Ken McLeod Quotes

Ken McLeod is a senior Western translator, author, and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism. He received traditional training mainly in the Shangpa Kagyu lineage through a long association with his principal teacher, Kalu Rinpoche, whom he met in 1970. McLeod resides in Los Angeles, where he founded Unfettered Mind. He has currently withdrawn from teaching, and no longer conducts classes, workshops, meditation retreats, individual practice consultations, or teacher training. [1]

Under Kalu Rinpoche's guidance, McLeod learned the Tibetan language and completed two traditional three-year retreats . In the years that followed, he traveled and worked with Kalu Rinpoche on various projects, and became a prominent translator of Buddhist texts, including a landmark translation of The Great Path of Awakening by the first Jamgon Kongtrul, a key text in the teaching of lojong .

In 1985, he settled in Los Angeles to run Kalu Rinpoche's dharma center. He did so until 1990, when he founded his own organization, Unfettered Mind. He taught strictly traditional material, but is recognized for having pioneered a new teacher–student model based upon ongoing, one-on-one consultations and upon small teaching groups that have a high degree of teacher–student interaction, and for his "pragmatic" approach to teaching, translation, and practice.The intent of Pragmatic Buddhism is to preserve the essence of the teachings unchanged, but to make them more directly accessible to the Westerner. It does so by bypassing the Eastern, cultural overlay, and using simple, clear language and methods that elicit direct experience in the practitioner. It also emphasizes an individualized practice path, with a key element being ongoing practice consults that allow the teacher to shape a path that's tailored to each practitioner's specific needs and makeup. McLeod has made this model available for others to use via the Unfettered Mind website, his teacher development program, and his publications, especially Wake Up To Your Life, which lays out the Buddhist path and practices. His non-traditional commentary on the Heart Sutra, An Arrow to the Heart, presents a way into the material that is poetic and experiential. Wikipedia  

✵ 1948
Ken McLeod: 24   quotes 0   likes

Famous Ken McLeod Quotes

“Any form of idealism involves avoiding some specific pain or suffering.”

Money and Value http://www.unfetteredmind.org/money-value-life-1#sect8. Unfettered Mind http://www.unfetteredmind.org. (2007-12-02) (Topic: Life)

“When you read sutras don't seek to understand them. Stay in touch with precisely what they are eliciting in terms of experience in you.”

Heart Sutra Workshop http://www.unfetteredmind.org/heart-sutra-commentary-3#sect6. Unfettered Mind http://www.unfetteredmind.org. (2008-09-13) (Topic: Practice)

“Study void. Void is what makes everything possible. If there is no emptiness or open space in your life then very very few things are possible.”

Five Elements Five Dakinis http://www.unfetteredmind.org/five-elements-five-dakinis-9#FEFD090:33:46.8. Unfettered Mind http://www.unfetteredmind.org.. (2007-07-09) (Topic: Practice)

Ken McLeod Quotes

“When people thank and tell you how much you've helped them, what they say has nothing to do with you. This is just their way of expressing joy in their own experience. Remember this, too, when people complain or criticize.”

Wash Your Own Dishes http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2007/09/on-teaching.html. Musings Blog http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com. (2007-09-30). (Topic: Life)

“The fundamental effort in Buddhist practice is to develop a sufficient capacity in attention so that you can experience your own non-existence.”

Awakening from Belief http://www.unfetteredmind.org/karma-traditional-modern-1. Unfettered Mind http://www.unfetteredmind.org (2005-06-01) (Topic: Practice)

“To see what you've done, look at what you are. To see what you'll be, look at your actions.”

Karma Doesn't Explain Anything http://www.unfetteredmind.org/karma-two-approaches%20. Unfettered Mind http://unfetteredmind.org. (Topic: Life)

“Each time you sit down to practice, take a few minutes to feel in your heart why this is important to you.”

Practice Tip http://eofcentre.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/just-practice-so-simple-really/. (2012-06-25) (Topic: Practice)

“When you experience things completely, then you know what they are.”

Heart Sutra Workshop http://www.unfetteredmind.org/heart-sutra-commentary-3. Unfettered Mind http://unfetteredmind.org. (2008-09-13). (Topic: Awareness)

“The importance of conventional life is greatly exaggerated and a good death can do wonders.”

An Arrow to the Heart. pg. 140. (2007). (Topic: Life)

“The most reliable way to cut through the thinking process is to bring attention to what you are experiencing in the body.”

Monsters Under the Bed http://www.unfetteredmind.org/monsters-under-the-bed-retreat-1#sect14. Unfettered Mind http://unfetteredmind.org. (2010-10-10) (Topic: Practice)

“At every stage of practice a price has to be paid for clarity. The price is the loss of an illusion.”

Wake Up To Your Life. (2002) pg. 264. (Topic: Awareness)

“Appeals to justice or fairness are almost always stories that hide or protect unacknowledged hurts or pains.”

Fairness and Justice http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com/2009/06/fairness-and-justice.html. Musings Blog http://musingsbyken.blogspot.com. (2009-06-29). (Topic: Life)

“We're going to have to retire the word mindfulness. It's been hopelessly corrupted in English.”

Money and Value http://www.unfetteredmind.org/money-value-life-4#sect6. Unfettered Mind http://www.unfetteredmind.org. (2007-12-02) (Topic: Practice)

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