Teachings, guided practices and conversations from Amrita Baba and the Open Heart sangha
An introduction to the Open Heart lineage, Amrita Baba's own path, the role of the guru, and how this living dharma applies to Western practitioners today.
Brief Introduction to Amrita Mandala by Amrita Baba
Baba introduces the Amrita Mandala sangha and announces recent enlightenment events among practitioners.
Open Heart
Interview with Baba on spiritual awakening and enlightenment — his method, his lineage, and the possibility of liberation for everyone.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 16 | Interview with Baba, founder of Amrita Mandala Sangha (Part 1 of 2)
Part 1 of a two-part interview — Baba traces his path through Zen, martial arts and calligraphy in Japan to his own realisation.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 17 | Interview with Baba, founder of Amrita Mandala Sangha (Part 2 of 2)
Part 2 — Baba discusses dharma and yoga as an actual path to mastery, arguing that no practitioner should see themselves as an exception.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
NeverMind Podcast: Ludovic Fontaine interviews Amrita Baba
Second interview on the NeverMind Podcast — Ludovic and Baba revisit Amrita Mandala four years on, exploring what has changed.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 13 | Guru, The Dispeller of Darkness by Baba and Simha | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Baba and Simha explore the role of the guru in tantric Buddhism — the guru as the one who dispels the darkness of ignorance.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Baba's Talk and Practice | The Present Corruption of Dharma | Absolute Bodhicitta | Dzogchen Mandala
Talk on the present corruption of dharma in the modern world, paired with practice on absolute bodhicitta and Dzogchen.
Open Heart
Causal Body — Rainbow Body Yoga — Vipashyana — 13 Bhumi Model
Main gurus: Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal
The Path of Wisdom and Clarity works with the causal body — the realm of emptiness, the nature of mind, and the thirteen bhumis. Through Rainbow Body Yoga and vipashyana, practitioners recognise and stabilise the nondual state, progressing through successive openings until the full cessation of the causal body and the complete realisation of emptiness of all phenomena.
Foundational teachings on the nature of mind, emptiness, and the recognition of buddha nature — the timeless, aware essence that is the starting point of all practice.
Emptiness and True Self | Lead Practice by Amrita Baba
Guided practice exploring the relationship between emptiness, true self, and bodhicitta. Core teaching on recognising one's pure nature.
Open Heart
Baba explains the full scope of nonduality — why partial awakenings are incomplete and what genuine nondual recognition requires.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Recognizing Buddhanature through Relaxation | Guided Practice | Lead by Amrita Baba
Guided practice using deep relaxation as the doorway to recognising Buddha nature. Introduces the concept of 'festival' over 'retreat'.
Open Heart
Ep. 2 | Nonduality & Buddhism | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Discussion of nonduality in the context of Buddhism, exploring how Buddhist teachings point to the nondual nature of mind.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 3 | Universal Awakening: The Mechanics of Seeing Through the Self | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Kim Katami and Carl discuss the mechanics of seeing through the illusion of self, drawing on Pemako Buddhist teachings.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
What is spiritual awakening, and how does it come about? These talks examine the mechanics of awakening, what genuine enlightenment means, and how it applies to ordinary Western life.
Ep. 1 | What is Awakening? | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Introductory episode asking the fundamental question: what is spiritual awakening, and how does it relate to everyday life?
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 18 | What Is Enlightenment? | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast | With Baba and Simha
Baba and Simha discuss enlightenment as a central question of dharmic practice — what it actually means and whether it is realisable.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Extract from an interview discussing the actual mechanics of awakening — a practical guide to what brings about genuine awakening.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 7 | Bodhicitta Demystified: Accessing the HeartMind of Enlightenment | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Kim Rinpoche, Lama Carl and Acharya Ugi discuss bodhicitta — the aspiration to achieve Buddhahood for the liberation of all beings.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Assurance of Becoming a Buddha | Lotus Sutra | Baba's Commentary
Baba reads and comments on a passage from the Lotus Sutra on the assurance every being has of eventually becoming a Buddha.
Open Heart
The ultimate fruition of the wisdom path: attainment of the lightbody or rainbow body. These teachings explore this goal across the Mahasiddha tradition, Taoism, and the internal arts of China and Japan.
Rainbow Body of the Mahasiddhas and Taoist Immortals | Talk by Amrita Baba
Baba discusses rainbow body — the dissolution of the physical body into light at death — in Mahasiddha and Taoist traditions.
Open Heart
Rainbow Body, Buddhahood and 5 Fully Enlightened Europeans | Talk by Amrita Baba
Baba talks about five students who have achieved full enlightenment, relating their attainment to the rainbow body teachings.
Open Heart
Body of Light Documentary: Amrita Baba (second interview)
Second interview for the Body of Light documentary, exploring Baba's system designed specifically for Westerners seeking this attainment.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Heart Sutra and Principles of Mahayana Buddhism | Baba's Commentary
Baba's commentary on the Heart Sutra and core Mahayana principles, taught within the context of guided practice.
Open Heart
Sambodhi is the complete fulfilment of the spiritual path: the cessation of all three bodies and the realisation of the Trikaya. These teachings and first-hand accounts explore what full enlightenment actually is, what it feels like from the inside, and what it means for ordinary Westerners living ordinary lives.
Sambodhi: Full Enlightenment, Trikaya, Three Bodies | Taught by Amrita Baba
Teaching on Sambodhi — complete enlightenment — and the Trikaya doctrine of the three bodies of a Buddha.
Open Heart
Full Enlightenment… Explained!
