Escaping Samsara

Bhante Panya tried the forest monk thing. He wore the Theravada robes in America, followed the Vinaya rules, and watched potential practitioners flee because he looked too foreign, too untouchable, too "religious icon" instead of accessible teacher. So he made a move that freaked out his ego: took Mahayana ordination in Taiwan, moved to Vietnam, and started asking uncomfortable questions about what Buddhism actually needs to look like in the West. This conversation gets real fast.

We're talking about: **The stuff nobody mentions:**
- How your friend group is a mirror of everything you hate about yourself
- The terror of taking the bodhisattva vow
- What happens when you sit next to someone who's actually realized 
- Why Theravada meditation might be technically superior but Mahayana community outreach hits different
- How to fight the dark spots in your mind when you can't run to a cave
- The difference between controlling your mind and just not reacting to it
- Why unhealed childhood trauma is probably running your whole spiritual path *
Bhante's books: https://www.amazon.com/Thoughtless-love-cultivation-Bhante-Panna https://www.amazon.com/touching-enlightenment-parable-distance-attachments-ebook Donations for Bhante: https://venmo.com/u/bhante ---

*Escaping Samsara is a weekly podcast exploring authentic Buddhist and yogic practice. Subscribe on Substack (escapingsamsara.substack.com) for free articles, teachings, and more episodes!

In this episode, we sit down with Kat Ashtanga, an advanced practitioner, to explore:
✨ How practice evolves through the different series of poses
✨ Balancing lineage with personal practice
✨ Integrating pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood
✨ The subtle benefits of long term asana practice
✨ How the universal energy of prana is conducted via these poses
Whether you're deep in your own Ashtanga journey or just beginning to explore, this conversation offers wisdom and inspiration for yogis at all levels.
🔗 Also listen on Spotify / Apple / Substack
👉 Don't miss exclusive writings, bonus episodes, and behind-the-scenes reflections. Subscribe on Substack today: https://escapingsamsara.substack.com
Here's the only video of the old school Advanced A practice I'm aware of on YT:    • Ashtanga Yoga - ORIGINAL 1974 ADVANCED A S...   F
ind out more about Kat: https://www.kathache.com/
If you enjoyed this episode, please like, comment, and share — it helps the podcast reach more practitioners around the world.
 #Ashtanga #YogaPodcast #EscapingSamsara #Meditation #Motherhood #Lineage

In the fourth and final episode of our series on The Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind, Nathan sits down with renowned Dharma practitioner and ER physician Daniel Ingram to explore the most confronting and transformative contemplation: death.
Drawing from his experience in emergency rooms and deep meditation, Daniel discusses how death can be a powerful catalyst for spiritual urgency, freedom, and insight. They reflect on childhood spirituality, near-death experiences, death rehearsal practices, and the delicate balance between striving and letting go on the path.
If you've ever asked yourself what really happens when we die—and how contemplating death can make life more vivid and meaningful—this conversation is for you.
 
0:13 – Introduction

4:18 – Early spiritual experiences and childhood insights

7:05 – Daniel's Dharma path and balancing practice with life

13:30 – Contemplating death and its spiritual impact

19:57 – Near-death experiences and ontological humility

24:44 – Do you have a death plan?

32:28 – Death as suffering and transformation

43:06 – The urgency of practice: why not now?

51:48 – Balancing striving with surrender

58:56 – Daniel's current projects and final thoughts

 
More about Daniel here: https://www.integrateddaniel.info/

This is episode three in the series on The Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind, contemplations that form the basis of the Buddhist path. 
In this episode, Ven. Robina Courtin, a Tibetan Buddhist nun with nearly fifty years in the tradition, discusses "The Drawbacks of Samsara". 
We dive into the nature of suffering in Samsara, the subtle role of attachment, and the practical meaning of the Four Noble Truths. Robina speaks to the balance between devotion and clear-eyed reasoning, showing how both can deepen and stabilize our practice.
Our conversation explores the six realms of existence, the workings of karma, and how understanding the nature of Samsara inspires personal responsibility for our inner life. 
Throughout, she returns to one essential truth: the quality of our thoughts and intentions shapes the quality of our lives. 
Robina's website: https://robinacourtin.com/
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Instagram: @escsamsara

Episode 2/4 on The Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind, and this time we are talking about the "precious human rebirth" and pondering the unique opportunity that human beings have to practice the path to awakening. And to discuss this I am joined by Joe Evans, founder of the Rangdröl Foundation and teacher of Dzogchen under the name Jigme Rangdröl.
The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind, also known as the Four Reminders, are a set of Buddhist contemplations that encourage practitioners to turn their minds away from worldly distractions and towards spiritual practice. These thoughts are: 1) the preciousness of a human rebirth, 2) impermanence and death, 3) karma (cause and effect), and 4) the unsatisfactory nature of samsara (cyclic existence).
The first episode of this series was on Karma (see our podcast feed for that one) but it's not necessary to listen to them all in order!
To find out more about Joe Evans, visit:
https://www.rangdrolfoundation.org/
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