In a lot of ways, 2023 has felt like a dream, with many aspects of the year appearing as an unceasing torrent of nightmares. The violence in the Middle East has dominated headlines and ravaged hearts. Amidst the death and destruction, the United States has seen a rise in Islamophobic as well as antisemitic hate crimes, with abounding anger, grief, and confusion, and protests seemingly happening around every corner. 

Simultaneously, this year was a dark time for climate change, as New York City experienced what was the first, but surely not the last, burnt orange smog day, due to the worsening Canadian wildfires. And, as we saw last winter, COVID rates are surging once again, especially among the old and very young. We saw the death of Japanese Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, and SGI president Daisaku Ikeda as well as the passing of musical titans Tina Turner and Wayne Shorter, both of whom were practicing Buddhists. 

Yet there have been bright moments. The global relief and organizing efforts for those who have been displaced by the ongoing violence in Palestine stands as a beacon of hope, showcasing the world’s deep capacity for care and relief in times of humanitarian crisis. And earlier this year, it was reported that dolphins are swimming their way back to New York City’s Bronx and East Rivers—for the first time in over five years, no less—signaling improvements in the quality of the waterways, thanks in no small part to groups that have been working for decades to combat pollution. 

No matter what brought you here, there’s never been a better time to engage in a Buddhist practice to help navigate life’s many obstacles and challenges. No one comes to Buddhism when everything is going their way, and yet by channeling this uncertainty and worry into practice, one can sow the seeds for a better tomorrow, helping themselves and others to show up for life’s tests and hard decisions in a more clearheaded and compassionate way.

This year, we published pieces ranging from teachings on the Metta Sutta and shikantaza to reported pieces exploring the legacy and history of Nichiren and the cultural descendants of the Jataka tales. Whether you are a longtime reader or a first-time Buddhism-curious scroller, we invite you to take a moment of your day to explore lessons from Buddhism that may resonate and help you to live a better life. 

Without further ado, these are our twenty-three favorite pieces from 2023. 

• The Big Picture
  The Dzogchen tradition teaches that we are all intrinsically whole and complete. In a piece for the Fall 2023 Issue, professor of religious studies and dharma teacher Anne C. Klein (Lama Rigzin Drolma) breaks down what that means and how we can overcome the illusion of separateness.
• No Mud, No Lotus
  Known for exploring addiction and afflictive emotions on-screen, when off-screen, White Lotus and Sopranos actor Michael Imperioli is also a humble and committed Buddhist practitioner, studying under the lineage of Garchen Rinpoche. Imperioli spoke with Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, about the dangers of the instrumentalization of Buddhist practice, his relationship to his dharma name, and whether or not he believes that liberation is possible within this lifetime.
• Waking Up Is Letting the Mask Fall
  Colombian Zen monk Santiago Santai Jiménez invites us to question the very nature of how we view ourselves, the masks we wear, and the roles we fulfill in society. Jiménez says by returning to emptiness, or what in Zen is often referred to as “beginner’s mind,” more insights begin to emerge and open to moments of transcendent discovery.
• Opinion: Can We Allow the Dalai Lama to Be a Good Enough Refugee?
  In a personal essay, writer, translator, and editor Tenzin Dickie reflects on a controversial episode in the life of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, relating the divided public reaction and gratuitous expectations placed upon His Holiness to the precarity and powerlessness experienced by Tibetans living in exile. 
• After Thay
  In a piece from our Summer Issue, freelance journalist and editor Megan Sweas reports on how the greater Plum Village monastic community is reckoning with the loss of their founder, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the legacy he leaves behind.
• The Glorious, Victorious Life of Bodhisattva Wayne Shorter
  Buddhist mental health therapist, clinical educator, researcher, and internationally engaged consultant Kamilah Majied, PhD, pens a poetic eulogy in remembrance of the renowned jazz saxophonist, composer, and Soka Gakkai International practitioner.
• Memories in Exile: Tenzin Gyurmey
