Category: Arts & Culture
The World Is Your Zendo
On remote islands, Pico Iyer discovers that this moment, now, is the gift-wrapped present we can’t afford to overlook.
Toward a Revolution of Love
In this important essay, the late bell hooks inspires us to make her vision of a culture of love come true.
Very Mindful, Very Demure: The Joy of Jools Lebron’s Playful Mindfulness
Pop culture writer Jennifer Keishin Armstrong unpacks the joyful wisdom behind Jools Lebron’s viral “very mindful, very demure” TikTok trend.
The Life-Changing Words of Mary Oliver
Rick Bass looks at the late Mary Oliver’s poem “The Summer Day,” which asks, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
The Shape of Emptiness: David Provan’s Life & Art
Shortly before the acclaimed artist David Provan passed away on April 18, 2024, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong interviewed him at his studio. Now, recounting their meeting, she explores the Buddhist concepts at the heart of his work.
The Light Enters You: Remembering Video Artist Bill Viola
Video artist Bill Viola died Friday at his home in Long Beach, California of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 73. As a video artist, Viola captured not just image, but experience, showing us what video art could be. In this 2004 interview with Lion’s Roar, Viola talked in detail, for the first time, about his Buddhist practice and how it informed his art.
What A.I. Means for Buddhism
AI can articulate the sum total of human knowledge, but can it help us cultivate wisdom and compassion—or is it a danger on the spiritual path? Ross Nervig investigates.
Mindful Cooking with Chef Bryant Terry
How can all communities thrive? Bryant Terry on the importance of cooking mindfully.
The Race Koan
Are we all Black poets at night? E. Ethelbert Miller asks us to ponder this and other questions.
Honoring the Form
Everything is impermanent, but a chance encounter shows another truth—continuation. A short story by the renowned novelist Charles Johnson.
Welcoming the Year of the Wood Dragon
For Tibetan Buddhists, this week marks Losar, the new year — a time to clean house, cherish family, make offerings, contemplate the past year and welcome the new.
Study finds Contemplative Medicine training reduces burnout in medical professionals
The study measured the effects of the New York Zen Center's twelve-month "Contemplative Medicine Fellowship" on burnout among medical professionals.
How Buddhism Met Science: A Monastic Scholar’s Journey
Dhondup T. Rekjong shares the journey of Geshe Thabkhe, a Tibetan monastic scholar at the intersection of the ongoing dialogue between Buddhism and modern science.
Buddhas and bodhisattvas inspire at Norton Simon Museum’s “Benevolent Beings”
Lion’s Roar associate editors Mihiri Tillakaratne and Noel Alumit visit the “Benevolent Beings” exhibition at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California.
How Learning Tibetan Changed the Way I Think
Translator Estefania Duque shares her journey studying Tibetan, revealing how language shapes the mind, influences perspective, and offers spiritual inspiration.
Through the Digital Veil: Inside the World of VR Meditation
Can virtual reality deepen contemplative practice? Ross Nervig dons a headset and explores the promise and peril of mesmerizing worldscapes.
Kazuaki Tanahashi: Painting Peace
Explore this selection of art and Buddhist wisdom to give hope in a time of global crisis by artist, peace and environmental worker, and renowned calligrapher, Kazuaki Tanahashi.
The Zen of Jane Hirshfield
When we live in the liminal state, the place of listening, of not-knowing, then everything draws near to us, becomes kin. Noelle Oxenhandler on the words and wordlessness of the renowned American poet Jane Hirshfield.
Wandering…But Not Lost: Director Paul MacGowan on Capturing Mingyur Rinpoche’s Wandering Retreat
Martine Panzica talks to director Paul MacGowan about the making of the documentary film “Wandering...But Not Lost,” which chronicles Mingyur Rinpoche's remarkable four-and-a-half year wandering retreat.
Hip-hop artist and meditation teacher Born I releases new album “AMIDA”
Born I’s September release, “AMIDA,” is an “introspective blend of Buddhist philosophy, Lofi elements, and Eastern modalities.”