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.
He describes himself as "retired", having withdrawn from teaching, and no longer conducting classes, workshops, meditation retreats, individual practice consultations, or teacher training.
It does so by bypassing the Eastern, cultural overlay, and using simple, clear language and methods that elicit direct experience in the practitioner.
(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 and practices.
In 1976, McLeod joined Kalu Rinpoche in Central France to help establish, and then participate in, the first three-year retreat for Westerners, at Kagyu Ling.
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.
Also in that year, Kalu Rinpoche authorized McLeod to teach, and asked him to be the resident teacher at his Dharma center, Kagyu Dongak Chuling (KDC), in Los Angeles.
[7] During the 1990s, McLeod established a corporate consulting business,[13] organized three conferences on Buddhism and Psychotherapy,[14] and developed the curriculum that eventually became his book Wake Up To Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention (2001).
[16] In an effort to avoid the structure and hierarchy of most Buddhist institutions, Unfettered Mind 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 an established, institutional framework.
[17] Ken McLeod is highly regarded for his ability to present traditional Buddhism—its philosophy, teachings, method, instruction, and practice—in clear, lucid language that makes it more accessible to Western students[18] He also has pioneered new class, retreat, and dharma-center formats, and has reworked the student–teacher relationship and the individual practice path.
"[22] Unfettered Mind is structured to support this intention—as an individual on the cushion, in daily life, and in all elements of the UM network, from administration to practice and study.
[21] 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.
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.
[26] As a result, Unfettered Mind is faithful to the dharma but steps beyond convention, is non-institutional, and emphasizes an individualistic approach to practice.
[7] Unfettered Mind is envisioned as a network for the development and distribution of resources for spiritual awakening[17] McLeod 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.