  Writer, dharma translator-scholar, and Tibetan Buddhist practitioner Adele Tomlin writes about the work of Tenzin Gyurmey, the artist illustrating the complexity of the Tibetan diaspora in India through works that combine spiritual iconography with surrealist visuals.
• Thai Monks on COVID Inside the Monastery
  Buddhist Studies scholar Brooke Schedneck, PhD, paints a detailed picture of how COVID-19 forced Thailand’s monastics, who are dependent on lay support, to stay within the monastery walls, and the subsequent effects on both the monks and the broader landscape of Buddhist practice in the Southeast Asian country. 
• Cormac McCarthy’s Buddhist Inspiration
  Triratna Buddhist Order member Vishvapani Blomfield explores how the 2005 Coen brothers masterpiece No Country for Old Men evolved from the Vedabbha Jataka—by way of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Pardoner’s Tale—and how its message has endured.
• The Funny Thing About Death
  Best-selling author and humorist David Sedaris has lots of thoughts about aging. “There’s nothing good about old age,” he told Tricycle earlier this year, “except you can ride the bus and the subway for free.” For our Summer Issue, Sedaris sat down with Tricycle contributing editor and Between-States columnist Ann Tashi Slater for a wide-ranging interview, where the two talk bardo wisdom, dying without regrets, and thrift store hunting’s unique ability to soothe the soul. 
• The First Plow
  This past spring, PhD candidate Victoria Andrews traveled to two Ladakhi villages, Tar and Basgo, to learn about how traditional plowing rituals connect villagers with their heritage and the environment, showing how Buddhism exists beyond temples and texts.
• A Gift
  Following the sudden dissolution of a treasured relationship, palliative care physician Sunita Puri reflects on the multifaceted nature of impermanence. 
• Forgetting the Self at a Party Full of Strangers
  Zen Buddhist teacher and psychologist Matthias Esho Birk, PhD, explains how he turns social anxiety, fear of rejection, and insecurity into fruitful practice. 
• Taking the Ache Out of Attachment
  In an excerpt from one of her guided meditations, Tibetan Buddhist nun Ven. Thubten Chodron provides listeners with a practice to help them to reflect on and work with attachment.
• Charnel Ground Lessons
  Dharma teacher and lay Tibetan Buddhist practitioner Lourdes Argüelles, PhD, reflects on her time spent in a charnel ground in India and a house of healing in California, and what both experiences taught her about accepting the inescapable.
• The Value of Simplicity
  In an excerpt from her latest book, Insight Meditation teacher Kim Allen unpacks a lesson from the Metta Sutta on the great protection that comes with letting go.
• Knowing Nichiren
  In our Spring Issue, Tricycle’s associate editor and Buddhism Public Scholar Frederick M. Ranallo-Higgins sat down with fellow scholar, professor emerita of Japanese Religions at Princeton University and award-winning author Jacqueline Stone, for a wide-ranging interview on everything Nichiren, from its founder, to its emphasis on the power of chanting, to the tradition’s highly social and engaged aspects.
• Sexuality, Desire, and the Dharma of Relationships
  In an excerpt from Tricycle’s online course, “The Dharma of Relationships: The Paramis in Action,” contributing teachers Martine Batchelor and Laura Bridgman discuss the different dimensions of sexuality, desire, and intimacy in relationships and in practice. 
• Is That So?
  For our Spring Issue, scholar, award-winning novelist, essayist, cartoonist, and martial arts teacher Charles Johnson pens a contemporary retelling of a classic Zen tale. Listen to Johnson speak with Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, on a recent episode of Tricycle Talks. 
• 1,000 Buddhas on a Native American Reservation
  Journalist Carmen Kohlruss and photojournalist Craig Kohlruss report on a Tibetan Buddhist peace garden in western Montana, and how a special connection between its founders and the local Native American residents are helping it to thrive.
• Love Is Being There
  A brief teaching from monk, author, and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh on how mindfulness practice can help us make time to love.
• Meeting Shame with Compassion: A Pure Land Antidote
  Writer, psychotherapist, and environmental activist Satya Robyn explores how Pure Land’s teachings on compassion and the Internal Family Systems model can help unburden our deepest feelings of shame.
• Remnants of Devotion
  Tricycle contributing editor, author, Shin Buddhist priest, and professor Jeff Wilson writes about butsudan, Japanese home Buddhist shrines, and the current state of the once-cherished tradition. 

