Welcome to Season 2 of AWAKEN—a Webby Honoree podcast about the dynamic path to enlightenment and what it means to “wake up.” In this new season hosted by singer and songwriter Raveena Aurora, Buddhist teachers, writers, artists, activists, and others use a Tibetan Buddhist mandala as a guide and share how they wrestle and learn from  five challenging emotions—anger, pride, attachment, envy, and ignorance.

What is a mandala? Like many Tibetan Buddhist artworks, a mandala is a visual catalyst that can lead to awakening. In our first episode, we introduce the mandala, come to understand what it represents, and experience how it may be used as a guide for exploring ourselves, each other and the world. 

Guests featured in this episode include psychologist and neuroscientist Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist Mark Epstein, Zen priest and author Ruth Ozeki, author and Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard, Buddhist teacher and scholar Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Buddhist teacher and author Sharon Salzberg, and student Nora Wood.

To read a transcript, learn more about the Mandala Lab, donate, and more: https://rubinmuseum.org/mediacenter/entering-the-mandala-awaken-podcast