Tricycle | Awake in the World

You might have noticed in Buddha Buzz a couple of weeks ago an announcement about Pema Chödrön's 76th birthday. In celebration, Pema Chödrön and her foundation put together a virtual "Practicing Peace" retreat. And it was a great success! Tim Olmsted, the president of the Pema Chödrön Foundation, is happy to share the following news: More »

The first American to have been ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk, Robert A.F. Thurman, Ph.D., has been a personal friend of the Dalai Lama for over 40 years. The New York Times has recognized him as "the leading American expert on Tibetan Buddhism" and Time magazine named him as one of the “25 Most Influential Americans.” He is co-founder and president of Tibet House U.S., a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan culture and civilization, and is president of the American Institute of Buddhist Studies. Dr. Thurman has translated many Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist texts, and is the author of 16 books on Tibet, Buddhism, art, politics and culture. He earned a Ph.D. from Harvard in Sanskrit Indian Studies, taught at Amherst College, and is now a professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. More »

Today we begin the third week of exploring The Art of Awareness with Anam Thubten. This week we expand our understanding of how formless meditation practices open up our senses and allow for a nonjudgemental space to recognize a state beyond rejection or holding.  Through the simple act of awareness all of us have the opportunity to directly recognize emptiness. Samsara, he tells us, slowly collapses on its own when our meditation is not altering the mind but resting in the moment. 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 explores the four ground colors of Himalayan art. Himalayan Buddhist Art 101: The Four Ground Colors More »

One of the most urgent tasks for contemporary practitioners of any spiritual tradition, including Buddhism, is to learn how to take traditional stories seriously without taking them literally. Religious texts employ symbol, metaphor, and allegory to weave narratives that reveal truths about meaning, value, and purpose in human affairs. Although traditions tend to see their stories as historically accurate, the value of these stories does not depend on whether or not they are literally true. But in the modern period, we have come to take science and instrumental reason as the only reliable means and the model for ascertaining truth. For many, this means that they must choose between rejecting the narratives of religious tradition (atheism) or embracing one narrative literally (fundamentalism). More »

Mindfulness isn't just for Buddhists anymore; you can find it in hospitals, schools, prisons, and in some of today’s largest corporations. It is being used to help people quell their cravings, find emotional balance, eat healthier, and even to fall asleep at night. All of these things are well and good, of course, but there's a question worth considering: Is anything lost when we remove mindfulness meditation from a Buddhist context? More »

July, it seems, is a very auspicious month for Tibetan Buddhists. Last Friday was the Dalai Lama's birthday, and tomorrow it's Pema Chodron's 76th. Happy Birthday, Pema! Although she is in retreat for the entirety of 2012, she's holding a virtual online retreat in honor of the occasion. If you register here (it's free), the Pema Chodron foundation will email you a pre-filmed video with advice, encouragement, and meditation instruction. In a culture in which a person expects to receive gifts on a birthday, not give them, many thanks to the Pema Chodron Foundation and, of course, Pema herself for their generosity. More »

If you've ever puttered around the Buddhist blogosphere, you know the Reverend Danny Fisher. He's the author of the Patheos blog Off the Cushion, maintains an official website, and writes for Shambhala Sun, Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, and elephantjournal.com. More »

"Burma" has been quite the Western media buzzword lately. What with Aung San Suu Kyi's European tour, Rakhine's riots, and ongoing debates about which name—Burma or Myanmar—is appropriate to call the long-calamitous nation, the country's wins and woes have saturated the pages of many publications. More »