The post Tricycle’s Top Articles of the Year appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

This year, like the years before it, gave rise to plenty of worry, anxiety, and adversity. A seemingly endless wave of COVID-19 surges and other viruses continues to overwhelm hospitals and families, there have been more than 600 mass shootings in the US this year to date, and the war in Ukraine carries on with no end in sight. The Buddhist world also saw the passing of beloved teacher and civil rights activist Thich Nhat Hanh, among many other prominent figures. But there were also reasons to celebrate: many families came together for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. The Biden-Harris administration announced a student loan relief plan. And the long-awaited James Webb Telescope launched successfully, which not only continues to awe the world with its early photographs but also puts life here on Earth in perspective. Here at Tricycle, we launched a Daily Dharma app, hosted a virtual summit on Buddhism and ecology as well as one on human flourishing, and published a number of articles that helped us consider another way to live. Below is a list of some of our favorites among those articles. Catch up on any you may have missed as we move forward together into the new year.

• Thich Nhat Hanh on Transforming Suffering
  In the wake of the spiritual leader’s passing, an excerpt on easing pain and generating joy through meditation, from his book No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering, struck a particularly resonant chord. 
• Temple Wives 
  Scholar Jessica Starling explained to former Tricycle web editor Karen Jensen how Shin Buddhism’s bomori, or “temple guardians,” challenge assumptions about gender roles, domestic life, and religious authority.
• Partial Equanimity 
  Jay Caspian Kang, author of The Loneliest Americans, spoke with Be the Refuge author Chenxing Han about how Buddhism has influenced his writing and career. 
• Why You Should Buy Nothing 
  Buy Nothing cofounder Liesl Clark discussed with former Tricycle senior editor Matthew Abrahams the Buddhist influences behind her international network of gifting groups that encourage people to give and ask from others in their local communities.
• Unclutter Your Life By Erasing Your Future
  Writer and meditation teacher Tina Lear describes how an unsettling practice can usher in a world of relief.
• After Rikers 
  Five years after becoming the first Buddhist chaplain for the staff at New York City’s notorious corrections facility, meditation teacher Justin von Bujdoss spoke with Tricycle editor-at-large Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar and reflected on his work and the institution.
• How Meditation Failed Me 
  Buddhist psychotherapist and author Mark Epstein, whose most recent book, The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life, which came out in January 2022, revisited his childhood disfluency.
• Unanswered Questions in Buddhist Studies 
  Scholar Donald S. Lopez Jr. covered four essential topics, including the Buddha’s life, the rise of Mahayana, the origin of Buddhist tantra, and the disappearance of Buddhism from India. 
• In the Cabin of the Crazy One 
  In an excerpt from her May 2022 book, This Body I Wore, Vajrayana practitioner Diana Goetsch recounted her late-in-life gender transition while on a twelve-day solo meditation retreat. 
• Uncovering the Hidden World of Tibetan Female Lamas 
  Scholar Elisabeth Benard spoke with Tricycle audio editor Sarah Fleming about her new book, The Sakya Jetsunmas: The Hidden World of Tibetan Female Lamas, the first scholarly account of the Sakya Khon family’s jetsunmas, or venerable women.
• All of the Nature to Change 
  While on a walk with her husband in the woods, writer and practitioner Barbara Gates reflected on aging, impermanence, and the Buddha’s five remembrances. 
• A Fierce and Tender Clarity 
  Writer, Zen teacher, and Tricycle teachings editor Vanessa Zuisei wrote about working with anger, when the only way out is through.
• There’s No Need to Be Busy 
  In an excerpt from the July 2022 book The Path to Peace: A Buddhist Guide to Cultivating Loving-Kindness, by the late international Buddhist teacher and nun Ayya Khema, edited by Leigh Brasington, Khema wrote about making time to do nothing.
• The Jhana Underground 
  Tricycle editor-at-large Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar reported on Nai Boonman, born Boonman Poonyathiro in Thailand in 1932, who has long gone uncredited for his teachings that helped sustain jhana practice.
• The Kindness of Joe Pera 
  Head writer for The Onion and Soto Zen practitioner Mike Gillis wrote about the series Joe Pera Talks with You, an unconventional sitcom that challenges viewers to focus on one thing at a time.
• What Goes Through the Bardos? 
  In an excerpt from her latest book, How We Live Is How We Die, Pema Chödrön wrote about dualistic consciousness, nonself, and everything in between.
• Jarvis Jay Masters Continues His Fight for Freedom 
  As a written order pends for Jarvis Jay Masters’s long-running case, Tricycle contributing editor Joan Duncan Oliver wrote about the “most famous Buddhist on death row,” who is also the author of two books and numerous articles.

The post Tricycle’s Top Articles of the Year appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

As another year of pandemic-induced uncertainty, fear, and frustration crescendos into its final days, the teachings, practices, interviews, and essays Tricycle published over the last year feel as timely as ever. Over the last twelve months, we’ve sought guidance for embracing the unknown and managing anxiety, learned about the internal wisdom of our bodies and emotions, and returned to ancient teachings and practices. Though the COVID-19 pandemic persists and our climate crisis still looms, we also remembered the importance of finding joy as we celebrated many great teachers and Tricycle’s 30th anniversary. Catch up on any articles you may have missed as we move forward together into the new year. Here are 21 of our top articles from 2021:

• The Best Possible Life by Seth Zuiho Segall 
  Zen priest and psychologist Seth Zuiho Segall finds that despite (or because of) decades of dedicated practice, there are some fundamental Buddhist beliefs that don’t ring true to him. Transcending into a state of nirvana is one such belief. But in lieu of this traditional goal for Buddhist practitioners, where does the path lead those who seek a more modest spiritual destination? To answer this question, Segall explores the Buddhist themes that get emphasized in the West and presents an interpretation of awakening based on Aristotle’s view of living an ethical and meaningful life.
• Bodhisattvas Have More Fun by Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara
  Today’s bodhisattvas must be able to adjust to the changes they see around them, says Zen priest Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara in her dharma talk from the Spring issue. But a life of service is not all hardship. It’s full of delights, too.
• George Saunders on What Buddhism Can Offer the World Right Now Interview by Daniel Burke
  After the publication of his latest book, A Swim in the Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Masterclass on Reading, Writing, and Life, the author and longtime Tibetan Buddhist practitioner discusses how reading stories reminds us of the “Previous and Better Selves We Have, Briefly, Been.”
• Thich Nhat Hanh in Paris by Fred Eppsteiner
  A dharma teacher and one of the first Americans to be ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh reflects on his time with the beloved Vietnamese Zen monk in the early 1970s, before he was a household name.
• Buddhism and the Real World by Donald S. Lopez Jr.
  Scholar Donald S. Lopez weighs in on the place of social action in the dharma. Historically, he argues, Buddhism has had relatively little to offer in the domain of social action, and what’s more is “that’s OK.”
• Music, Meditation, Painting—and Dreaming with Philip Glass and Fredericka Foster
  Composer Philip Glass and painter Fredericka Foster discuss their shared practices: music, art, and meditation.
• Just Love Them by Vanessa Zuisei Goddard
  A Zen monastery resident discovers her job has been getting in the way of the real work, which is to forget about things done or left to do, deadlines, milestones, profits and quotas, and just love whatever arises. 
• How to Read the Sutras (and Enjoy Yourself) by Kaia Fischer
  Translator Kaia Fischer offers six steps for easing into and learning to love these sacred texts, plus recommended reading for getting started. Step one: Find the time (don’t “make” it).
• A Nation in Flux with photography by Nge Lay, interview by Joe Freeman
  Overlaying archival photography and original portraits, Burmese artist Nge Lay illuminates how Myanmar’s past and present collide.

