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There Are No Accidents: The Emptiness of Randomness.

Continuing his teachings on the different schools’ understanding of emptiness, Lama Marut turns now to “worldview three”: things are empty of coming from any other place than karmic causes. This view, put forward by the “Mind Only” school of Buddhism, states that the object and the subject mind perceiving the object both come from a single karmic cause. This flavor of emptiness helps us take responsibility for ourselves rather than relying on the “magical worldview” adopted by the modern, secular West which allows for things which just happen for no reason.

This podcast is taken from a retreat held over Thanksgiving weekend, 2006, in South Lake Tahoe, California.

You Can't Change the Present: The Emptiness of a Controlling Self.

Karma comes in three forms: good, bad, and neutral.  But even good karma, which we experience as something pleasurable, just wears out as we use it up.  We lose every good thing we have unless we recreate the causes that brought us the pleasant experience in the first place.  If we want to maintain a good relationship with our partner, for example, we must think about what we could do to make them happy (the real and only cause for that good relationship in the first place) instead of always being concerned about what they could be doing for us to fill our needs and wants.

This podcast is taken from a retreat held over Thanksgiving weekend, 2006, in South Lake Tahoe, California.

This Too Shall Pass: The Emptiness of Permanence

Understanding emptiness is crucial to our spiritual progress, but too often the topic is presented merely theoretically and in complex philosophical language. Lama Marut teaches the different “flavors” of emptiness according to the different schools of Buddhism in easily understandable language and in a way designed to employ this wisdom practically in one’s everyday life. In this first of seven podcasts on the subject, Lama Marut provides an overview and then guides a meditation on the first flavor: Things are empty of permanence.

This podcast is taken from a retreat held over Thanksgiving weekend, 2006, in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Let's Talk About Our Relationship.

Karma comes in three forms: good, bad, and neutral.  But even good karma, which we experience as something pleasurable, just wears out as we use it up.  We lose every good thing we have unless we recreate the causes that brought us the pleasant experience in the first place.  If we want to maintain a good relationship with our partner, for example, we must think about what we could do to make them happy (the real and only cause for that good relationship in the first place) instead of always being concerned about what they could be doing for us to fill our needs and wants.

This podcast is taken from a Diamond Mountain University course on “Karma Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita” taught in Tucson, Arizona, Oct. 9, 2007.

Desiring Happiness.

We worship the things we desire.  In this podcast, Lama Marut urges us to desire and worship happiness – to think of it as the highest goal and really strive to obtain it.  For if we’re leading a happy life, we’re of benefit to others.  If not, we’re a charity case.  To achieve true happiness we must let go of our attachment to a lower, suffering self and desire “ecstasy,” which means to “stand outside” of our old caterpillar selves and become the butterflies we are meant to be.

This podcast is taken from a Diamond Mountain University course on “Killing Anger” taught in Tucson, Arizona, in the spring of 2007.

Reaching the Lord.

In this podcast, Lama Marut concludes His teachings on devotion (bhakti) in the Bhagavad Gita. We must ‘see beyond mere appearances’ and use our best understanding of emptiness to stay firm in our view of who the Guru really is for us. Through this practice, the first stage is that our Guru appears to us as perfect, an enlightened being, and through single-minded yoga they begin to appear to us everywhere and in all beings. The second stage is that we are yoked to, or merge with that being such that we become perfect ourselves. This is considered one of the most supreme esoteric teachings; the one who performs the highest devotion will reach the Lord.

This podcast is taken from a teaching given in South Lake Tahoe, on the 31st of August, 2007

Riding the Tiger.

Once one has taken oneself to a spiritual teacher, there will certainly be challenges and difficulties, confusion and doubt.  In this continuation of “guru yoga” according to the Bhagavad Gita,  Lama Marut reviews some of the main problems one often faces in working with a spiritual teacher and the benefits that come if one perseveres in “riding the tiger.”  At a certain point the guru will reveal themselves to you, just as Krishna does to Arjuna in the climax of the Gita.

This podcast is taken from the Tibetan Heart Yoga, Series V, Teacher Training Course given at Tucson, Arizona, in September of 2006.

Surrendering to the Teacher.

In this podcast, Lama Marut examines the Bhagavad Gita’s verses on single-minded devotion to the Guru.  The devotional tradition discusses various methods such as developing faith, discipline and making offerings as ways in which we may lose our ‘small self’ in service to the teacher.  In surrendering to the Guru, we are surrendering to the highest part of ourselves.  Essentially we try to perfect ourselves by fixing the mind and intellect singularly on the perfection of another.

This podcast is taken from a teaching given in South Lake Tahoe, on the 31st of August, 2007

The Yoga of Devotion.

In the Bhagavad Gita, the yoga of devotion to your teacher (bhakti yoga) is considered the highest spiritual practice. This podcast examines who the Guru really is and the most beneficial way we can regard this special being in our lives. Because the Guru is "empty" we can usefully see him or her as being a full enlightened being who has come to help us directly on our path. Lama Marut asks, "If you can then expand that view to all beings in your world, what kind of being would that make you?"

