Another Kind of Freedom: An Intimate Conversation with Pema Chödrön

In this candid conversation, Ivan welcomes Lodro Rinzler, Buddhist author and teacher, to the podcast. Friends for more than two decades, they bring an easy warmth to an exchange that moves naturally between humor, personal history, and Buddhist practice. Lodro reflects on growing up in a Buddhist household and the retreat experience that made meditation feel like a path of his own. He speaks about his father’s long illness and how practice helped him remain present through loss. Ivan and Lodro also revisit the early years of Lodro’s teaching and writing—including the publication of The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . .— and consider what it means for a book to make a difference in even one person’s life. Turning to his newest book, You Are Good, You Are Enough, Lodro explores the teachings of basic goodness and how the view that we are fundamentally whole, even when we make mistakes, changes the way we may view our relationships in a culture that’s quick to judge both ourselves and others. Lodro also shares how fatherhood has changed his sense of identity and deepened his practice of paying attention. The episode closes with Lodro sharing two simple daily practices: the importance of offering your full attention to the person in front of you and beginning the day with a moment of gratitude. Watch this interview or read the episode show notes at shambhala.com/podcast. Timestamps 00:00-Meet Lodro Rinzler: Buddhism, Friendship & Humor 04:32-Growing Up Buddhist & Finding His Own Path 12:38-Loss, Impermanence & Being Present for His Father 17:09-Becoming a Meditation Teacher at 18 21:32-The Story Behind The Buddha Walks Into a Bar 30:01-From “Cool Kid Buddhist” to Fatherhood 33:24-You Are Good, You Are Enough: Rediscovering Basic Goodness 41:36-Parenting, Patience & a Toddler’s Playlist 45:49-Finding Joy in Small-Town Life & X-Men 48:18-Everyday Practice: Presence, Gratitude & Starting Your Day Books by the Author The Buddha Walks into a Bar… You Are Good, You Are Enough The Buddha Walks into the Office Sit Like a Buddha (also an online course) Love Hurts

Guest host Sah D’Simone sits down with Sam Bercholz for a candid, funny, and deeply moving conversation on awakening amid the messiness of ordinary life. Together, Sah and Sam explore deity practice, ecstatic dance, compassion without performance, basic goodness, and the foundations shared by Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism. Sam also shares stories of his teachers, the natural world, political anxiety, humility, and the importance of not making oneself “somebody special.” The conversation turns tenderly toward aging, death, rebirth, and how Buddhist practice can help us meet impermanence without giving in to hope, fear, or spiritual certainty. Through it all, Sam offers a simple orientation: Dharma is not about becoming holy. It is about being present, kind, and available to others. Theirs is a conversation for fellow travelers seeking spaciousness, honesty, and a more awake way of living. Watch this interview or read the episode show notes at shambhala.com/podcast. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction & the Story Behind Rude Awakenings 03:57 Letting Go of Self & Awakening Compassion 18:32 Trump, Political Anger & Basic Goodness 27:05 The Three Paths of Buddhism 33:13 How Decades of Dharma Practice Change You 46:51 Mystical Encounters with Buddhist Masters 55:17 Sharing the Dharma & Staying Humble 1:00:40 Facing Death & Near-Death Experiences 1:04:48 Rebirth, the Bardo & What Comes After Death 1:11:23 Living Without Regrets & Preparing to Let Go Books by Sam Bercholz  A Guided Tour of Hell: A Graphic Memoir  Rude Awakenings: An Unconventional Guide to the Buddhist Path

Singer-songwriter Devendra Banhart is a guest host on this episode featuring publisher, author, and Buddhist teacher Sam Bercholz for a warm, searching, and frequently hilarious conversation about wakefulness, suffering, friendship, and the unruly business of being human. At the center of the episode is Sam’s new book, Rude Awakenings: An Unconventional Guide to the Buddhist Path, a book that resists polished self-improvement in favor of meeting life’s confusion, failure, and “muck” directly. Devendra reflects on the relief of finding a spiritual book that makes room for messiness rather than just asking you to become a better version of yourself. Together they explore Buddhist ideas of deity, compassion, habitual patterns, death, and no-self without losing sight of the everyday comedy of distraction. The two consider how easily we miss the suffering of others, how social and personal habits become convincing stories, and how compassion may arise naturally when perception begins to clear. Devendra also revisits Sam’s graphic memoir A Guided Tour of Hell, where their exchange turns to an intimate conversation about mortality, spiritual teachers, and the rare warmth of encountering genuine wisdom. Watch this interview or read the episode show notes at shambhala.com/podcast. Timestamps  00:00—Introduction 01:18—Deities, Wakefulness & the Mess of Life 13:20—A Guided Tour of Hell & Seeing Others’ Suffering 19:51—Tantra, Wise Teachers & Guru Devotion 23:40—Death, Intimacy & Rude Awakenings 28:45—Advanced Buddhist Teachings 31:24—What Is Frivolous—and What Actually Matters? 34:17—“Don’t Buy It and Don’t Blow It” 39:36—Sam’s Next Book & His Wild San Francisco Years 44:12—How Devendra Became a Dharma Person

