Ken McLeod
Encyclopedia
Ken McLeod is a senior Western translator, author and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism
. He received traditional training mainly in the Shangpa-Kagyu
lineage, through a long association with his principal teacher Kalu Rinpoche
, whom he met in 1970. McLeod resides in Los Angeles, CA where he founded Unfettered Mind. He conducts classes, workshops, meditation retreats, individual practice consultations, and teacher training, in America and Canada. He teaches traditional material but is recognized for having developed an innovative, “pragmatic” approach to the practice of Buddhism that integrates the traditional and modern and emphasizes direct experience.
Under Kalu Rinpoche
’s guidance McLeod learned the Tibetan language
and completed two, traditional three-year retreats (1976-83). In the years that followed, he traveled and worked with Kalu Rinpoche on various projects and became a prominent translator of Buddhist texts. This includes a landmark translation of The Great Path of Awakening by Jamgon Kongtrul
, a key text in the teaching of Lojong
(the Seven Points of Mind Training).
In 1985 he settled in Los Angeles to run Kalu Rinpoche’s dharma center. He did so until 1990, when he founded his own organization, Unfettered Mind. He teaches strictly traditional material but is recognized (1) for having pioneered a new teacher-student model, based upon ongoing, one-on-one consultations and upon small teaching groups that have a high degree of teacher-student interaction; and (2) for his “pragmatic” approach to teaching, translation and practice.
The intent of “pragmatic Buddhism” is to preserve the essence of the teachings, unchanged, but to make them more directly accessible to the Westerner. It does so by bypassing the Eastern, cultural overlay and using simple, clear language and methods that elicit direct experience in the practitioner. Also, it emphasizes an individualized practice path – with a key element being ongoing practice consults that allow the teacher to shape a path that’s tailored to each practitioner’s specific needs and makeup. (see IDEAS, below) McLeod has made this model available for others to use via the Unfettered Mind website, his teacher development program, and his publications – especially Wake Up To Your Life, which lays out the Buddhist path & practices. His non-traditional commentary on the Heart Sutra
, An Arrow to the Heart, presents a way in to the material that’s poetic and experiential.
. He holds an M.Sc. in Mathematics
from University of British Columbia
. In 1970 he met Ven. Kalu Rinpoche at his monastery outside Darjeeling, India
and began studying Tibetan Buddhism. Kalu Rinpoche became his principal teacher and thus began a long association between the two. Other significant teachers included: Dezhung Rinpoche
, Thrangu Rinpoche
, Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche, Karmapa XVI, and Kilung Rinpoche.
In the 1970s and 80’s, McLeod received training, plus travelled, translated, and worked on Kalu Rinpoche’s many projects. He was the translator for Kalu Rinpoche’s first two tours of the West (1972 and 1974-5). Also, he translated texts: Writings of Kalu Rinpoche; A Continuous Rain to Benefit Beings; and The Great Path of Awakening
by Jamgon Kongtrul
, which he published as "The Direct Path to Enlightenment." In 1974, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche offered his own translation of the basic slogans therein, and criticized McLeod's translation of the title — although he liked the translation generally. McLeod publicly accepted the criticism and Shambhala Publications
published it in 1987 as The Great Path of Awakening. Trungpa, Rinpoche's own book on the slogans included McLeod's translations for comparison. In 1976, he joined Kalu Rinpoche in Central France to help establish and then participate in the first 3-year retreat for Westerners (Kagyu Ling). This was the first of two three-year retreats (1976–83). His fellow retreatants included others who also went on to become senior Western teachers and translators, Sarah Harding, Ingrid McLeod, Richard Barron
, Anthony Chapman, Denis Eysseric, and Hugh Thompson. In 1985, at Rinpoche’s request, McLeod translated and published The Chariot for Traveling the Path to Freedom: the Life Story of Kalu Rinpoche. Also in that year, Kalu Rinpoche authorized him to teach, and asked him to be the resident teacher at his Dharma center Kagyu Donga Chuling (KDC) in Los Angeles
. McLeod was an interpreter for several other Kagyu teachers, most notably for Jamgon Kontrul III (of Pepung) at the 1992 Kalachakra Empowerment in Toronto.
After several years at KDC, McLeod saw that the traditional, religious center approach wasn’t meeting his students’ needs. So he began evolving a new, non-traditional model based upon regular, one-on-one practice consultations; small, highly interactive teaching groups & meditation retreats; the notion of the individual practice path; an informal student-teacher relationship; and a “pragmatic” way to present material. These key elements would become the core of his teaching.