A clear explanation of full enlightenment, what it involves, and how it relates to Buddha nature and progressive stages of practice.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Spiritual and Psychological Perfection | Two Fully Enlightened Women Discuss Enlightenment
Kipa and Sangita, two fully enlightened women, discuss their experience of cessation of subtle bodies and what spiritual perfection means.
Open Heart
Ep. 21 | Enlightened Westerner Series | Interview with Amrita Baba
Baba discusses whether full enlightenment and the complete end of suffering is achievable by ordinary Westerners living modern lives.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 22 | Enlightened Westerner Series | Interview with Sangita
Interview with Sangita exploring her experience of enlightenment and the permanent cessation of suffering as a Western practitioner.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
First-hand interviews with fully enlightened practitioners from the Open Heart sangha. These conversations offer authentic, unfiltered accounts of what awakening looks and feels like in everyday Western life — in families, careers, and relationships.
Ep. 8 | Mahasiddha Interviews: Ugi | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ugi describes the moment when all sense of separation dissolved — no more dualistic relationship, no fogginess obscuring clarity.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 9 | Mahasiddha Interviews: Robert | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Robert describes his practice as feeling like life or death necessity, and the instant disappearance of craving upon awakening.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 11 | Mahasiddha Interviews: Shane | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Shane describes his experience of years of suppressed material suddenly releasing — and what lay on the other side of that.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 14 | Mahasiddha Interviews: Simha | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Simha explores the subtlest layers of self-making — how even very subtle fogginess in the aura perpetuates separation.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 15 | Mahasiddha Interviews: Silvia | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Silvia describes a deep joy arising from within the heart, without any external cause — the flavour of natural liberation.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Astral Body — Amrita Kriya Yoga — Meridian Healing — Trauma Integration
Main gurus: Babaji and Mataji
The Path of Healing and Light works with the astral body — the field of meridians where emotional wounds, trauma, and the five poisons are stored. Through Amrita Kriya Yoga, samatha, and compassion practices, these layers are healed and purified, ultimately leading to cessation of the astral body and the permanent end of emotional friction and suffering.
These teachings examine the energetic structure of trauma, why complete healing is possible through tantric practice, and what full psychological integration actually looks like.
Full Healing of Complex Trauma is Unbelievable
Baba discusses the energetic design of Hindu and Buddhist traditions and how full healing of complex trauma is possible — and why it seems unbelievable.
Open Heart
Ep. 20 | Full Healing of Trauma through Tantric Yoga
Explores whether complete healing of trauma — including complex modern trauma — is truly possible through tantric yoga methods.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
All Embracing Compassion Practice Session with Amrita Baba
Full guided practice session on all-embracing compassion, grounding in the body's pure nature of clarity, ease and settledness.
Open Heart
Tonglen Masterclass | Taking in the Fear of Traumatized Children | Taught by Amrita Baba
Masterclass on Tonglen practice — taking in suffering and sending out relief — applied to the fear of traumatised children.
Open Heart
Bodhicitta Festival | Practice Lead by Baba
Evening practice session from a retreat, working with bodhicitta — the heart-mind of enlightenment — as the core of practice.
Open Heart
Physical Body — Amrita Asanas — Immortality Exercises — Vitality
Main gurus: Bodhidharma
The Path of Health and Great Bliss works with the physical body through yogic movement, vitality practices, and Bodhidharma's Bone Marrow Washing — the Immortality Exercises. The body is understood not as an obstacle but as a vehicle for awakening, and embodied practice is an essential complement to sitting meditation and inner work.
Why embodied practice matters, how physical cultivation relates to awakening, and the relevance of internal arts traditions to the Open Heart path.
Relevance between Awakening and Embodied practices
Discussion of why embodied practice is essential — and why sitting practice alone cultivates the wrong ground for awakening.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Praying for Revitalization of Ancient Yogas Amrita Baba
Practice focused on the whole body smile and the natural joyfulness of basic nature, approached from two perspectives.
Open Heart
Ep. 12 | Lightbody and Internal Arts of China and Japan with Baba and Simha | Lion-Faced Guru
Baba and Simha discuss rainbow body and lightbody in relation to internal arts traditions of China and Japan.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Receiving the Grace of 10000 Buddhas
Post-session reflection on receiving the grace of countless mahasiddhas, emphasising the living transmission of the lineage.
Open Heart
May All Beings Attain the Body of Light | Rainbow Body Prayer
Short closing prayer from a retreat: 'May all beings attain the body of light.' A dedication of merit for all beings.
Open Heart
Conversations between Amrita Baba and accomplished teachers from other Buddhist and spiritual traditions. These dialogues explore shared wisdom, complementary insights, and the common ground across Zen, Vajrayana, and contemporary healing lineages.
Ep. 4 | Baba Interviews Lama Lyse | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Kim Katami interviews Lama Lyse — a longtime dharma teacher and mentor — about her path and teachings.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 5 | Baba interviews Lama John Hoag - Part 1 | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Part 1 of Baba's interview with Lama John Hoag — covering his experience of Japanese Zen and his path into Vajrayana Buddhism.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 6 | Baba interviews Lama John Hoag - Part 2 | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Part 2 — the interview goes deeper into Lama John's inner experience and the subtleties of Vajrayana practice.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Ep. 19 | Revitalized Zen with Baba | Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Baba introduces his Revitalized Zen project — what needs revitalising in Zen and what a living transmission of it could look like.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Healer's Council Podcast: Peter Fairfield interviews Amrita Baba
Peter Fairfield interviews Baba for the Healer's Council Podcast, exploring healing, dharma and the integration of trauma and awakening.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
Healers Council Podcast, Part 2: Peter Fairfield interviews Amrita Baba
Continuation of the Healer's Council interview — deepening the conversation on healing, Baba's methods, and Western practitioners.
Lion-Faced Guru Podcast
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