Thank You for 20 Great Years

We would like to thank all the readers, contributors, and community members who have made the last 20 years of Tricycle possible. Words cannot adequately express the deep appreciation and gratitude we feel.

In the Editor’s View from our current issue, Editor & Publisher James Shaheen reflects on Tricycle’s beginnings:

When Tricycle’s founders published their inaugural issue in the fall of 1991, they had little assurance the modest niche quarterly would make it beyond its first three months, let alone its first year. But a glance at the table of contents for the first issue offers a preview of how Tricycle would fulfill its mission as the first independent and inclusive Buddhist magazine.

A special section on the International Year of Tibet featured Spalding Gray’s interview of the Dalai Lama and a dharma talk on renunciation by Buddhist nun Pema Chödron—two prominent Buddhists who have since appeared many times in our pages. An interfaith roundtable on “Authority and Exploitation,” with Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast joining Zen teacher Robert Aitken Roshi and psychotherapist Diane Shainberg, established a format we have used often to explore sensitive issues facing Buddhist practitioners and, indeed, spiritual seekers of every sort.

Gary Snyder’s article on poetry and meditation and an interview with screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin presaged Tricycle’s frequent coverage of Buddhism in the arts. Features on AIDS and politics forecast our ongoing concern with addressing timely controversial issues. Thich Nhat Hanh’s observations on the Buddha’s first women disciples, poet Andrew Schelling’s examination of cross-species compassion in the Jataka Tales, and religion professor Stuart Smithers’s comments on translating Buddhist texts were the first of many articles on traditional Buddhist teachings. Also included in the issue were Michael Hurson’s cartoon strip and Larry Shainberg’s arch observations on Buddhism and sports: humor would have a rightful place in Tricycle’s coverage of Buddhist life.

I remember this issue as well. I was 9 years old when it came out and I remember my dad bringing it home from the newsstand. It was a good bit above my reading level at the time, but I recall looking through the pages and knowing it was something special. This picture of the Dalai Lama talking about flying monks had my young mind running wild: