Episode #2 with Dominique Side

Hosts Orgyen Boinvilliers and Amalée Rycroft sit down with longtime practitioner, teacher, and author Dominique Side to explore listening as a practice, meeting life with equanimity, bringing ancient teachings into the modern world, and finding a “new way of seeing.”

You can check out Dominique Side’s new book A New Way of Seeing, a fresh and practical introduction to core Buddhist teachings—available on Amazon, Waterstones, and all major booksellers.

Episode #3 with Verena Pfeiffer

For our third Prajna Cafe Podcast episode, Orgyen sits down with Verena Pfeiffer, a German-born Rigpa Senior Teacher based in the Netherlands who has spent over two decades studying and practising in both the East and West. Verena shares the story of how an unexpected weekend retreat changed the course of her life, leading her from Munich to a three-year retreat in Lerab Ling and years of study at the Rigpa Shedra in Nepal.

We explore what it means to be a Western woman teacher in a traditionally Eastern monastic environment, how to keep ancient texts like the Bodhicharyavatara relevant for modern audiences, and why questioning your teachers is essential on the Path. Verena also reflects on the surprising wisdom she found in a youth retreat on the Three Poisons, the subtle ways Western practitioners can misunderstand Buddhist concepts like diligence, and what it truly means to "practise Dharma."