This podcast is taken from a teaching given in South Lake Tahoe, on the 31st of August, 2007

The Magic of Empty Teachers.

The guru is empty, a projection or mirror of your own good qualities.  In order to perfect oneself, one must first practice seeing perfection in another – in the first place, in the guru, and eventually in every other being.

This podcast is taken from a teaching given to a small group in Kinvara, Ireland, on

June 14, 2006.

The Qualities of a Good Teacher.

In the Buddhist texts, a number of qualities one should look for in guru or spiritual teacher are enumerated. Before taking a guru, one should check to see if you see some or all of these qualities in a potential teacher. And once we have found a being that we see in this special way, we must learn how to think about him or her in the proper way – as nothing less than a full-fledged Buddha who has come into your life.

This podcast is taken from a teaching given to a small group in Kinvara, Ireland, on
June 14, 2006.

Taking Yourself to a Teacher.

In this survey of the teachings in the Bhagavad Gita on the importance of the spiritual teacher (guru yoga), we learn the necessity of and the prerequisites for finding and taking  yourself to the guru and thus beginning the process of one’s spiritual education.

This podcast is taken from the Tibetan Heart Yoga, Series V, Teacher Training Course given at Tucson, Arizona, in September of 2006.

Guru Yoga: The Alpha and Omega of the Path.

Linking or joining yourself to a guru or spiritual teacher is the beginning (“alpha”), middle, and end (“omega”) of the path to happiness and enlightenment.  The first step is appreciating how important the guru is for us and being grateful for the teachers that have been and are in our lives already.  But even more crucial is understanding where the guru is really coming from.  Gurus don’t exist “out there” in the world as gurus.  They are projections coming from the best part of us.  Gurus, like everything else, are empty.

This podcast is taken from a teaching given to a small group in Kinvara, Ireland, on

June 14, 2006.

Be Here, Now.

We often hear how important it is to live in the present in order to be happy.  But what are the actual methods for doing this?  Paradoxically, we are not in the present when we are overly self-conscious and we are fully present only when we wholly forget and lose ourselves in an activity.  So in order to live in the here and now we must transcend the sense of self that keeps us from being truly present.   In Buddhism, we do this through cultivating wisdom (realizing selflessness) and compassion (learning to care more about others than oneself).

This podcast is taken from a teaching given at Santa Monica, California, on April 25, 2007.

Karmic Correlations.

This podcast is a continuation of a review of the “rules for the good life” and how we can have trust and confidence in our future – and thereby live a happier present --  by attending to the present causes which bring subsequent effects. 
The “karmic correlations” between causes and effects according to Arya Nagarjuna’s “Precious Garland” which link specific moral actions to their results are delineated one by one.  Learn where money, health, addictive behavior, beauty, stress, etc. really come from!

This podcast is taken from a teaching given at Tucson, Arizona, on January 7, 2007.

Faith in the Future, Part 3: The Rules for the Good Life.

The present is a perfect reflection of how we’ve behaved in the past, and our future will be the exact result of the causes we are creating in the present.   In this podcast, Lama Marut reviews the “rules for the good life,’ the moral principles which can guide us in how to live in the present in such as way that we can have confidence in and control of  our future. 

This podcast is taken from a teaching given at Rockport, Massachusetts, on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2007.

Faith in the Future, Part 2.

Many religions urge us to develop faith in the future in order to live a happier life in the present.  The opposite of faith is lazy doubt or irresolution about how life is working – which then results in anxiety.   If we think about how things are really working and develop faith slowly, in stages, we will then be more conscientious about living a good life in the present and will then have certainty that our future will be just fine.

This podcast is taken from a teaching given at a public talk in Los Angeles, California, on December 11, 2006.

Faith in the Future, Part 1.

Being happy in the present requires both that we revision our past (through forgiveness and gratitude) and that we overcome our anxieties about the future.  In this podcast, Lama Marut urges us to stop imagining a nightmarish future and instead develop the antidote for anxiety: faith, trust, and confidence in the future.  Grounding the teaching in verses from Arya Nagarjuna’s “Precious Garland,” we learn to rely on our practice and wisdom to gain control over our future by living a good moral life in the present.

This podcast is taken from a teaching given at a public talk in Los Angeles, California, on December 11, 2006.

Wisdom and Forgiveness.

Forgiveness helps us generate gratitude, love, and compassion toward others – and vice versa.  If we can understand how much suffering others are going through we can gain a different perspective on why they would hurt us.  If we can generate wisdom about what the real cause of pain in the world is – anger itself – then why would we ever feel anger ourselves?  We must break the cycle and give up anger and resentment, practice forgiveness, and only wish happiness on others if we want to be happy ourselves.

This podcast is taken from a teaching given at a public talk in Tucson, Arizona, on November 15, 2006.

Forgiveness and the Advantages of Suffering.

How can we cultivate forbearance, patience, and forgiveness in our daily lives?  One way to do so is to think about the advantages of suffering and be grateful for everything that has ever happened, very much including all the pain others have caused you.  

This podcast is taken from a teaching given at a public talk in Tucson, Arizona, on November 15, 2006.