Alle afleveringen
218 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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Untying the Knots That Bind with Anne C. Klein
28 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Anne C. Klein is a professor of religious studies at Rice University, a lama in the Nyingma tradition, and a founding teacher at Dawn Mountain Center for Tibetan Buddhism in Houston. Her new book, Lamplight on Your Path: Adzom Drukpa's Guide to Dzogchen's Foundational Practices, provides the first English translation of a classic Tibetan practice manual. Considered a companion text to Patrul Rinpoche’s beloved Words of My Perfect Teacher, Lamplight on Your Path offers a commentary on Jigme Lingpa’s foundational practices, or ngondro, that prepare the mind for the state of wholeness and freedom at the heart of the dzogchen tradition. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Klein to talk about what the foundational practices are and why they’re considered so essential, how chanting helps us to internalize and embody the teachings, the relationship between effort and effortlessness in dzogchen practice, and how the foundational practices can untie the knots that bind us to samsara.
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Embodying the Dharma Through Ethical Living with Marisela B. Gomez
21 oktober 2026 · 54 min
Marisela B. Gomez is a dharma teacher, physician-scientist, and public health scholar. She recently cowrote a book with Valerie Brown called Love Is Liberation: Five Contemplations for Daily Ethical Living. Drawing from Thich Nhat Hanh’s five mindfulness trainings, the book presents ethical guidelines aimed to help us transform suffering in ourselves, our communities, and our world, particularly in the context of injustice and oppression. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Gomez to discuss how she was first introduced to the five mindfulness trainings, why the mindfulness trainings are like spiritual friends, and how contemplating the trainings can offer us a path back to our values. Plus, Gomez leads a guided meditation.
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A Vision of Buddhist Democracy with William Edelglass
14 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
On October 14, 1956, B. R. Ambedkar, the Dalit activist and chief architect of the Indian constitution, led nearly half a million followers in a mass conversion to Buddhism. The conversion set in motion the development of a religious movement known as Navayana, or New Buddhism, which positioned Buddhism as a fierce rejection of Hindu nationalism and caste politics. In Ambedkar’s reading, Buddhism was uniquely suited to support a revolutionary reconstruction of Indian society grounded in religious transformation. In the years since his death, many Dalits have followed his example and converted to Buddhism as a form of protest and resistance. Lees meer
In honor of the seventieth anniversary of Ambedkar’s conversion, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sat down with scholar William Edelglass, who has written extensively about Ambedkar’s life and legacy. In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Edelglass discusses why Ambedkar believed reform was inadequate and true change required complete annihilation of caste, how Ambedkar viewed social conflict as the primary cause of suffering, Ambedkar’s reimagining of the Buddha’s life story, and how Ambedkar understood Buddhism as a path of collective freedom from violence and social inequality.
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Nirosta Steel on Buddhist Pop and the Making of ‘MY SKYSCRAPER’
30 september 2026 · 56 min
Steven Hall, aka Nirosta Steel, has been making ambitious experimental music for more than forty years, though most of it has gone unreleased. This summer, the Indiana label ULYSSA dug through decades of Hall’s archives to put together his first album in years, MY SKYSCRAPER, which quickly rose to critical acclaim. Drawing from his longtime collaboration with Arthur Russell and building on their notion of “Buddhist pop,” the album presents four decades of Hall’s work, spanning folk, disco, and experimental synth-pop. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Hall to talk about his winding path to music, what he learned from his time with Allen Ginsberg and Larry Fagin, his friendship with Arthur Russell and Russell’s notion of “Buddhist bubblegum,” and how Buddhism literally saved his life.
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A Buddhist Guide to How to Truly Love with Maria Heim
16 september 2026 · 58 min
Maria Heim is a professor of religion at Amherst College. Her new book, How to Truly Love: An Ancient Guide to a Life of Kindness, presents a fresh and accessible translation of a chapter from the Path of Purification, a meditation manual by the great 5th-century sage Buddhaghosa. Through a careful exploration of the brahmaviharas, or sublime attitudes, Buddhaghosa offers practical strategies for releasing anger and hatred and finding freedom. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Heim to discuss why Buddhaghosa considers love a kind of attention, how love can help us see more clearly, why meditation requires a foundation in morality, and how attention to the particular can help us cultivate a universal sense of love for all beings.
