Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

A well-written book for Westerners who are curious about, or already practicing, Buddhism. Dzogchen Ponlop shares insights from the historic Eastern origins of this philosophy, and applies it to the Starbucks and Apple computer crowd that populate so many American sanghas.

I can't say I experienced any epiphanies reading "Rebel Buddha", as I did when reading the more personal, confessional (and humorous) approach of Geri Larkin, still my favorite Buddhist writer, but Ponlop does write with show more the same wisdom and empathy of Pema Chodron, whom I greatly admire and enjoy listening to/reading.

I'd recommend this book to anyone curious about Buddhism and how to approach it from a Western POV - as a philosophy and way of life, not as a religion.

As a cool footnote, while I own the hardback edition of this book, the audiobook is narrated by my acting buddy Jonathan Davis. show less

Disc one contains a dharma talk by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche on various aspects of Tibetan Buddhism of interest to any practitioner. Disc two contains a question and answer session with the NY queer dharma community. Both questions and answers are beautifully open and honest and though helpful to all practitioners, will be most interesting to those in the LGBTQA communities striving to apply Buddhist spirituality in their daily lives. -- Jennifer

Excellent book for it makes me want to learn more about Buddhism. I liked that he takes a more philosophical approach as opposed to a religious approach. I also liked that it is written as if the author grew up in Toronto and watched the same TV shows etc. He explained things in a way that made sense and enriched some of my previous beliefs on Buddhism. The book actually made me feel more peaceful.

Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness, Ponlop Rinpoche, Vajra Echoes, 2 DVDs, 8 hrs


Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness is a classic text by the great modern-day yogi Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. In these videos The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche teaches on this text which presents the main schools of Buddhist philosophy with their progressively more subtle and refined views of the essential nature of reality. Rinpoche's commentary provides students with the means to realize show more the nature of reality through a series of meditation practices beginning with coarse, commonsense understanding and progressing through increasingly profound practices designed to help practitioners arrive at complete and perfect understanding. Each stage in the process prepares the mind for the next stage. Rinpoche practices several of the meditation techniques with the students. Extensive and lively Q & A sessions help clarify the details of the teachings. show less