• A Journey Between Lives by Ann Tashi Slater
  Writer Ann Tashi Slater recounts how a life-threatening illness awakened her to The Tibetan Book of the Dead and the bardo teachings of her ancestors.
• Bhante Gunaratana on Guiding Meditations via Zoom, Daily Mindfulness, and Facing Death, an interview with Bhante Henepola Gunaratana by Douglas John Imbrogno
  At 93 years old, the Theravada Buddhist monk who goes by the nickname Bhante G reflects on Zoom meditation during the pandemic and offers advice for new practitioners.
• The Thukdam Project by Daniel Burke
  A reporter spotlights the first-ever scientific study of the post-mortem meditative state known as thukdam, where the bodies of Buddhist masters remain without decay for days after they’re pronounced dead. 
• A Matter of Life and Death by Sojun Mel Weitsman
  During a talk with his students at the Berkeley Zen Center, the late Sojun Mel Weitsman reflects on the question, “alive or dead?” from a Zen koan. 
• Trusting the Unknown by Kaira Jewel Lingo
  A meditation teacher and former nun explains how to trust—and find strength in—the unknown when confronting a major life decision. 
• How to Serve Humanity: His Holiness the Dalai Lama in conversation with Daniel Goleman
  In the Tricycle’s first issue, the Dalai Lama sat down for an interview with Spalding Gray. For our 30th anniversary issue, bestselling author and longtime Buddhist practitioner Daniel Goleman invited His Holiness the Dalai Lama to once again join in a conversation, one that covered Buddhism’s contribution to Western neuroscience, psychology, and education.
• Helpless, Not Hopeless by Kurt Spellmeyer 
  Embracing interdependence as our hidden common ground is our best hope for the future, argues Zen priest Kurt Spellmeyer.
• Embodying the Healing Mother by Mindy Newman
  Psychotherapist and meditation teacher Mindy Newman offers an introduction to the wisdom of Mother Tara and explains how the Tara practice can become a form of rapid reparenting even, or especially, for those who don’t have perfect parents.
• Finding the Voice, Performing the Self, an interview with Stephen Batchelor and Ruth Ozeki by James Shaheen
  In a special 30th-anniversary discussion, writers Stephen Batchelor and Ruth Ozeki explore the rituals and mysteries of creativity.
• Facing the Four Noble Truths, an interview with Sarah Ruhl by Ronn Smith 
  Playwright Sarah Ruhl explains how Tibetan Buddhism helped her cope with Bell’s palsy and the coronavirus pandemic in an interview shortly after the publication of her new book, Smile: The Story of a Face.
• Buddhism’s Biggest Open Secret by Wendy Biddlecombe Agsar 
  Tricycle’s editor-at-large takes a closer look at the adverse effects of meditation in Eastern and Western Buddhist practice.
• Food Is Very Important by Lewis Richmond
  A Zen teacher and author recalls a simple comment by Suzuki Roshi that encapsulates a Buddhist approach to disagreement. 

***

In case you missed any, our most popular podcasts and Dharma Talks are below, along with a handful of new series we ran this year:

Podcasts

• Dekila Chungyalpa: Becoming a Buddhist Climate Scientist
  The conservation scientist and director of a faith-based, climate-change initiative Dekila Chungyalpa shares how Buddhist teachings on emptiness, impermanence, non-attachment, and compassion sustain her.
• Sameet Kumar: Grieving Mindfully
  Co-hosts Sharon Salzberg and James Shaheen speak with Sameet Kumar, a psychologist and grief counselor, about practical advice, Buddhist teachings, and meditations to navigate pain and loss.
• Ann Tashi Slater: Every Moment Is a Bardo
  Writer Ann Tashi Slater joins co-hosts James Shaheen and Sharon Salzberg to discuss near-death experiences, end-of-life rituals, and what the living can learn from The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
• Joseph Goldstein: Tired of Pretending to Be Me
  After emerging from a three-month silent retreat, Joseph Goldstein discusses the value and challenges of a long retreat, the wisdom of investigation, and why we need joy—on retreat and off.
• Ruth Ozeki: ‘Music or Madness, It’s Up to You’
  On the release of her new novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness, Ruth Ozeki joins Tricycle’s editor-in-chief James Shaheen to discuss the redemptive power of writing, the interplay between creativity and madness, and relational modes of healing.

Dharma Talks 

• Kathy Cherry: The Wisdom of the Body, Connecting to Your Inner Resilience
  As a founding member and meditation teacher at DharmaPunx NYC and practitioner of Somatic Experiencing, Kathy Cherry offers a body-based approach to the mindfulness of the buddhadharma.
• Willa Blythe Baker: The Art of Somatic Mindfulness
  Meditation teacher Willa Blythe Baker helps us access the body’s wisdom through an exploration of the four layers of embodiment: the physical, energetic, mental, and integrative.
• Norman Fischer: When You Greet Me, I Bow: Relationships, Emptiness, and Activism 
  The poet, translator, and Zen Buddhist priest Norman Fischer shares lessons from his decades of practice: from relationships, to emptiness, to activism, to cultural encounters between East and West.
• B. Alan Wallace: A New Paradigm for Science and Religion
  B. Alan Wallace presents a paradigm in which science and religion join together in a spirit of radical empiricism and open-minded, experiential inquiry.

