Tricycle | Awake in the World

Crazy Jane Talks to the Bishop I met the Bishop on the road And much said he and I. “Those breasts are flat and fallen now, Those veins must soon be dry; Live in a heavenly mansion, Not in some foul sty.” “Fair and foul are near of kin, And fair needs foul,” I cried. “My friends are gone, but that’s a truth Nor grave nor bed denied, Learned in bodily lowliness And in the heart’s pride. “A woman can be proud and stiff When on love intent; But love has pitched his mansion in The place of excrement; For nothing can be sole or whole That has not been rent.” (William Butler Yeats) Contemporary lay Zen students are frequently troubled by all sorts of thoughts and behaviors that they perceive as standing in the way of their spiritual progress. They complain of being given to bouts of anger, fear, doubt, or error. What students invariably want to do with these traits is get rid of them. In their quest for improvement, it rarely occurs to them to rid themselves of their self-dissatisfaction. They’re convinced that they’re not okay, and won’t be until they rid themselves of their faults. One young woman came to dokusan complaining of how “wimpy” she was. “I lack courage,” she said. “I’m afraid of my own shadow.” When I suggested that perhaps she wasn’t fearful enough, she replied that she could hardly rid herself of fear by indulging it. “You’ve tried to get rid of it,” I pointed out, “and it hasn’t worked. If it keeps hanging around, it might have something to tell you. It might want to be your friend.” She left the session with my encouragement to invite fear into her life. As she did so, she came to realize that she wasn’t such a “fraidy cat” after all. “When I got acquainted with it, fear taught me a lot,” she told me. “I discovered that most of my fears weren’t that scary once I quit resisting them, and some of my fears were warranted, like not walking alone through the student section after dark on a party night.” She sat across from me grinning and pleased with herself. What she said next revealed the depth of her recent insight. “I wanted courage,” she said, “and I found out that there is no courage without fear. You don’t get one without the other.” More »

Six weeks post-Nargis we still don't know the full extent of the damage or loss of life. The Burmese affected by the storm are still in urgent need of aid. But as the junta lets aid workers fan out across the delta, they also released 15 of Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters. The survivors of China's earthquake struggle to rebuild their lives. Beijing has drawn criticism for its handling of the crisis, but would any other government have done much better? Buddha Space has a review of The Teachings of Ajahn Chah. More »

Some sad news: Michael Sawyer, the artist and Zen teacher profiled in Tricycle's Summer 2008 issue, has passed away. Zenshin Florence Caplow wrote last week, Michael died yesterday afternoon. Lin Maslow was there and told me that it was as beautiful and peaceful as a death can be - Emila, Michael's brother Ken, his daughter and grandchildren all there, one breath, then another a while later, then no breath at all. The bell began tolling at Green Gulch, and people will be sitting zazen with him for the next three days. A great spirit. On behalf of all the staff at Tricycle, we send Michael's loved ones our condolences. Michael's profile is available here; his website is http://www.michaelsawyerart.com/. More »

Westerners flock to Dharamsala to get life advice from the Dalai Lama. More »

Since the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, it is hard to wisely hold the suffering of all the news coming out of Burma.  As a Buddhist monk in Burma I received the immense generosity and kindness of the Burmese people.  Now I want to do all I can to help.  Friends and those hundreds of staff working on the ground for our Foundation for the People of Burma in the Irrawaddi delta, tell us amazing stories …With heroic perseverance these people surmount daunting obstacles to their work on a daily basis.  Maung Lay, a student volunteer, drove a truck full of rice to 3 villages that had almost no food for 2 weeks.  The military roadblock stopped him to confiscate the food.  Maung Lay looked directly at the young soldiers and replied, “You will have to kill me first.”  They let him pass and the food got through.  Despite military harassment, threat of disease, and challenging logistics, the local network of a few groups like the Foundation for the People of Burma have brought life saving relief More »

A call to action from the U.S. Campaign for Burma, by way of Precious Metal. Also, don't miss the steamiest love story in the history of Mongolia. You may be shocked to hear that monastics are involved. More »

His Holiness's office put out a statement concluding: [The Dalai Lama] has stated that, as someone in a leadership position, it is his responsibility to speak out against the damaging consequences of this kind of spirit worship. Whether or not his advice is heeded, His Holiness has stated, is a matter for the individual. However, since he personally feels strongly about the negativity of this practice, he has requested that those who continue to propitiate Dolgyal, do not attend his formal religious teachings which traditionally require the establishment of a teacher-disciple relationship. Meanwhile the Olympic torch is due to arrive in Lhasa in just over two weeks. More »

Jacob Leibenluft investigates. More »

A month after the storm, hundred of thousands of Burmese still have received no aid. Moe than 69,000 people have died in the earthquake in China's Sichuan province, and because many of the survivors did not have insurance (or the right kind of insurance) they're finding themselves out in the cold. And more on incense being bad for your lungs. More »