Hi everyone,

I just released a new interview with Aro gTer Lama Bar-ché Dorje - one of the highlights for me were the stories about the wrathful teaching style of ngakpa Kunzang Dorje Rinpoche, with whom Bar-ché Dorje spent a lot of time with in Nepal.

I think Aro Buddhism has been discussed here at some length in the past, so I'd be interested in what you think about this one:

- https://www.guruviking.com/ep21-bar-che-dorje-guru-viking-interviews/


By the way, here are the two interviews I did with the Aro gTer founder Ngakpa Chögyam. The first one focuses on his early biography and his guru-disciple relationship with Kunzang Dorje Rinpoche. The second link is a multi-hour video interview including a tour of his home, more lama stories, lots of long-form teaching content, and an account of receiving the Aro Terma:

- https://www.guruviking.com/guru-viking-interviews-ep8-ngakpa-chogyam/
- https://www.guruviking.com/ep16-ngapka-chogyam-and-khandro-dechen-guru-viking-interviews/

Hope you enjoy and happy holidays!

Steve

I found the second interview with Ngakpa revealing, although not for the reasons I expected. Having read some of his insightful writing on emotions, I was expecting him to be profound. Instead he turned out to be surprisingly shallow, giving a tour of his house and showing off his knick-knacks and wardrobe like some house proud middle-englander. They whiffed your question on reincarnation, they didn't even pretend to have a convincing answer. I was confused. Was I wrong about the great man? Then it dawned on me - he was being totally transparent - showing what he was really like, including his petty foibles and predilections. He was being deep by not even pretending to be deep. Ah tantra.  It was quite disarming and really got me thinking. Thanks Steve!