Tricycle | Awake in the World

Last month, we published the essay Starting Points by Tricycle's Features Editor Andrew Cooper, about approaching issues of race in our Buddhist communities. In light of the positive and productive dialogue that essay engendered, we've decided to publish another "oldie but goodie" by Cooper. This one, The Shape of the Question, was first published in Inquiring Mind, in an issue highlighting the teachings of Tibetan Dzogchen, Advaita master Hari Lal Poonja, and Toni Packer. In the article, Cooper explores non-dual dharma, crafting a historical perspective on the longstanding debate of sudden versus gradual enlightenment.     More »

Last weekend, my 20-year old brother and I meditated together in my studio apartment in Brooklyn. We sat down, side by side, on cushions that have seen better days. To get started, I read aloud from the "Breathing Meditation" chapter of Sharon Salzberg's Real Happiness, and then we listened to the first track of the book's accompanying CD. We crossed our legs, closed our eyes, and sat there breathing. It was my brother's first time meditating."I could get into that," my brother said afterwards. "I've always been hyper-aware of my thoughts, but the non-judgmental awareness is a whole other thing."My brother would appreciate today's Daily Dharma, which offers advice on non-judgmental awareness. It comes from "The Refuge of Sitting" by Narayan Liebenson Grady: More »

Tricycle is pleased to be partnering with the BuddhaFest Film Festival once again. The festival takes place June 14-17, 2012  in Washington DC and is a tremendous showcase for Buddhist films. Tricycle partnered with BuddhaFest last year, and we had a lot of fun and got the opportunity to show six great Buddhist films here on our site that the members of our community found truly inspirational. More »

Tomorrow we'll begin Tricycle Meditation Month, a month full of tools and resources that will help you establish and maintain a meditation practice. Throughout February we'll be conducting audio interviews with meditation instructors, posting videos of guided meditations given by well-known Buddhist teachers, blogging about our experiences meditating everyday, offering heart-advice, sharing practical tips for getting on the cushion, and taking your questions for the "Meditation Doctor," Zen teacher Brad Warner. We'll also be discussing the material from our new e-book, Tricycle Teachings: Meditation, which Supporting or Sustaining Members of the Tricycle Community can download for free at tricycle.com beginning tomorrow. More »

Other Friday evenings found Whalen and Snyder in Berkeley for the study group with Rev. Kanmo Imamura and Jane Imamura at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple. Together the Imamuras were descended from the most important old families of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, yet they welcomed the young men, going so far in the subsequent years as to turn their little church publication—the Berkeley Bussei—over to the artist Will Petersen for a time. Snyder, Whalen, Ginsberg, and Kerouac all published early poems in its pages. The benevolent Imamura family gave both Snyder and Whalen their first contact with people actually practicing Buddhism instead of purely discussing its philosophies and traditions. —David Schneider, from "Lives Well Shared: The Friendship of Philip Whalen and Gary Snyder" More »

First off, Happy Lunar New Year! Welcome to the year of the dragon. As befits such a year celebrating a creature who is often associated with longevity, some Buddhist monks in Japan have a similar concern in mind: from the Japan Times, "Matchmaking Service gives Buddhist monks a boost in dating market." From the article: In Japan, it is typical for relatives of monks—especially head monks—to inherit caretaker duties of their temples. But because of a lack of successors, the monks have become desperate to find wives in order to preserve this tradition and save their temples from being closed or integrated. More »

  Bonnie Myotai Treace, Sensei, is coming to teach at NYC's Japan Society! In March and April, she will be leading a six-week workshop called "Exquisite Way: Japanese Aesthetic Principles and Zen Practice." The workshop will cover zazen instructions for any Zewbies (that's Zen newbies), and will then discuss the following: More »

Our current Film Club movie is Tao Ruspoli's Being in the World, a discussion of what it means to be human, and how to be human, in a world dominated by impersonal technology. The film features interviews with prominent philosophers and footage of remarkable humans: among them, a flamenco guitarist with a beard like Santa Claus and the soul of a true poet, a graceful juggler, and a female chef who whips up food in a hot pink chef's jacket. It's a beautiful film with deep, layered messages and meanings. As Tricycle community member MarkG commented: More »

Bodhin Kjolhede is the roshi and abbot of the Rochester Zen Center in Rochester, New York. Founded by Philip Kapleau in 1966, RZC is one of the oldest and largest centers of Zen practice outside Asia. Roshi Kjolhede is leading the January Tricycle Retreat, The Precepts as Practice, and speaks to us in the Tricycle Talk about whether "enlightened masters" can move beyond the need to follow the precepts, how the precepts differ from the Ten Commandments, and how someone who has fallen off the wagon and is not living according to the precepts can get back on track. More »