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This podcast site shares thoughts and perspectives concerning practical notions and methodologies for all -- regardless of level of experience or knowledge -- who are curious, interested or an ongoing student/practitioner of Himalayan (aka Tibetan) Buddhism.
These podcasts are products of The Chenrezig Project, a Buddhist study/discussion group located in Northern Colorado, USA. Mark Winwood, a member of the undergraduate Psychology teaching faculty at Naropa University in Boulder, is the Chenrezig Project’s founder, resident Dharma sharer and host of these broadcasts. We are involved in an ongoing variety of teachings, writings, community events, etc. To learn more, please visit our website at www.ChenrezigProject.org.
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Our podcasts feature music composed and performed by Bobby Vega. Bobby has been playing and creating music for more than four decades. He began his professional career as a bass player in 1973 (at the age of 16) on Sly Stones’ single “I Get High on You.” A Bay Area musician’s musician, Bobby has played with artists ranging from Joan Baez and Etta James to Santana and the Jefferson Starship and was included on Bass Player Magazine’s list of ”Top 100 Bassists of All Time” in 2017.
An accomplished composer, Bobby has collaborated on the soundtracks for the TV documentary Vietnam: A Television History, the Francis Ford Coppola film One from the Heart, and the Sega video game Sonic The Hedgehog. Four decades and nearly 5,000 gigs after he first began playing bass, Bobby Vega continues to develop his complex and heady blend of rhythm & blues, rock, funk, technique, and tone, “laying it down” with incredible feeling and groove. More about Bobby and his music may be found at www.bobbyvega.com.
Elegant Mind Podcasts.
© 2018-2025, Mark Winwood.
All Rights Reserved.
Contact:
mwinwood@gmail.com
Episodes
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
The legendary Lao Tzu was living and teaching a harmonious way of being -- simple, modest and true -- traveling throughout China centuries before Siddhartha's birth.
Upon achieving enlightenment, Siddhartha Buddha refined, deepened and shared similar ways to all who were inclined to listen. Then, after his death, these teachings were assembled and gradually morphed into what we today know as Buddhism's Mahayana curriculum.
The teachings of Lao Tzu . . .
The awakened Bodhisattva path . . .
Both so ancient, yet so relevant today.
(Length: 13 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with accompanying music composed and performed by the SF-bay area musician Bobby Vega.
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Tuesday May 17, 2022
Consider: How convenient would it be to have a 'Karma' Replay Command Center into which we could call when needed to replay an action or moment we had participated in?
An at-the-ready 'redo' button for any occurrence that, upon reflection, we'd like to correct or fix the 'why' or 'how' we behaved with others . . . and thereby repairing or 're-contenting' the unwholesome karmic seed that had been planted in our mindstream.
Nice to have? You bet.
Useful? Sure thing.
Necessary? Let's talk . . .
(Length: 12 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with accompanying music composed and performed by the SF-bay area musician Bobby Vega.
Sunday Apr 17, 2022
Sunday Apr 17, 2022
"How does my mind work?"
It was a question posed to the 21st Century Bodhisattva at the conclusion of a teaching.
After pausing to collect her thoughts, the Bodhisattva smiled softly and began to speak not only about the experiential mechanics of mind-flow, but of the path of progressive engagement that empowers one to begin to understand for themself.
(Length: 14 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with accompanying music composed and performed by the SF-bay area musician Bobby Vega.
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
Tuesday Mar 22, 2022
The historians tell us Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, lived more than 2,500 years ago in Northern India. Having uncovered and freed the enlightened mind, it is said he taught the path of similar achievement to others for 45 years, until his death at the age of 80.
Precious work, done remarkably well; obviously the Buddha and his teachings have had a uniquely far-reaching impact.
But consider: While affirming and honoring Siddhartha's awakened accomplishments, perhaps Buddhas are a little more 'everyday' . . . ?
(Length: 12 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with accompanying music composed and performed by the SF-bay area musician Bobby Vega.
Saturday Feb 19, 2022
Saturday Feb 19, 2022
Posed by a student to the 21st Century Bodhisattva at the conclusion of a teaching:
"There's this nagging question, What do I want? The truth is, it's slippery. How can I ever know what I truly want when everything is always changing . . . including my flip-flopping mind, the basis of my entire experience?"
"Do you have any advice for me?"
After some moments of thought the Bodhisattva began to speak . . .
(Length: 15 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, presented by Kathy Ambrose . . . with accompanying music composed and performed by the SF-bay area musician Bobby Vega in collaboration with Chris Rossbach.
Friday Jan 14, 2022
Friday Jan 14, 2022
Absolutely everything (i.e., anything) we can point to as 'this' or 'that' is occurring in a dynamically ever-changing manner . . . organic . . . on the fly . . . at times seemingly chaotic . . . the sum of its parts . . . perpetually compiling and re-compiling . . . including the profoundly complex occurrences we refer to as You and Me and Us.
All phenomena emanate from a myriad of causes . . . sounds, tastes, aromas, sights, thoughts, feelings . . . aggregated causes give rise to effects, which then evolve into the causes for new effects . . . on and on . . . ad infinitum.
The methodological science of this process of "dependent origination" resides deep in the heart of all Buddhist perspectives.
(Length: 12 minutes)
Written and presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega -- special guests: the Turtle Island String Quartet.
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Wednesday Dec 29, 2021
Reflection upon a foundational Diamond Sutra verse yields a clear and relevant message to those on the Mahayana path: Every sentient being is equally worthy of our attention, caring, cherishing, virtuous intentions and actions.
This understanding -- from which the great mind of equanimity, compassion's fertile ground, arises and abides -- is profoundly empowering.
Feel free to allow your most inclusive visions to emerge and clarify, discover and embrace perspectives beyond your (no longer) comfortable mind boundaries, let your imagination soar . . .
Sentient beings come in all bodies, shapes, colors and sizes . . . and we are everywhere.
(Length: 10 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, presented by Kathy Ambrose; with music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega in collaboration with Chris Rossbach.
Saturday Oct 23, 2021
Saturday Oct 23, 2021
Finally . . . tangible proof.
Announcing: a product that confirms Karma does exist, via a boundless system of seeds (or traces of directional disposition) that both 'plant' and 'blossom' in every moment of consciousness, within all minds.
Introducing Apple's new mobile app >> the i-Karma Kounter.
It's groundbreaking -- driven by complex, proprietary algorithms; a real-time overseer of individual behaviorism, right on your smartphone . . . a perfectly awakened collaboration of technology, personal psychology and Buddhist mind-science . . . practical for anyone interested in reliable 'tap-the-app' Self Knowing at any/all times.
** Yes, this is a parody, but it does include a summary of the workings of Karma . . .
(Length: 14 minutes)
Presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega in collaboration with Chris Rossbach.
Wednesday Oct 13, 2021
Wednesday Oct 13, 2021
In our rush to purchase and consume, everything becomes commodity, and we often forget about -- if we ever considered them at all -- the sources from which our desired goods and products come. And we easily ignore all that has been done to bring them to us . . . even when extreme hardships have been endured.
Please don't allow that to happen with the profoundly empowering teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, for which deepest appreciation and gratitude for so many is warranted.
(Length: 11 minutes)
Presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, with music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
Saturday Sep 25, 2021
Saturday Sep 25, 2021
An ordinary package delivery . . . refreshing iced tea accompanied by an awakening conversation between a United Parcel Service driver and the 21st Century Bodhisattva.
The topics: timeless interconnection and deeply felt gratitude.
(Length: 8 minutes)
Presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project, recorded in collaboration with Claire Van Bergen. With music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.