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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Heim to discuss the literary and aesthetic qualities of The Questions of Milinda, how treating Buddhist texts as literature can deepen our perception, what we can learn from the text’s famous chariot analogy, and the philosophical work that metaphors and analogies can perform.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Selassie to discuss how loving-kindness can be an antidote to fear, what it looks like to center love right now, why we’re often divided from ourselves, and what we can learn from staying with paradoxes and contradictions.

Now, in his new novel, The Emperor of Gladness, Vuong turns his attention to our cultural avoidance of illness and death, as well as the small moments of care and kindness that are essential to survival. Tracing the unlikely friendship between a young writer and an elderly widow who’s succumbing to dementia, the novel reckons with themes of history and memory, loneliness and heartbreak, and failure and redemption.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Vuong to discuss how he incorporates Buddhist notions of emptiness and nothingness into his writing, the role of ghosts and the dead in his work, how writing can be a form of prayer, and what he’s learned from Buddhist understandings of redemption. Plus, Vuong reads an excerpt from his new novel.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Shaw to discuss how breathing mindfulness is linked to the seven factors of awakening, the central role of joy in meditation, why the tradition of samatha, or calm, meditation has been marginalized and suppressed, and what we can learn from thinking about traditions of breathing mindfulness as part of a vast ecosystem.

Later in the episode, they’re joined by Daisy Hernández, a journalist and Tricycle contributing editor, to talk about how equanimity can be a support in times of uncertainty, how Buddhist practices have guided her work as a journalist, and what’s on her equanimity cultivation list.

His twelfth book of poetry, Into the Hush, experiments with this dance between sound and silence in presenting a startling portrait of the nuclear age, chronicling the plight of vanished languages and species and asking how to live fully in the face of catastrophe.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sze to discuss the generativity of emptiness, how poetry stays present tense, and what it means for art to awaken us to what is.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Varvaloucas to discuss how mindfulness first entered the classroom, whether mindfulness is developmentally appropriate for adolescents, and the importance of pairing mindfulness with broader access to mental health services.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with O’Connor to discuss the phenomenon of dying of a broken heart, how grieving can be thought of as a form of learning, how meditation can change how we show up for others, and the challenges of rediscovering a sense of purpose in the wake of loss.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Lopez to discuss the challenges in attempting to tell any single history of Buddhism, how translation has contributed to Buddhism’s survival as a tradition, the debates surrounding Buddhism’s decline in India, and the story of the Buddha’s nemesis and would-be assassin.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Mason-John to talk about how they first developed a practice of meditation after their experience in solitary confinement, how the Buddha’s teachings have supported their path to recovery, and how they’ve come to understand addiction from a Buddhist perspective.

Please note that this episode includes mentions of sexual assault and suicidal ideation.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Brown to discuss how mindfulness can help us navigate conflict in relationships, the power of changing how we pay attention to the people around us, and why she believes happy relationships are possible for everyone. Plus, Brown leads a guided meditation.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Garfield to discuss why our preoccupation with the self causes us so much suffering, how dismantling the self is a project of moral development and spiritual freedom, and what it means to be a person without a self.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Iyer to discuss how silence facilitates letting go of the self, why he sees monastic life as the true counterculture, and what his time at the hermitage has taught him about learning to love in the midst of loss.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Burkeman to discuss what we gain by letting go of the delusion that life is something we have to solve, how our attempts at avoiding our anxieties often backfire, and why everything is much worse than we think—and why that’s OK.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Oxenhandler to discuss how to let go of an object without devaluing it, what we can learn from Suzuki Roshi’s notion of everything existing in the right place, and what it means for things to be more than just things.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Kongtrul Rinpoche to discuss the power of aspiration, how joy and steadfastness can protect us against laziness and low self-esteem, the importance of taking breaks, and how we can learn to find true joy in everything we do.