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Bridging Contemplation and Action with Jonathan F. P. Rose
9 september 2026 · 57 min
Jonathan F. P. Rose is an urban planner and philanthropist whose work focuses on creating more environmentally, socially, and economically resilient cities. In 2003, he and his wife, Diana Rose, cofounded the Garrison Institute, a retreat center in the Hudson Valley dedicated to the intersection of contemplation and engaged action. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Rose to discuss how he first came to Buddhism, how the Garrison Institute supports activists to address social challenges through a contemplative lens, and what it means to harness contemplative practices to build resilience, both for individuals and for the planet as a whole.
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Illustrating Impermanence with Miya Ando
26 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 1 min
A sixteenth-generation descendant of Bizen swordsmiths, Miya Ando is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the ephemerality of natural phenomena. Her new book, Water of the Sky: A Dictionary of 2,000 Japanese Rain Words, presents a visual compendium of terms for rain, featuring expressions from Buddhist rain sutras, Heian-era poetic anthologies, and regionally specific terms from throughout Japan. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Ando to discuss the concept of mono no aware and how she aims to capture impermanence and transience in visual form, what she’s learned from the radical 15th-century monk Ikkyu Sojun, and how attention to everyday phenomena like rain can invite wonder and awe.
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The Practice of Freedom with Oneika Mays
19 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 9 min
Oneika Mays is a yoga and meditation teacher and former mindfulness coach at Rikers Island Correctional Facility, where she taught for more than a decade. In her new book, Sit with Me: A No-BS Journey to Mindfulness and Meditation, she draws from her experience at Rikers to lay out a clear and accessible guide to metta, or loving-kindness practice. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Mays to discuss how she came to be Rikers Island’s first mindfulness coach, how metta can be a practice of internal freedom even when external freedom is not a possibility, what she’s learned from bell hooks about love, and how we can remain whole in a world that breaks us apart. Plus, Mays leads a guided meditation.
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Writing as Radical Refusal with Viet Thanh Nguyen
12 augustus 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
When Viet Thanh Nguyen was growing up as a refugee in the United States, it was hard for him to find stories that represented his experience. Now, as a Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist, he is determined to center the narratives of Vietnamese writers and artists in the diaspora. His most recent book, The Cleaving: Vietnamese Writers in the Diaspora, which he coedited with Isabelle Thuy Pelaud and Lan Duong, is the first anthology to gather the voices and perspectives of Vietnamese diasporic authors from around the globe. Featuring dialogues among thirty-seven writers and artists, the book explores themes of history and memory, the ongoing legacies of colonialism and war, and the role of art in reckoning with the realities of diaspora and displacement. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Nguyen to talk about how writing can be a tool for fighting back against erasure and exploitation, why he rejects the trope of being a voice for the voiceless and believes instead that we should abolish the conditions of voicelessness, how contributors to the collection complicate notions of authenticity and authority, and how political imagination can be a resource for building a better future.
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A Practitioner’s Guide to the Diamond Sutra with Ken McLeod
29 juli 2026 · 1 uur 3 min
For the past forty years, Ken McLeod has worked as a teacher and translator of Tibetan texts, practices, and rituals. With his new book, This Unexpected Jewel: Reading the Diamond Sutra, he presents a fresh and accessible translation of the Diamond Sutra, one of the most revered texts in the Buddhist tradition. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with McLeod to discuss how his first encounter with the Diamond Sutra caused his mind to stop, why he frames his translation as a practitioner’s translation rather than an academic’s, how the Diamond Sutra cuts through our tendency to rely on conceptual understanding and points to a different way of experiencing life, and the transformative power of reading the sutra aloud. Plus, McLeod reads a few passages from his translation of the Diamond Sutra.
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The Zen Art of Caregiving with Sister Tue Nghiem
22 juli 2026 · 56 min
Sister Tue Nghiem is a dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition. She is currently based in Australia. In her new book, Caregiving and the Art of Presence: A Zen Nun's Journey of Love and Letting Go, she reflects on the challenges and unexpected gifts of caring for her mother in the final seven years of her life. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Nghiem to discuss how she came to be her mother’s caregiver, what caring for her mother taught her about the importance of letting go, how suffering can be a catalyst for compassion, and what it means to cultivate the gift of non-fear. Plus, she leads a guided meditation.
