The Kind Heartfulness Podcast

Lama Gerry Prindiville is a teacher in the Chokling Tersar tradition of Tibetan Buddhism with nearly two decades of experience leading retreats. He studied Buddhist philosophy and Tibetan language for five years at Rangjung Yeshe Institute before completing two traditional three-year meditation retreats under the guidance of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche.

At Rinpoche's request, much of his time since the first long retreat has been spent teaching — including more than fifteen Vajrasattva retreats across the United States and Mexico. His approach is grounded and experiential, less concerned with the exotic than with how practice meets an ordinary day. He's also a longtime backpacker with over two thousand miles on the trail, and that connection to the natural world runs through the way he teaches.

In this conversation we get into war stories from long retreat, the practical work of learning to be with our own minds, and Gerry's conviction that retreat isn't reserved for people who can disappear for years — that anyone can learn to make one, even if it's only for a weekend.

What happens when a text written a thousand years ago starts to change how you speak to a colleague, or how you meet your own mind at three in the morning?

This episode we're joined by Verena Pfeiffer, a senior teacher in the Rigpa community, to talk about Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara — why a text like this still speaks to us, and how to actually work with it in the middle of an ordinary day: at work, in traffic, in the small frictions of family life.

Verena's path began in 2005 and deepened quickly. She took part in the seven-month teaching periods of Rigpa's three-year retreat from 2006 to 2009, and has studied since 2007 at Rigpa Shedra East in Pharping, Nepal, under Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche. Today she teaches at the Shedra, guiding students through the Bodhicharyavatara itself, and leads retreats internationally — including a much-loved annual weekend at Dzogchen Beara in Ireland, where she's known for the calm, spacious atmosphere she creates for contemplation. She has a particular love for exploring the dharma with younger practitioners, and for putting these teachings into language that's genuinely usable on an ordinary Tuesday.
Originally from Germany, Verena now lives in the Netherlands with her partner and their much-adored dog.

How can ancient wisdom be lived in the middle of family, creative work, and the chaos of modern life?

​In this episode of The Kindheartfulness Podcast, we sit down with Juri Henley-Cohn, an actor working across film, television, and theater. While many recognize him as Shimon in The Chosen, Juri is also a father, a dedicated student of Phakchok Rinpoche, and a key member of the Samye Institute.

​Together, we explore his unique journey of "Breaking the Script." Juri shares how his work as an actor—stepping into the lives and minds of others—reinforces his Buddhist practice, and vice versa. We discuss the art of "living the Dharma" not just in a monastery, but in the middle of a busy career and the responsibilities of fatherhood.

​Highlights of the conversation include:
• ​The Interplay of Performance and Presence: How the vulnerability of the stage mirrors the path of awakening.
• ​Ordinary Modern Life: Juri's particular interest in bringing spiritual principles into daily family and work dynamics.
• ​Beyond the Persona: How Juri uses his acting background to deepen his spiritual practice and vice versa.

​Whether you are an artist, a parent, or simply looking for ways to stay grounded in a fast-paced world, Juri's perspective offers a beautiful blend of depth and practicality.

For more information about Juri:

https://www.JuriHenley-Cohn.com

or on IMDB https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1687772/

And his app Savor: https://www.savorapp.ai

What actually happens in the "micro-moments" of your meditation? We often use broad terms like awareness or presence, but the fine-grained texture of our practice often remains a mystery—even to ourselves.
In this special episode of Kind Heartfulness, we are joined by Dr. Martijn van Beek, Associate Professor at Aarhus University and Board Member of Mind & Life Europe. Martijn is an expert in micro-phenomenology—a unique interview technique designed to uncover the hidden dynamics of our subjective experience.
In this episode, we try something a bit different:
• The Practice: Erric settles into a short meditation session to create a fresh "lived experience." (We edit out the 15 minutes of silence)
• The Interview: Martijn leads him through a live micro-phenomenological interview, demonstrating how to peel back the layers of a single meditative moment.
• The Theory: We discuss how this technique bridges the gap between ancient contemplative wisdom and modern science.
Whether you are a seasoned practitioner or just curious about the workings of the mind, this episode offers a rare, "under-the-hood" look at how we experience our own consciousness.

Martijn van Beek is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Aarhus University, Denmark. Having previously spent many years working and conducting research in Ladakh and elsewhere in the Himalayan region, his current research explores contemporary forms of contemplative life and the encounter between contemplative traditions, especially Tibetan Buddhism, consciousness research, and modernity. Martijn specializes in ethnographic and (micro-) phenomenological perspectives on meditation. He lives at Vækstcenteret, a contemplative community in Denmark.

For more info on micro-phenomenology: https://microphenomenology.com
Martijn van Beek: https://www.au.dk/en/mvanbeek@cas.au.dk
Mind & Life Europe: https://mindandlife-europe.org/

What happens when we stop seeing the mind as a computer and start seeing it as an emergent, relational system? In this episode, Erric sits down with Amy Cohen Varela, Chairperson of Mind & Life Europe, to discuss the past, present, and future of contemplative science.

Recorded following their meeting at the European Summer Research Institute (ESRI) at Gomde, this episode moves beyond the "history" of the Mind & Life Institute to explore what these teachings mean for us today. Amy shares her unique perspective on:

• The Origin Story: Witnessing the first meeting in Dharamsala between Francisco Varela and the Dalai Lama.
• Enactivism Today: Why the "mind-as-computer" metaphor fails and how consciousness truly emerges.
• The Science of Kindness: How "Ethical Know-How" turns abstract philosophy into a lived, compassionate presence in the world.

Join us for an Amy-centric look at the intersection of deep science and the kind heart.

Amy Cohen Varela is Chairperson of the Mind & Life Europe Board and involved with Mind and Life since its inception. She is also a clinical psychologist specialized in psychodynamic therapy and philosophy. Amy studied comparative literature at Brown and Columbia Universities before moving to Paris in the early '80s, where she received her degree in clinical psychology at the University of Paris 7, with a specialty in psychodynamic theory and practice, and in parallel, completed psychoanalytic training.
Click https://mindandlife-europe.org/european-summer-research-institute-esri/ for information about the next ESRI at Gomde in Austria
You can find more about Mind & Life Europe at: https://mindandlife-europe.org/