Series

• The Monthly Haiku Challenge
  Beginning in January, Tricycle invited readers to take part in the Monthly Haiku Challenge, moderated by Clark Strand, to follow the changing seasons together and share in the joy of haiku.
• Buddhist Justice Reporter
  From March to June, a community of BIPOC Buddhist teachers, writers, and lawyers formed the  Buddhist Justice Reporter team to cover the criminal proceedings of the George Floyd trials. 
• Secularizing Buddhism Live Virtual Conversation Series
  In August, Tricycle hosted a week-long conversation series with Shambhala Publications to explore the complex interactions between traditional Buddhism and modern secularism, from the integration of mindfulness into American schools to the question of rebirth. Read an excerpt from the book Secularizing Buddhism here, and a review here.
• Tricycle’s 30th Anniversary 
  To celebrate Tricycle’s 30th anniversary in April, we brought together some of our favorite Buddhist teachers and longtime contributors for a month-long series of donation-based virtual events—including an exclusive interview with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the cover star of Tricycle’s first issue!

The post Tricycle’s Top 21 in 2021 appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

We’ve finally made it to the end of 2020. It’s been a difficult and momentous year—one that’s brought tremendous change and uncertainty to our lives and our world. 

Every December, our editors take a look back at the stories and conversations that defined the year. In 2020, many of our top stories grappled with the most pressing issues of the day: the pandemic, the climate crisis, racial justice, and the US presidential elections. Others highlighted perennial wisdom and spiritual practices to help us find our inner core of strength, compassion, and joy, no matter what’s going on in the world around us.

We’ve compiled our top 10 articles of 2020 in the list below. We hope they may serve as a source of reflection, inspiration, and comfort through the winter holidays. Enjoy! 

• Embracing Extinction By Stephen Batchelor
  Climate change poses an existential threat to humanity. Secular dharma teacher Stephen Batchelor asks: How can Buddhism help us meet this pivotal moment in our evolution? 
• Absolutely, Indestructibly Happy Interview with Tina Turner by Clark Strand 
  The pop icon opens up about the Buddhist practice that supported her through the darkest moments of her life—and has given her an unshakable hope for the future. 
• Shin Buddhism: A Path of Gratitude By Rev. Dr. Kenji Akahoshi
  The secret of Shin Buddhist practice is a mental shift from the constant desires of the ego to a deep appreciation for all that we’ve already received. 
• Say a Little Prayer By Ken McLeod
  How do you make your life your spiritual practice? For writer Ken McLeod, the answer was hiding in a 12th century Tibetan prayer. 
• Practicing in a Pandemic By Tricycle 
  Our favorite Buddhist teachers and writers offer insights, advice, and practices for coping with COVID and navigating times of uncertainty. 
• The Buddhist Bet By Leslie Mancillas
  A writer looks back on the 100-day chanting challenge that saved her mother’s life and healed their abusive relationship. 
• Racial Justice Is Everyone’s Work By Tricycle 
  At the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, our editors compiled a series of Buddhist essays and conversations on healing racism within ourselves and in our country. 
• How to Read the Lotus Sutra Interview with Jacqueline Stone and Donald S. Lopez Jr. by James Shaheen
  The Lotus Sutra has mystified and perplexed generations of spiritual seekers. Scholars Jacqueline Stone and Donald Lopez show you how to make sense of the “King of Sutras.” 
• One Hundred Karmas By Mindy Newman and Kaia Fisher 
  Karma isn’t about blaming ourselves for the things that happen to us. Instead, it’s about empowering ourselves to change our lives for the better.  
• Don’t-Know Mind and the Election of Our Lives By David Loy 
  For Zen teacher David Loy, the anxiety-ridden days leading up to the US presidential election were an opportunity to explore the power of not knowing. 

***

In case you missed it:

Our most popular Dharma Talk of this year was Digital Detox: Reclaim Your Mind From Social Media Addiction by Buddhist teacher Bodhipaksa. 

Plus, be sure to check out our podcast Tricycle Talks, a series of interviews with leading Buddhist thinkers, including a heartfelt interview with the late Buddhist teacher Michael Stone’s wife Carina Stone on grief and recovery, a deep-dive into solitude with dharma teacher and writer Stephen Batchelor, and a sparkling conversation with 91-year-old writer and ecologist Joanna Macy. 

And don’t forget our new podcast series of short practices, For the Moment, which debuted as a response to the anxiety caused by COVID-19. 

The post 2020: The Year in Buddhist Wisdom appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

As we prepare to ring in a new year—and a new decade!—we’re taking a moment to reflect back on the highlights of the year that’s now coming to a close. 

To honor the year’s end, we—the Tricycle team—put our heads together to compile our Top Ten pieces of 2019. Admittedly, choosing the top writings of the year is something of an odd exercise for a publication whose subject matter (Buddhist wisdom) is essentially timeless. These pieces may not be pegged to the news of the day, but they reflect the keen insights of our contributors and the real concerns of our readers at this moment in time. 

Narrowing the list down wasn’t easy—we could go on forever with highlights from the many outstanding articles we were able to offer in 2019.