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The Shamanic Voice of Kim Hyesoon with Jack Saebyok Jung
15 juli 2026 · 1 uur 5 min
In March 2014, the legendary avant-garde poet Kim Hyesoon embarked on her first foray into digital performance art. For a duration of eight months, she posted anonymously on the online blog of a major South Korean publisher under the moniker “Lady No.” Set in a fictional land called Aerok, or Korea spelled backward, the posts explore the anxieties and obsessions of modern Korean society, often using aspects of the occult to point at what is unspeakable or unsaid. In Lady No, poet Jack Saebyok Jung presents translations of these hybrid works into English for the first time. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Jung to talk about how Kim Hyesoon’s poetry resists and outmaneuvers censorship, Hyesoon’s aspiration to achieve transparent poetry, how poetry can respond to the pressures of everyday life, and the shamanic dimensions of Hyesoon’s work. Plus, Jung reads a few poems from Lady No.
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The Courage to Choose Love with Tara Brach
24 juni 2026 · 1 uur 4 min
Tara Brach is the founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, and she has been practicing and teaching meditation since 1975. She recently released a new book, The Courageous Heart Workbook: Choosing to Love in Perilous Times, which is a practical guide for awakening courage and cultivating compassion for ourselves and our world. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Brach to talk about what courage looks like in our current moment, how choosing love can help counter the dangers of what she calls the trance of separation, how we can learn to recognize our own basic goodness, and the power of reconnecting with our aspiration and sense of what matters most. Plus, Brach leads a guided meditation.
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Engaged Compassion with Lobsang Tenzin Negi
17 juni 2026 · 58 min
Lobsang Tenzin Negi is the cofounder and executive director of the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University. He is also a professor in Emory’s Department of Religion. In his new book, Engaged Compassion: Seven Practices to Cultivate Resilience, Connection, and a Joyous Life, he builds on more than twenty years of research in laying out concrete practices for developing compassion for ourselves and others. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Negi to discuss how he came to develop a model known as Cognitively Based Compassion Training, why he views compassion as a trainable skill, how Buddhist stories can help us understand and experience a sense of belonging and connection, and what he’s learned from his work with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Plus, Negi leads a guided meditation.
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Reincarnating the Buddhas of Bamiyan with Tuan Andrew Nguyen
10 juni 2026 · 49 min
Tuan Andrew Nguyen is a multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on history, memory, and the ongoing impact of violence and war, particularly in his native Vietnam. He recently unveiled a new project on New York City’s High Line, which is a twenty-seven-foot-tall Buddha sculpture inspired by the Buddhas of Bamiyan titled The Light That Shines Through the Universe. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Nguyen to discuss the backstory for his new installation, his process of transforming remnants of war into works of art, how storytelling can be an instrument of healing and resistance, and how teachings on reincarnation influence his artistic practice.
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Writing into the Void with Ruth Ozeki
27 mei 2026 · 56 min
Ruth Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker, and Zen priest. She recently published her first short story collection, The Typing Lady and Other Fictions. With characteristic wit and grace, Ozeki astutely explores themes of identity, longing, loss, and the clarity that comes with old age. In one story, a couple watches their ambitions roam the woods as ghosts; in another, an aging writer enlists her granddaughter to fake her death as a way of getting out of an upcoming book tour. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Ozeki to discuss what drew her to the form of the short story, how the Buddhist teaching of not-self informs her writing, how writing short stories can be an act of surrender, and the lessons she learned from caring for her mother in the final years of her life. Plus, Ozeki reads a short excerpt from one of the stories in the collection.
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Finding Balance to Engage More Fully with Margaret Cullen
20 mei 2026 · 1 uur 2 min
Equanimity can often be mistaken for passivity or indifference. But meditation teacher Margaret Cullen insists that it is actually about feeling the entire range of human experience—and, in the process, responding from a place of love and discernment. Lees meer
Cullen is a licensed psychotherapist and mindfulness-based stress reduction instructor, and she has taught mindfulness and contemplative practices around the world. In her new book, Quiet Strength: Find Peace, Feel Alive, and Love Boundlessly Through the Power of Equanimity, she explores how equanimity can help us respond to the challenges of our times with greater curiosity and compassion.
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Cullen to discuss the difference between equanimity and indifference, why equanimity is an expression of love, and how equanimity can help us engage more fully with the world rather than withdraw from it. Plus, Cullen leads a guided meditation.
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A Beginner’s Guide to Dark Retreat with Andrew Holecek
13 mei 2026 · 48 min
Andrew Holecek is an author and spiritual teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and he leads seminars and retreats on meditation, dream yoga, and death and dying. For the past thirty years, he has been engaging in a form of esoteric practice known as dark retreat. In his new book, Total Eclipse of the Mind: Unleashing the Power of Darkness for Creativity, Healing, and Transformation, he lays out a comprehensive introduction to the practice of dark retreat and how it can utterly transform our relationship to ourselves and our world. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Holecek to discuss what exactly a dark retreat is, why he views dark retreat as the most transformative practice he’s done, how spending time in darkness can help us recover a lost way of seeing, and what the darkness can teach us about our unconscious mind. Plus, Holecek offers practical guidelines for starting a dark retreat practice at home.
