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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 Elegant Mind podcasts are products of The Chenrezig Project, a Buddhist study/discussion group located in the USA with an international reach. Mark Winwood, a member of the undergraduate Contemplative 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. Contact Mark at mwinwood@gmail.com.
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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.
© 2018-2026, Mark Winwood.
All Rights Reserved.
Contact:
mwinwood@gmail.com
Episodes
Mar 14, 2021
Mar 14, 2021
9 min
It is in the river waters of the Pacific Northwest that Salmon, the essence of nature's wild and bountiful grandeur, are born and, after years swimming free in the vast ocean, return to spawn. Herein are some thoughts on the lives --and the ultimate dignity -- of these regional sentient treasures. (Length: 10 minutes)
Written by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project; background music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
Feb 21, 2021
Feb 21, 2021
10 min
Q: What role does Karma play in the ongoing experiences of our rebirth and next life?
A: An innately intrinsic one -- you are architecting the tone and tenor of your future mind now, moment-by-moment . . . just as was done by those who came before you. Meaningful awareness of this can be profoundly beneficial. (Length: 11 minutes)
Written and presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project. Accompanying music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
Feb 15, 2021
Feb 15, 2021
8 min
Chitray is a tiny hamlet perched on a Himalayan ridge along the Sikkim-Nepal border. For one Western trekker, absorbing the 'effects' of sitting alongside its stupa early on a foggy morning, Chitray became one of the most far-reaching places she's ever been. (Length: 9 minutes)
Written and presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project. Background music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
Feb 15, 2021
Feb 15, 2021
7 min
It is said that Buddhas -- fully awakened beings -- may manifest in any place, at any time and in any form . . . even as a spiny urchin in the icy waters of the Pacific Northwest's Salish Sea. (Length: 8 minutes)
Written and presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project. Background music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
Feb 13, 2021
Feb 13, 2021
11 min
Consider: Emptiness -- that often referred to, generally misunderstood aspect of mind that is so often referred to in the Buddhist wisdom teachings . . . is anything but empty. It is within the limitless nature of emptiness – the emptiness of any inherent and consistent self -- that the vastness of our potential(s) dwell. So what is it we are empty of? For starters, how about our (seemingly real) limitations, boundaries, restrictions, hindrances, impediments and inhibitions . . . i.e., our tenaciously self-sabotaging confusions. (Length: 12 minutes)
Written and presented by Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project. Background music composed and performed by the renowned SF Bay-area musician Bobby Vega.
Jan 25, 2019
Jan 25, 2019
1hr 2 min
One of the enduring Dharma discussions in the West centers around "What Is Buddhism -- Is it Science, Social Perspective or Religion?" In this broadcast, the Chenrezig Project's Mark Winwood examines the science within Tibetan Buddhist practice, including some of the notions that are relevant to so many . . . whether students/practitioners of Buddhism or not. (Length: 62 minutes)
-- Note: This podcast was originally broadcast as an "Elegant Mind" episode on KAPY Valley Radio 104.9 FM, a community radio station serving the lower Snoqualmie River Valley of western Washington State. It includes commentary as well music composed and performed by Bobby Vega, a renowned SF Bay-area musician.
Dec 27, 2018
Dec 27, 2018
56 min
In this broadcast, the Chenrezig Project's Mark Winwood welcomes Teresa Opolka, a local (Carnation) wetland ecologist/botanist. Teresa is the founder of the Aquatica Environmental Consulting group specializing in projects in the greater Puget Sound region, focusing on wetland and stream resources. The interconnections between the increasingly inhabited lower Snoqualmie Valley, nestled between the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Ocean and its prodigious -- and crucial -- natural world wetlands are discussed. (Length: 56 minutes)
-- Note: This podcast was originally broadcast as an "Elegant Mind" episode on KAPY Valley Radio 104.9 FM, a community radio station serving the lower Snoqualmie River Valley of western Washington State. It includes commentary as well music composed and performed by Bobby Vega, a renowned SF Bay-area musician.
Nov 14, 2018
Nov 14, 2018
1hr
Many of us are seeking to develop our innate capacity for compassion and wisdom in order to live a most happy, peaceful and beneficial life. The "16 Guidelines" are a simple and robust Tibetan Buddhism-sourced framework for reflecting on the ways we think, act, relate to others and find meaning in life . . . as well as for creating the causes of true happiness and fulfillment. In this broadcast, Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project summarizes each of the 16 guidelines in a manner that is accessible to all. (Length: 60 minutes)
-- Note: This podcast was originally broadcast as an "Elegant Mind" episode on KAPY Valley Radio 104.9 FM, a community radio station serving the lower Snoqualmie River Valley of western Washington State. It includes commentary as well music composed and performed by Bobby Vega, a renowned SF Bay-area musician.
Sep 20, 2018
Sep 20, 2018
56 min
Mind: every sentient being has one but very few understand -- or even think about -- how their mind works. In this broadcast, Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project shares the fundamental Buddhist wisdom teaching The Heart Sutra, which puts forth a description of the ongoing workings of mind in terms of "what's there" . . . and what's not. -- Psst . . . it's all about 'heaps' . . . (Length: 57 minutes)
-- Note: This podcast was originally broadcast as an "Elegant Mind" episode on KAPY Valley Radio 104.9 FM, a community radio station serving the lower Snoqualmie River Valley of western Washington State. It includes commentary as well music composed and performed by Bobby Vega, a renowned SF Bay-area musician.
Sep 7, 2018
Sep 7, 2018
48 min
In this broadcast, the Chenrezig Project's Mark Winwood discusses aspects of two questions he was recently asked: (1) Why do you (meaning "us") do what you do regarding shared/engaged Dharma?, and (2) Understanding that deeply stubborn self-cherishing, self-centeredness, self-importance, etc. are at the source of so many of our problems, how do we begin to instinctively perceive ouselves/others more equanimously? (Length: 48 minutes)
-- Note: This podcast was originally broadcast as an "Elegant Mind" episode on KAPY Valley Radio 104.9 FM, a community radio station serving the lower Snoqualmie River Valley of western Washington State. It includes commentary as well music composed and performed by Bobby Vega, a renowned SF Bay-area musician.