In this episode of This Very Moment, we are joined by author and Zen teacher Cuong Lu for a deeply personal conversation about freedom, grief, spiritual practice, and finding one’s way home through it all. Born in Vietnam, Cuong moved to the Netherlands at age twelve. After his father died just two years later, he found himself grieving, disoriented, and searching for a way to live peacefully in an unfamiliar country. At eighteen, he met Thich Nhat Hanh. What struck him first was not a particular teaching but Thich Nhat Hanh’s presence. Cuong saw a Vietnamese person who seemed truly at home, peaceful, and free. That recognition set the direction of his life. Cuong was drawn to Plum Village, where he entered monastic life and spent 16 years studying and practicing under Thich Nhat Hanh. His teacher’s guidance was both tender and compassionate, like a father and, uncompromising like a true spiritual teacher. The conversation follows Cuong through the painful decision to leave monastic life and the identity he had built around it. Though it felt like losing his teacher, his community, and his place in the world, he eventually discovered a freedom beyond the pursuit of happiness itself. In releasing the need to be happy, spiritually accomplished, or seen as a teacher, Cuong found a much deeper peace. Today, Cuong’s work includes service as a Buddhist chaplain in Dutch prisons and his teaching through the Mind Only Institute. He continues to share the message that “suffering is not a problem at all. You don’t need to transform suffering; you just need to come home.” Watch this interview or read the episode show notes at shambhala.com/podcast. Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction to Cuong Lu 00:44 – At Peace, Filled with Joy & Rethinking the Dhammapada 06:10 – Tradition, Truth & “Non-Buddhism” 13:15 – Growing Up in Vietnam & the Impact of War 18:24 – Discovering Meditation & Meeting Thich Nhat Hanh 24:37 – The Path to Plum Village 29:44 – Becoming a Monk & 16 Years of Practice 34:07 – Leaving Plum Village & Becoming “Nobody” 40:51 – Working as a Buddhist Chaplain in Dutch Prisons 50:32 – Life After Prison Work & the “Invisible Monk” Select Books by the Author At Peace, Filled with Joy Wait Happiness Is Overrated

In this episode of This Very Moment we are joined with Larry Mermelstein, a longtime student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and a founding member of the Nalanda Translation Committee. Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Rochester, New York, Larry recalls growing up in a Jewish household with mixed religious observance. His father, raised Orthodox with a Hasidic grandfather, described himself as a “non-observant Orthodox Jew,” while his mother came from a Reform background. Larry attended Hebrew school reluctantly but found genuine engagement in the musicality of Jewish prayer during his study for bar mitzvah. However, as he grew older and began reading the English translations of Hebrew prayers, he found the meaning uninspiring, and his interest in Judaism faded. As a teenager Larry found refuge in a spiritualist minister in New Jersey, who opened him up to the idea that this reality is not the only reality. He continued studying with him through his last two years in high school. Watch this interview or read the rest of the episode show notes at shambhala.com/podcast. Timestamps 00:00:00 — Introduction Larry Mermelstein on Buddhism, translation, and the early days of the Trungpa community 00:01:47 — Little Larry: Growing Up Jewish Childhood, family, faith, and early influences 00:05:59 — The First Spiritual Disillusionment Why Judaism stopped feeling alive—and what came next 00:18:57 — From Mysticism to Buddhism The path from spiritual seeking into the Dharma 00:30:12 — Meeting Trungpa Rinpoche The first encounter that changed everything 00:40:58 — Becoming a Translator How language and Dharma became a life's work 00:49:04 — Who Was Ugyen Shenpen? Remembering a pivotal figure behind the scenes of Tibetan Buddhism 00:58:39 — Building Naropa and the Early Community The pioneering years of Buddhist education in the West 01:04:53 — Why So Many Jews Found Buddhism Exploring one of the great demographic mysteries of Western Dharma 01:09:47 — Does Buddhism Have a Future Here? Translation, culture, music, and reaching new generations 01:17:48 — What Inspires You Now? Larry on legacy, younger practitioners, and what's alive today 01:19:38 — The Future of the Trungpa Lineage Tulku questions, succession, and Rinpoche's predictions