Ep243: Scholar Practitioner - Charles Manson
Charles Manson is author of ‘The Second Karmapa Karma Pakshi’ published by Shambhala, and librarian for the Tibetan Collections at the Bodleian Library (Oxford University) and at the British Library.
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Charles begins by discussing the remarkable life of Karma Pakshi, the second Karmapa, Tibet’s oldest continuous reincarnation lineage. Charles traces Karma Pakshi’s adventures as a yogic trainee, personal guru to Mongol Khans, figure of political intrigue, and reformer of monasteries.
Charles goes on to tell the story of his own life, from brutal treatment at elite British boarding schools to undergraduate studies at the renowned Columbia University. Charles recounts how arrest and deportation saw his academic prospects dashed. After a period of homelessness, he became a master woodcarver training under craftsmen in England and Germany.
Charles recalls his encounter with Buddhism, his contact with spiritual teachers such as the 16th Karmapa, his reckoning with the untimely death of his son’s mother, and details his experiences undertaking 8 years of closed retreat including challenging group dynamics, the painful complications of energetic yogas, and the mechanisms of spiritual transformation.
Charles also discusses his remarkable time with the terton Karma Rinpoche, receiving sacred chulen instructions and witnessing the mahasiddha miraculously press a footprint into rock; as well as Charles’ own return to academia, with postgraduate studies at Harvard and longstanding work at Oxford University and the British Library.
00:00 - Intro
01:48 - Researching Karma Pakshi
05:42 - The life of Karma Pakshi, the 2nd Karmapa
07:57 - Summoned by the Khan
10:26 - Realisation of reincarnation
12:41 - The favour of the meditating warrior Möngke Khan
15:26 - Persecution and imprisonment by Kublai Khan
19:53 - Later activities and establishing the oldest continuous reincarnation 25:58 - The tulku tradition of Tibetan Buddhism
33:18 - How Charles became interested in Karma Pakshi and the tulku tradition
35:12 - The difficulties of Karma Pakshi’s memoirs
39:02 - Birth and childhood in Venezuela
43:49 - Brothers in oil
45:28 - Suffering and beatings at boarding school
49:34 - Institutional cruelty and formation for empire
52:07 - Charles’ coping strategies and intellectual rebellion
54:33 - Lasting effects and attraction to Buddhism
56:18 - Love of reading and research
59:11 - Attraction to religion
01:02:08 - University study at Columbia
01:04:42 - Changes in the UK private school system
01:05:33 - Exciting educational opportunities at Columbia
01:07:30 - The social and political scene at Columbia
01:08:36 - Joining the Black Panthers
01:09:30 - Psychedelic experimentation
01:12:21 - Arrested and deported
01:16:34 - Homeless in London
01:17:53 - Training as a woodcarver
01:20:32 -Resilience and free-wheeling
01:22:30 - Searching accentuated
01:23:18 - Druidry, Zen, and karate
01:24:22 - Career as a woodcarver and training in Germany
01:28:07 - Unplanned pregnancy, social housing, and finding work
01:28:41 - Guru shopping and finding Buddhism
01:31:07 - ‘Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism’ and seeking Chogyam Trungpa
01:35:06 - Samye Ling and meeting gurus
01:36:17 - Meeting the 16th Karmapa and beginning ngondro
01:37:48 - Regrets about Sherab Palden
01:39:33 - Early days at Samye Ling and meeting Kalu Rinpoche
01:41:04 - First retreats and extensive reading
01:45:12 - The charisma of the 16th Karmapa
01:46:26 - What is charisma?
01:49:40 - How to develop esoteric charisma and spiritual power
01:51:37 - Blessing power of the lineage transmission
01:53:21 - Private time with the 16th Karmapa
01:55:09 - Maggie’s cancer and a sacred pilgrimage
01:59:06 - Struggles and conflict around the treatment process
02:01:53 - Charles’ regrets
02:03:54 - Maggie’s death and the aftermath
02:07:44 - Entering into long-term retreat
02:09:26 - Learning Tibetan
02:10:39 - Preparation for long-term retreat
02:11:42 - Expectations for the retreat
02:13:20 - Were the Western 3-year retreats successful?
02:23:29 - Group dynamics and structural challenges
02:26:26 - Charles’ experience on extended retreat
02:26:57 - Physical and spiritual obstacles
02:29:37 - Trulkhor heart attack
02:30:47 - Should 3-year retreatants call themselves ‘Lama’?
02:33:48 - Religious titles
02:36:57 - Did Charles achieve realisation?
02:37:24 - Advice for those coming out of retreat
02:38:33 - Spirit of service
02:39:23 - Reintegrating into society after 8 years in retreat
02:40:46 - Receiving chulen instruction from the terton Karma Rinpoche
02:42:58 - What is chulen?
02:44:06 - Karma Rinpoche’s miracle siddhi
02:50:50 - Journeys to Tibet to retrieve Karma Rinpoche’s terma
02:52:34 - Meeting mountain yogis in Tibet
02:56:40 - Charles’ chulen retreat in Nepal and Scotland
03:00:34 - Return to academia
03:01:52 - Closed captions for the BBC
03:05:55 - Study at SOAS and Harvard
03:06:46 - Becoming the librarian at the British Library and the Bodleian
03:07:38 - PhD work at Oxford and Paris
03:08:33 - Writing a book about Karma Pakshi, the 2nd Karmapa
03:09:05 - 1000 year old Tibetan documents at the British Library
03:11:16 - The Bodleian collection and the John Stapleton Driver project
03:14:27 - Why physical libraries are important in the digital age
03:16:19 - Charles’ teaching activities and other work
03:21:10 - Objections and religious arguments
03:22:51 - Contacting Charles
03:26:10 - Helping others
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Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James