The Wisdom Seat Podcast

Michele Martin has two graduate degrees in literature from Yale University and has been a Buddhist practitioner in the Karma Kagyu lineage for over forty years. She is a founding board member of the Tibetan Buddhist Research Center and has spent more than thirty years studying with and translating for Tibetan lamas in Nepal and India. She is the author and translator of Music in the Sky: The Life,...

Larry Mermelstein has been a close student of the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche since 1971. He is a founding member and Executive Director of the Nalanda Translation Committee, a senior teacher in the Vajradhatu-Shambhala community, and a consultant for Shambhala Publications. He resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This interview was conducted in person by Joanna Rotté before a live audience at...

Host Bill Moriarty introduces a 2019 public talk from Anam Thubten: "The Wisdom of Meditation and Everyday Life" in the Dzogchen tradition. Anam Thubten describes meditation with an object (breath, body sensations, mantras, ordinary objects, sound) and meditation without an object (open awareness: "rest in the natural state of your mind"). Anam Thubten grew up in Tibet and at an early age began to...

Andrew is a consultant at Bain & Company, a firm that provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. He's also the president of Applied Mindfulness Training. Andrew and Michael talk shop about "what exactly does a consultant do?" and reminisce about Andrew's father Patton Hyman, founder of AMT and a close friend of Michael's. This episode was originally produced by Applied Mindf...

Michael Carroll sits down with Chris Kayser, who has been earning a living as an actor in the Atlanta area for over 40 years. Most recently he performed in a play about death and has been coming to terms with his own cancer diagnosis. He and Michael discuss how both acting and death can bring us vividly into the present, and the role that mindfulness plays on the stage and in life. From:  https://...

Michael Carroll sits down with Dr. Michael Baime, founder of The Penn Program for Mindfulness to talk about how applying mindfulness helps both patients and doctors manage stress and heal through sharing an authentic human connection. https://www.pennmedicine.org/services/mindfulness?redirect=1&referrer=pennmed&source=fsu https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/people/michael-baime   This episode was originally...

Ron is CEO at Continental Sales lots-4-less, a discount store on the South Side of Chicago. Started by Ron's father in 1965, the store has gained a loyal customer base and sees upwards of 1000 sales a day. Ron and Michael discuss the thrill of treasure hunting and the company's values, which include mindfulness, community, and joy. This episode was originally produced by Applied Mindfulness Traini...

Michael talks with Jacqueline Gallo, Chief Operating Officer of Whitcraft Group , about how applying mindfulness at work helps weather change, make tough leadership decisions, and even see around corners. They also discuss Whitcraft's highly successful prison work release program. This episode was originally produced by Applied Mindfulness Training as part of their Mindful Voices series. Learn mor...

Susan Piver is a Buddhist teacher, New York Times bestselling author and founder of the Open Heart Project , a community of support for living an awakened life. Michael sits down with his long-time friend, Susan Piver to talk about community, creativity, pain, loneliness, and other things we're afraid of. They also discuss how applying mindfulness impacts how we run a business, how we teach, and h...

A Mindful Gathering - August 2025 Ever wonder what you're actually saying when you chant "Om" or mumble through "Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha"? Join us for a fascinating conversation with Dr. Varun Khanna, who studied traditional Sanskrit grammar in India and earned his PhD from Cambridge. We explore how ancient practitioners understood Sanskrit as vibrations that directly create exp...

In this episode of The Wisdom Seat podcast, we have a conversation exploring the dynamic tension between ancient Vajrayana Buddhist teachings and modern life. What does it mean to genuinely practice Vajrayana in the context of our digital, fast-paced, and often fragmented 21st-century world? How can we show up? How can we help?   The Progress Paradox book by Gregg Easterbrook    

Anam Thubten spoke in 2023 at the Philadelphia Shambhala Center.  He emphasized the path of the Bodhisattva.

Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche Resting in the True Nature of Mind: Essential Meditation Instructions Commentary on a text by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche In 2019, we were deeply honored to host Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche for a special teaching event in the Swarthmore Friends Meeting house. This rare visit from one of Tibetan Buddhism's most respected teachers included a public talk, reception, and a tour of hist...

