The Wisdom Seat Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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 how we learn. 

This episode was originally produced by Applied Mindfulness Training as part of their Mindful Voices series. Learn more at https://www.appliedmindfulnesstraining.org

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 experience, break down the real meanings behind familiar mantras, and discuss Dr. Khanna's mission to democratize Sanskrit learning through his "Sanskrit for Mere Mortals" platform - making these ancient wisdom traditions accessible to everyone regardless of background.

Learn more at https://www.sanskritformeremortals.com/

Bill, Sagar, Varun

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 Trungpa Rinpoche. So, they began to invite and host teachers...and how an unintended community has begun growing.

Some notes mentioned in this episode:

Here are some links that could be included in the show notes for additional context on people, books, organizations and places mentioned:

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche:

https://www.chronicleproject.com/

Ringo Tulku:


https://bodhicharya.org/ringu-tulku/

The Wisdom Seat:


https://www.wisdomseat.org/

Profound Treasury Retreat Program:
https://profoundtreasury.org/

Pendle Hill

https://pendlehill.org

Isgro Pastries

https://www.isgropastries.com/

Swarthmore College:


https://www.swarthmore.edu/

Corina Benner

https://www.corinabenner.com

David Nichtern

https://davidnichtern.com

Some books by Chögyam Trungpa:


• Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
• The Myth of Freedom

• Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior

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" formulated by Gampopa, here is a section from the text depicting Gampopa's conversation with Phagmo Drupa that set the foundation for the practice:

https://drukpa.org/our-forefathers/phagmo-drupa/

Gampopa said to Phagmo Drupa: …You go to mountainous areas and so on, congenial places where disenchantment can be produced and experience can develop. There you arouse the mind thinking, "For the purposes of sentient beings, I will attain Buddhahood". You meditate on your body as the deity. You meditate on the guru over your crown. Then, not letting your mind be spoiled with thoughts, not altering this mind—because it is nothing whatsoever—in any way at all, set yourself in clarity which is pure, vividly present, clean-clear, wide-awake!

Later, Phagmo Drupa formalized this instruction into the 5 point Mahamudra – from another text:Phagmo Drupa said: First, meditate on enlightenment mind; Meditate on the yidam deity; Meditate on the holy guru; Meditate on Mahāmudrā; Afterwards, seal it with dedication

Jigme Phuntsok quote:

I came all the way from the Snow Land of Tibet to the US. I find myself now in a place that can be called the second land of Shambhala. In fact, the actual kingdom of Shambhala is one of the five great sacred places according to the Buddhist doctrines. These five sacred places are: 1) Bodh Gaya, the sacred place located at the center of this world where all buddhas of the three times will attain full awakening; 2) Mount Wutai, the Five-Peaked Mountain in China, the sacred place of the east where Lord Manjushri now dwells; 3) Mount Potala, the sacred place of the south where noble Avalokiteshvara actually resides; 4) Copper-Colored Mountain or Oddiyana, the sacred place of the west, the Land of Dakinis, where Guru Padmasambhava abides; and 5) Shambhala, the sacred place of the north.

https://khenposodargye.org/content/uploads/2023/12/A-Journey-to-the-West-1-English-20231223.pdf

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 provide you with some links.

Anam Thubten's organization: https://dharmata.org/

Anam Thubten's recent book that discussed Chod: https://www.shambhala.com/into-the-haunted-ground-9817.html

I hope you enjoy this discussion.

- Bill Moriarty from The Wisdom Seat

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 enrolling in theological seminary and becoming ordained by His Holiness Dalai Lama as a Tibetan Buddhist nun in 2017.   
 
She is spiritual director of Tashi Gatsel Ling in Maine and former attendant to Jetsunma Palmo Rinpoche, (author of four books, including Heroic Heart: A Commentary on the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva). She is co-director of the Alliance of Non-Himalayan Nuns (ANHN). She travels widely leading meditation workshops and retreats in the US and internationally, where she is appreciated for her warmth, humbleness, and sense of humor.

She gave this talk at our shrine room, Pawo Khandro Ling, in Pennsylvania in April, 2023.

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 

Bill Moriarty interviews Michael Carroll to discuss how he takes care of his home which is filled with art, objects, thangkas, family life, events... it's a lot. 

For anyone lucky enough to visit Michael's home, you know it is very beautifully laid out and accommodating. He and his wife regularly host visiting Buddhist teachers, and community events, and they do so with tremendous effort.

Flower Arranging
https://www.lionsroar.com/unconditional-beauty-january-2013/

Richard F. Lack
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_F._Lack

The Brandywine School
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandywine_School 

Woodrow Blagg
https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Woodrow-Blagg/FF3FC3A3F898AF24 

Steve McCurry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_McCurry 

The Wisdom Seat
https://www.thewisdomseat.org