In case you missed them, here are ten of our favorite pieces of the year:

• Peeling Away the Promise of Desire by Joseph Goldstein
  Why do we find ourselves looking for happiness in all the wrong places? Joseph Goldstein investigates what the Buddha had to say about the search for true fulfillment.
• Why Do We Still Have Religion? with Elaine Pagels
  In one of our most popular episodes of the Tricycle Talks podcast, author and religious studies professor Elaine Pagels grapples with the role of religion in a secular culture.
• Awakening from Climate Slumber by Linda Heuman
  Read this to learn why the Dalai Lama thinks Buddhism could help save us from ecological collapse. 
• The Couch and the Cushion: Why Mindfulness Is No Substitute for Therapy by Rande Brown
  When we turn to meditation as a cure for psychological problems, we often end up avoiding them instead.
• Is Buddhism Scientific or Religious? by John Dunne
  Many Western Buddhists claim that Buddhism is more like a science of the mind than a religion. Is there any real truth to that claim?
• Learning to See Our Racial Biases with Rhonda Magee
  Law professor and mindfulness teacher Rhonda Magee digs down to the persistent roots of racial injustice in a powerful conversation on the Tricycle Talks podcast. 
• Goodnight Metta: A Bedtime Meditation for Kids by Sumi Loundon Kim
  Teach little ones about lovingkindness with this simple, soothing bedtime ritual.
• Leaving Everything Behind by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche with Helen Tworkov
  A renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher leaves the comfort of his monastery and comes face-to-face with death during a four-year “wandering retreat.”
• The Buddha’s Communication Toolbox with Oren Jay Sofer
  Mindful communication teacher Oren Jay Sofer translates ancient principles of right speech into the world of modern communications in this four-part Dharma Talk series.
  
• Get Out of Your Head by Sean Murphy
  By drawing our attention to the five skandhas (conditions of reality), we can learn to catch ourselves in the moment before we slip into old patterns of reactivity.

The post Tricycle Top Ten in 2019 appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

Enjoy our top stories from 2018, which included Buddhist teachings to avoid numbness in the wake of a tragedy, an exploration of the deep spiritual questions in a popular Netflix documentary about a controversial cult leader, and advice on finding happiness from a death and dying educator.

Thank you for being part of the Tricycle community this year.

• The Human Deity by Kurt Spellmeyer
  Seeing the Buddha as both human and divine opens us to our own limitless nature.
• Are You Looking to Buddhism When You Should Be Looking to Therapy? by C. W. Huntington, Jr.
  Though Buddhism and psychotherapy often seem to pair nicely together, they have completely different end games.
• Buddha and Bullets by Roshi Joan Halifax
  How to avoid numbness and empathy in the wake of a(nother) school shooting.
• What Wild Wild Country Missed by Curtis White
  This top Netflix documentary of 2018 needed more culture war analysis, less true crime.
• What Mindfulness Is Not, a conversation with Stephen Batchelor, Christina Feldman, Akincano M. Weber, and John Peacock
  Contrary to popular culture, there is no shortcut or hack when it comes to our happiness.
• Travel Guide to the End of Life, an interview with Sallie Tisdale
  The death and dying educator explains how we can meet death as wholly as one aims to meet life.
• Brown Body, White Sangha by Atia Sattar
  Painful emotions on race and heritage can fall on deaf ears in a predominately white sangha.
• Tilopa’s Six Nails by Repa Dorje Odzer (Justin von Bujdoss)
  A 10th-century Indian master’s simple and powerful meditation advice.
• How Samaya Works by Ken McLeod
  Do you really have to do whatever your teacher says?
• Sick and Useless Zen by Julie Nelson
  How a foggy brain and chronic fatigue showed one practitioner a new kind of full and vital life.  

The post Best <i>Tricycle</i> Stories of 2018 appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

From evolutionary psychology’s support of what the Buddha taught 2,600 years ago to why Stephen Batchelor quit guru yoga to three poems to introduce your child to mindfulness, here are 17 articles, podcasts, and videos from the last 12 months that you don’t want to miss before the year is up.

FROM THE MAGAZINE

Why I Quit Guru Yoga
Does elevating the guru to the same status as the teachings themselves set the stage for teacher-student abuse?
By Stephen Batchelor

Hold to the Center!
Zen advice for when things blow up around you
By Wendy Egyoku Nakao Roshi

What Went Wrong
An interview with Tibetan psychologist Lobsang Rapgay about student-teacher relationships that turn abusive
By Emma Varvaloucas

The Power of the Third Moment
The look you gave the driver who cut you off. The email you shouldn’t have sent. There’s an effective way to avoid acting on your worst emotions.
By Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche

Mapping Your Mind: The Original Buddhist Psychology
Clinical psychologist and Soto Zen teacher Beth Jacobs demystifies the Abhidharma
By Marie Scarles

The Gift of Fear
Fear is a part of human nature, so there is little point in forcing ourselves to overcome it or pretending to be unaffected by it. In fact, we do so at our peril.
By Dharmavidya David Brazier

When My Son Became a Monk
A mother adjusts to her son’s new way of being in the world.
By Sarah Conover

Globalism 3.0
The secret to world harmony isn’t oneness. It’s multiplicity.
By Kurt Spellmeyer

FROM TRIKE DAILY

Three Poems to Introduce Children to Mindfulness
Breathe and Be uses poetry and illustrations to show children practices that can help them stay calm, regulate their emotions, and appreciate the world.
By Kate Coombs, Illustrated by Anna Emilia Laitinen  

