The Double Dorje: Modern Vajrayana Buddhism.
Season 2 of the Double Dorje podcast had its short "goodby"episode in November 2025. The future is still undecided! Tips. Travellers’ tales. Perspective. Gossip. Experience. Stories. Wonder. Putting a bit of flesh on the bones of Vajrayana (Tibetan style) Buddhist practice in today’s society. Are you curious about Tibetan Buddhism? But how, and where, and when, and all that? Is the water safe? Or have you taken the plunge, but want to plug into it better? Come - let’s enjoy a bowl of dharma momos in the Double Dorje. Chilli with yours? Special emphasis on Nyingma, Kagyu and on non-monastic practice. As well as the links below, you can also find it on YouTube.
Episodes
Really intended as a brief video on YouTube.
Is the Vajrayana "just" a clever technique within conventional Mahayana, or is it really something different.
Goodbye to Series 2 - and what of the future?
You've been looking at Tibetan Buddhism? You want to start? But you still don't know how? This might help.
Like it or not, magic is interwoven with Tibetan Buddhism. Is it symbolic? Or is it real?
Devotion (mögü) - another Tibetan word that doesn't quite correspond to its English usage.
How do empowerments actually work?
Should we read our texts in Tibetan? In English? Using phonetics? Does it make any sense to read phonetics without understanding the Tibetan?
Questions, questions...
Confession is a big thing in Buddhist practice. But there is no priest to forgive your sins on God's behalf. It is more nuanced than that.
Shop like a Buddhist! Majnu Ka Tilla is the wellspring of Buddhist art for the Tibetan world.
Horror, violence and disgusting soup in Tibetan-style Buddhism. Why don't they get as much attention as sex? Why is it obvious that these things are not for performance "as written", but some people assume that the sexual aspects are? Something to think about!
#Buddhism #Tibet #Vajrayana #Horror
If you do Vajrayana, you will say these syllables again and again. And again. What do they look like? What do they mean? Why does it matter?
Dos, don'ts, and who cares (some do) about wearing the red-and-white striped "Ngagpa shawl".
A crucial text for the mahamudra tradition of, in particular, the Kagyu traditions descended from Marpa the Translator
Season 2 is coming soon
Final episode of Season One!
Groping towards the dharma in the midlands of England in the 1960s.
Bookworm paradise: Birmingham Central Library as it was then:
Words or phrases you might want to look up (in no particular order, and some best forgotten!):
Man, Myth and Magic (magazine)
Gurdjieff
PD Ouspensky
Paul Brunton
Anagarika Govinda
Edward Conze
Alexandra David-Neel
Evans-Wentz
Christmas Humphreys
Marco Pallis
Waddel’s “Lamais...
Note: the next episode, no 44, will be the last of Season 1. Season 2 is in the works!
Buddhism is all about simplicity, isn’t it? Well, no, at least not when it comes to Tibetan style Buddhism. The very essence may be simple, but typical practice makes use of an enormous amount of kit - malas, dorjes, bells, hand-drums large and small, trumpets, vases, conch shells...
As beginners, we may well be tempted to start collecting some o...
Termas and tertons – spiritual treasures and their finders – are an inescapable feature of some branches of Tibetan Buddhism. Come along for the magical ride!
A phurbu
A ngagpa, undoubtedly a practitioner of termas. Note the phurbu tucked into his belt.
Words or phrases you might want to look up:
- Terma
- Terton
- Nyingma
- Dudjom
- Jamyang Khyentse
- Jamgon Kongtrul
- The Nyi...
Most traditions of Buddhist practice have nothing that resembles the tulku tradition. In the Tibetan traditions, you can’t get away from them. What are they? And what are they good for?
Karma Pakshi, one of the first tulkus.
Words or phrases you might want to look up:
- Tulku, emanation body, transformation body
- Three bodies of the Buddha (kusum, trikaya)
- Karmapa
- Karma Pakshi
- The Second Karmapa K...
Come with me over the plains of Amdo in a little blue and white bus 30 years ago.
We have a couple of dozen pilgrims, two Chinese drivers and a supply of diamox. Should be fine!
Stupa at Benchen
Words or phrases you might want to look up:
- Amdo
- Kham
- Benchen
- Tsurphu
- Lhasa
#Buddhism #Vajrayana #DoubleDorje #Mahamudra #Dzogchen
Some verses you'll hear again and again.
Not a definitive list – there ain’t no such thing. But if you know these by heart and can join the recitation at the drop of a hat, you will achieve one great thing: you will look good!
The "Three Jewels" (I don't know who to credit - it's all over the 'net)
The Refuge formula:
Lama la kyab su chi o ‘I go for refuge to the lama.’
Sangye la kyab su chi o ‘I go...