Tricycle | Awake in the World

Biography and autobiography in Tibet are important sources for both education and inspiration. Tibetans have kept such meticulous records of their teachers that thousands of names are known and discussed in a wide range of biographical material. All these names, all these lives—it can be a little overwhelming. The authors involved in the Treasury of Lives are currently mining the primary sources to provide English-language biographies of every known religious teacher from Tibet and the Himalaya, all of which are organized for easy searching and browsing. Every Tuesday on the Tricycle blog, we will highlight and reflect on important, interesting, eccentric, surprising and beautiful stories found within this rich literary tradition. Female Buddhist Masters: Chime Tenpai Nyima and Sera Khandro More »

Today begins the fourth and final installment of Vishvapani Blomfield's retreat on Right Speech. In "Communicating with Harmony," Vishvapani reflects on the importance of practicing speech that is conducive to harmony, and refraining from malicious, slanderous speech. With the election season upon us and the heated political discussion that that entails, bringing awareness to our communication takes on an even greater importance. Using our motivation as a touchstone, we should examine it repeatedly in order to communicate truthfully without engaging in unnecessarily divisive speech. If you are a Tricycle Supporting or Sustaining Member, you can now watch this week's retreat here. If not, join or upgrade your membership here. Here's a preview: More »

Author and blogger James Ishmael Ford is a dually-appointed Unitarian Universalist minister and Soto Zen Priest. His newest book, If You're Lucky, Your Heart Will Break: Field Notes from a Zen Life, was published by Wisdom Publications in September. The following passage is excerpted from the chapter "Spiritual Directors." More »

Today we were pleasantly reminded of the late Zen priest and author Darlene Cohen when we received a beautiful, two-volumed boxed set of The Noisiest Book Review in the Known World: The Best of RALPH: The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities, in which our Fall 2005 interview with Cohen is being reprinted. Cohen, who suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, wrote extensively on dealing with chronic pain, both physical and emotional. In her Q&A with Tricycle's features editor Andrew Cooper, her sharp wit really shines through. We thought we'd share a laugh by posting the brief interview in its entirety here: More »

Today Vishvapani Blomfield continues his online Right Speech retreat with "Communicating with Meaning," an examination of our intentions across all forms of communication, suggesting the primacy of intention over subject matter. Vishvapani encourages us to reflect more fully on our inner values and motivations that inform our speech, enabling us to better abstain from frivolous, meaningless speech, and direct language in a highly charged, refined way that is conducive to genuine communication. If you are a Tricycle Supporting or Sustaining Member, you can now watch this week's retreat here. If not, join or upgrade your membership here. Here's a preview: More »

Buddhist practice and Buddhist art have been inseparable in the Himalayas ever since Buddhism arrived to the region in the eighth century. But for the casual observer it can be difficult to make sense of the complex iconography. Not to worry—Himalayan art scholar Jeff Watt is here to help. In this "Himalayan Buddhist Art 101" series, Jeff is making sense of this rich artistic tradition by presenting weekly images from the Himalayan Art Resources archives and explaining their roles in the Buddhist tradition. This week Jeff explains the ubiquitous yet mysterious figure of Tara in Himalayan Buddhist art. Himalayan Buddhist Art 101: Who is Tara? More »

Straight from the Dalai Lama's Twitter feed, it's His Holiness with Dave Matthews last night at the Common Ground for Peace Forum at Syracuse University. Maybe a collaboration is in the future! (We're kind of kidding, but really, wouldn't that be cool?) More »

Today we have a guest blog post by Trudy Goodman, the founder and guiding teacher of InsightLA. InsightLA is one of the leading organizations in the country providing meditation and stress reduction courses to individuals and groups. On October 13th, they will be celebrating their ten-year anniversary, hosted by Sandra Oh of Grey's Anatomy fame and with Jack Kornfield as the keynote speaker. You can buy tickets to the event and learn more about it here. By Trudy Goodman I’m sitting on a stone wall, overlooking the magnificent estate of Pamela and Jef Levy in Beverly Hills, where we are kicking off InsightLA’s 10th anniversary with a special fundraiser on October 13th. More »

Join Buddhist teacher, artist, and author Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche at the META Center in New York City next week for "Uncommon Kindness," a three-part series of meditations to awaken the heart. Running the evenings of Wednesday through Friday (10/10-10/12), the teachings will show us how to overcome our limited focus of self-concern, giving us the tools to forge lives filled with empathy and kindness. Until then, have a read of Pema Chödrön's latest Tricycle article “The Fundamental Ambiguity of Being Human.” Pema is a current student of Rinpoche's. Get the details and purchase tickets here. More »