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    Tricycle Q & A: Ask Stephan Bodian Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 06 Feb 2008
    Zen and Vedanta teacher, psychotherapist, and author of Meditation for Dummies (and co-author of Buddhism for Dummies) Stephan Bodian is taking questions now on Tricycle.com. His newest book is called Wake Up Now: A Guide to the Journy of Spiritual Awakening. Stephan began practicing Zen in 1970 with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and, after training at Tassajara, was ordained a monk by Kobun Chino Otogawa Roshi in 1974. He directed the training program at the Zen Center of Los Angeles and headed an affiliate center in San Diego before setting aside his robes in 1982 to study Western psychology. In 1988 he met Advaita master Jean Klein and studied with him until Klein’s death in 1998. More »
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    Books: The Inheritance of Loss Paid Member

    Posted by tricycleblog on 30 Jan 2008
    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 Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 24 Jan 2008
    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 Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 24 Jan 2008
    "[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 »
  • Tricycle Community 3 comments

    Books: Never Turn Away by Rigdzin Shikpo Paid Member

    Posted by admin on 17 Jan 2008
    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 Paid Member

    Posted by admin on 16 Jan 2008
    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 »