Tricycle | Awake in the World

As practitioners, we're all familiar with the obstacles that arise during our practice—the "five hindrances" of desire, aversion, laziness, restlessness, and doubt are traditionally the most common roadblocks. But what, specifically, are the things that keep you away from your practice? Is it some manifestation of those pesky hindrances? Or is it something else, such as a lack of time, self-discipline, or a proper space? In this discussion we'd like to explore obstacles to practice. And then, ultimately, we’d like to hear how you are working to overcome these obstacles. After all, we all get stuck. How do you get unstuck?Image: Liu Bolin More »

Nearly half of all homeless youth have experienced sexual, physical or psychological abuse by an immediate family member.   Some youth become homeless when their parents die of poverty or AIDS, others are turned out because of parental neglect or drug abuse and still others because they identify as lesbian, gay or transgender.   All of the homeless youth living in shelters, couch-surfing or working the streets have suffered from trauma, anxiety, fear, isolation, loneliness and hopelessness. And yet, our homeless system in America is built upon a philosophy of addressing external conditions—such as offering temporary shelter, occasional meals and intermittent health care. Venturing within—to work with the root causes of sustained homelessness—is viewed as experimental and too costly.  And so, most homeless youth become homeless adults. More »

Many of us feel that the modern efforts to save time have backfired, bringing onerous new problems of their own. Our technological advances and constant availability have blurred the line between leisure time and work. No sooner do we wrap our minds around a new computer program than it becomes obsolete. We can end up wasting precious minutes stuck on the phone with someone on the other side of the world, trying to figure out how to reset the computer brain in our dryer, or stove, or espresso machine. It takes time to learn how to do online banking, connect with friends on Facebook, master the complexities of smartphones and GPS units, and download a best seller to our e-readers. When Excel crashes and the work is lost after we’ve spent an hour entering data for a deadline, our blood pressure skyrockets. There’s even technology to fix stress created by technology. More »

In the wake of 9/11, we struggled with the consequences and lessons of that terible day, as did all organizations concerned with spiritual traditions. The Winter 2001 issue, the first to appear after 9/11, featured responses from a number of respected Buddhist figures, among them Acharya Judy Lief, who wrote: More »

About a year ago, in his piece "Christian Buddhism?" on Buddhist Geeks, Dennis Hunter suggested that we Buddhists ought to more seriously consider the influence of Christianity when we speak of Buddhism in the West. More »

The Buddha was a revolutionary, a radical advocate for personal and social transformation. He rejected the religious forms of his time and renounced all forms of greed, hatred, and delusion. He dedicated his life to going "against the stream," to the subversive path of an outlaw transient. He wasn't afraid to speak out against the ignorance in this world's political, social, and religious structures, but he did so from a place of love and kindness, from an enlightened compassion that extended to all living beings. The Buddha's teachings are not a philosophy or a religion; they are a call to action, an invitation to revolution.-Noah Levine, The Heart of the Revolution More »

Work, sex, and money: these are among the most powerful elements of everyday life, and they are topics that preoccupy us, almost every day. In relationship to work, innumerable books, articles, TV programs and internet sites give career advice, tell you how to dress for the workplace, deal with bullies or bosses, ask for a raise, or be an effective manager.  Our obsession with sex and relationships is addressed, and titillated, in print and by film, television and the internet, whether we prefer fiction, the tabloids, or “reality” TV. Money has become an increasing source of anxiety. How to save, how to spend wisely, how to make more money, how to do more with less, exhilaration when the stock market rises, panic when we lose our job: we have lots of issues with money. More »

This book is about spiritual teachers who have sex with their students, the suffering that such encounters often cause, and what all of us can do about it. This is not a book of finger-pointing or whistle-blowing. Nor does it defend or apologize for spiritual teachers who lose their way. In fact, as we will see, the more we attack or defend wayward teachers, the more we encourage their waywardness. Instead, this book is intended to create greater safety and spiritual intimacy between spiritual teachers and their students, and among members of spiritual communities. More »

Martine Batchelor joins us here to discuss her new book, The Spirit of the Buddha. Formerly a nun in the Korean tradition of Zen Buddhism, Martine is the author of several books and is a frequent contributor to Tricycle. She led a Tricycle Retreat, "Break Your Addictive Patterns," in the summer of 2010, and lives in France with her husband Stephen.From the introduction of The Spirit of the Buddha: More »