Explore every episode of the podcast Rainforest Mind with Kaspa Thompson

Why are gifts so important? Is everything a gift? What’s the difference between a gift economy and a transaction economy? Why is it hard to stay grateful? Today’s episode was partly inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass. I also mention this talk by Ven. Shenyn: The Life of a Wondering Monk You can view...

I’m standing with my eyes closed in the middle of a busy street and listening. Why? And what can I learn from that experience? I talk about the false opposites of being and doing, and why I prefer lovable to perfect. I mention the Bang And Olafson podcast Sound of the Cities, and an early...

A few weeks ago we got a puppy! Wow – what a whirlwind the last month has been. Moments of sheer joy, and moments of fraught overwhelm. As one book Satya was reading put it, there is the honeymoon period, the WTF have I done period, and the I couldn’t live without her period…. Today...

What a great conversation. James and I spoke about the Unitarian Universalist movement, form and emptiness in Zen, boundlessness, spiritual fluidity and more. James is a Zen Buddhist teacher and part of the Empty Moon Network, he leads a group in Southern California. James’ most recent book is called Introduction to Zen Koans: Learning the...

I’m talking to my Buddhist teacher Dharmavidya David Brazier. We talk about Buddhist Psychology: what does it mean, and how does Buddhist therapy work? We talk about how encountering ‘awakened’ people can be transformative, and about enduring great suffering. We talk about what supports grounding yourself in the big picture, and how faith helps us...

How can we support healing in people, and in the planet? To help answer that question I’m talking about the importance of going outside, and what different kind of outside spaces can teach us. I talk about what wildness means and I talk about the practice of finding a spot to sit in, and sitting...

In this episode I’m in conversation with Ven. Ayya Yeshe, about her socially engaged Buddhist work. What led her to social engagement? How does helping fit with Buddhist practice? She talks about how her experiences as a Tibetan Nun helped her to empathise with oppressed groups, and her socially engaged work in India with the...

I'm talking about my experience of depression, and how it is to be a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist and have the 'black dog' as a companion on the path

In this episode I'm talking to Jayne Johnson about life in community, and about the nomadic life. Jayne got rid of most of her stuff, sold her flat and now lives nomadically. Why leave the householder life? How do we live in community? And what is it like to leave the settled life? What are the benefits, and the costs?

In this episode I'm talking to Clark Strand and Perdita Finn. We talk about Zen, about different kinds of practice groups, touched on the twelve steps, talked about the importance of trees and I heard about the history and importance of rosary practice and making prayers to the divine mother... great stuff