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    Letters to the Editor Spring 2013 Paid Member

    Out of Context I read the two Winter 2012 cover articles (“The Scientific Buddha” by Donald Lopez and “A Gray Matter” by Bernard Faure) on the convergence of Buddhism and science and found them to be off the mark in some important ways. More »
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    Letters to the Editor Winter 2012 Paid Member

    Leap of Faith Thank you for publishing Linda Heuman’s brilliant piece, “What’s at Stake as the Dharma Goes Modern?” (Fall 2012). Heuman’s articulate exposition of the fundamental misapprehension that underpins so much of the discussion regarding Buddhism in the West not only helps to clarify that discussion, but also provides an incontrovertible argument for inclusion and for open-minded investigation. More »
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    Buying Wisdom? Paid Member

    As the founder and host of Wisdom 2.0, I was saddened to read “Buying Wisdom: The Art of Mindful Networking” in the last issue of Tricycle. While the piece brought up some good points, I was disappointed that Tricycle would publish a piece with so many inaccuracies. There were the small ones, like referring to our event as the Second Annual (it was the Third Annual) and getting the name of the community board wrong. Other errors were more severe, like the line: “conference’s sponsors included such tech corporations as Google, Facebook, Zynga, and PayPal—and it showed.” The writer then explains how “it showed” at the conference he attended. But Zynga, Paypal, and Facebook were not sponsors of the conference. We have no idea where the writer got this or why this was never checked. More »
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    Letters to the Editor Fall 2012 Paid Member

    Looking Beyond BuddhismI was drawn to Rita M. Gross’s provocative view that a “new golden age” of Buddhism could be facilitated if Buddhists of various sects opened their minds to studying each other’s teachings (“Buddhist to Buddhist,” Spring 2012). I found myself entirely agreeing, but I also found myself hoping that Gross would drop the other shoe; namely, I couldn’t see why her recommendations for ecumenical inquiry should stop with Buddhism. Perhaps the “golden age” could come even more quickly, and for everyone, if we also looked outside of Buddhism and between the religions. More »
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    Letters to the Editor Paid Member

    Salute to the Son I am writing to express my appreciation to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. I was especially taken by his support for Westerners' taking more responsibility in the development of dharma and not depending so much on the Asian teachers. This is a refreshing view, as Tibetan teachers in particular so often express a proprietary or territorial sense of ownership about "their" dharma. I do not practice in a Tibetan lineage, but I have heard senior students complain that their Tibetan teachers deep down think that Westerners are barbarians who will just never get it right. More »
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    Letters to the Editor Summer 2012 Paid Member

    A Binding up “Pursuing an American Buddhism,” Linda Heuman’s interview with Buddhist scholar Charles Prebish (Spring 2012), struck a chord with me. Buddhism has always adapted to, as well as transformed, any culture to which it was transplanted. It is surely one of its strengths that because it makes no claims to speak for revealed truth but invites each person to verify within whatever is being promulgated, it has been able to thrive in very different contexts. More »