In the November 2018 issue of Lion’s Roar magazine, 14 Buddhist teachers answer the most frequently asked questions about challenges on the spiritual path. Here, Mushim Patricia Ikeda talks about dealing with physical pain in meditation. Question: As I get older, I feel more pain when I sit. It’s in my knees, in my back, and even in my jaw, which ends up clenched from [...]
Colorado police investigating “possible criminal activity” at Shambhala Mountain Center
The Sheriff's Department in Larimer County, Colorado, has confirmed that it is investigating possible criminal activity alleged to have taken place at Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. David Moore, a spokesman for the department, told Lion's Roar, "The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office received information involving possible criminal activity involving [...]
Resting the Busy Mind
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche on discovering the sense of spaciousness, awareness, peace, and happiness, that's always there for us. Sometimes we're angry but forget why. We may not be sure of the real reason for our anger, but our gut feeling says our anger is justified and we hold on to it. We start to think of justifications for our anger: the time our friend forgot to call, [...]
What If Our Delusions Aren’t a Barrier to Enlightenment?
"What if our deluded minds aren’t a barrier to enlightenment at all?" asks Zenju Earthlyn Manuel. "What if they are the very path to it?" If your inability to cut off ceaseless thought has ever left you feeling hopeless or inadequate, you’re not alone. Anyone who has practiced earnestly for any length of time has likely wrestled with the thinking mind, motivated by a [...]
Who Was Niguma?
Niguma was one of two great dakinis who founded the Shangpa Kagyu school of Vajrayana Buddhism. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, Niguma was one of the most important Buddhist teachers and yoginis in India. While there are only brief glimpses of her life from sources and texts, Sarah Harding’s Niguma: Lady of Illusion surveys what little literature there is surrounding “the [...]
The Hungry Ghosts of “Mad Men”
In the November 2018 issue of Lion's Roar, eight meditators discuss Buddhist themes in their favorite TV shows. Rod Meade Sperry says the characters in Mad Men are like hungry ghosts, endlessly consuming liquor, drugs — and each other. When we think of Matthew Weiner’s game-changing AMC series Mad Men, what do we picture? Smoking, suits, and sex. (Not to mention sexism.) So [...]
How to Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes
Contemplative psychologist Karen Kissel Wegela teaches a practice to help us see difficult people — and ourselves — more clearly. We have all had the experience of dealing with people we find difficult, and none of us wants to be a difficult person ourselves. “Through the Empty Mirror” is a contemplation that can help us bring compassion toward those we have a hard time [...]
Nichiren Shonin: A Teacher of Equality
Based on letters Nichiren Shonin wrote to his female followers, Myokei Caine-Barrett explains why the thirteenth-century champion of the Lotus Sutra was a practical feminist. In the Kaikyoge (“Verses for Opening the Sutra”) that we recite daily are the words “honor be to the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the teaching of equality, the great wisdom, the [...]
Don’t let Aung San Suu Kyi off the hook for her role in the Myanmar genocide
Last week, a prominent Buddhist teacher defended Aung San Suu Kyi, the Buddhist Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Myanmar civilian leader, against criticism that she is party to genocide. Khin Mai Aung explains why that defense doesn't hold up. Recently, respected Bhutanese lama Dzongzar Khyentse Rinpoche posted an open letter on Facebook downplaying Myanmar's brutal Rohingya [...]
A Beginner’s Mind for Business
The classic Zen concept of "beginner's mind" is finding popularity in American business circles. Minh Do looks at what that means for Buddhism. "Zen" — a Japanese word that comes from the Sanskrit dhyana, meaning “contemplation” or “meditation” — has morphed in colloquial American English to mean everything from “monk-like calm” to “smooth as Michael Jordan.” And just as [...]
