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The Empty Cup

Tsering Paldron

An empty cup is not blankness; it’s availability. It is the willingness to look more closely at our assumptions, to meet life in a relaxed manner with an open heart. Open to accepting the present moment as it is. If your mind is full—full of opinions, expectations, habitual thinking—, this podcast invites you to sit back, relax and be emptied.

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12 episodes
fortnightly
Avg 14 min
English

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Episodes 12

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#12
Tuesday · 20 min
Give happiness a chance
Unhappiness can become a habit. Not because life is always difficult, but because the mind can become so accustomed to noticing what is wrong that, eventually, it keeps finding reasons to suffer even when circumstances have changed. In this episode of The Empty Cup, we explore how habits of perception shape our experience — and how, without denying pain or pretending everything is wonderful, we can gently begin to notice what else is true. Sometimes happiness is already there. We just have to give it a chance. ★ Support this podcast ★
#11
August 11 · 17 min
The extraordinary ordinariness of things
We spend so much of our lives waiting for something extraordinary to happen—for love, awakening, purpose, or simply the feeling that this is it. Meanwhile, life keeps arriving in remarkably ordinary forms: a conversation, a difficult moment, light through a window, a cup, a spoon. What if the extraordinary isn't somewhere else? What if we simply keep overlooking it because it doesn't look the way we imagined? In this episode of The Empty Cup, we explore what happens when we stop asking reality to be different—and begin to notice the quiet wonder of what is already here. ★ Support this podcast ★
#10
July 28 · 16 min
Everything Changes...
Everything changes. Our bodies. Our relationships. Our thoughts. Our emotions. Every moment is born, unfolds, and disappears. And yet… Is there something that never changes? In this episode of The Empty Cup, we explore one of the great paradoxes of the Buddhist tradition: how impermanence and timelessness are not opposites, but two inseparable aspects of reality. A reflection on uncertainty, meditation, the confidence of the View, and the quiet fearlessness that gradually emerges when we discover that, although everything is constantly changing, what is most fundamental has never been threatened by change. Because perhaps true confidence does not come from making life more predictable. It comes from discovering that everything changes… and yet, nothing changes. ★ Support this podcast ★
#9
July 14 · 12 min
Nothing to Defend
What does it really mean to be humble? Many of us confuse humility with low self-esteem, making ourselves smaller, or putting everyone else first. But perhaps true humility is something entirely different. In this episode of The Empty Cup, we explore the gradual release of the one who says "my body," "my thoughts," "my life"—the subtle sense of being the owner of our existence. As that contraction begins to soften, our relationship with ourselves and with others changes. We no longer need to prove, compare, rescue, or be rescued. We simply become more available to life. A reflection on humility, the illusion of ownership, the wave and the ocean, and the quiet freedom that appears when we stop placing ourselves at the centre of everything. Because perhaps humility is not becoming less. It is remembering that we were never separate. ★ Support this podcast ★
#8
June 30 · 14 min
When The Question Disappears
For much of our lives, we feel that life is happening to us. We struggle against what we don't want, chase what we think we need, and search for meaning in everything that happens. But what if our understanding matures over time? In this episode of The Empty Cup, we explore the quiet transformation that can take place as our perspective deepens: from blame to compassion, from compassion to gratitude, and from gratitude to something even more unexpected—the discovery that life may never have been against us, or in our favour. It has simply been unfolding. A reflection on suffering, forgiveness, the search for meaning, and the profound simplicity that appears when we stop asking life to justify itself and begin to inhabit its mystery. Perhaps awakening is not about finding all the answers. Perhaps it is about discovering that reality has always been quietly, innocently, exactly as it is. ★ Support this podcast ★
#7
June 16 · 15 min
Spiritual Friends
What makes a spiritual friendship different from an ordinary friendship? In this episode of The Empty Cup, we explore the rare and precious companions who walk beside us on the path. The ones who encourage our growth rather than our stories, who help us see our blind spots without judgment, who remind us not to lose heart, and who can make us laugh when we take ourselves too seriously. A reflection on trust, honesty, kindness, humour, and the mysterious way some people enter our lives exactly when they are needed. Because sometimes, the greatest gift a spiritual friend can offer is simply to help us remember what truly matters. ★ Support this podcast ★
#6
June 2 · 13 min
Gratitude for the Wisdom
What is devotion? Blind faith, admiration, emotional dependence... or something else entirely? In this episode of The Empty Cup, we explore devotion as "gratitude for Wisdom" and reflect on how to relate to teachers with both openness and discernment. How can we recognise the Wisdom that shines through someone without idealising the person? And what happens when teachers reveal their humanity—or fail to live up to our expectations? A reflection on trust, perception, gratitude, and the delicate art of keeping the heart open without losing clarity. ★ Support this podcast ★
#5
May 19 · 10 min
The Heart of Sadness
There is a kind of sadness that is not only about loss. When what we rely on falls away, something older is revealed—an underlying openness we usually try to cover. When we dare to face it, we develop the courage to remain open. Even when nothing is resolved. Even when nothing is promised. Even when life does not give us what we hoped for. This episode explores what happens when we do not rush to fill that space, and how the ache, when met directly, can soften into a quiet tenderness. ★ Support this podcast ★
#4
May 4 · 11 min
The eyelash in the eye
For some, the unease of being is barely noticeable. For others, it is immediate and intimate. This episode explores that quiet, persistent ache—and what becomes possible when we stop trying to cover it, and begin to look more closely. ★ Support this podcast ★
#3
April 21 · 13 min
Detachment
Detachment is often misunderstood. It is not avoidance. Not indifference. Not a way of withdrawing after being hurt. It is not an excuse to escape commitment or responsibility. Detachment is closer to sovereignty. It arises naturally when we begin to live from within, rather than from the sense of being separate and incomplete. ★ Support this podcast ★
#2
April 7 · 12 min
Letting Go
We often think letting go is something we must do—an effort, a decision, a release. But what if letting go is not an action at all? This episode explores a quieter possibility: that letting go happens when we stop trying to hold what was never ours to begin with. ★ Support this podcast ★
#1
March 22 · 14 min
This is it
We live leaning forward — toward the next achievement, the next recognition, the next love. Even spiritual life can become another version of that leaning. We hope to become wiser, freer, more awakened. And in that hope, we keep contentment always postponed. Waiting is a subtle addiction. At best, something we hoped for happens, and we feel briefly soothed. Then the habit returns. The search resumes. “This is it”, interrupts the momentum. It is not a grand realisation. Just a return. A reminder to inhabit the moment. Again and again. ★ Support this podcast ★

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