While Saraha is considered one of the founders of the Vajrayana tradition and has been incorporated into a number of Tibetan Buddhist lineages, there have been relatively few academic examinations of his full body of work and its ongoing legacy. With Saraha: Poet of Blissful Awareness, Jackson presents the first thorough treatment of Saraha’s context, life, works, poetics, and teachings, including new translations of nearly all of Saraha’s dohas, or spontaneous songs.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Jackson to discuss the many legends surrounding Saraha, Saraha’s fierce critique of nearly every possible religious and social standpoint, and how to situate Saraha’s radical claims in the context of the Buddhist movements of his time.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Kumar to discuss how we can work with the embodied experience of grief, what feelings of powerlessness can teach us about equanimity, and how distress can motivate us to examine what really matters.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Butler to discuss the stigmas and hurdles she encountered in her experience of abortion, how the realities of women’s lives have long been overlooked by Buddhist teachers and communities, and how she thinks about Buddhist ethics in terms of harm reduction.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Chandrasekera to discuss the weaponization of religious myths in Sri Lankan Buddhism, why he describes himself as an “unbuddhist,” how rituals anchor and retell history, and the role of haunting and possession in his work.

Miller is now a palliative care physician and the cofounder of Mettle Health, a multidisciplinary group providing support for people confronting illness, disability, and death. He previously served as the executive director of San Franciscos’s Zen Hospice Project and the founder of the Center for Living and Dying.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Miller to discuss how he’s come to view recovery as a creative act, how studying art history and architecture radically shifted how he thinks about disability, what he’s learned from Buddhist approaches to death, and how working with dying patients has changed the way he lives his own life.

Adrienne Minh-Châu Lê, a Columbia University PhD candidate in international history, is one of the first scholars to examine Thich Nhat Hanh in the context of the global Cold War and Vietnam’s anticolonial movement. In an interview in the August issue of Tricycle, Lê discusses Thich Nhat Hanh’s background and the religious and political landscapes that shaped him.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Lê to discuss the role that Buddhism played in building and promoting Vietnamese cultural identity in the face of colonial rule, the origins of Engaged Buddhism, how exile shaped Thich Nhat Hanh’s approach to teaching, and why he chose to return to Vietnam at the end of his life.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Dahl to discuss how meditation allows us to be honest with ourselves, practical methods for experiencing abstract concepts of no-self and emptiness, how different schools of Buddhism understand enlightenment, and what it means to be fully awakened within the messiness of samsara.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Gupta to discuss what it looks like to imagine a world without bias, how our fundamental ignorance of our interconnectedness distorts our perceptions, the dangers of getting stuck in outdated stories about ourselves and others, and how we can access and strengthen our innate capacity for compassion.

Holecek is a teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition who leads workshops on meditation, dream yoga, and preparing for death. In his new book, I'm Mindful, Now What?: Moving Beyond Mindfulness to Meet the Modern World, he lays out the limitations of mindfulness and offers an overview of a variety of meditation techniques that can lead to deeper transformation, including the esoteric practices of reverse meditation and bardo yoga.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Holecek to discuss why meditation is the most natural thing we can do, how we can learn to nurture our meditation by destroying it, and the importance of “waking down” into the messiness of embodied life.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Limón to discuss how poems bring us into the present moment, her practice of loving-kindness and how it influences her writing, why she believes poetry can help us decenter our sense of self, and how writing can be an act of offering something back to the planet. Plus, she reads a few poems from her recent collections.

Mumford has worked as a mindfulness coach and sports psychologist for three decades, and he has taught meditation in a wide variety of settings, from the US prison system to the NBA. In his view, mudita is an inner wellspring that is available under any circumstances, and it can help counter divisions and dualistic thinking.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Mumford to discuss how his history of addiction brought him to Buddhism, the importance of beginner’s mind in the process of recovery, why he believes freedom is a state of mind, and how we can cultivate mudita in our daily lives.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sister D to discuss how writing has helped her process the violence she witnessed, why she hopes her poetry can offer not just a description of suffering but a way out of it, and how gathas, or verses, can transform mundane activities into moments of awareness.

Please note that this episode includes discussion of sexual abuse and suicide. 

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Venerable Chodron to discuss how anger distorts our perception of reality, why the ultimate root of anger is ignorance of our interconnectedness, how we can learn to abandon negative emotions without suppressing them, and how the wisdom of emptiness can help us eradicate anger entirely.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Kaiser Greenland to discuss why she believes that we already have what we need to be free, the power of getting out of our own way, and how we can learn to take ourselves less seriously.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Tift to discuss the differences between what he calls the developmental and fruitional approaches to freedom, how attempts at self-improvement distract us from our fundamental liberation, and what it means to know that we’re already free.