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Did the Buddha Really Teach That There Is No Self?
22 april 2026 · 56 min
Thanissaro Bhikkhu is an American Theravada Buddhist monk trained in the Thai forest tradition. He currently serves as abbot of the Metta Forest Monastery in San Diego County and is a frequent contributor to Tricycle. Over the years, he has written extensively on the Buddhist concept of not-self, including the many misperceptions that have arisen about this teaching over the centuries. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Thanissaro Bhikkhu to discuss why the Buddha refused to answer when he was asked whether there was a self, what it means to consider not-self as a strategy rather than an ontological truth, why perceptions of self and not-self are types of karma or activity, and why all views and perceptions are eventually discarded on the path to awakening.
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Opening to Wonder with Ada Limón
15 april 2026 · 59 min
Ada Limón is the author of seven books of poetry, and she recently completed her term as the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. During her tenure as Poet Laureate, Limón undertook a series of projects harnessing poetry to transform our relationship to the natural world, from installing poems on picnic benches in national parks across the country to engraving a poem on a spacecraft that is on its way to the second moon of Jupiter. In her new book, Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry, she draws from her experience as Poet Laureate to argue that poetry can be a powerful force for healing, connection, and courage. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Limón to discuss why she views poetry as a sacred language, how poetry can help us move through the world with courage and equanimity, what it means for poetry to exist in the questions, and how reading and writing poetry can help us imagine a different type of future.
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Bridging Worlds with US Poet Laureate Arthur Sze
8 april 2026 · 59 min
Arthur Sze is a poet and translator based in Sante Fe, New Mexico, and he is currently serving as the 25th Poet Laureate of the United States. His new book, Transient Worlds: On Translating Poetry, takes readers through nearly two millennia of poetry from across the world and explores how translation can deepen our understanding and appreciation of poetry. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sze to discuss why he views translation as the deepest form of reading, how poetry can prompt us toward moral and spiritual transformation, what it means for translation to be an impossible task, and how poetry can build bridges and connections across languages and cultures. Plus, Sze reads a few poems from the new collection.
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A Buddhist Guide to Understanding Emotion with Maria Heim
25 maart 2026 · 50 min
Buddhism can often be mischaracterized as encouraging the elimination of emotion. Yet, as scholar Maria Heim points out, feeling is central to Buddhist teachings and practices—in fact, the Buddha presented the four noble truths as being “for one who feels.” Lees meer
Heim is the George Lyman Crosby 1896 & Stanley Warfield Crosby Professor in Religion at Amherst College, and her new book, How to Feel: An Ancient Guide to Minding Our Emotions, presents new translations of essential early Buddhist teachings on emotion. Drawing from the Pali canon, she argues that the Buddhist psychology of emotions can offer us a different way of observing and relating to our feelings—and, in the process, bring about a sense of freedom.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Heim to discuss the misconception that Buddhism encourages the complete elimination of feeling, the paradoxical relationship between pleasure and pain in early Buddhist texts, how language can describe and shape experience, and how noticing our feelings can fundamentally restructure our behavior.
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Reimagining the Story of Citizenship with Daisy Hernández
18 maart 2026 · 57 min
Daisy Hernández is an associate professor at Northwestern University and a Tricycle contributing editor. Her new book, Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth, blends memoir and political analysis to examine the shifting narratives around citizenship and what it means to be an American. This episode is a little different from our usual focus, but we wanted to talk with Hernández about how she brings her Buddhist practice to bear on this timely topic. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Hernández to discuss her own family’s immigration stories, why she views citizenship as a story or a myth, how she works with feelings of political despair, and what she’s learned from revisiting Thich Nhat Hanh’s writings on the Vietnam War in our current moment.
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Dementia and the Sense of Self with Philip Ryan
11 maart 2026 · 52 min
Philip Ryan is Tricycle’s executive editor, and he has worked at Tricycle on and off for the past thirty years. In the Spring issue of Tricycle, he wrote an article, "Old Friend," about his father’s dementia diagnosis and the questions it has raised about memory, impermanence, and identity. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Ryan to discuss how Buddhist teachings on the mind have helped him to make sense of his father’s diagnosis, why we are ultimately unknowable to each other and ourselves, and how dementia is the perfect illustration of the truths of impermanence, suffering, and nonself—or maybe a mockery of those truths.
