Randy Roark

“The Only Time I’ve Ever Lost My Temper in the Studio”–for Many Voices

Every Friday, Sounds True sends out an e-mail called Weekly Wisdom. Each of these mailings includes a “Producer’s Pick,” where we get to highlight one of our titles. Recently it was a 2-CD program I recorded with Matthieu Ricard on his book, Happiness. Even seven years later, it’s still one of my favorite recording, and… Continue Reading »

Reflections on my Sixteenth Anniversary as a Producer for Sounds True, for Many Voices

Last week was my sixteenth anniversary of working for Sounds True. Anniversaries are a time of reflection for me. I like to step back and look at what I’m doing with my life. As I’ve mentioned before, I have two lives. In one, I’m a producer for Sounds True, and I used to work with… Continue Reading »

Religious Observance in Modern China and Tibet for “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #34

Religious Observance in Present-Day China and Tibet Having visited the Sera Monastery today with hundreds of monks debating in the courtyard, and seeing all the pilgrims arriving at the monasteries and temples, I wonder about the religious persecution I was led to expect. Xi says there are official and unofficial restrictions on what a religious… Continue Reading »

Sera Monastery & Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet for “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #33

A Tibetan Creation Myth On a bus into the mountains above Lhasa to visit the Buddhist Sera Monastery, I asked Tendzin if he was taught any creation myths as a child. Tendzin said when he was a boy living on a farm in the mountains—37 years ago—he was taught that in the beginning was the… Continue Reading »

Remembering Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, for Many Voices

While I’ve lived in Boulder since 1979, it has been home to at least two spiritual teachers whose work will outlast them. The first was Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the Tibetan Buddhist who founded Boulder’s Naropa University and its local Vajradhatu community, who died in 1987. The other was Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, who is credited with… Continue Reading »

Lhasa, Tibet for “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #32

Lhasa, Tibet I was a Snake, slipping out from under a sleeping woman who smelled of lavender and smoke and coconut. She was tiny and I felt as large as a walrus beside her, both taking up too much space and not having enough room to get comfortable myself because it was a twin bed…. Continue Reading »

“This is what we teach, this is what we practice”: Recording “Walking Meditation” with Nguyen Anh-Huong, for Many Voices

Last week I was in the studio with David Frenette, recording a program on Centering Prayer Meditations. David lives in Boulder, and so when some expected and unexpected situations arose during our recording, we had lots of options if we needed them, which we mostly didn’t. It’s actually not uncommon to be recording when something… Continue Reading »

Chengdu, China (“God Hates Pandas and Wants Them to Die”) & Arriving in Lhasa, Tibet for “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #31

Xian: Day Five: We Come Upon a Pair of Butterflies and Xi Explains Why Butterflies Are Always Seen in Pairs Zhu Yingtai was a beautiful and intelligent young woman, the ninth child but only daughter of a wealthy family in Shangyu. At the time girls were not allowed to attend school, but she convinced her… Continue Reading »

Creating a Field Guide to the Human Brain with Rick Hanson, for Many Voices

I’ve recently returned from recording a new program with Rick Hanson in Corte Madera, California. I first worked with Rick and his co-author Rick Mendius in 2009, when we recorded Meditations to Change Your Brain and Meditations for Happiness at the late, lamented Ursa Minor Studios in San Rafael, with the always amazing Ben Leinbach… Continue Reading »

Xian Poet’s Park, a Village Dancing Lesson, the Mosou’s Walking Marriage for “A Poet’s Progress,” Newtopia Magazine #30