Why Grief Is a Series of Contractions and Expansions
A Zen priest and bereavement educator explains the importance of sticking with our pain and other difficult emotions so we can come out on the other side.
By Joanne Cacciatore

Why We Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Suffering
Instead, we should fear not knowing how to handle our suffering
By Thich Nhat Hanh

I Tried the “Buddhist Monk” Diet—And It Worked
But not just for slimming one ex-monks’ waistline
By Matthew Gindin

The Buddha Talks to a Brahmin Supremacist
How a Buddhist teaching on dismantling the superiority of the brahmin class can help us take on racism.
By Krishnan Venkatesh

Hacking My Way to Consistent Meditation
How gamification helped a longtime “bad” meditator develop a steady and successful practice.
By Biju Sukumaran

Why Trees Are The Ultimate Meditation Teachers
In Buddhism, trees have long been recognized as living things worthy of recognition and protection.
By Lauren Krauze

FROM DHARMA TALKS 

Learning to Be Buddha: Examining Our Actions of Body, Speech, and Mind
Soto Zen teacher Susan Moon looks at our vows to practice the Buddhist precepts and teaches us to view ourselves with compassion and humor when we make mistakes.

FROM TRICYCLE TALKS

Why (Science Says) Buddhism is True
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, journalist and science writer Robert Wright explains how evolutionary psychology supports what the Buddha taught 2,600 years ago.

The post Tricycle’s Top 17 of 2017 appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

2016 was a milestone year at Tricycle.

What started 25 years ago as a modest effort around founding editor Helen Tworkov’s kitchen table is now an international publication that reaches hundreds of thousands of readers in print and online. This year, we also launched a sleekly redesigned, user-friendly website and online course platform to help you better engage and learn from influential Buddhist teachers.

At 25, our commitment to help you learn from and engage with the Buddhist community is as strong as ever.  

As 2016 comes to a close, here are 16 articles, videos, and dharma talks published over the last 12 months that we think are worth a read (or a second look) before the year is up:

From the Magazine

Where the Thinking Stops
How prayer can put us in touch with something that is infinitely greater than we are—the mind itself
By Ken McLeod

Revisiting Ritual
Modern Buddhists often resist embracing ritual practice. But by working with our resistance, we can open ourselves to ritual’s liberatory potential.
By Anne C. Klein

Black Coffee Buddhism
An interview with writer and philosopher Charles Johnson
By E. Ethelbert Miller

Death is Not an Emergency
A Buddhist chaplain at the bedside of a Catholic patient
By Robert Chodo Campbell

Doing, Being, and the Great In-Between
Can putting an end to the endless pursuit of becoming someone imbue our lives with meaning?
By Christina Feldman

Our Common Thread
A Nichiren priest resists the idea that meditation is the unifying factor across Buddhist traditions.
By Myokei Caine-Barrett

Does Mindfulness Belong in Public Schools?
Two views
By Candy Gunther Brown and Saki Santorelli

From Trike Daily

Meet the First (and Only) Woman to Summit Mt. Everest Seven Times
Lhakpa Sherpa works as a housekeeper in Connecticut and climbs to provide for her three children.
By Wendy Joan Biddlecombe

Finding Refuge in a Time of War
This election cycle had been a condensed version of everything a child of immigrants learned to fear. The difference now is that she has a community.
By Daisy Hernández

Jhana: The Spice Your Meditation Practice Has Been Missing
Why jhana meditation is a transformative and vital part of the eightfold path
By Jay Michaelson

An Ethical Insurrection
French Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard talks about why we’re due for radical change in how we treat animals.
By Marie Scarles

Why a Buddhist Yoga Teacher Heard the Call to Save 135 Rabbits
How Wendy Cook, who had never considered herself an animal activist, coordinated the “Great Rabbit Liberation of 2016.”
By Lakshmi Gandhi

Watch: SIT
A short documentary about Soto Zen priest Shohaku Okumura and his family.
Directed by Yoko Okumura

My Stoop Sangha 
If my Harlem block is my sangha, then the stoop provides two opportunities for seeking refuge: privacy and participation.
By Lauren Krauze

How a Monk-Turned-Street Artist Sees New York City’s Homeless
Pairoj Pichetmetakul hopes “The Positivity Scrolls” help teach New Yorkers compassion.
By Roi Ben-Yehuda and Terence Cantarella

From Dharma Talks

Using the Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction
With Valerie Mason-John (Vimalasara)

The post Tricycle’s Top 16 of 2016 appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

From exploring the beginner meditator’s mind to the idea that journaling, Pilates, and colon cleanses won’t help with your impending mortality, here are 15 articles and talks from Tricycle in 2015 that you shouldn’t miss.

From the blog 

5 Things That Might Surprise You About Meditation Retreats
Retreats aren’t all calm and cosmic-flavored bubblegum, Brent R. Oliver writes. 

It Needs Saying
Buddhism is not a philosophy, science, psychotherapy, or culture. It is a religion. 

The Zen of Not-Knowing
Beginner’s mind is Zen practice in action. It is the mind that is innocent of preconceptions and expectations, judgments and prejudices. Beginner’s mind is just present to explore and observe and see “things as they are.”

Turning Intention into Motivation
Thupten Jinpa writes that we can change our lives by “framing our days between intention setting and joyful dedication.” 

Living by Meditation Alone
Why Buddhism reduced to meditation is a spiritual dead end. 

