Dharma If You Dare

Flipping the Switch: Realizing Our Buddhanature

In today’s talk, Catherine Pawasarat Sensei and Doug ‘Qapel’ Duncan explore the topic of Buddhanature. They look at the various terms that are used to describe it and highlight the challenge of talking about Buddhanature in a way that doesn’t fall into a conceptual trap that actually separates us from it. Qapel and Sensei also discuss switched off and switched on potential, how Buddhanature gets obscured and how an effective spiritual practice helps remove these obscurations. 

Helping people experience spiritual awakening is the reason Planet Dharma exists. If you are also passionate about unfolding and awakening deeper and more quickly, we encourage you to enroll in one of our online courses. Each year Qapel and Sensei host multiple online courses live on various topics with the goal of empowering participants to dive deep into their awakening spiritual practice. Learn more about upcoming opportunities to join these online offerings at planetdharma.com/online.

BONUS Chakras and the Shadow Before Psychology

We hope you enjoy this soundbite from Doug ‘Qapel’ Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei on how Buddhism worked with the shadow before modern psychology existed to name this aspect of our psyche. 

And a note of clarification: In the talk, you’ll hear Qapel and Sensei reference Passionate Enlightenment, which is a book by Miranda Shaw on the history of women in Tantric Buddhism.

Today’s bonus recording covers ideas that Qapel and Sensei explore in detail in their bestselling book, Wasteland to Pureland: Reflections on the Path to Awakening. The third section of the book is entitled 'Crazy Wisdom' and covers a wide variety of topics, including The Shadow, Tantra, and Money, Sex & Power. Podcast listeners can download a free chapter from this section of the book by visiting planetdharma.com/crazywisdom.

Consciousness Continues: Navigating Death, Rebirth & the Bardos

Today’s recording is a talk that Doug ‘Qapel’ Duncan gave recently on the topic of death, dying and the bardos. In the talk, he explores how we really experience a death in every moment, and describes in detail the steps in the death process and how consciousness finds its way to its next rebirth.

If you are looking to incorporate more activities into your life to support contemplation and introspection, we recommend our weekly reflection series called ‘52 Reflections’. Sign up for free and once a week you’ll receive a short passage and follow-up prompt that you can use to frame your day, your week or a meditation session. You can learn more and sign up for free by visiting planetdharma.com/52reflections.

BONUS Integrating the Lower 3 Chakras

We hope you enjoy this soundbite from Doug ‘Qapel’ Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei on how to access higher states of consciousness through clearing the lower 3 chakras.

Today’s bonus recording covers ideas that Qapel and Sensei explore in detail in their bestselling book, Wasteland to Pureland. The third section of the book is entitled 'Crazy Wisdom' and covers a wide variety of topics, including The Shadow, Tantra, and Money, Sex & Power. Podcast listeners can download a free chapter from this section of the book by visiting planetdharma.com/crazywisdom.

INTERVIEW Ecology + Spirituality: Connecting with the Universe

In this interview, Catherine Pawasarat Sensei talks about the impact our views of connection with - or disconnection from - our natural environment have on the quality of our lives moment to moment. She highlights the centrality of natural laws in the very essence of the meaning of ‘dharma’. She also talks about her own journey of fully connecting with her ecosystem and reflects on what we can do as practitioners to help us do the same.

If these teachings resonate with you, we recommend you check out Planet Dharma’s library of articles on the website. There are over 100 blog posts offering dharmic perspectives on all sorts of issues of interest to awakening beings. You can check them out at planetdharma.com/articles.

 

BONUS Happiness is a Byproduct

We hope you enjoy this soundbite from Doug ‘Qapel’ Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei on the folly of assigning happiness to objects and how happiness is actually a result of being in a good state.

This bonus episode marks the 100th upload to the podcast feed! How many of the recordings have you listened to?

If you’ve benefited from these teachings, one of the best ways to honor that is to pay it forward: introduce the people in your life to the podcast. Word of mouth recommendations are the most meaningful and effective way for others to find these teachings. Post your favorite episode to social media or text a friend a link to some material you think might resonate. It’s a great way to practice generosity and support awakening in our world.

Saturn, Chiron, & Nodes in Your Chart: Unlocking Your Highest Potential

In this episode, Catherine Pawasarat Sensei and Doug ‘Qapel’ Duncan explore parts of our natal charts that are particularly connected to spiritual and personal transformation, including Chiron, Saturn, and North and South Nodes. They explain how these lenses can help us get unstuck, transform challenges into tools, and take things in our lives less personally. This includes how to use astrology to integrate our shadow and realize our fullest potential.

Today’s recording is a continuation of a talk from Season 3 (Episode 11) entitled “Astrology + Buddhism: Introducing AstroDharma”.

 

Interested in developing a working understanding of astrology as a system of personal and spiritual transformation? Looking to explore the material from today’s talk and look at how it applies to your own life? Catherine Sensei’s self-study course Intro to AstroDharma goes step-by-step through everything you need to know, and includes fun, meaningful and engaging exercises, including analyzing the Dalai Lama’s chart and guided activities to deepen your understanding of your own natal chart. Visit planetdharma.com/astrodharma to learn more about the course and to access some free resources.

You may also like what's going on in our AstroDharma Facebook Group. You can see what's happening there by visiting www.facebook.com/groups/2858034031184361

BONUS The Burning House Sutra

We hope you enjoy this soundbite from Catherine Pawasarat Sensei and Doug ‘Qapel’ Duncan on the Buddha’s allegory of the ego being like a house on fire, inviting us to orient from the awakened state rather than the objects in our lives.

If you find these teachings resonate and are wondering how to explore them further, visit planetdharma.com/events to see the variety of online and in-person offerings coming up. Whether through the formal retreats on Dzogchen, the Western Mysteries or Zen or online teachings and Q&A like Enlighten Up and Digital Dojo, there is a wealth of programming to suit any level of interest and availability.

A Vision Bigger Than Me: Shifting Our Capitalist Paradigm

In today’s talk, Doug 'Qapel' Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat Sensei explore the topic of 'Spiritual Energy Traders' in more detail. (Season 3 Episode 22 introduces this material.) They look at the unwholesome aspects of capitalism and how it reinforces negative patterns both in our individual lives and in our collectives: our communities, countries and corporations. They outline suggestions for how we can shift our attitudes and behaviors to transform our world into a place where we are motivated by exploration, compassion and a vision for humanity that is much bigger than ourselves.

Today’s episode covers ideas that Qapel and Sensei explore in detail in their bestselling book, Wasteland to Pureland. The third section of the book is entitled Crazy Wisdom and covers a wide variety of topics, including The Shadow, Tantra, and Money, Sex & Power. Podcast listeners can download a free chapter from this section of the book by visiting planetdharma.com/crazywisdom.

Note: the extended version of this recording, with 5 extra minutes of material, is available to our supporters on Patreon at patreon.com/planetdharma. 

BONUS I Am Part of This Ecosystem

We hope you enjoy this soundbite from Catherine Pawasarat Sensei and Doug Qapel Duncan on the importance of actually seeing ourselves as an integrated part of our ecosystems.

If you are looking to incorporate more activities into your life to support contemplation and introspection, we recommend our weekly reflection series called ‘52 Reflections’. Sign up for free and once a week you’ll receive a short passage and follow-up prompt that you can use to frame your day, your week, or a meditation session. You can learn more and sign up for free by visiting planetdharma.com/52reflections.