Lama Tsultrim Allione shares the practice of feeding our demons in order to dissolve that which prevents us from being free.

In this episode from the 2023 Summer Mountain Retreat, Lama Tsultrim Allione shares:

• How she first discovered Buddhism and meditation
• The beauty within silence and quiet attention to our surroundings
• Lama Tsultrim’s first trip to India and studying the mystic east
• Her connection with Ram Dass and Maharaji’s early devotees
• The practice of feeding our demons (the parts of ourselves that drain us)
• Dissolving that which prevents us from being free
• Fighting our demons versus feeding our demons
• The demons of the fear of abandonment, depression, anxiety, and addiction
• Parts of ourselves that are trying to get attention
• The difference between the wants and needs of our demons
• A guided practice for listeners

About Lama Tsultrim Allione:

Lama Tsultrim Allione is the bestselling author of Women of Wisdom (1984), Feeding Your Demons (2008), and Wisdom Rising Journey into the Mandala of the Empowered Feminine (2018). Lama Tsultrim is the founder of Tara Mandala, a 700-acre retreat center with a three-story temple and library dedicated to the divine feminine in the Buddhist tradition near Pagosa Springs, in southwest Colorado. She leads a vibrant international community with over forty groups around the world.

Learn more about Lama Tsultrim Allione’s work at Tara Mandala

“I know that demons means a lot of different things in this country, in different cultural contexts. What I mean by it is the different parts of ourselves that drain us, that cause us to be not free. In fact, the word mara, which is the word for demon in Sanskrit, means that which blocks freedom.” – Lama Tsultrim Allione

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On this episode of the BHNN Guest Podcast, East Forest and Marisa Radha Weppner discuss the role of song in psychedelics and explore how the ethereal can be accessed through music.

In this episode, East Forest and Marisa Radha Weppner discuss:

• The many ways we can arrive at non-ordinary states
• The power of intention when making music
• How music can act as a bridge to the ethereal
• How music can influence emotional states and brain states
• Music as a birthright and how anyone can be and is a musician
• The exponential growth rate of society
• Reclaiming creativity as a necessary technology
• Psychedelics and music as propellers into a trance state
• Truly giving ourselves over to the music
• Having a guide or therapist to work with
• The impact of intention and set and setting

About East Forest:

East Forest is a multidisciplinary artist, producer, and ceremony guide. Since 2008, East Forest’s “lush” (Rolling Stone) and “blissful” (NPR) music has blended ambient, neoclassical, electronic, and avant-pop to explore sound as a tool for inner journeys and consciousness expansion. Known for being the first musician to collaborate with Ram Dass, his latest endeavor is the feature-length film Music for Mushrooms, a narrative documentary showcasing the transformative power of psychedelics, music, and community.

“If you think about psychedelic ceremonies across human history, almost all of them were guided by songs and music. The same thing is used in the background of stores, birthday parties, weddings, working out, music is everywhere. But, it is the one thing that guides a ceremony typically. It could be been dancing, it could’ve been you always walk, no, it’s music. It’s showing us the power and potential of how it’s deeply connected to non-dual, to the mystery itself, it’s a kind of bridge.” – East Forest

About Marisa Radha Weppner:

Marisa Radha Weppner is a mom, author, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, DJ, teacher, minister, psychedelic therapist, community organizer, life coach, podcaster, and entrepreneur. She has taught yoga since 2002. Known for her authentic self-expression, she empowers others to embody their soul’s wisdom, bringing a real-world mix of eastern spirituality and western psychology to her students. Her online yoga classes and book “Vinyasa Yoga Made Simple: 27 days of Self Discovery” are available through udaya.com. You can listen to her meditation album “Guidance” on all streaming platforms, or tune into her podcast Love, Service, Wisdom.

“I bet if we go back in human history there wasn’t even a word for musician it was just what we all did as humans together. Now, it’s become something different that we are or aren’t, that we relegate to a certain subset of the population. But I would say we all are musicians and part of our awakening takes us back to that.” – Marisa Radha Weppner

About Jackie Dobrinska:

Jackie Dobrinska is the Director of Education, Community & Inclusion for Ram Dass’ Love, Serve, Remember Foundation and the current host of Ram Dass’ Here & Now podcast. She is also a teacher, coach, and spiritual director with the privilege of marrying two decades of mystical studies with 15 years of expertise in holistic wellness. As an inter-spiritual minister, Jackie was ordained in Creation Spirituality in 2016 and has also studied extensively in several other lineages – the plant-medicine-based Pachakuti Mesa Tradition, Sri Vidya Tantra, Western European Shamanism, Christian Mysticism, the Wise Woman Tradition, and others. Today, in addition to building courses and community for LSRF, she leads workshops and coaches individuals to discover, nourish and live from their most authentic selves.

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In this retreat recording, Gil Fronsdal applies Buddhism to parenting and explains family life as one of the best forms of practice.

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This time on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Gil Fronsdal explains:

• Buddhism as a training for all aspects of our lives
• Finding balance, freedom, and compassion in the day-to-day
• Family and children as one of the greatest forms of practice
• Equanimity as the crown jewel of Buddhism
• How children are more influenced by how we are rather than what we say
• Our emotional presence as an integral part of our children’s development
• How anger and anxiety can pass onto our children
• Stepping back and looking at our priorities
• Taking responsibility to show up for practice
• Controlling ourselves and staying present
• Being accepting and allowing our children to be themselves
• Making space when our children say hurtful things
• Gil’s own stories and examples as a father
• Modeling equanimity and acceptance towards ourselves

About Gil Fronsdal:

Gil Fronsdal is the co-teacher for the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California; he has been teaching since 1990. He has practiced Zen and Vipassana in the U.S. and Asia since 1975. He was a Theravada monk in Burma in 1985, and in 1989 began training with Jack Kornfield to be a Vipassana teacher. Gil teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center where he is part of its Teachers Council. Gil was ordained as a Soto Zen priest at the San Francisco Zen Center in 1982, and in 1995 received Dharma Transmission from Mel Weitsman, the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center. He currently serves on the SF Zen Center Elders’ Council. In 2011 he founded IMC’s Insight Retreat Center. Gil has an undergraduate degree in agriculture from U.C. Davis where he was active in promoting the field of sustainable farming. In 1998 he received a PhD in Religious Studies from Stanford University studying the earliest developments of the bodhisattva ideal. He is the author of The Issue at Hand, essays on mindfulness practice; A Monastery Within; a book on the five hindrances called Unhindered; and the translator of The Dhammapada, published by Shambhala Publications. You may listen to Gil’s talks on Audio Dharma.

“We can’t really control the world and there are enough times we can’t control our children. But, we can control ourselves, or part of ourselves. When we can’t control the situation around us, can we at least monitor ourselves enough so that we can stay balanced, not caught, not lost, not distracted, but really stay present in an effective way?” – Gil Fronsdal

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