In 1990, he left KDC to set up a non-profit organization
, Unfettered Mind, as a vehicle for this approach. At the time, the notion of a Buddhist teacher establishing a private practice went against accepted convention. It caused much controversy in 1996 when he presented the idea to the Buddhist Teachers Conference but has since been adopted by many teachers. During the 90’s, McLeod established a corporate consulting business, organized three conferences on Buddhism and Psychotherapy
, and developed the curriculum that eventually became his book Wake Up To Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention (2001).
After 15 years, he realized that this model couldn’t accommodate the ways in which Unfettered Mind was growing and evolving. His practice as a business consultant gave him an understanding of how the flaws that characterize organizations and institutions could also be found in Unfettered Mind and most other Buddhist organizations. So in 2005, he went on sabbatical; in 2006, he re-invented Unfettered Mind. In an effort to avoid the structure & hierarchy of most Buddhist institutions, UM is now modeled as a network. In addition to the usual, teacher-driven activities (classes, workshops, retreats), UM is developing a wide range of web-based resources from which a practitioner – local or non-local – can find information, guidance and teachings that meet their own individual needs and enable them to shape their own, specific path, outside of the established, institutional framework.
Two principles underlie his work:
“Living Awake” is the ability to practice attention in every aspect of one’s life:
Buddhism is fundamentally a set of methods to wake us up from the sleep in which we dream that we are separate from what we experience. “Everything that [we] experience is original mind; there is nothing else. ...Rest in original mind, not separate from the experience that is your life... Cultivate attention in everything you do, and, until your last breath, live in the mystery of being.” Unfettered Mind is structured to support this intention – as an individual on the cushion and in daily life, and in all elements of the UM network, from administration to practice and study.
Cultural Overlay
As Buddhism penetrates the West, there are difficulties in trying to transfer the institutions, language and terminology of a medieval, agrarian, Asian society to the post-modern, industrial, multi-cultural society of the West – with its own overlay of individualism, lack of hierarchy, and psychological preoccupations. The Western teacher must bypass the cultural overlay, go to the heart of the teachings and find simple, transparent language and methods to elicit direct understanding in the student.
Translation must be transparent.
“Ken McLeod is well-known as a translator of texts, practices, rituals, and structures into forms suitable for this culture.” The Tibetan language has terms that were specifically invented to transmit Buddhism. Because of this, it embodies understanding and it speaks to experience. However, a straight across, literal translation to English loses this resonance and instead becomes formal and conceptual – and intellectual ideas don't have the power to penetrate to the part of ourselves that truly knows. In translation, teaching and writing, one must use simple, direct English that’s natural and non-academic; use intuitive, emotional language and accessible terms; translate for the person who’s going to practice, not for the linguist or academic; and use everyday language that the practitioner can relate to from their own experience.
A contemporary, Western model for Buddhist teaching and practice must integrate the traditional and the modern.
McLeod’s traditional training immersed him in Tibetan language, texts, ritual, and technique. He realized that some practice obstacles arose because, in the context of contemporary American life, Tibetan Buddhist methods can’t easily be practiced in the classical manner. So he set about reexamining everything he’d learned and practiced. As a result, Unfettered Mind is faithful to the dharma but steps beyond convention, is non-institutional, and emphasizes an individualistic approach to practice. “My aim is for Unfettered Mind to provide a rich reservoir of resources so that each of us can find our way without sacrificing faith to a set of beliefs, individual questions to institutional answers, and a practice path to a set system of meditations.”
Practice is individual-centered, not tradition-centered.
The practitioner doesn’t follow a set system, but instead shapes their own unique path of practice and development that may lie outside the curricula in established institutions. As the Buddha said, you have to work things out for yourself.
The teacher-student relationship is informal and one-on-one.
Students relate to the teacher as a person. The teacher’s function is to point the student to their own knowing, not to set himself up as special. As a meditation consultant, the teacher offers guidance, support and instruction specific to the student’s unique experience.
The UM retreat format integrates traditional and modern.
Traditional teachings and meditation instruction are presented in Western language and framework. Innovations include daily individual interviews and practical application exercises that move the practitioner into their own experience.
Unfettered Mind is envisioned as a network for the development and distribution of resources for spiritual awakening.
