There Is Nothing Else to Be with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

Program Description

The key to unlocking the secret to happiness is to recognize that true happiness is not locked up in a hidden vault. Happiness is at the heart of our very nature. Everything we need, we already have as pure potential within our mind. The problem is that our awareness permits the experience of thought and emotion, which are like clouds that obscure the clear sky. Happiness lies in the recognition of the sky. Meditation techniques give us the ability to notice the clouds while seeing the sky. “The meaning of meditation”, he teaches, “is to recognize our own pure inner nature and allow our own possibility, quality, and well being to manifest. It’s not like you try to change and then become a better person. It looks like you have changed your life, but it is just recognition.”

Born in Nepal, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is considered a prodigy among the masters of Tibetan Buddhism. His honest accounts of his own personal difficulties have endeared him to thousands of Buddhist and non-Buddhist students across the world. He is deeply versed in the practical and philosophical disciplines of the ancient traditions of Tibetan Buddhism as well as being adept in the practical issues and details of modern culture. He teaches throughout the world and is the author with Eric Swanson of The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret & Science of Happiness (Harmony Books 2007) and Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom (Harmony Books 2009). To learn more about the work of Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche go to www.mingyur.org

Topics Explored in this Dialogue:

• How the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of happiness can improve your life
• What is the nature of meditation
• How can the distractions of life benefit meditation
• What are the three aspects of mind
• Why confusion and doubt are good things

Program Number: 3201             Host: Michael Toms             Interview Date: 4/2/2007