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Demystifying Tantra with Richard Payne
25 februari 2026 · 1 uur 7 min
Tantric Buddhism is often mischaracterized or misunderstood, both in the academy and in the popular imagination. Scholar Richard Payne has dedicated much of the past twenty years to studying tantric teachings and practices—and to dispelling some of the common misconceptions associated with the tradition. Lees meer
Payne is the Yehan Numata Professor of Japanese Buddhist Studies at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley, as well as an ordained priest in the Shingon tradition of Japanese esoteric Buddhism. In his new book, Tantra Across the Buddhist Cosmopolis, he examines the evolution of tantric traditions from early medieval India to the present day.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Payne to discuss the difficulties in trying to define tantra, how tantra challenges popular and scholarly notions about the nature of religion, and how he came to ordain as a Shingon priest.
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The Practice of Refuge with Sunita Puri
18 februari 2026 · 59 min
Sunita Puri is a writer, a palliative medicine physician, and an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. She is the author of That Good Night: Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour. She recently wrote an article for the Spring issue of Tricycle called “Seeking Refuge,” where she discusses how she has found refuge in nature in the face of burnout. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Puri to discuss what first led her to turn to nature as a way to hold her grief, how her relationship to the concept of refuge has evolved over time, why she views refuge as a practice rather than a place, and how Buddhist teachings on impermanence have shaped her life and her practice.
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Poet Li-Young Lee on Awe, Adoration, and Turning Toward the Unknown
11 februari 2026 · 59 min
For poet Li-Young Lee, writing is a deeply spiritual practice. Taking inspiration from Daoist and Christian texts, his poems investigate the paradoxical relationships between silence and sound, stillness and motion, and form and formlessness. He recently published his sixth collection of poetry, The Invention of the Darling, as well as a translation of the Dao De Jing, which he completed with the poet and cosmologist Yun Wang. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Lee to discuss the spiritual influences on his poetry, why he views every poem as a descendant of God, how he writes from a state of don’t-know mind, and why he believes the task of the poet is to reconcile all opposites. Plus, Lee reads a few poems from The Invention of the Darling.
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‘To Live the Right Way’ with David Guterson
28 januari 2026 · 48 min
David Guterson is a writer based in Washington State. His new novel, Evelyn in Transit, follows the interlocking stories of Evelyn and Tsering, a young woman from Indiana and a Buddhist monk from the mountains of Tibet. Their lives come together when Evelyn’s son is revealed to be the seventh reincarnation of a high lama, and Evelyn must decide whether to send her young child to Nepal. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Guterson to discuss how a childhood fight with a member of the Sakya family first introduced him to Buddhism, the remarkable story of the Sakya family and the real-life inspiration for the novel, the relationship between faith and doubt, and what it means to find freedom from the self.
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Into the Long Dark with Francis Weller
21 januari 2026 · 1 uur 8 min
Francis Weller is a writer and soul activist who has worked as a psychotherapist for forty years, and he is currently on staff at Commonweal Cancer Help Program. In his most recent book, In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty, he lays out practices for embodying new ways of being so that we can meet the anxieties and unknowns of our time with presence and faith. Weller is also the author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief and the companion workbook, Entering the Healing Ground, which will be released on February 24. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Weller to talk about why he views listening as an art of reverence, the subversive power of restraint, how not knowing situates us at the edge of discovery, and the role of ritual in navigating what he calls the Long Dark. Plus, Weller leads a guided practice.
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The Afterlife of Japanese American Wartime Incarceration
14 januari 2026 · 56 min
Brandon Shimoda is a poet and a professor at Colorado College. His new book, The Afterlife Is Letting Go, examines the ongoing legacies of the US government’s mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Drawing from years of archival research, visits to the ruins of incarceration sites, interviews with survivors and their descendants, and his own family history, the book explores the resonances between forms of oppression and state violence past and present. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Shimoda to talk about how he learned about his own family history of wartime incarceration, the question of how to memorialize an event that is still ongoing, how writing the book was a process of pilgrimage, and how he views the role of poetry in reckoning with this history. Plus, Shimoda reads an excerpt from the book.