He has written, “We feel that most people, when provided with the right training and guidance, will naturally seek to create environments in which they can transform conceptual understanding of spiritual teaching into experiential knowing, and thus resolve their deepest questions about how to make freedom, compassion and awareness alive and active in their lives.”
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
. He received traditional training mainly in the Shangpa-Kagyu
Kagyu
The Kagyu, Kagyupa, or Kagyud school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whispered Transmission school, is today regarded as one of six main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism, the other five being the Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Bon and Gelug...
lineage, through a long association with his principal teacher Kalu Rinpoche
Kalu Rinpoche
Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar and teacher. He was one of the first Tibetan masters to teach in the West.-Early life and teachers:...
, whom he met in 1970. McLeod resides in Los Angeles, CA where he founded Unfettered Mind. He conducts classes, workshops, meditation retreats, individual practice consultations, and teacher training, in America and Canada. He teaches traditional material but is recognized for having developed an innovative, “pragmatic” approach to the practice of Buddhism that integrates the traditional and modern and emphasizes direct experience.
Under Kalu Rinpoche
Kalu Rinpoche
Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar and teacher. He was one of the first Tibetan masters to teach in the West.-Early life and teachers:...
’s guidance McLeod learned the Tibetan language
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
and completed two, traditional three-year retreats (1976-83). In the years that followed, he traveled and worked with Kalu Rinpoche on various projects and became a prominent translator of Buddhist texts. This includes a landmark translation of The Great Path of Awakening by Jamgon Kongtrul
Jamgon Kongtrul
Jamgön Kongtrül is a name of a prominent line of Tibetan Buddhist teachers , primarily identified with the first Jamgon Kongtrul, but also the name shared by members of a lineage held by tradition to be his subsequent reincarnations , to date....
, a key text in the teaching of Lojong
Lojong
Lojong is a mind training practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition based on a set of aphorisms formulated in Tibet in the 12th century by Geshe Chekhawa...
(the Seven Points of Mind Training).
In 1985 he settled in Los Angeles to run Kalu Rinpoche’s dharma center. He did so until 1990, when he founded his own organization, Unfettered Mind. He teaches strictly traditional material but is recognized (1) for having pioneered a new teacher-student model, based upon ongoing, one-on-one consultations and upon small teaching groups that have a high degree of teacher-student interaction; and (2) for his “pragmatic” approach to teaching, translation and practice.
The intent of “pragmatic Buddhism” is to preserve the essence of the teachings, unchanged, but to make them more directly accessible to the Westerner. It does so by bypassing the Eastern, cultural overlay and using simple, clear language and methods that elicit direct experience in the practitioner. Also, it emphasizes an individualized practice path – with a key element being ongoing practice consults that allow the teacher to shape a path that’s tailored to each practitioner’s specific needs and makeup. (see IDEAS, below) McLeod has made this model available for others to use via the Unfettered Mind website, his teacher development program, and his publications – especially Wake Up To Your Life, which lays out the Buddhist path & practices. His non-traditional commentary on the Heart Sutra
Heart Sutra
The Heart Sūtra is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. Its Sanskrit name literally translates to "Heart of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom." The Heart Sūtra is often cited as the best known and most popular of all Buddhist scriptures.-Introduction:The Heart Sūtra is a member of the Perfection of...
, An Arrow to the Heart, presents a way in to the material that’s poetic and experiential.
Career
Ken McLeod was born in Yorkshire, England (1948) and raised in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He holds an M.Sc. in Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
from University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
. In 1970 he met Ven. Kalu Rinpoche at his monastery outside Darjeeling, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and began studying Tibetan Buddhism. Kalu Rinpoche became his principal teacher and thus began a long association between the two. Other significant teachers included: Dezhung Rinpoche
Dezhung Rinpoche
Dezhung Rinpoche, born Ngawang Zangpo, was a Tibetan lama of the Sakya school, one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . In 1960 he came to the Seattle, Washington in the United States of America, one of the first Tibetan Lamas to settle and teach in the United States.-External links:*...
, Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu Rinpoche
Thrangu Rinpoche was born in 1933 in Kham, Tibet. He is a prominent tulku in the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, the ninth reincarnation in his particular line. His full name and title is the Very Venerable Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Tulku, Karma Lodrö Lungrik Mahamadarchod Maway Senge...
, Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche, Karmapa XVI, and Kilung Rinpoche.
