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Phakchok Rinpoche + Erric Solomon

Ancient Wisdom and Tech Future

Saturday, November 10, 2018
3:00 PM–4:30 PM

If you thought ancient wisdom and Silicon Valley had nothing in common, think again. Tibetan Buddhist lama Phakchok Rinpoche talks with tech entrepreneur Erric Solomon about ways we can break out of the imprisonment of habitual action (karma) and start to experience the unconditioned existence where true happiness lies. It’s radical. The speakers have prepared for this program: they are joint authors of Radically Happy.

Radically Happy brings the new and the old together in a beautiful way. Phakchok Rinpoche marries his deep understanding of ancient wisdom with Erric Solomon’s experience in the technology-driven modern world. The combination helps us understand how meditation, kindness, and wisdom can make a real difference, moment to moment, in daily life.”

—Mingyur Rinpoche, author of The Joy of Living and Turning Confusion into Clarity

A book signing of Radically Happy will follow the program.

 

About the Speakers

Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche was born in 1981 and is a lineage holder of the Profound Treasures of Chokgyur Lingpa from the Nyingma School of Early Translations and one of the throne-holders of the Riwoche Taklung Kagyu Lineage. Phakchok Rinpoche’s primary root gurus are his grandfather, the late Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, and the late Kyabje Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. Phakchok Rinpoche received a traditional education from the Dzongsar Shedra in India, the complete Chokling New Treasures lineage from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Kyabje Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, and the Great Perfection lineage from Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche. Rinpoche’s teaching style is direct, addressing the needs of those present; traditional, not compromising the methods of practice and transmission in the slightest; and accessible, teaching the profound meaning in a way that can be understood and glimpsed by people of diverse backgrounds.

As a yogi practitioner with a family and the responsibility of monastic institutions, Rinpoche is deeply familiar with both ways of life and practice. Rinpoche’s life defines what it means to be a dharma practitioner in today’s world by emphasising that practitioners should find a balance in their lives. There should be a base of study and contemplation in order to understand the profound views of the Buddha’s teachings, and practice should be emphasized in a way that genuinely reduces ego clinging and negative emotions through a range of methods and practices. Altruistic activity should address the needs of those in one’s community and beyond as an expression of the compassion and wisdom cultivated in practice. These are some of the main principles that Rinpoche practices and teaches to his own students.

 

Erric Solomon, throughout his career as a Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur and now as an author and innovative meditation teacher, has been interested in understanding the mind and how it functions, both as a user-experience designer and as a mind hacker. Erric’s interest in human computer interaction took shape when, as a teenager, he taught programming to children and school teachers. As a participant in the Logo Group at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, he interacted with some of the world’s deepest thinkers on how to make intelligent machines. This experience inspired a lifelong passion to understand the mind and how it functions, and it led Erric to the study of Buddhist theories of mind and the nature of consciousness. He has been an invited speaker to lead seminars and retreats in corporate settings—such as the World Bank and Silicon Valley tech firms—as well as in prisons, temples, and Buddhist centers across the United States and Europe.

Tickets: $25.00

Book + Tickets: $45.00

Includes a book and preferred seating and karma tour

 

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