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Choosing Kindness with Sarah Ruhl and Sharon Salzberg
17 december 2025 · 50 min
Sarah Ruhl is a playwright, poet, and professor based in New York. She recently published her first children’s book, as did meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg. Sarah’s book, The Dreams I’ll Dream Tonight, is a whimsical bedtime story that illustrates the power of choosing where we place our attention, while Sharon’s book, Kind Karl: A Little Crocodile with Big Feelings, follows a young crocodile as he learns to control his temper. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sarah and Sharon to discuss what inspired each of them to write children’s books, the importance of imagination in helping children work through fear, and how they’ve each adapted teachings on loving-kindness to a younger audience. Plus, they both read excerpts from their new books.
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Being a 'Bad' Buddhist with Sharon A. Suh
10 december 2025 · 54 min
Sharon A. Suh is a professor of theology and religious studies at Seattle University, and she is currently the president of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women. Her new book, Emergent Dharma, brings together the voices of eleven Asian American feminist Buddhists to present a dynamic vision of Buddhist practice and identity. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Suh to discuss why she describes herself as a bad Buddhist, the dangers of equating Buddhism primarily with meditation, what it means for the book to be a sangha in written form, and what she’s learned from bell hooks about love as an action to end domination.
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Sitting in the Fire with Ralph Steele
26 november 2025 · 40 min
Ralph Steele is the founder and guiding teacher of Life Transition Meditation Center in Santa Fe, where he teaches somatic meditation and other practices geared toward supporting people through major life changes. Steele grew up on Pawleys Island, where he was raised by his grandparents after his father was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. As a teenager he moved with his mother to Japan, where his exposure to martial arts sparked a lifelong fascination with practices of embodiment. Eventually, after serving in the Vietnam War, Steele ended up practicing meditation as a way of coping with trauma and addiction. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Steele to talk about his remarkable life story, including the dharma lessons he learned from his grandmother, Sister Mary, how meditation helped him learn to sit in the fire of pain, and how he adapts Buddhist teachings in the retreats he has been leading for veterans.
Read more about Ralph Steele in his 1999 Tricycle article, “In the Lineage of Sister Mary.”
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Coming Home to Ourselves with Brother Pháp Hữu
19 november 2025 · 1 uur
Brother Pháp Hữu is a senior teacher in Thich Nhat Hanh’s international community and the abbot of Plum Village in southwest France. In his new book, Calm in the Storm: Zen Ways to Cultivate Stability in an Anxious World, which he co-wrote with Jo Confino, he lays out a compassionate guide for coming home to ourselves and meeting the challenges of our time with greater presence and resilience. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Brother Pháp Hữu to discuss what it means to come home to the present moment, the forces that take us away from a sense of home, how we can let go of stories that no longer serve us, and how we can tap into a deeper sense of community and belonging. Plus, Brother Pháp Hữu leads a guided meditation.
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Naturalistic Buddhism with Gil Fronsdal
12 november 2025 · 44 min
Gil Fronsdal is a dharma teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, California, and at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre. He has practiced extensively in the Soto Zen and Theravada Buddhist traditions, and he draws from both traditions in his framing of what he calls naturalistic Buddhism. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Fronsdal to discuss what he means by naturalistic Buddhism, how we can train ourselves in what we want to become, and how the practice of naturalistic Buddhism can help us become free.
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Liberation Through Non-Clinging Across Buddhist Traditions with Joseph Goldstein
22 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 11 min
Joseph Goldstein is a cofounder and guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. He recently wrote an article called “Liberation Through Non-Clinging Across Buddhist Traditions” that will be published on Tricycle’s website later this month. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Goldstein to discuss why he sees non-clinging as so central across Buddhist traditions, how dual and nondual awareness can complement and support each other, the dangers of becoming attached to emptiness, and how selflessness can offer a radically unique way of understanding ourselves and the world.
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Remembering Joanna Macy with Jess Serrante
15 oktober 2025 · 1 uur 4 min
Jess Serrante is a climate activist, organizer, and longtime facilitator of the Work That Reconnects, a global movement and community created by the late environmental activist Joanna Macy, who passed away in July. Last year, Jess and Joanna produced a podcast together called We Are the Great Turning that explored Joanna’s teachings on cultivating courage and connection as we face the many crises of our time. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Jess to discuss Joanna’s life and legacy, why Joanna believed that we should always begin with gratitude, how we can work productively with anger and despair, what it means to bow to our pain, and how the Work That Reconnects can break us open—and break us free. Plus, Jess leads a guided meditation on connecting with our gratitude for the Earth.