From the magazine

Self-Care for Future Corpses
“You’re going to die, so stop being a whiny baby,” advises Sallie Jiko Tisdale.

A New Way Forward
Buddhist tradition and modernity are in many ways incompatible. But one Western intellectual tradition may hold a key to bringing the two into meaningful dialogue.  

On the Path with Thay
One students reflects on 30 years with the Vietnamese master Thich Nhat Hanh. 

Religion Resurrected
A secular Buddhist, recoiling from the ills of both theism and atheism, suggests that we move beyond both. 

After Buddhism

Tricycle editor and publisher James Shaheen talks with Stephen Batchelor, the most prominent proponent of secular Buddhism. 

Expiration Date
Every story ends with a death sentence. But the story doesn’t end there. 

After the Future
Rediscovering the meaning of rebirth. 

Taken Away and Given
Encounters in old age.

Online Retreats

Cultivating Emotional Intellegence with Josh Korda 

Radical Reflections for Freeing Your Mind with Kittisaro and Thanissara 

The post Tricycle’s Top 15 of 2015 appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.

This year, we once again turned the Tricycle “wheel of dharma” in our usual thoughtful yet provocative—and (we like to think) occasionally funny way. Self-described white trash Buddhist Brent Oliver taught us that the future of Buddhism depends on who it belongs to, author Ruth King explained how to transform anger into wisdom, and writer Allan Badiner brought us to the Nevada desert to see what the dharma looks like at Burning Man. Take a walk with us down memory lane to look at the articles that made this year at Tricycle one to remember.

From the Magazine:

White Trash Buddhist

In one of the most talked about Tricycle articles of the year, a minimum-wage earning Kentucky native, Brent Oliver, gives a firsthand account of the prohibitive costs and alienating cultural norms of dharma practice in the United States that put enlightenment beyond his pay grade.     

After the Monastery  

Remember the last time you saw a floppy disk? For Jeanette Tetsu, daughter of former Chan monk Bhikshu Heng Ju, it was back in 1998, shortly after her father’s death, when she happened upon the memoirs that detailed his life’s struggle with alcoholism, self-judgment, and eventually, acceptance. Her story and that of her father were published for the first time in Tricycle.  

Under One Umbrella 

In this interview with the Dalai Lama’s translator, Thupten Jinpa Langri, he acknowledges the importance of the ongoing conversation between Buddhism and science but says the benefits may prove more limited than Westerners expect. “In the end, when it comes to spiritual practice,” he explains, “you are your own best proof.”

Dharma on the Playa  

Take a romp to the orgiastic Burning Man festival, where Tricycle contributing editor Allan Badiner spent a night among Buddhists offering care to those partygoers in the midst of a bad trip.   

The Dismay of Motherhood  

In one of our most eloquently written articles of the year, Tricycle contributing editor Mary Talbot delves unblinkingly into the inevitable insecurity and loss that accompanies a mother’s relationship with her child. “The version of okay we sell to our kids and to ourselves,” she declares, “the okay that parents are meant to provide in this world—is untenable.” 

Meditation en Masse 

The prevalence of meditation among Western Buddhist practitioners makes it seem as though it has been central to the Buddhist religion all along. Yet, as scholar Erik Braun points out in this thorough historical treatment, the rise of lay meditation is a very recent phenomenon born out of Burma’s mid-20th century anti-colonial movement.   

No One Special to Be 

In the Fall 2014 issue’s cover story, Zen Buddhist teacher Ezra Bayda posits that our very desire for uniqueness is what impedes true liberation. Rather than aspire to special distinction, we should let our natural being arise, thereby freeing ourselves to relate honestly with the people and activities we hold dear.

From the Web: 

Embracing the Mad Mind

In our most popular online video retreat of the year, Buddhist teacher and author Ruth King instructs us on how to properly channel the intensity of strong emotions like rage in order to get in touch with the seeds of radiance and joy that are accessible within us. 

Andrew Holecek: The Good Death

Tibetan Buddhist teacher Andrew Holecek makes a persuasive case that the practices that ensure a peaceful death are also vital to a well-lived life. He then equips us with the skills to make those dual aspirations a reality. Tune into one of the most listened to podcasts from our successful new series. 

Meditation Nation  

In this highly controversial interview, Brown University professor and neuroscience researcher Willoughby Britton casts doubt on the science driving the popularity of mindfulness meditation. 

Let Them Eat Empathy 

This incisive article tells the story of how the Dalai Lama became an unwitting spokesman for free market capitalism.  

The Suffering of Addiction 

Noah Levine, author and founder of a dharma-based substance abuse rehabilitation program called Refuge Recovery, explains what differentiates his approach to fighting addiction. “We can take the suffering of addiction,” says Levine, “and turn it into a path that ends not just the suffering of addiction but all human suffering.”

But for a Moment 

In September, a terminally ill young man named Asher Lipson asked Tricycle to publish his writings. Tragically, he passed away before we could do so. But Asher’s request was granted shortly thereafter with this journal entry, wherein he grapples with the question of how best to use what little time he has left. 

Bringing It All Back Home

Can we love our families fully while upholding the Buddha’s teaching on nonattachment? Tibetan Buddhist teacher Lama Jampa Thaye answers with a resounding yes in this description of how our familial relationships actually offer the perfect opportunity for cultivating genuinely felt love.

The post Tricycle’s Top 14 of 2014 appeared first on Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.