This is the first of two exceptional episodes concluding the series on “The Relief of Emotions on a Daily Basis” and families of emotions directly related to the ongoing climate upheavals, with our guest Mila Khyentse Rinpoche.

In previous episodes, we found that we didn't necessarily make the connection between the evolution of the external conditions and our emotional states, and that this kept us in a state of tension and continuous suffering. Our usual mode of response to this suffering is the famous fight or flight, which only serves to maintain this state of malaise and confusion.

We've also seen that Dzogchen offers a different path to our usual reactions, one that enables us to achieve genuine emotional calm, develop greater clarity about our living conditions and help us to respond more appropriately to situations.

In this episode, we invite you to deepen your understanding and experience of this path to clarity and calm through a series of short practices.

Host: Marie-Laure

RECAP & TAKEAWAYS

“Dzogchen in everyday life” series, episode 11: the “The Relief of Emotions on a Daily Basis” and families of emotions directly related to the ongoing climate upheavals - Summary

In this podcast, Mila Khyentse discusses :

1. The natural human resistance to change 2’40
2. Uncertainty and fear 5’30
3. Impermanence and the underlying question of death 8’30
4. “The future is bright”: a strategy for avoiding the reality of our real conditions 12’50
5. Dzogchen answer to the fear of changing conditions: face it directly ! 15’
6. A way of concentrating to go beyond the usual fight-or-flight response 18’

PRACTICES

Step 1 : Developping clarity 20’

• Seat still and concentrate on one point
• Remember an event that develop a strong emotion
• Isolate an emotion and focus directly on it
• Practice feedback 25’55
• The importance of a daily practice 28’35

Step 2 : Broadening the perspective - opening up the mind to recognize the real nature of the emotion 33’27

• Regain clarity : focus on one point
• Recall the emotion from previous exercise
• Focus on it and open to the space

As a continuation of the series "The Relief of Emotions on a Daily basis," we dedicate a special series to families of emotions directly related to the ongoing climate upheavals. In this tenth episode of "Dzogchen in Everyday Life", Mila Khyentse Rinpoche and Christophe Renard take a closer look at emotions related to chronic dissatisfaction.

Host: Marie-Laure

Modern societies are often characterized by an insatiable thirst for consumption of all kinds, for "more and more", sometimes to the point of addiction. The mechanism always seems to be the same: a compulsive desire to consume in an attempt to compensate for chronic dissatisfaction, a lack of satisfaction with what we already have. And climate change might have something to do with it...

Can we do anything about it ? Certainly, if we are to believe the Great Perfection tradition, which shows us through concrete examples how to gain clarity about the process of emotions and thus how to appease them.

Notes

Dzogchen is a directly accessible tradition that can be practiced in a variety of ways in our daily lives, focusing on liberation from suffering and the means to achieve it.

In this episode, Christophe Renard and Mila Khyentse Rinpoche discuss the chronic dissatisfaction that often characterizes us: its causes, its mechanisms, and what Dzogchen offers as a solution!

Recap & Takeaways

Series "Dzogchen in Everyday Life" - 10th episode: Dzogchen and the "relief" of everyday emotions: frenzy and dissatisfaction.

1. Christophe shares his personal experience of frenzy and dissatisfaction. 3'22
2. The thirst or craving: the process of becoming according to the Dzogchen tradition. 6'27
3. Distinguishing the process of becoming from the nature of mind. 11'12
4. Stepping back to see more clearly: Christophe's example of the wardrobe. 12'27
5. How to release craving: Mila Khyentse's simple and direct practice to apply in our daily life. 16'10

RESUME

As a continuation of the series, “The Relief of Emotions on a Daily Basis”, we are dedicating a special series to families of emotions directly related to the ongoing climate upheavals. In this ninth episode of “Dzogchen in Everyday Life”, Mila Khyentse Rinpoche and Diane d’Epremesnil take a closer look at the family emotion which encompasses sadness, regret and nostalgia for all that has already been lost or destroyed.

Host: Marie-Laure.

Few of us are really clear about our emotions, especially when they affect the deeper structures of our being and are connected to other species and the earth itself. Yet these emotions are increasingly present in our lives, and we often feel powerless over them. Is there anything we can do? Certainly, if we are to believe the tradition of the Great Perfection, which shows us through concrete examples how we can get to know them, understand how they work, and eventually calm them.

Notes

Dzogchen is a directly accessible tradition that can be practiced in a variety of ways in our daily lives, focusing on liberation from suffering and the means to achieve it. In this episode, Mila Khyentse Rinpoche and Diane d’Epremesnil explore some aspects of sadness and nostalgia for all that has already been lost or destroyed.

Recap & Takeaways

In this podcast, Mila Khyentse and Diane discuss :

1. Diane's testimony about the direct impact of profound climate change on her emotions. 2’43
2. What is solastalgia, “the homesickness without exile” and its impact on our life. 4’15
3. Too disturbing to be witnessed and too abstract to be recognized: the difficulty to identify clearly this emotion. 5’10
4. Is solastalgia a depression? 8'58
5. The Dzogchen perspective on this disruptive emotion. 10'46
6. The human paradox: “knowing it disappears, acting as if it is not” and its consequences on our emotional state. 12'21
7. “Stop running away and develop clarity”, Diane expresses how the practice of Dzogchen helps her. 17'20
8. Mila Khyentse shares a key practice to sooth and transform solastalgia feeling. 20'8