A Mind Unfettered

Overview

Author and Spiritual Teacher Ken McLeod studied Tibetan Buddhism with Kalu Rinpoche for many years...

...but after landing abruptly in Los Angeles with the responsibility to teach and run a center, and following Kalu’s death, he had to reckon with the fact that he was teaching ancient practices that did not work for him and were often too complex for the needs of the Western student. This forced Ken to reevaluate his path, what brought him to spiritual practice in the first place (and what brings others to it as well), and led him outside the lines of teaching traditional Buddhism, and to what he describes broadly as showing others how to listen.

In this interview, Ken shares about this challenging journey, the unique perspective of what he calls Pragmatic Buddhism, and what it really means to be a teacher. He also reframes spiritual practice not as something to do to make one’s life better, but as a fundamental calling, one that despite the difficulty that can come along the way, cannot be turned away from in the pursuit of radical freedom.