Following the release of a letter recently issued by current and ex-Rigpa members, which details alleged abuses by Rigpa founder and spiritual director Sogyal Rinpoche, we have now received from Rigpa the following press release, which acknowledges the letter and indicates that Sogyal Rinpoche will "step back" as the community looks into next steps: Press release July 21, [...]
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Official statement on passing of Michael Stone released
Via the Facebook page of Buddhist teacher Michael Stone, which has become an active place for updates and comments since his sudden hospitalization last week and subsequent passing on the night of July 16, comes an official statement. It reads, in full: Michael Stone’s Passing – Official Statement from Carina Stone, Erin Robinsong & Rose Riccio Michael Stone passed [...]
Letter to Sogyal Rinpoche from current and ex-Rigpa members details abuse allegations
A letter dated July 14, 2017 and signed by current and ex-members of Rigpa, the international network of centers and groups founded by Sogyal Rinpoche in 1979, has been posted on the internet, detailing abuses allegedly committed by Sogyal Rinpoche. [UPDATE: On Friday afternoon, July 21, Lion's Roar received from Rigpa a press release in response to the letter. Read "Rigpa [...]
Remembering Buddhist teacher Michael Stone
Stone, 42, was an activist, family man, and teacher of yoga and Buddhism. [Friday, July 21 update: Carina Stone, Erin Robinsong and Rose Riccio have released an official statement on the passing of Buddhist teacher Michael Stone. Read “Official statement on passing of Michael Stone released” here.] Following a period of hospitalization that began on Thursday, July 13, as [...]
SGI issues further statements advancing anti-nuclear weapon cause
As Religion News Service reports, "On July 7, the group Faith Communities Concerned about Nuclear Weapons issued a joint statement in support of the historic adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at UN Headquarters on the same day." The statement is "supported so far by more than 40 groups and individuals of Christian, Quaker, Buddhist, Muslim and Jewish [...]
“Silicon Valley” Goes to Tibet
Two characters from Mike Judge's hit HBO comedy visit a Buddhist monastery on a trip that's less about enlightenment, more about entitlement. What happens next? Rod Meade Sperry needs to know. Spoilers and cuss-words ahead. I had the DVR on pause, queued up, as my partner came into the room. “Watch this,” I told her, and pressed play on the closing scene of last night’s [...]
Translators recognized as Santaraksita Awards are given at Tsadra Translation and Transmission conference
Gavin Kilty, a full-time translator for the Institute of Tibetan Classics since 2001, won first place in the Shantarakshita Award for Excellence in Translation at this year's Tsadra Translation and Transmission conference, which took place in Boulder, Colorado, from May 31-June 3. The honor was given in recognition of Kilty's work on Tsonghkapa's A Lamp to Illuminate the Five [...]
Forget Perfect. Just Practice.
Many of us begin meditation practice with some level of excitement and expectation. But like all things, those too shall pass. Rod Meade Sperry offers some encouragement for keeping on. Perhaps you meditate occasionally, in the park or on the bus. Maybe you have a dedicated spot in your home and a regular time to meditate. Or you study with a teacher and sit with others [...]
Five InsightLA teachers earn Theravada authorization; three others graduate from Spirit Rock’s Retreat Teacher Training Program
From InsightLA in Santa Monica, California, comes the announcement that five of the meditation center's teachers have become authorized "recognized, honored, and formally authorized in the Theravada lineage." On Saturday May 13th, Paloma Cain, Celeste Young, Lisa Kring, Emily Horn, and Vincent Horn were recognized, honored, and formally authorized in the Theravada lineage. [...]
The Dharma in Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks’s quirky-cool special agent famously upended the idea of the TV G-man. And now, after twenty-five years, Dale Cooper has resurfaced with the series' 2017 relaunch on May 21. Though followers have studied the original shows fanatically, some might have missed Cooper's significant nods to Buddhism. Rod Meade Sperry looks at one of pop culture’s most endearing, enduring [...]