Eventually, Moon found her way to Daihonzan Chozen-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple and martial arts dojo in Honolulu that emphasizes warrior Zen training. Her new book, Three Years on the Great Mountain: A Memoir of Zen and Fearlessness, follows her first three years at Chozen-ji as she learns ferocity and grace through swordsmanship, ceramics, and the rigors of all-night training.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Moon to talk about the importance of learning to face challenges directly, why the highest directive of a Zen priest is to give courage and take away fear, and how she’s learning to take herself less seriously while remaining entirely sincere.

According to meditation teacher Ethan Nichtern, working with these pairs of opposites can help us develop genuine confidence in the face of life’s challenges. In his new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life’s Eight Worldly Winds, he explores how we can navigate the vicissitudes of life with trust and resilience. 

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Nichtern to discuss how the worldly winds of pleasure and pain can ground us in felt experience, the interplay between hope and fear, how we can learn to tap into our own enoughness, and what self-confidence looks like in the absence of a stable self.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Tanahashi to discuss what first drew him to calligraphy and translation, the relationship between his art and his activism, why he believes the qualities of Zen aesthetics are manifestations of awakening, and how we can appreciate the miracle of each moment.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with O’Keefe to discuss his path to ordination in the Zen Peacemaker Order, his subsequent disillusionment with the order and its teacher, Bernie Glassman, how becoming a parent transformed his relationship to the priesthood, and how he views the connections between acting and Buddhist practice.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Lingo to discuss how we can learn to care for ourselves when we feel like we don’t deserve love, the power of calling on our ancestors, and what the concept of store consciousness can teach us about processing inherited grief and trauma.

In her new book, Lotus Girl: My Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and America, she uses her own spiritual journey to explore how Buddhism has developed in the West over the past sixty years. Set against the cultural backdrop of the Vietnam War and the American counterculture, the book offers a portrait of Tworkov’s search for meaning and truth as she travels through Japan, India, and Nepal and encounters the great Buddhist luminaries of her time, including the Dalai Lama, Pema Chödrön, Chögyam Trungpa, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Tworkov to talk about what first brought her to Buddhism, the dangers of exoticizing Buddhist traditions, the radical nature of Buddhist teachings in a relentlessly capitalist economy, and how she understands the bardos of old age and death.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Majied to discuss the parallels between Buddhism and Black wisdom traditions, why she believes joy is a mode of self-transcendence, how we can learn to suffer without being insufferable, and the importance of not taking ourselves so seriously.

These questions are at the core of Jungwon Kim’s practice. Kim is a multidisciplinary communications strategist and advocate who has chronicled frontline environmental and human rights movements for the past two decades. She previously worked at the Rainforest Alliance and Amnesty International, and she also co-founded two BIPOC Buddhist communities.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and co-host Sharon Salzberg sit down with Kim to discuss her work integrating spiritual practice and social action, the importance of embodied practice, the cathartic power of joy, and what we can learn from the Korean concept of han, or inherited grief and rage. Plus, Kim reads a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh.

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.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Ferguson to discuss how he as a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism came to write a book about Zen, why he believes dissatisfaction is actually a sign of awakened intelligence, what we can learn from welcoming and staying with our boredom, and the role of desire on the path to awakening.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Tsomo to discuss her unlikely path to Buddhism at a young age, her work advocating for women’s education internationally, how she integrates spiritual practice and political activism, and her hopes for the future of women’s ordination.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Yee to discuss how the Tibetan communities she encountered preserve their cultural heritage in exile, what happens when a religious tradition takes root in a new environment, and how she hopes the book will contribute to larger conversations around forced migration.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and co-host Sharon Salzberg sit down with Haemin to talk about the importance of learning to welcome unpleasant experiences, how giving up can actually open us to new possibilities, and how we can find happiness when we stop looking for it.

