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Artwork for The Double Dorje: Modern Vajrayana Buddhism.
Religion & Spirituality

The Double Dorje: Modern Vajrayana Buddhism.

Alex Wilding

Season 2 of the Double Dorje podcast had its short "goodby"episode in November 2025.

The future is still undecided!

Tips. Travellers’ tales. Perspective. Gossip. Experience. Stories. Wonder.
Putting a bit of flesh on the bones of Vajrayana (Tibetan style) Buddhist practice in today’s society.

Are you curious about Tibetan Buddhism? But how, and where, and when, and all that? Is the water safe? Or have you taken the plunge, but want to plug into it better? Come - let’s enjoy a bowl of dharma momos in the Double Dorje. Chilli with yours?

Special emphasis on Nyingma, Kagyu and on non-monastic practice.

As well as the links below, you can also find it on YouTube.

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  • 20 episodes
  • Updated April 19

Episodes20

Newest first
  • April 19 · 13 min

    SXE04 Guru devotion and scandals

    There have been a depressing number of scandals in major Tibetan Buddhist organizations, particularly (though not only) in the West. It clearly has systemic roots - can the disease be identified? PS. How unprofessional! I uploaded the sound file without the delightful music. This is now the correct one.

  • February 21 · 2 min

    Tsopema Nuns

    The podcast will have to take a back seat for some months as I work on a project aimed at publishing biographies of a few of the nuns, and the sometimes heroic journeys they undertook to arrive at the caves above Tsopema (Rewalsar) to live and practise. A Tsopema Nuns blog gives a few details. It should help to find missing pieces in the jigsaw of names and places.

  • January 31 · 9 min

    Buddhist retreat - but why?

    "To get enlightened" is such a watery explanation. Mindfulness largely misses the point. This was a retreat about a specific deity. Whatever that is! #Tibetan #Buddhism #Vajrayana #Retreat

  • January 3 · 11 min

    Vajrayana is like Mormonism???

    Really intended as a brief video on YouTube. Is the Vajrayana "just" a clever technique within conventional Mahayana, or is it really something different.

  • Nov 19, 2025 · 3 min

    Tarra for now!

    Goodbye to Series 2 - and what of the future?

  • Nov 5, 2025 · 48 min

    Buddhism - A Starter Kit!

    You've been looking at Tibetan Buddhism? You want to start? But you still don't know how? This might help.

  • Oct 22, 2025 · 23 min

    Actual Magic - And Dirt!

    Like it or not, magic is interwoven with Tibetan Buddhism. Is it symbolic? Or is it real?

  • Oct 8, 2025 · 17 min

    Devotion - how and why?

    Devotion (mögü) - another Tibetan word that doesn't quite correspond to its English usage.

  • Sep 10, 2025 · 27 min

    Mind Your Language!

    Should we read our texts in Tibetan? In English? Using phonetics? Does it make any sense to read phonetics without understanding the Tibetan? Questions, questions...

  • Aug 27, 2025 · 20 min

    Buddhist confession

    Confession is a big thing in Buddhist practice. But there is no priest to forgive your sins on God's behalf. It is more nuanced than that.

  • Aug 13, 2025 · 20 min

    Majnu Ka Tilla

    Shop like a Buddhist! Majnu Ka Tilla is the wellspring of Buddhist art for the Tibetan world.

  • Jul 30, 2025 · 24 min

    Horror and Disgust

    Horror, violence and disgusting soup in Tibetan-style Buddhism. Why don't they get as much attention as sex? Why is it obvious that these things are not for performance "as written", but some people assume that the sexual aspects are? Something to think about! #Buddhism #Tibet #Vajrayana #Horror

  • Jul 16, 2025 · 18 min

    OM AH HUM - in detail!

    If you do Vajrayana, you will say these syllables again and again. And again. What do they look like? What do they mean? Why does it matter?

  • Jul 2, 2025 · 18 min

    The Wearing of the Zentra.

    Dos, don'ts, and who cares (some do) about wearing the red-and-white striped "Ngagpa shawl".

  • Mar 12, 2025 · 17 min

    Wayback in the 1960s

    Final episode of Season One! Groping towards the dharma in the midlands of England in the 1960s. Bookworm paradise: Birmingham Central Library as it was then: Words or phrases you might want to look up (in no particular order, and some best forgotten!): Man, Myth and Magic (magazine) Gurdjieff PD Ouspensky Paul Brunton Anagarika Govinda Edward Conze Alexandra David-Neel Evans-Wentz Christmas Humphreys Marco Pallis Waddel’s “Lamaism: Buddhism of Tibet” Lobsang Rampa H P Blavatsky #Buddhism #Vajrayana #DoubleDorje #Dzogchen #Nyingma

  • Mar 5, 2025 · 23 min

    Paraphernalia - Bits and Bobs

    Note: the next episode, no 44, will be the last of Season 1. Season 2 is in the works! Buddhism is all about simplicity, isn’t it? Well, no, at least not when it comes to Tibetan style Buddhism. The very essence may be simple, but typical practice makes use of an enormous amount of kit - malas, dorjes, bells, hand-drums large and small, trumpets, vases, conch shells... As beginners, we may well be tempted to start collecting some of those magical bits and pieces, but if we’re not careful we end up with a lot of clutter on our table, and little idea of what to do with it. Is any of this necessary, and how much of it is even useful? Mala with counters, dorje and bell And more: Words or phrases you might want to look up: Mala Mala counter strings and clips Mandala plate with/without rings Dorje and bell Damaru Kangling #Buddhism #Vajrayana #DoubleDorje #Dzogchen #Nyingma #Dorje

  • Feb 26, 2025 · 18 min

    Termas and Tertons - Treasures from Out There!

    Termas and tertons – spiritual treasures and their finders – are an inescapable feature of some branches of Tibetan Buddhism. Come along for the magical ride! A phurbu A ngagpa, undoubtedly a practitioner of termas. Note the phurbu tucked into his belt. Words or phrases you might want to look up: Terma Terton Nyingma Dudjom Jamyang Khyentse Jamgon Kongtrul The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, its Fundamentals and History by Dudjom Rinpoche Hidden Teachings of Tibet by Tulku Thondup Rinpoche The Life and Teaching of Chokgyur Lingpa #Buddhism #Vajrayana #DoubleDorje #Dzogchen #Nyingma #Terma #Terton #Dudjom