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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

Monday Feb 15, 2021
Puget Sound Sutra
Monday Feb 15, 2021
Monday Feb 15, 2021
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.

Saturday Feb 13, 2021
The Empowering Wisdom of 'Emptiness'
Saturday Feb 13, 2021
Saturday Feb 13, 2021
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.

Friday Jan 25, 2019
The Science(s) of Tibetan Buddhism
Friday Jan 25, 2019
Friday Jan 25, 2019
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.

Thursday Dec 27, 2018
Environmental Interdependence: Our Wetlands
Thursday Dec 27, 2018
Thursday Dec 27, 2018
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.

Wednesday Nov 14, 2018
16 Practical Guidelines for (Best) Living
Wednesday Nov 14, 2018
Wednesday Nov 14, 2018
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.

Thursday Sep 20, 2018
The Heart Sutra and Mechanics of Mind
Thursday Sep 20, 2018
Thursday Sep 20, 2018
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.

Friday Sep 07, 2018
Overcoming Stubborn Self-Centeredness
Friday Sep 07, 2018
Friday Sep 07, 2018
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.

Wednesday Aug 22, 2018
The Experience of Dying and Death
Wednesday Aug 22, 2018
Wednesday Aug 22, 2018
Death awaits us all. In this broadcast, Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project discusses the Bardo Thodol (aka Tibetan Book of the Dead) and shares some of the Tibetan ideas of what death is as well as what occurs and is felt during the dying process . . . including what we can begin doing now to create the causes for the "best possible" experience(s) at the time of -- and following -- our death. A not-morbid, practical discussion. (Length: 53 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.

Thursday Aug 09, 2018
The Diamond Sutra: Inclusiveness and Impermanence
Thursday Aug 09, 2018
Thursday Aug 09, 2018
In this broadcast, the Chenrezig Project's Mark Winwood shares some of the fundamental aspects of one of Mahayana Buddhism's most revered (and studied) Prajnaparimta teachings, The Perfection of Wisdom that Cuts Like a Diamond Sutra, aka The Diamond Sutra. (Length: 55 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.

Tuesday Jul 24, 2018
Family Values, Tibetan Child-Rearing Practices
Tuesday Jul 24, 2018
Tuesday Jul 24, 2018
In this broadcast Mark Winwood of the Chenrezig Project expounds upon a recent talk he shared with inmates and their families at the Monroe Correctional Complex (Monroe, WA) on Buddhist perspectives of Family Values. Also included: a discussion on Tibetan child-rearing practices, specifically for toddlers and the very young. (Length: 53 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.