These questions are at the center of Zen priest and psychologist Seth Segall’s new book, The House We Live In: Virtue, Wisdom, and Pluralism. Drawing from Aristotelian, Confucian, and Buddhist ethical traditions, Segall outlines a vision of liberal pluralism grounded in human flourishing.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Segall to discuss what we can learn from comparing Aristotelian, Confucian, and Buddhist understandings of virtue; how he understands the relationship between enlightenment and human flourishing; and how cultivating philosophical wisdom can impact our everyday lives.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Burges to discuss her own story of overcoming addiction, the central role of surrender in both Zen and recovery, how atoning for past wrongs can free us to live more fully in the present, and why she believes humor is an essential component of Buddhist practice.

In the twentieth-anniversary edition of her classic book, Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha, she uses a blend of psychology and Buddhist insights to lay out a path to freedom in the face of pervasive feelings of inadequacy and isolation.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Brach to discuss what she’s learning by revisiting the book now, why she believes we’re living in a collective spiritual crisis, and how we can learn to recognize our own basic goodness.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and co-host Sharon Salzberg sit down with Puri to discuss the importance of unlearning our assumptions around death, how language can shape people’s experience of illness, her journey of learning to regard death with reverence instead of fear, and how working with dying patients influences how she lives her daily life.

In her new novel, The Gathering: A Story of the First Buddhist Women, scholar Vanessa R. Sasson offers an imaginative retelling of the women’s request for ordination, following the women as they travel through the forest together seeking full access to the Buddha’s teachings. Building on decades of research and drawing from the poems of the Therigatha, the novel explores how the women navigate the paradox of seeking ultimate liberation while still bound by social inequality.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sasson to discuss what we can learn from the first Buddhist women’s resilience, how contemporary women monastics understand this story, why she first started writing fiction, and the role of mythology and storytelling in the Buddhist world.

Oren Jay Sofer takes up these questions in his new book, Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love. As a meditation teacher and a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, Sofer has spent decades exploring the relationship between contemplative practice and nonviolent communication. In his new book, he lays out twenty-six qualities of the heart that can expand our capacity to respond to the challenges of oppression, overwhelm, burnout, and injustice.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Sofer to talk about how spiritual practice can help us navigate personal and political crises, the power of everyday devotion, how we can reclaim our right to rest, and how curiosity can open the door to empathy and connection.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Owens to discuss why he believes that the apocalypse is an opportunity for awakening, the power of connecting with our ancestors and unseen beings, why the New Saint is not necessarily a good person, and how fierceness can be a form of awakened care.

In her new book, Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock, Odell traces the history behind our relationship to time, from the day-to-day pressures of productivity to the deeper existential dread underlying the climate crisis. In the process, she explores alternative ways of experiencing time that can help us get past the illusion of the separate self and instead open us to wonder and freedom.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Odell to discuss the social dimensions of time, how paying attention can unsettle the boundaries between us, why she views burnout as a spiritual issue, and how love can bring us out of linear time.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Imperioli to talk about the dangers of the instrumentalization of Buddhist practice, what The White Lotus can teach us about craving and dissatisfaction, and whether he believes that liberation is possible in this lifetime.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Gay to talk about the relationship between delight and impermanence, how he understands faith, and how delight has restructured how he pays attention. Gay also reads an essay from his new collection.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Hirshfield to talk about the questions she’s been asking recently, why she views poetry as an antidote to despair, and how Zen rituals have informed her creative process. Plus, she reads a few poems from her new collection.

Race-based suffering, resilience, and transformation are at the core of a new collection of “freedom stories” written by Black Buddhist voices. In our latest episode of Tricycle Talks, editor and publisher James Shaheen speaks about what it means to be Black and Buddhist in America with Pamela Ayo Yetunde and Cheryl Giles, coeditors of Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom.

In this conversation, Yetunde, a pastoral counselor and practitioner in the Zen and Insight traditions, and Giles, a professor of pastoral care and counseling at Harvard Divinity School and clinical psychologist, examine racial ignorance and color blindness in Buddhist communities as well as how their dharma practice has helped them to reaffirm and celebrate their Blackness. Together, they reflect on how this anthology of liberation stories can offer all practitioners, regardless of race, a different way of being—of relating to ignorance, anger, trauma, fear, and pain.