4) Your beliefs are not truth;
  (5) Dropping attachments is the fastest way to end suffering;
  (6)You can't focus on helping others and be miserable at the same time;
  (7) You don't need your mind (as much as you think).

... And much more.

I know you will enjoy Ani Lodro's easy and relatable style of teaching and be inspired by what she has to say.