Ep309: My Radical Life - Lopon Yudron Wangmo 2
Lopon Yudron Wangmo is an American teacher of Tibetan Buddhism and author of several books including her recent “Clearing the Way to Awakening”.
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Lopon Yudron Wangmo shares the story of her life, her childhood with a spiritualist mother, anecdotes of childhood psychic explorations in automatic writing and other techniques, and reflects on whether psychic abilities are inherent or cultivated.
Lopon Yudron Wangmo recounts how she became a radical lesbian feminist at university, details the social and theoretical aspects of that movement and time, and reveals the surprising choices she made when relating to male Tibetan teachers as a feminist.
Lopon Yudron Wangmo also discusses the pitfalls of performing death rites such as phowa for others, explains why she does not emphasise her feminism and politics in her dharma teaching, and considers the healing power of reparenting by taking the guru as a father figure.
00:00 - Intro
01:08 - Yudron’s unusual spiritualist, new age mother
03:50 - Lawyer father
04:57 - Early attraction to Tibetan Buddhism
06:19 - Likelihood of past life connections
07:11 - Early interests in environmentalism and solar energy
08:51 - Psychic readings, automatic writing, and hands-on healing
10:06 - Are psychic powers gifts or can they be cultivated?
12:09 - More stories of Yudron’s psychic mother
14:28 - Yudron reflects on her mother’s final years and death
17:06 - Performing phowa and other death practices for others
18:21 - Remarkable death of Yudron’s father
19:28 - Affluent background affords opportunities for spiritual seeking
21:27 - Going to university and becoming a radical lesbian feminist
22:54 - Impressed by Yeshe Tsogyal’s life story and other female practitioners
25:34 - Letting go of radical feminism to pursue the dharma
26:21 - Relating to male Tibetan teachers as a feminist
27:26 - What attracted Yudron to radical lesbian feminism
30:40 - Today’s backlash against feminism
33:00 - Conflicting theoretical and philosophical approaches to radical feminism
35:11 - United in building woman power
37:12 - Working on anger and Vajrakīlāya practice
41:27 - Giving up female chauvinism and relating to male Tibetan lamas
43:49 - Stories of great female practitioners
44:24 - Being typecast as an angry feminist
45:24 - Why Yudron doesn’t criticise Tibetan culture
46:02 - Rage about abuse of women by Lamas
46:33 - Yudron’s desire to teach pure dharma and not mix in her politics
49:43 - Why Yudron didn’t challenge her lamas with feminist ideas
5149 - The lama as a father figure, reparenting, and the influence of Yudron’s lamas
54:10 - Dropping one’s storyline and going beyond trivialities
55:48 - Motivated to counteract abusive lamas
58:05 - Americans are discouraged from teaching Tibetan Buddhism
58:51 - What to look for in a dharma teacher
01:00:55 - Sycophants vs finding the inner lama
01:02:27 - Fading interest in Tibetan Buddhism
01:03:26 - Dharma teachers should be full time
01:04:16 - The ideal amount of money and pastoralist rhythms
01:05:34 - Two extremes of converts
01:07:22 - Becoming soft
01:08:26 - Dharma teachers vs mindfulness teachers
01:09:53 - Yudron reflects on Theravada meditation and the appeal of Sharon Salzberg
01:11:35 - Prophecies of an impending dark age
01:12:38 - Simplifying dharma teaching
01:15:36 - Yudron asks for Steve’s opinion
01:16:43 - Ben Joffe and relating with spirits
01:17:36 - Steve reflects on the five perfections
01:18:38 - Yudron on the pros and cons of ritual
Previous episode with Lopon Yudron Wangmo:
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Music ‘Deva Dasi’ by Steve James