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    Watch Martine Batchelor: Meditation on the Breath Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 08 Jun 2010
    This week Martine Batchelor begins her four-week Tricycle Retreat, "Break Your Addictive Patterns." In her Week 1 teaching—a clip of which is posted below—she emphasizes meditation on the breath as a way to help us deal with our difficult habits, which can cause grief to ourselves and others. She gives very clear meditation instructions in her 20-minute video, with an emphasis on freeing us from the well-worn channels of thought we normally inhabit, and moving on to a freer more creative space. You can read meditation instructions from her book Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits here. More »
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    Saving the world one punk badge at a time Paid Member

    Posted by Monty McKeever on 08 Jun 2010
    A little grassroots non-profit art project named BuddhaBadges was recently brought to my attention by John of the blog ZenDirtZenDust.  Wonderful in its simplicity and with some solid artistic design behind it, Buddhabadges sells one-inch Buddhist punk badges over the web for a dollar a piece to help raise money for a rotating roster of respectable charities. More »
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    Martine Batchelor's Tricycle Retreat Begins Today: Breaking Bad Habits Paid Member

    Posted by James Shaheen on 07 Jun 2010
    Each of the Tricycle Retreats has its own flavor. Martine Batchelor's is probably the most personable—we even get to meet her cat and have a look at the view from here terrace at her home in South of France—red-tile roofs as far as the eye can see (Martine and husband, Stephen, live just outside Bordeaux). All this before we settle in to a clear and accessible teaching on the fundamentals of meditation. What I especially like is that Martine begins with the basics—always a great way to open a retreat. Later, she'll explain how the type of meditation she teaches can work to change our habits at a fundamental level. You can check out the first teaching for free here. More »
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    Do Less & Accomplish More Paid Member

    Posted by James Shaheen on 07 Jun 2010
    I'm sure multitasking has made me dumber and the NYT's lead this morning just confirmed my suspicions. But if Anna's post below disheartens you, here's the antidote: Marc Lesser's "Do Less & Accomplish More." Lesser offers step-by-step practical advice for making the most of your time. My own tip: Consider turning off TweetDeck, and let me know if you do: I haven't managed to pull the plug on it yet. More »
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    Dogen on the doubtful virtues of arguing Paid Member

    Posted by Philip Ryan on 07 Jun 2010
    Zoketsu Norman Fischer was at the Brooklyn Zen Center last night and I was anxious to go. I was a few hours outside New York City on Sunday morning, and all day I was restless and rushing and arguing with the person I perceived as holding me back from getting into New York so I could go. More »
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    Sarah Palin, Zen Master? Paid Member

    Posted by Sam Mowe on 04 Jun 2010
    In his article "Did Sarah Palin Top Rush Limbaugh’s Idiotic BP Oil Spill Remarks?" on ecopolitology, Zachary Shahan suggests the possibility that Sarah Palin is a Zen master. After reading one of Sarah Palin's latest remarks, my mind has almost gone blank. Perhaps she is actually a Buddhist teacher in disguise and these confusing or nonsensical one-liners she puts out are really Zen kōans geared at bringing more people to enlightenment. Here is the one that almost brought me to enlightenment (from Palin's Twitter feed): "Extreme Greenies:see now why we push'drill,baby,drill'of known reserves&promising finds in safe onshore places like ANWR? More »