Tricycle | Awake in the World

In his Guardian review of Raj Patel's The Value of Nothing, a critique of the failures of the free market, political philosopher John Gray doesn't seem to have much hope for Buddhism as a cure for bubble economies. It'd help, he says, if enough people would give up their wants, but he doubts that's about to happen any time soon. If, as the Dalai Lama says, everyone is looking for happiness, they might try giving up the endless pursuit of pleasure and find it. But Gray poses a leading question: Do people really want to be happy? He writes: Oscar Wilde may have been right that people know the price of everything and the value of nothing, a remark [Raj] Patel cites at the start of his book, and which gives him its title. But what is value if it is not price? More »

Rev. Danny Fisher wonders why Buddhists seem to be underrepresented in Washington; after all, he points out, Buddhists in the US outnumber Hindus and Muslims, and yet while both are represented on Obama’s 25-member Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Buddhists are not. Read Danny's piece here. Sharon Salzberg, who holds retreats in Washington, DC frequently, has this to contribute to Buddhist life in the capital: A few years ago, when I first started going to Washington, DC regularly to lead a sitting group, my friend Eileen would take me to a “tourist” site each visit—Arlington National Cemetery, or one of the memorials. More »