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US Poet Laureate Arthur Sze on Translating Loss and Renewal
8 oktober 2025 · 59 min
Arthur Sze is a poet and translator based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and he was recently named the 25th Poet Laureate of the United States. To celebrate his appointment, we’re visiting a 2024 Tricycle Talks episode with Sze. Lees meer
Unlike many contemporary American poets, Sze did not attend a traditional MFA program to learn to write poetry. Instead, the National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist turned to translation to hone his craft. His 2024 collection, The Silk Dragon II: Translations of Chinese Poetry, compiles fifty years of his translations, illustrating the vitality and versatility of the Chinese poetic tradition across nearly two millennia.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sze to discuss the ruptures and continuities between classical and contemporary Chinese poetry, the destruction and renewal inherent in the process of translation, and why Sze believes that we need translation now more than ever. Plus, he reads a few poems from his new collection.
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US Poet Laureate Ada Limón on the Practice of Startlement
24 september 2025 · 1 uur 3 min
Ada Limón is the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States and the author of seven books of poetry. Her latest book, Startlement: New and Selected Poems, brings together two decades of her work. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Limón to talk about how poetry can help us decenter ourselves, her daily practice of loving-kindness, the space that curiosity can open up, and how startlement can be a spiritual practice. Plus, Limón reads a few poems from her new collection.
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Revisiting the Story of the Buddha’s Life with Donald S. Lopez Jr.
17 september 2025 · 58 min
Donald S. Lopez Jr. is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan and a longtime Tricycle contributing editor. In his new book, The Buddha: Biography of a Myth, he draws from a variety of sources to trace a single narrative of the Buddha’s life, from his birth through his enlightenment to his passage into nirvana. While a number of scholars have attempted to “demythologize” the Buddha by extracting the man from the myth, Lopez sets out instead to present a remythologized Buddha, highlighting the supernatural elements of his life. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Lopez to discuss his account of the Buddha’s life, as well as the larger question of whether the Buddha actually existed—and what’s at stake in the answer.
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Traveling in Bardo with Ann Tashi Slater
10 september 2025 · 58 min
In Tibetan Buddhism, the bardo is a between-state. While the term is usually associated with the passage from death to rebirth, it can also refer to the journey from birth to death—as well as the various transitional states we encounter along the way. According to writer and Tricycle contributing editor Ann Tashi Slater, Tibetan bardo teachings can transform the way we live—and help us find lasting happiness in a world defined by impermanence. In her new book, Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World, Slater explores how bardo wisdom can help us navigate change and transition with greater acceptance and creativity. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Slater to discuss the legends surrounding the bardo teachings, her own experience of illness and how it paralleled the bardo journey, how what we pay attention to determines the nature of our reality, and how the Tibetan Book of the Dead can teach us how to live.
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Ethical Living in Uncertain Times with Stephen Batchelor
27 augustus 2025 · 1 uur 4 min
Stephen Batchelor is a writer and longtime Tricycle contributing editor based in southwest France. In his new book, Buddha, Socrates, and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times, he explores how the Buddha and Socrates can teach us to live a just and dignified life in an unstable, contingent world. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Batchelor to discuss how Socrates and the Buddha both posited what he calls an ethics of uncertainty, how creativity can help us imagine another way of living—and another kind of society, and how Buddhist and Greek philosophy can support us in navigating the existential challenges of our times.
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Learning to Live Fully with Serious Illness with Susan Bauer-Wu
20 augustus 2025 · 56 min
Living with a serious illness can be an isolating experience, and it can often provoke feelings of anger, anxiety, and fear. As a former oncology nurse, a mindfulness teacher, a clinical researcher, and a retreat facilitator for people living with serious illness, Susan Bauer-Wu has dedicated much of her life to developing practices to help people with serious illness live fully in the face of these challenges. In her book, Leaves Falling Gently: Living Fully with Serious Illness through Mindfulness, Compassion, and Connectedness, she lays out accessible meditations for people living with illness and their caregivers. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Bauer-Wu to discuss what it means to live fully with serious illness, methods for finding spaciousness in the midst of constriction, how to adapt mindfulness practices in the context of pain, and how the quality of each moment can determine the quality of our lives. Plus, Bauer-Wu leads a guided meditation.
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Writing in Exile with Bhuchung D. Sonam
13 augustus 2025 · 1 uur 1 min
Bhuchung D. Sonam is an exiled Tibetan writer, poet, translator, and publisher currently based in Dharamshala. His press, TibetWrites, has published more than fifty books by contemporary Tibetan writers. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sonam to discuss how writing has helped him navigate life in exile, the importance of centering the stories of ordinary Tibetans, why he views writing as a form of resistance, and how literature can serve as a bridge across cultures. Plus, Sonam reads a few of his poems.