What is a Drala Landing Pad?     In this episode of the Wisdom Seat podcast, Bill Moriarty, Michael Carroll, and the community delve into the concept of dralas. They discuss the idea of 'Drala landing pads,' the intersections of personal experience and the phenomenal world, and how these interactions can invoke a form of non-dual awareness. The conversation explores various aspects of Drala practi...

This is audio from a video discussion - see this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eFpLpjmPNxc Bill Moriarty talks with Lama Lodro Lhamo at the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra (KTD) monastery in Woodstock, New York. We discuss the importance of this place as the seat of the Karmapa in North America, and Lama Lodro's path to serving as first woman president of KTD.  KTD: https://kagyu.org/ Visit us at...

In this episode of the Wisdom Seat Podcast, Bill Moriarty talks with esteemed literary agent Stephanie Tade, founder of The Tade Agency, shares her remarkable journey in the publishing industry. Stephanie, known for representing notable and varied figures like the Dalai Lama, Mindy Pelz, and Joan Halifax provides a comprehensive look into the roles and challenges of literary agents. She discusses...

In this Wisdom Seat podcast episode, the focus is on co-founder Matt DiRodio as he prepares to embark on a 3 Year Retreat in the Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu lineage starting in August 2024. The episode features a detailed discussion from a recent Wisdom Seat community gathering, where Matt explains the history, structure, and personal motivations behind his retreat. Listeners gain insights into the ret...

On April 9, 2024, Anam Thubten visited Philadelphia, PA to give a talk. This event was put together by local students of Anam Thubten including Sunisa Manning, Ada Kase, and Geoff Matis. Anam Thubten was hosted by Germantown Friends Meeting to speak about nonviolence. https://dharmata.org The Wisdom Seat helped by providing audio equipment and running sound for the event. We were able to to provid...

Welcome to another episode of The Wisdom Seat podcast. On today's episode, we are diving into the origins of The Wisdom Seat. I talk with Michael Carroll and Matt DiRodio, the two founders, about what brought them together, and what their original vision was. Then we'll hear about the encouragement and almost command from senior lineage holders to them that they must preserve the teachings of Trun...

Podcast episode 13. Orchestrating Insight: A Discussion on Sharing Buddhist Teachings Bill Moriarty and Michael Carroll discuss how to approach becoming a teacher, and what that even means. Notes from this show: The Vagrant and the poet W. Blythe Miller, Phd. https://sangha.live/teachers/lama-willa-miller-bio/ While Willa, in this article, does not speak to the "5 point Mahamudra practice" formula...

This is a special one. Anam Thubten recently came and led a retreat at The Wisdom Seat in Pennsylvania in September, 2023. He generously agreed to a 1:1 podcast interview with me after the retreat. There was a sense of celebration throughout the weekend, and afterward Anam Thubten suggested we discuss joy in Buddhism. Anam Thubten mentions the practice of Chod during our talk and so we want to pro...

Board member of The Wisdom Seat, and longtime practitioner Richard Driscoll tells his very personal story of becoming a Buddhist under the guidance of Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. Learn more about Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche's life here: https://rinpoche.com/ Visit us at: https://www.thewisdomseat.org/

Tsunma Tenzin Dasel, born Lisa V. Blake, became a Tibetan Buddhist nun at mid-life after a career in education and social justice. Her interest in a spiritual life began early in her life through a love of the outdoors and questioning the suffering she witnessed around her. This led to a search for deeper meaning and purpose and formal study of meditation in the Buddhist tradition, culminating in...

Phakchok Rinpoche Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA   We were pleased to host our first event for Phakchok Rinpoche in 2015. Rinpoche gave a talk titled "Transforming Confusion into Wisdom: The Path of Buddhist Meditation in Everyday Life."   https://www.thewisdomseat.org/post/phakchok-rinpoche https://phakchokrinpoche.org/    

Bill Moriarty talks with Michael Carroll, Matt DiRodio, and Jacqui Merrell to ask: why would someone go on a meditation retreat? How do you choose one? Are they all different? I hope this is of benefit for you. Michael will be leading a 2 week retreat in July, 2023 .  Check us out at The Wisdom Seat