Home › Blog › Meditation

Meditation
  • Tricycle Community 0 comments

    Letting Go, with Pamela Gayle White and Khedrub Zangmo Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 07 Mar 2011
    Today we begin a new four-week video retreat on Letting Go with two teachers from the Bodhi Path organization, Pamela Gayle White and Khedrub Zangmo. Their topic is of course letting go, which cuts to the heart of every practice and every tradition. What is it that we need to let go of? The things we are holding onto that limit us. The Week 1 teaching is called "The Result" and defines the goals of the practice. The teaching itself is about 25 minutes long, and there is a bonus meditation instruction video that also runs 25 minutes. Additionally, there are instructions in the Supplemental materials section to guide you in your practice throughout the week and to provide materisla for further reading and study. More »
  • Tricycle Community 2 comments

    Buddhist at the border: an unexpected encounter with a customs agent Paid Member

    Posted by Rachel on 03 Mar 2011
    On my recent snowy road trip from Maine to Wisconsin I decided to make a stop at Niagara Falls (despite the outside temperatures being just 6˚F). My friend and I had heard that the falls are best viewed from the Canadian side of the Niagara River, so we headed over the bridge to Canada, wary of the unpleasant hassle that usually comes with border crossings. At the Canadian border we pulled up to the customs booth, occupied by a no-nonsense middle aged customs agent. After a long look at our passports, she asked about our professions. I told her I worked for a Buddhist magazine. "Hmmm," she said, and I thought I detected a quick smile flash across her face before she proceeded to her next questions: "What is the purpose of your trip?" then "How long do you plan to spend in Canada?" and finally, the unexpected: "So, if you don't mind me asking, do you meditate? I just started and I'm having a difficult time with my practice." I had stumbled across a Buddhist border agent. More »
  • Tricycle Community 0 comments

    Thank you to Enkyo Roshi and Sharon Salzberg Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 02 Mar 2011
    Well, nothing lasts forever. This week, Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara's Tricycle Retreat, "Ease and Joy in Your Practice and Life," wraps up, as does the Tricycle Book Club discussion of Sharon Salzberg's book Real Happiness. Both events considerably brightened up an otherwsie gloomy February here at Tricycle! To both Enkyo Roshi and Sharon Salzberg, thank you very much for the gift of the dharma you've given us. Thank you for being available, generous, and patient throughout the month! A participant in the Week 4 discussion of the retreat put it beautifully: More »
  • Tricycle Community 0 comments

    Where do we go from here?: Day 28 of the 28-day meditation challenge Paid Member

    Posted by Sam Mowe on 28 Feb 2011
    We did it! We just finished sitting together in the office for the final day of the 28-day meditation challenge. It feels good. Now we're all completely enlightened and we'll never have to meditate again. Just kidding. While the 28-day challenge has been a wonderful experience for all of us here at Tricycle—and hopefully for all of you—the real challenge is keeping up the meditation practice moving forward. Ideally, this experience has given you a taste of what a consistent meditation practice can do for your overall well-being and will provide you with the inspiration that you need to continue. For tips of maintaining your practice, check out Sharon's article on how to sustain your practice ("Sticking with It") in the most recent issue of Tricycle. More »
  • Tricycle Community 0 comments

    Vast is the robe of liberation Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 28 Feb 2011
    Today we begin the fourth and final week of Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara's Tricycle Retreat, "Ease and Joy in Your Practice and Life." This week's teaching is called "The World is Vast and Wide," a reference to a well-known Zen koan. The discussion has already started this week, with a commenter discussing Roshi's experience on a homeless retreat of the type run by Bernie Glassman. The commenter says: More »
  • Tricycle Community 0 comments

    Where is the love?: Day 25 of the meditation challenge Paid Member

    Posted by Sam Mowe on 25 Feb 2011
    In Real Happiness Sharon tells us about one of her students who thought “the whole idea of lovingkindness meditation seemed hokey and rote to her, but she focused on the phrases nevertheless.” I’ve thought the same exact thing about lovingkindness meditation. It’s a group hug, mushy, mawkish. As much as I like the idea of lovingkindness in theory, I’ve never taken it very seriously. I might say to myself “May I be happy,” a few times and think of my mom for a while, but sooner or later—usually around the time I start trying to extend that warm feeling to some jerk or other—it just starts to feel silly and I go back to the serious business of trying to develop concentration. More »