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The Work of Not Knowing with Marie Howe
23 juli 2025 · 58 min
For Marie Howe, poetry is a form of prayer. “It is a way of quieting down to listen to that still, small voice,” she told Tricycle. “It’s about something ineffable that’s trying to find its way through the poem.” Lees meer
Howe is currently the poet in residence at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Her latest collection, New and Selected Poems, which brings together four decades of her writing, recently won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Howe to discuss the role of not knowing in her work as a poet, how poetry helps us keep looking at what’s difficult, why poems are like koans, and what she’s learned from the Christian mystic Meister Eckhart. Plus, Howe reads a few poems from her new collection.
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A Fearless Heart with Thupten Jinpa
16 juli 2025 · 1 uur 11 min
Thupten Jinpa is a Tibetan Buddhist scholar and former monk based in Montreal. Since 1985, he has served as the principal English translator for the Dalai Lama. In his 2015 book, A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives, he draws from his experience translating for and traveling with the Dalai Lama to lay out simple daily practices to help us cultivate compassion for ourselves and others—and, in the process, tap into a deeper sense of meaning and purpose. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Jinpa to discuss what first set him on the path to becoming a monk, what he’s learned from working as a translator for the Dalai Lama for forty years, how he views the relationship between courage and compassion, and why he believes compassion is fundamental to our basic nature as human beings. Plus, Jinpa leads a guided meditation.
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Forever a Student with Sarah Ruhl
9 juli 2025 · 54 min
Sarah Ruhl is a playwright, poet, and professor based in New York. Her new essay collection, Lessons from My Teachers: From Preschool to the Present, is an ode to the teachers she has had over the course of her life, both inside and outside the classroom. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Ruhl to discuss the teachers and tasks that have helped her learn how to listen, what it means to look at grief sideways, whether devotion is teachable, and why she aspires to always be a student.
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Personal Liturgy with Jefre Cantu-Ledesma
25 juni 2025 · 36 min
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, Zen priest, and hospice chaplain based in the Hudson Valley. Since his first foray into experimental music in the 1990s, he has been a pillar of the American music underground, collaborating with a variety of artists including Liz Harris, Félicia Atkinson, and Ilyas Ahmed. Although his music has often been labeled experimental or ambient, he himself describes it as personal liturgy. Lees meer
Cantu-Ledesma’s latest album, Gift Songs, takes inspiration from the forms of liturgy and ritual he has found meaningful as a Zen priest and hospice chaplain, as well as from the Shaker notion of “gift drawings,” where art is seen as a gift from God. Through minimalist acoustic arrangements and evocative improvisations, Gift Songs foregrounds chance and collaboration, putting forth a vision of art as an offering.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Cantu-Ledesma to discuss what first brought him to Buddhism, the role of devotion in his work and practice, the synergies between creative practice and chaplaincy work, and why he views his music as an offering.
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How Compassion Works with John Makransky
18 juni 2025 · 1 uur 12 min
According to Lama John Makransky, everything we care about—including our mental and physical well-being, our relationships, our spiritual life, and our ability to act justly in the world—depends on our ability to access our innate capacities for love and compassion. In his new book, How Compassion Works: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cultivating Well-Being, Love, and Wisdom, which he co-wrote with Paul Condon, Makransky draws from Tibetan Buddhism and contemporary cognitive science to lay out concrete practices for strengthening our capacities for wisdom and compassion. Lees meer
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Makransky to discuss why compassion is essential to our survival, how meditation can help us tap into our basic goodness, and how we can integrate compassion into our service and action in the world. Plus, Makransky leads a guided meditation.
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Buddhist Masters of Modern China with Benjamin Brose
11 juni 2025 · 1 uur 1 min
Benjamin Brose is Professor of Buddhist and Chinese Studies and chair of the department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. His new book, Buddhist Masters of Modern China: The Lives and Legacies of Eight Eminent Teachers, explores the histories and teachings of eight masters who brought about a Buddhist revival during the political turmoil of the 20th century. Lees meer
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Brose to discuss the persecution that Chinese Buddhists faced at the turn of the 20th century, the creativity and innovation with which many Buddhist monks and nuns responded to these challenges, the variety of approaches taken to revitalize the Buddhist tradition, and the remarkable life of the Chan master Laiguo.