Revealing Ancient Wisdom with San Qing (discussion)

·1 hr 4 min·5 clips

Robina reveals how Buddhist teachings shifted her focus from blaming the world to transforming her own mind.

The episode begins with Sun Ching introducing Robina Courtin, a Buddhist nun, and welcoming her to the podcast. Robina recounts her early life in Australia, born in 1944 into a Catholic family, where she initially wanted to be a priest but was told she could only be a nun. She describes her rebellious youth and subsequent immersion in hippie culture, radical left politics, feminist activism, and black politics over a decade. Robina explains that she exhausted all external blame for suffering before encountering Tibetan Buddhism at age 29 in the mid-1970s, which resonated deeply with her. She details her attraction to the coherent philosophical and experiential approach of Tibetan Buddhism, particularly the concept of karma as self-creation and the absence of a creator god. Robina contrasts Buddhist views with Catholicism, noting similarities in ideals of perfection but differences in the source of that potential. She uses the analogy of an acorn and oak tree to illustrate Buddha nature, emphasizing the need for cultivation. The conversation touches on meditation practices, including visualization techniques in Tibetan Buddhism, and Robina's gradual, steady path without dramatic awakenings. Sun Ching and Robina explore parallels between Taoism and Buddhism, discussing concepts like duality, suffering, and consciousness. Robina shares her work with prisoners, highlighting a specific case of a woman on death row who transformed her mindset to gain freedom after 17 years. She reflects on her 48-year journey as a Buddhist nun, her teaching and editing work, and her current life in New York. The episode concludes with Robina defining consciousness as the capacity for awareness and knowing, with the potential to pervade the universe, followed by a short Tibetan prayer.

As heard by us

A Buddhist and Taoist conversation about Tibetan practice, cultural adaptation, and a prayer for compassion.

The conversation follows Sun Ching and Mabina as they move through Buddhist practice across cultures and into a modern city. Sun Ching shifts from Tibetan Buddhism as the tradition he sees as keeping the more esoteric teachings to the shared ground between Hindu philosophy and…

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If you like spiritual talk that names Samadhi and still ends with a short Tibetan prayer, press play.

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