Mongolian Dharma Poetry: Simon Wickhamsmith

Simon Wickhamsmith is a Buddhist monk turned scholar, computer musician, and one of the only translators of Mongolian literature into English. He teaches in the Writing Program at Rutgers University and has been traveling back and forth to Mongolia since 2006. In this conversation he traces his spiritual path from Catholicism through Tibetan Buddhism and back to medieval Christian mysticism, introduces the Mongolian poet Mend-Ooyo, and takes us deep into the life and poetry of the 19th century Buddhist polymath Danzanravjaa — a figure Simon considers his primary teacher — including a live reading of the poem Twos, a stunning meditation on nonduality from the Mongolian steppe.

Topics

00:00 — Introduction

00:02 — Simon's spiritual path: Catholicism, Opus Dei, the Desert Fathers, and Zen

00:04 — Discovering Tibetan Buddhism, Samye Ling monastery in Scotland, and ordaining as a monk

00:06 — The three-year retreat, his mother's illness, and returning to the world

00:07 — Returning to medieval Christian mysticism: Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhart, The Cloud of Unknowing

00:10 — How SAND connected with Mend-Ooyo in Mongolia — and how Simon met him

00:12 — Teaching himself Mongolian by translating Danzanravjaa's complete works

00:13 — Introducing Mend-Ooyo: born 1952 into a nomadic herding family, poet and cultural guardian of Mongolia

00:16 — The underground literary group GAL (Fire) and Mend-Ooyo's role in Mongolian literary culture

00:18 — Mend-Ooyo's mission: reconnecting Mongolia to its nomadic heritage after Soviet collapse

00:19 — Mend-Ooyo's new novel The Solitary Tree: Robin Hood, shamanism, Buddhism, and falcons

00:23 — Who was Danzanravjaa? Born in the Gobi Desert, recognized as the fifth reincarnation of the Noyon Hutagt

00:26 — Danzanravjaa's approach: spontaneous, impromptu poetry as dharma teaching

00:28 — Mongolia's first traveling theater troupe and the poems as dictated teachings

00:31 — Live reading and analysis of Perfect Qualities — a love poem, a guru poem, and a poem of nonduality simultaneously

00:33 — The three levels of meaning in Danzanravjaa's poetry: outer, inner, and secret

00:38 — Bhakti yoga, Ram Dass, Maharaji, and the connection to direct transmission beyond doctrine

00:41 — Danzanravjaa and the land: the Shambhala vortex at Hamriin Hiid

00:44 — Horses, landscape, and the spiritual path in his poetry

00:45 — Simon's personal experience of the Shambhala site and animist relationship to land

00:49 — If Danzanravjaa were alive today: his anti-Manchu politics and primary focus on deepening practice

00:50 — Live reading of the poem Twos — nonduality in full

00:54 — On translation: humor, layers of meaning, and the paradox of the poem itself

Resources & Links

Simon Wickhamsmith

Rutgers University faculty page

Suncranes and Other Stories: Modern Mongolian Short Fiction — Columbia University Press, 2021

Politics and Literature in Mongolia (1921–1948) — Amsterdam University Press, 2020

The Hidden Life of the Sixth Dalai Lama — Lexington Books, 2011

Mend-Ooyo Gombojav

Official website: mend-ooyo.mn

Altan Ovoo (Golden Hill) — translated by Simon Wickhamsmith

Gegeenten (The Holy One) — novel about Danzanravjaa

The Solitary Tree — Mend-Ooyo's most recent novel, published 2025, translated by Simon Wickhamsmith

Wikipedia: Mend-Ooyo Gombojav

SAND Event — Nature of Mind and Mind of Nature: A Local Event with Mongolian Poet Mend-Ooyo Gombojav (2026)

Danzanravjaa (referenced poems)

Perfect Qualities (also known as The Five Senses / Five Offerings)

Twos — read in full during the episode

Mend-Ooyo's essay on Danzanravjaa: mend-ooyo.mn/content/86.html

Referenced spiritual figures & texts

The Cloud of Unknowing — anonymous 14th century medieval Christian mysticism text

Julian of Norwich and Meister Eckhart — medieval mystics Simon returned to after Buddhism

Samye Ling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, Scotland — where Simon did his retreat

Ram Dass and Maharaji — referenced in discu