Tricycle | Awake in the World

We have traversed some serious ground—traveling from Rajgir through Patna, Vaishali and onto Kushinagar and eventually Lumbini, Nepal, where we are now. Our days in Rajgir were wonderful and as we headed north through Patna and Vaishali to Kushinagar John continued his wonderful teachings on the Parinibbana Sutta.  Recapping the footsteps of the Buddha in this specific sutta, as we navigate the exact path, more or less, that he took has proved extremely profound. Vaishali was an excellent way to break up the trip from Patna to Kushinagar. The group spent time in, and around, Ananda's Stupa, the Lichavi Stupa and the Shanti Stupa (a Japanese edifice dedicated to world peace).  More »

Our time in Sarnath was brought to a close after a visit to the outstanding archeological museum and the Alice Project, a not-for-profit school that incorporates meditation from a variety of religious traditions into its curriculum and Buddhist understandings of the mind into its teaching methods. The Project has three main schools in India and oversees the education at many other places of learning throughout the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.  We then headed for Bodhgaya, where we spent three days exploring the Mahabodhi Temple, site of the Buddha's enlightenment. We visited local monasteries from various Buddhist traditions, and the Dungasiri caves, where the Buddha spent time practicing austerities prior to his awakening. More »

Have you ever written an email or text message or blog comment in a moment of anger and regretted it later? Well, duh! Of course. It can be incredibly satisfying to luxuriate in crafting the words, to savor the nastiness of the barbs and brilliantly biting turns of phrase. But the satisfaction doesn't last. It sours into discontent and often, regret—and not just because we later think of a better, more insulting phrase we forgot to use! More »

Let me confess: I haven't meditated yet today. Usually, I like to sit in the morning, but today I just woke up too late. So what I did instead, on my subway commute to work, was make a list of things that I'm thankful for. This practice doesn't help build concentration like sitting meditation does, but it can help uplift tired spirits. If you don't believe me, you should seriously give it a shot. I'm not sure this fits in exactly with the Meditation Month theme, but here's a challenge: Try making a list of things that you're grateful for and not feeling pretty darn good about things generally. On this unseasonably warm February day, my list stuck to the basics: air to breath, clean water to drink, and access to parks full of trees. What's on your list? More »

The following account of the ongoing Tricycle Pilgrimage to India comes to us from tour leader Justin Kelley. Here's a brief description of the tour: This classical pilgrimage will take us to the places in north India where Siddhattha Gotama, the historical Buddha, lived and taught in the 5th century BCE. We will begin the journey in Sarnath, near Benares, where the Buddha delivered his first sermon, then proceed to Bodhgaya, the site of his awakening, Nalanda, Rajgir, Vaishali, Kushinagar, the site of his death, Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, Kapilavastu, where he was raised as a young man, and Sravasti, where he spent 24 rain retreats. As we navigate across northern India, through modern day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and southern Nepal, we will deeply investigate both the historical world that the Buddha existed in as well as our inner terrain, through periods of intensive practice, discourse and engagement. More »

What does it mean to be "Awake in the World"? Tricycle and BuddhaFest are partnering to present a showcase of short films. Send in your video interpretation of 5 minutes or less on what it means to be awake in the world. Top prize is $1,000. Be creative. Be unique. Use your imagination as well as your heart. Winners will be featured at the BuddhaFest Film Festival in Washington, DC on June 14-17, as well as online here at tricycle.com.Details here. More »

An active morning and the second missed day of sitting so far this month. Boo! But: I built a small piece of furniture, even though it was missing a screw. (Image of missing screw at right.) A morning of organizing, of "getting things done," in other words, avoiding the real work. In my case that means editing an article for the May issue of Tricycle. What work did you avoid this morning? Today's Daily Dharma was on changing your relationship to pain by Jon Kabat-Zinn: More »

If you've read the Spring 2012 edition of Tricycle, I hope you have taken the time to look at the artwork throughout the magazine. There is some incredible work presented here, and over the next couple of months we will be interviewing the artists to get a better sense of the paintings and the process behind their creation. More »

Lucky day 13. With all the luck from today and all the love accumulating in advance for tomorrow, here's hoping that today is a good day to be a meditator. As for me, I'm not sure yet—I haven't had a chance to practice yet today. But I'm excited to, and I will. Over the weekend I re-read Bhante Henepola Gunaratana's book Mindfulness in Plain English. It was the first book on meditation that I ever read. I love that book. I owe a lot to it. And reading it again made me feel like I did the first time I read it: just so excited. Like a child. More »