In the 1970s and 80’s, McLeod received training, plus travelled, translated, and worked on Kalu Rinpoche’s many projects. He was the translator for Kalu Rinpoche’s first two tours of the West (1972 and 1974-5). Also, he translated texts: Writings of Kalu Rinpoche; A Continuous Rain to Benefit Beings; and The Great Path of Awakening
Lojong
Lojong is a mind training practice in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition based on a set of aphorisms formulated in Tibet in the 12th century by Geshe Chekhawa...
by Jamgon Kongtrul
Jamgon Kongtrul
Jamgön Kongtrül is a name of a prominent line of Tibetan Buddhist teachers , primarily identified with the first Jamgon Kongtrul, but also the name shared by members of a lineage held by tradition to be his subsequent reincarnations , to date....
, which he published as "The Direct Path to Enlightenment." In 1974, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche offered his own translation of the basic slogans therein, and criticized McLeod's translation of the title — although he liked the translation generally. McLeod publicly accepted the criticism and Shambhala Publications
Shambhala Publications
Shambhala Publications is an independent publishing company based in Boston, Massachusetts. According to the company, it specializes in "books that present creative and conscious ways of transforming the individual, the society, and the planet". Many of its books deal with Buddhism or related topics...
published it in 1987 as The Great Path of Awakening. Trungpa, Rinpoche's own book on the slogans included McLeod's translations for comparison. In 1976, he joined Kalu Rinpoche in Central France to help establish and then participate in the first 3-year retreat for Westerners (Kagyu Ling). This was the first of two three-year retreats (1976–83). His fellow retreatants included others who also went on to become senior Western teachers and translators, Sarah Harding, Ingrid McLeod, Richard Barron
Richard Barron
Richard Barron is a Canadian-born translator who specializes in the writings of Longchenpa. He has served as an interpreter for many lamas from all from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including his first teacher, Kalu Rinpoche...
, Anthony Chapman, Denis Eysseric, and Hugh Thompson. In 1985, at Rinpoche’s request, McLeod translated and published The Chariot for Traveling the Path to Freedom: the Life Story of Kalu Rinpoche. Also in that year, Kalu Rinpoche authorized him to teach, and asked him to be the resident teacher at his Dharma center Kagyu Donga Chuling (KDC) in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. McLeod was an interpreter for several other Kagyu teachers, most notably for Jamgon Kontrul III (of Pepung) at the 1992 Kalachakra Empowerment in Toronto.
After several years at KDC, McLeod saw that the traditional, religious center approach wasn’t meeting his students’ needs. So he began evolving a new, non-traditional model based upon regular, one-on-one practice consultations; small, highly interactive teaching groups & meditation retreats; the notion of the individual practice path; an informal student-teacher relationship; and a “pragmatic” way to present material. These key elements would become the core of his teaching.
In 1990, he left KDC to set up a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, Unfettered Mind, as a vehicle for this approach. At the time, the notion of a Buddhist teacher establishing a private practice went against accepted convention. It caused much controversy in 1996 when he presented the idea to the Buddhist Teachers Conference but has since been adopted by many teachers. During the 90’s, McLeod established a corporate consulting business, organized three conferences on Buddhism and Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
, and developed the curriculum that eventually became his book Wake Up To Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention (2001).
After 15 years, he realized that this model couldn’t accommodate the ways in which Unfettered Mind was growing and evolving. His practice as a business consultant gave him an understanding of how the flaws that characterize organizations and institutions could also be found in Unfettered Mind and most other Buddhist organizations. So in 2005, he went on sabbatical; in 2006, he re-invented Unfettered Mind. In an effort to avoid the structure & hierarchy of most Buddhist institutions, UM is now modeled as a network. In addition to the usual, teacher-driven activities (classes, workshops, retreats), UM is developing a wide range of web-based resources from which a practitioner – local or non-local – can find information, guidance and teachings that meet their own individual needs and enable them to shape their own, specific path, outside of the established, institutional framework.
Ideas
Ken McLeod is highly regarded for his ability to present the traditional Buddhism – its philosophy, teachings, method, instructions & practice – in clear, lucid language that makes them more accessible to Western students He also has pioneered new class, retreat and dharma center formats, and has reworked the student-teacher relationship and the individual practice path.Two principles underlie his work:
- Direct Experience. Conceptual understanding is no substitute for the kind of knowing that comes from direct experience. Buddhist material must be presented in a way that transmits, points to or elicits direct experience.
