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Books: The Inheritance of Loss
Having worked at Tricycle for over four years, I almost expect writings about Himalayan people to be filled with expeditions for bliss, cavernous and splendid tales of vibrant Buddhist teachings in stark, majestic landscapes, and simple wisdoms that have been frozen on the rooftop of the world. But the motley crew that we discover in the foothills of Mount Kanchenjunga in Kiran Desai’s acclaimed novel The Inheritance of Loss, only has the dharma as a distant neighbor and seems to be a powerless product of—rather than an exception to—the modern conditions of Nationalism, Orientalism, and Globalization. Set in the mid 1980s, The Inheritance of Loss tells the story of Sai, a teenage Indian girl who lives with her Cambridge-educated grandfather, a retired judge, in a small Anglophiliac community in Kalimpong. More » -
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A Talking Cat and Kentucky Zen and the Passing of a Roshi
Do you feel like asking a cat a question? I mean one that will actually be answered. Well, there's a cool cat who'll do just that discovered by The Buddha is My DJ. More » -
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Five Favorite Dharma Books
"[G. K.] Chesterton was once asked what books he would most like to have with him if he were stranded on a desert island. 'Thomas's Guide to Practical Shipbuilding,' he replied." Oops, the Tricycle Blog's been tagged (a while ago, actually -- sorry!) Here goes: 1. Chan Insights and Oversights by Bernard Faure. Haven't even opened this one but I've stared at the spine on my bookshelf for years. One of these days... 2. The Mind Like Fire Unbound by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. This book not only contains great poetry but does an excellent job explaining a lot of deep metaphors that otherwise would be lost in translation. 3. The Faith to Doubt, by Stephen Batchelor. "It is most uncanny that we are able to ask questions; for to question means to acknowledge that we do not know something. More » -
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Books: Never Turn Away by Rigdzin Shikpo
Rigdzin Shikpo, a student of Shambhala-founder Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, has been practicing Buddhism since the 1950s. An heir to Trungpa’s lineage but independent of the Shambhala community, his book Never Turn Away: The Buddhist Path Beyond Hope and Fear (Wisdom Publications, 2007, $14.95 paper, 192 pp.) is an inspired look at the relationship between meditation and everyday life. More » -
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Book Review: Haiku Haven
For northern city-dwellers, the grey months of January and February can feel like a kind of apocalyptic-aftermath, but duller: dirty slush on the subway steps and reality television. When seasonal melancholy threatens, it’s best to turn to poetry, which makes ennui seem more bearable—or, at the very least, more important. The most premium of all poetic medicines may be the haiku, being formally required to address time and loss, as well as beautiful enough to make up for the indignity of damp socks. Turning the pages of Haiku Master Buson, you feel can feel your commonplace Seasonal Affective Disorder being transformed into something unique and delicate, more along the lines of With the soundlessness of winter rain on mosses, vanished days are remembered than the tax season blues. More » -
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BOOKS: Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?
Polish philosopher Leszek Kolakowski's Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing?: 23 Questions From Great Philosophers was supposed to be longer. Or rather, it is longer in the original Polish: the English-language version (or at least the American version) drops seven philosophers, leaving twenty-three thinkers and their questions. The questions span the whole range of philosophical concern: What is the human spirit? How is knowledge possible? What is evil? What is the source of truth? Many questions are variations on what we can know and how we can be certain of anything (i.e. More »
