Karma, Enlightenment & the Wisdom Beyond the Mind | Shyalpa Rinpoche | Shekhar Natarajan

Shyalpa Rinpoche (0:00)

Always make sure you give others to win. Make sure you always take the loss.

Shekhar Natarajan (0:11)

I've actually given speeches bare feet in large conferences, and people find it extraordinarily strange.

Shyalpa Rinpoche (0:22)

And I used to joke and say, Italian only knows how to eat tomato, that's all they know how to pay. I didn't like it, right? I didn't like it.

Shekhar Natarajan (0:35)

And doing the right thing is also subjective. Like, you know, doing the right thing for me is different than doing the right thing for you. But and then we have to exhibit moral coherence.

Shyalpa Rinpoche (0:48)

And he had to sort of like a boil his own leather shoe, Tibetan traditional leather shoe, and he had to soak this in the water and then boil it and had to eat as a food.

Shekhar Natarajan (1:27)

Welcome to another episode of Tomorrow Today with Shekhar Natarajan.

First, I got a couple of big announcements to make. We officially reached 1 million subscribers on the show. We just launched the show about four months ago. And it has taken off like wildfire. And today, we also have about 50 million views on the show.

So the incredible love that people have been showing is truly So, I think that's fascinating, you know, because the whole essence of thinking about humanity and how technology will impact humanity in the future. And our readiness to that has been resonating quite a lot. So, we are incredibly thankful to the audience, for the subscribers, for all the love, and keep spreading the message.

This is also the 25th episode that we are shooting today. And I have been trying to chase you down, his eminence, Shyalpa Rinpoche, for almost like, I think like 4 months now. I saw you in Davos. I was inspired by your speech. And ever since, I have been trying to basically find like some way to connect with you. And I know that you've been traveling all over the world, spreading the message of peace. So, it's an incredible honor for me to finally record. And this is the 25th episode. And we are super excited about this. Welcome to the show.

Shyalpa Rinpoche (3:02)

Thank you very much for having me here. And I'm sorry it took so long to find me. But now you get around to me all the time. Yes.

Shekhar Natarajan (3:13)

So, and it is also an incredible honor to have you be part of the journey of what we are building. And I know that, like, you know, I'm excited to be part of the journey that you are, like, trying to go. And we are going to unpack all of this in this show. Truly excited about what we're going to talk. So let's start from the very beginning, His Eminence. So you were born in a refugee camp in Tibet, you know, to parents.

And you have basically, like, you know, what did that refugee camp give you that still continues to be there in your life? Like, what was that like, what was that moment of being there in the refugee camp, being born there and kind of what what experiences have you carried from there on?

Shyalpa Rinpoche (4:06)

Yes, a little bit of a small correction. I was born in the Himalayas as a young child. And as I was growing up, one very interesting thing is that my parents, you know, had to learn completely new language.

They are in a completely new setting.

Shekhar Natarajan (4:31)

So where are they from?

Shyalpa Rinpoche (4:32)

They are from Tibet. They are from Tibet and later from Himalayas, from Nepal, they moved to India as well. So as I was raised in India and Nepal, we felt that, you know, somehow human beings are capable of adapting to any given situations.

So more you challenge yourself, or more circumstances or situations challenge you. I think there is a great strength in humanity where they are able to face it and overcome it. So today, what I remember, and very, very, you know, meaningfully is that even though you are no longer in Tibet, we are able to have the culture, tradition, language, spiritual training that we otherwise would have in Tibet. So in a way, we are able to preserve this in such a way today. Because within this Tibetan language, Tibetan culture, Tibetan Buddhism, entire teaching of Buddhists, entire teaching of Buddha is available today more than anywhere else. Used to be available in Sanskrit, but no longer is available in Sanskrit. So no other languages carries this much teaching. Hundreds of volumes of teachings of the Buddha, which is so precious. And we are able to learn from a very young age, four or five years old.