- Transparency. The customs and traditions associated with Buddhist practice in other cultures have been an obstacle for many Western practitioners. The solution is to distinguish the teachings from the overlay of medieval, Asian, cultural forms.
Key elements
Living Awake“Living Awake” is the ability to practice attention in every aspect of one’s life:
Buddhism is fundamentally a set of methods to wake us up from the sleep in which we dream that we are separate from what we experience. “Everything that [we] experience is original mind; there is nothing else. ...Rest in original mind, not separate from the experience that is your life... Cultivate attention in everything you do, and, until your last breath, live in the mystery of being.” Unfettered Mind is structured to support this intention – as an individual on the cushion and in daily life, and in all elements of the UM network, from administration to practice and study.
Cultural Overlay
As Buddhism penetrates the West, there are difficulties in trying to transfer the institutions, language and terminology of a medieval, agrarian, Asian society to the post-modern, industrial, multi-cultural society of the West – with its own overlay of individualism, lack of hierarchy, and psychological preoccupations. The Western teacher must bypass the cultural overlay, go to the heart of the teachings and find simple, transparent language and methods to elicit direct understanding in the student.
Translation must be transparent.
“Ken McLeod is well-known as a translator of texts, practices, rituals, and structures into forms suitable for this culture.” The Tibetan language has terms that were specifically invented to transmit Buddhism. Because of this, it embodies understanding and it speaks to experience. However, a straight across, literal translation to English loses this resonance and instead becomes formal and conceptual – and intellectual ideas don't have the power to penetrate to the part of ourselves that truly knows. In translation, teaching and writing, one must use simple, direct English that’s natural and non-academic; use intuitive, emotional language and accessible terms; translate for the person who’s going to practice, not for the linguist or academic; and use everyday language that the practitioner can relate to from their own experience.
A contemporary, Western model for Buddhist teaching and practice must integrate the traditional and the modern.
McLeod’s traditional training immersed him in Tibetan language, texts, ritual, and technique. He realized that some practice obstacles arose because, in the context of contemporary American life, Tibetan Buddhist methods can’t easily be practiced in the classical manner. So he set about reexamining everything he’d learned and practiced. As a result, Unfettered Mind is faithful to the dharma but steps beyond convention, is non-institutional, and emphasizes an individualistic approach to practice. “My aim is for Unfettered Mind to provide a rich reservoir of resources so that each of us can find our way without sacrificing faith to a set of beliefs, individual questions to institutional answers, and a practice path to a set system of meditations.”
Practice is individual-centered, not tradition-centered.
The practitioner doesn’t follow a set system, but instead shapes their own unique path of practice and development that may lie outside the curricula in established institutions. As the Buddha said, you have to work things out for yourself.
The teacher-student relationship is informal and one-on-one.
Students relate to the teacher as a person. The teacher’s function is to point the student to their own knowing, not to set himself up as special. As a meditation consultant, the teacher offers guidance, support and instruction specific to the student’s unique experience.
The UM retreat format integrates traditional and modern.
Traditional teachings and meditation instruction are presented in Western language and framework. Innovations include daily individual interviews and practical application exercises that move the practitioner into their own experience.
Unfettered Mind is envisioned as a network for the development and distribution of resources for spiritual awakening.
- Unfettered Mind has no temple, center, or formal organization.
- There are no members, only participants, both local and virtual via the internet.
- Teacher and practitioners share responsibility for initiating and running projects.
- The sole purpose is for the participants to create resources & opportunities for practice.
- The core element is an "Environment of Awareness": any situation in which one or more people are directing attention into the mystery of knowing and helping each other to wake up. Examples: practice groups, study groups, group or individual retreats, practice consultations, workshops, classes.
- Another element is to provide web-based resources that are direct aids to practice. These include: book recommendations, practice guides, text & prayer translations, podcasts of retreat teachings, podcasts of classes, the opportunity to ask practice questions directly to Ken McLeod, and podcasts of Q&A sessions between Ken & students.
- Another key element is the teacher training program. McLeod trains long term practitioners who have significant experience and understanding, and whose paths lie outside established institutions.
He has written, “We feel that most people, when provided with the right training and guidance, will naturally seek to create environments in which they can transform conceptual understanding of spiritual teaching into experiential knowing, and thus resolve their deepest questions about how to make freedom, compassion and awareness alive and active in their lives.”