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Anger Begets More Anger

The karma of giving into anger is the propensity to get angry again.  Even a little resistance can start to undermine anger’s power.  Conversely, the habit of patience also snowballs over time, getting easier and easier the more we practice it.  Eventually, we can even learn to be grateful to all those who hurt or irritate us.

This podcast comes from teachings given at the Prana House, Melbourne, Australia, in January of 2009.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

The Advantages of Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a virtue extolled in all the major world’s religions. Staying angry and resentful is inimical to our happiness. Anger is our enemy and in order to overcome it we must regard it as so and think continually about the many reasons why it is important to overcome anger and cultivate forgiveness.

This podcast comes from teachings given at the Prana House, Melbourne, Australia, in January of 2009.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Anger is Our Enemy

In this teaching from the chapter on patience from the “Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life,” Lama Marut discusses the many disadvantages of anger and the advantages of forgiving those who have hurt us. 

This podcast comes from teachings given at the Prana House, Melbourne, Australia, in January of 2009.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Contentment, Here and Now

One kind of contentment is just being happy being in the present instead of constantly living in past and future. And when we think about the past we are needlessly making ourselves unhappy with nostalgia or resentment. In this podcast, Lama Marut teaches how to change your understanding of the past in order to be happier in the present.

This podcast comes from teachings given at the Prana House, Melbourne, Australia, in January of 2009.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Hardwired to be Happy

We are all hardwired to seek happiness and avoid pain. But we must first face up to the facts of suffering and realize that only the spiritual traditions offer a viable alternative.

This podcast comes from teachings given at the Prana House, Melbourne, Australia, in January of 2009.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Transforming Problems Into Opportunities

There are no problems “out there.” Problems are just interpretations -- and therefore can be reinterpreted. In this podcast, Lama Marut offers suggestions on how to disappear problems by thinking of them differently.

This podcast comes from a retreat on compassion held over Thanksgiving weekend, 2007, in South Lake Tahoe.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Upsetting the Apple Cart

A real practitioner is counter-cultural, opposed to the status quo.  Upset the apple cart!  Don’t try to fit in!  Break out of the chains of conformity and flow against the stream of samsara.

This podcast comes from a teaching given at Zuda Yoga in Sacramento, California, in February of 2009

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Learning How to Live. . . and Die

How can we live a good spiritual life and die a good death? The essence of living well is service to others, especially one’s parents and one’s religious teacher. And just as a good life involves living for others, a good death is one done sacrificially and altruistically.

This podcast comes from a retreat on compassion held over Thanksgiving weekend, 2007, in South Lake Tahoe.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Cultivating Compassion, Love, and Wisdom

Compassion and love are the two wings of a good heart. They are the opposite of being happy about the unhappiness others experience, and being unhappy about the happiness of others. If we are interested in being happy ourselves, we must overcome these nasty tendencies toward envy and resentment which are, in turn, based on a false idea of a “me.”

This podcast comes from a retreat on compassion held over Thanksgiving weekend, 2007, in South Lake Tahoe.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

The Four Levels of Compassion

Developing true compassion begins first with identification and renunciation of one’s own suffering, then moves through “grandmotherly compassion” and “ruthless compassion,” and ends with “diamond compassion” which is shot through with wisdom.

This podcast comes from a retreat on compassion held over Thanksgiving weekend, 2007, in South Lake Tahoe.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Start with Compassion for Yourself

Compassion for others depends on first having compassion for yourself, which means recognizing your own suffering and really wanting to end it. Stop playing footsies with samsara! Until you do, you won’t really be serious about pursuing an alternative and you won’t really take the sufferings of others to heart.

This podcast was taken from a teaching given at the Mahasukha Center in Los Angeles, Dec. 4, 2008

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

What Makes Truth True

“Dharma” means what will hold you up, what you can count on when things go wrong.  Dharma also means “the truth” or “what is real.”  And ultimately the only real criterion for counts as truth is what leads to a good life – the wisdom and compassion that leads to happiness for yourself and those around you.

This podcast was taken from a teaching given at the Mahasukha Center in Los Angeles, Dec. 4, 2008

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

The Insanity of Consumer Capitalism

The purpose of religion is to learn how to live a happy life. Consumer capitalism, on the other hand, depends on our constantly dissatisfaction. Unbridled greed doesn’t work! Try something different – a spiritual life, where we learn how to stop worrying about ourselves all the time and train ourselves to think about others.

This podcast was taken from a public talk on “How Yoga Works” given in October, 2008, at Go Yoga in Brooklyn, New York.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Stopping the Ways the Mind Turns Things Around

In a review of some of the most important verses of the Yoga Sutra, Lama Marut explicates what the “path of seeing” is and the “three spheres” of emptiness.

This podcast was taken from a yoga teacher training retreat weekend held in September, 2008, at South Lake Tahoe and sponsored by Zuda Yoga.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

The Five Powers of Yogic Practice

In the second stage of one’s yoga practice, the yogi cultivates five powers or qualities: confidence, joyful effort, mindfulness, meditation, and wisdom..

This podcast was taken from a yoga teacher training retreat weekend held in September, 2008, at South Lake Tahoe and sponsored by Zuda Yoga.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Yoga and Renunciation

The first “path” or stage on our way to the goal of yoga is to obtain detachment from the sources of our suffering and then develop a strong practice which is steady, without gaps, and done according to the instruction of your teacher.

This podcast was taken from a yoga teacher training retreat weekend held in September, 2008, at South Lake Tahoe and sponsored by Zuda Yoga.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Yoga and the Five Paths to Enlightenment

The first chapter of the Yoga Sutra outlines five stages as we move toward final happiness, providing a kind of roadmap to Enlightenment.

This podcast was taken from a yoga teacher training retreat weekend held in September, 2008, at South Lake Tahoe and sponsored by Zuda Yoga.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Yoga is Stopping the Perversions of the Mind

In the Yoga Sutra, yoga is defined as “stopping the way the mind turns things around.” In this podcast, Lama Marut reviews the four main ways our mind misunderstands reality and causes us to suffer.

This podcast was taken from a yoga teacher training retreat weekend held in September, 2008, at South Lake Tahoe and sponsored by Zuda Yoga.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Honor the Lineage by Honoring the Teacher

“Yoga” means to “unite” or “yoke” yourself to something, and the highest form of yoga is connecting yourself to a teacher –- “guru yoga” – and to an authentic lineage. Now that yoga has come to the West, it is our responsibility to preserve this tradition, and we do so in part by respecting our teachers and the lineages they represent.

This podcast was taken from a yoga teacher training retreat weekend held in September, 2008, at South Lake Tahoe and sponsored by Zuda Yoga.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org

Yoga and Happiness

Yoga is meant to produce happiness, and in order to reach that end we must practice. We start by just pretending to be happy, by “impersonating a happy person,” and training ourselves to do the opposite of our instincts (which are usually 180 degrees wrong). Yoga, claims Lama Marut, is the inversion of the ordinary.

This podcast was taken from a yoga teacher training retreat weekend held in September, 2008, at South Lake Tahoe and sponsored by Zuda Yoga.

Write to us at: podcast@aci-la.org