Contributors Winter 2008

ALLAN LOKOS, the guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York City, notes that when he began walking the Buddha’s path, he was surprised and delighted by the emphasis placed on the practice of “Skillful Speech.” “We are always engaged in relationships,” Lokos says, “including the relationship with ourselves. I believe there is nothing we could do that would alleviate suffering more immediately than learning to speak more kindly and compassionately. Meditators can note their inner dialogue and make the effort to speak more graciously.”

SUSAN MOON knows that not being able to sit cross-legged on the floor “is hardly a major tragedy,” but it can, she admits, be bad for your self-esteem. “At a time when a whole generation of Western converts to Buddhism are getting old,” Moon tells Tricycle, “I’m bringing attention in my practice and in my writing to finding equanimity, even delight, in the changes aging brings.” In “Leaving the Lotus Position,” she writes about one such change in her meditation practice. “As a recent convert to chair-sitting, I want to encourage others for whom the time is ripe to elevate themselves as well.”

For the past three years, EVAN BRENNER has been developing The Buddha–In His Own Words,a one-man show about the life of the Buddha drawn entirely from the sutras. “I was delighted to learn of Jack Kerouac’s forthcoming Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha, to see his take on the subject,” he says. His review of Kerouac’s book appears in this issue of Tricycle (“Jesus of Asia,”). “For me, the Buddha’s radical and fearless journey of struggle, achievement, and (in my view) ongoing challenge remains an inspiration and model for my own quest.”

JOEL AGEE describes the tribulations of a decades-long spiritual search and a crucial moment of awakening in “Not Found, Not Lost.” “It strikes me as a beautiful irony,” he tells Tricycle,“that the telephone, of all the ritual implements, can serve so well to reveal the unnamable reality in which there is no distance and no separation.” Agee is the author of In The House of My Fear,a memoir of the late 1960s. For the past four years he has been assisting Peter Fenner as a coach to students in Fenner’s Radiant Mind Course.

DARRIN HARRIS FRISBY‘s photography ranges from fine art landscapes to fashion and commerical assignments, but he most enjoys exploring the depth and essence that emerges in his portraiture of humans. “There is an essential beauty in humanity at its core level…that sparkling quality each human possesses,” he says. “At the end of the day, I believe all people are similar in their shared desire to be seen and captured on film with dignity and grace.” Frisby’s portraits can be seen in this issue in “Peace on the Street.” For more of his work, visit 10pointproductions.com.