The Modern Buddhism Podcast

In this episode, we sit down with Gen Thekchen, a Buddhist monk who was invited to teach meditation to prisoners in Canada. He shares his remarkable journey of teaching controlling the mind behind bars, revealing how the inmates’ surprising resilience and unwavering determination to master their minds in such a tough environment inspired him. Tune in as Gen Thekchen reflects on the profound lesson...

Gen Gomlam returns to the podcast for a deeply personal and moving conversation about how to heal and find peace after personal tragedy, addressing the feelings of grief, guilt, anger and shame that often arise in the aftermath and how to work through them and find healing. ** Trigger warning : this episode includes discussion of suicide and suicidal ideation. Your discretion is advised. ** *** Bo...

In this special episode, guest host Buddhist monk Gen Kelsang Rabten is in conversation with astrophysicist and lay Buddhist teacher Kadam Peter Kurczynski. Their wide ranging discussion touches on the common points between science and spirituality - for example, how discoveries in quantum physics correlate to profound Buddhist teachings on the nature of reality - but also how meditation can open...

Happy New Year Everyone! While we continue our break from our usual conversation episodes, please enjoy Kadam Adam briefly explaining and then guiding a meditation on how our life is precious, rare and meaningful. This beautiful contemplation energizes us and inspires us to seize the very essence of each day - an excellent way to start the new year. Full epsiodes resume next week.

While we take a brief break over the festive season, please enjoy this bonus episode: a beautiful guided meditation on love and kindness called equalizing self with others. Full conversation episodes will resume in mid January, but check in again next week for another guided meditation.

We live in a world that constantly tells us we need to do more, be more, and achieve more. We set insanely high standards for ourselves, pushing to be successful in every area of life—yet, even when we reach those goals, we're left feeling like it’s still not enough. The truth is, we’re never truly satisfied. We’re always chasing the next milestone, believing we have to be better to be happy. But...

In this episode, guest host Agnes Bednarczyk is joined by Buddhist monk Gen Doryning to explore the deep sense of searching many young people feel in today's world. Surrounded by uncertainty and overwhelmed by modern challenges, many struggle to find meaning and direction through traditional paths. When asked where one can look for purpose, Gen Doryning offers gentle yet powerful guidance, suggest...

Meditation is a popular method to achieve a calm, peaceful state of mind. In this podcast, International meditation teacher, Kadam Morten Clausen, explains how meditation is so much more than just breathing meditation and how you can begin to find answers to the big questions in your life. He explains how Buddha taught meditation as a way to achieve your true potential and life purpose. He explain...

In this Podcast Gen Demo, a Buddhist nun who is dealing with the chronic disease of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), explains how she is learning to let go of worry and accept her illness. Worrying makes everything worse and has a big effect on health. Gen Demo emphasizes how debilitating worry is in her life and how important it is to relax into the uncertainty of her condition and the uncertainty of the...

In this episode, Kadam Adam and Buddhist monk Gen Doryning discuss how conflict can become a pivotal time for achieving real success. They both share relatable stories of conflict that helped them to change their reactions and eventually to transform difficult relationships into ones that made them better people. Gen Doryning explains how easy it is for conflict to make us blind to the other perso...

Anxiety is a modern-day epidemic. In this podcast, Buddhist monk, Gen Kelsang Rabten, uses his own experience of anxiety to explain how to deal with this debilitating habit of mind by applying specific, powerful meditation techniques. He describes how anxious thoughts are tricks our mind plays on us and how, by beginning to first identify these thoughts and not believe them, we can dial the intens...

In this podcast, Miri (Mirja Renner) discusses how to transform chronic pain. Dealing with chronic pain herself Miri explains an extraordinary and ancient meditation practice that has helped her deal with relentless pain. She has been able to use this practice to not shut down, and become isolated in her illness but has been able instead to feel connected to others and at the same time reduce her...

In this podcast Gen Menla, a Buddhist monk who has come from becoming a caregiver to his Mother shares what he has learnt from this. He discusses how being a full-time caregiver can be hard, but also a tremendous journey of learning and personal development. Looking at the importance of taking care of yourself, the caregiver, he explains four simple things his teacher recommends for everyone to en...

In today's episode, Gen Gomlam delves into the profound and often uncharted territory of death and dying. Having worked as a Nurse for over 30 years she has experience of helping others in the final stages of life, and more recently faced up to the possibility of her own death. As a Buddhist nun she shares insights into what actually happens when we die and how that can affect our life in a positi...