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    Tricycle Pilgrimage: Today's Teaching from Kathmandu Paid Member

    Posted by James Shaheen on 20 Nov 2012
    From today's teaching at Shedrub Ling: It's not enough to think you understand impermanence and then to forget about it. The real dharma practitioner is someone who contemplates impermanence many times throughout day. Only then do our fixations begin to loosen, our attachments begin to break. Only then do we finally begin to relax. –Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche Image: Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche at the White Gompa. © Risto Kuulasmaa. More »
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    Treasury of Lives: Kagyu Founders Part 1, Mila and Marpa Paid Member

    Posted by Emma Varvaloucas on 20 Nov 2012
    Biography and autobiography in Tibet are important sources for both education and inspiration. Tibetans have kept such meticulous records of their teachers that thousands of names are known and discussed in a wide range of biographical material. All these names, all these lives—it can be a little overwhelming. The authors involved in the Treasury of Lives are currently mining the primary sources to provide English-language biographies of every known religious teacher from Tibet and the Himalaya, all of which are organized for easy searching and browsing. Every Tuesday on the Tricycle blog, we will highlight and reflect on important, interesting, eccentric, surprising and beautiful stories found within this rich literary tradition. Kagyu Founders Part 1: Mila and Marpa More »
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    Tricycle's Pilgrimage to Nepal & Bhutan: Kathmandu Paid Member

    Posted by James Shaheen on 19 Nov 2012
    Tricycle began its first pilgrimage to Nepal & Bhutan on Sunday in Kathmandu, where 25 of us gathered at the Tibet International hotel, within viewing distance of the Great Stupa at Boudhanath. After settling in and getting to know one another, we spent part of the following day at Shedrub Ling monastery, where the Ven. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche offered teachings. Rinpoche sat before some 300 mostly Western students, some permanent residents, and others hearing teachings for perhaps the first time. Throughout our journey, we'll be posting quotes from the teachers we visit, accompanied by photos taken by fellow pilgrim Risto Kuulasmaa, who has joined us from Helsinki. The following quote and the above picture were taken from yesterday's teaching: More »
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    Do Not Waste Time - Week 3 of Caroline Yongue's Retreat Paid Member

    Posted by Andrew Gladstone on 19 Nov 2012
    This week begins "Do Not Waste Time," the third week of Caroline Yongue's retreat on preparing for death. In this third installment, Caroline advises us on how to eliminate distractions from our daily routines, how to create new habits to live more meritoriously, and walks us through the Essential Phowa Practice and the Dissolution of the Elements instruction. "When we are in the Bardo of Becoming, we are not guaranteed another human birth. Do not waste this precious human life. Live a meritorious life. This is our rare opportunity to practice the dharma." If you are a Tricycle Supporting or Sustaining Member, you can watch this week's retreat here. If not, join or upgrade your membership here. Check out the preview of this week's retreat below: More »
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    Buddha Buzz: Buddhist News from Around the World, Week of November 12 Paid Member

    Posted by Emma Varvaloucas on 16 Nov 2012
    If there's anything we American Buddhists love to talk about, it's the emerging face of American Buddhism—whatever that means. Despite all the chatter, in my humble opinion the average American Buddhist isn't all that informed about some very basic realities of American Buddhism: who its adherents are, where they are located, what kind of Buddhism they practice, etc. Cue the Huffington Post, who this week published a slideshow of "Most and Least Buddhist Cities in America," based off of 2010 data by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. More »
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    Himalayan Buddhist Art 101: Padmasambhava and the Copper-Colored Mountain Paid Member

    Posted by Alex Caring-Lobel on 15 Nov 2012
    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 explains the common depiction of Padmasambhava set amid a copper-colored mountain. Himalayan Art 101: Padmasambhava and the Copper-Colored Mountain More »