Letters to the Editor

Stephen Batchelor’s “A Dialogical Self” (Fall 2025) is a wonderful contribution to a very beneficial conversation opening between ancient Greek philosophy scholars and Buddhists. As a scholar of Plato’s dialogues, however, I found the article to gloss over what, to my mind, is the most rewarding material to compare with Buddhist thought. Those well versed in Plato’s dialogues can see their parallels with the Pali suttas. It is really not a question of whether “Socrates had disciples whom he encouraged to carry on his work after his death.” He did, and they did. Regardless of what source you read, Socrates is depicted as one constantly exhorting all who would listen to examine themselves and implement the various aspects of virtue in their decision-making. The more receptive the person he talked to, the more into detail he would go as to what this meant, all the while using a question-and-answer method that is purposely utilized to minimize contentious debate and maximize friendly feeling.

His repeated insistence that he wasn’t a teacher was part of this method, as well as his claim to know nothing himself but to be someone who was interested only in truth. So, from not only Plato’s description but also Xenophon’s (which are the only two substantive sources), we can quite confidently state that he had much “interest in preaching a doctrine that all his followers would be expected to study, adopt, and then disseminate.”

I commend Mr. Batchelor’s engagement with this subject and the interesting parallels he drew between the Buddha’s teachings and Stoicism. But I just want to note that there is an even bigger treasure chest of worthwhile comparison hidden within Plato’s corpus, which he doesn’t even allude to. And that only in Plato’s dialogues can we find anything as comprehensive and systematic as the Buddha’s original Pali suttas.

–Kilaya Ciriello

EDITORS’ NOTE: “A Dialogical Self” was excerpted from the author’s recent book, Buddha, Socrates, and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times, which covers many more parallels than were published in our article. Visit tricycle.org/podcast for a conversation about the book.

David McMahan’s article “The Dilemmas of Digital Samsara” (Winter 2025) offers great perspective—and we need nuance. I mess with the algorithm by using multiple browsers: Google, Edge, DuckDuckGo. I also find stuff I might actually need thanks to the algorithm and am amused at the strange recommendations that it can bring my way. Deep breath and pause before clicking, extra pause before posting.

–Thomas Forsythe 

As soon as I found the Fall 2023 issue of Tricycle in a train station bookshop in the Netherlands, I was sold. It was because it fulfilled me. It was like food. I felt well fed. It was a feeling that I didn’t feel before, although I’ve read a lot of magazines. I wondered why it felt like this.

I came to the conclusion that not only did the Buddhist view speak to me but also the fact that in this magazine, articles are written by people who live what they write. They embody it.

There were three articles that stand out from all the others in that particular issue. Although that issue was filled with many good articles!

The “big three” were: “The Two Biggest Problems with the Spiritual Path” by Andrew Holecek, “The Big Picture” by Anne C. Klein, and “Against the Stream” by Curtis White.

I asked my local bookshop to add Tricycle to their collection of magazines. The first bookshop said they couldn’t, but the second said it was possible.

–J. Rutte

I found this conversation between Joseph Goldstein and James Shaheen (Tricycle Talks: “Liberation Through Non-Clinging Across Buddhist Traditions”) very interesting and very useful, indeed, especially as I’m one who also has investigated and practiced across the traditions of Vipassana, Zen, and Dzogchen for over five decades and counting. Thank you so much to everyone who made this podcast possible.

Also, as a practitioner and longtime subscriber to Tricycle, it just gets better and better, more and more helpful all the time. I really don’t know what I’d do without it now. Bless you all.

With a deep bow,
Gordon Benson

In December, Tricycle launched a new space for community and original content on Substack. Below are a handful of the responses we received for our first original Substack piece, “Not Knowing Is Most Intimate,” by Daisy Lin. 

Perhaps Buddhism’s pessimistic take on the world seemed unrealistic to people who grew up and became adults in the US middle-class bubble that lasted for some decades. There, it was possible to at least pretend the world made some kind of sense. Now, I think more people are experiencing the world the way it’s usually been experienced and the way Buddhism describes it. The world is bewildering, full of suffering, and we have no idea what’s going to happen next. In this situation, it’s easier to see the value of being your own refuge as well as having a sangha to support you. Suffering results in either bewilderment or search. If you’re bewildered, it’s time to search for the truth within yourself. Chaos is the reason we practice. 

–Doug Holmes 

In this magazine, articles are written by people who live what they write. They embody it.

What a timely article, at the end of such a difficult year. Daisy Lin asks, “Will we become curious, sift through the mess, let go of our delusions, move forward, and witness what happens when we keep the space open?”

This element of trust in the practice, of patience with ourselves and with how things unfold in our lives and the world, is most necessary to face all challenges ahead. Thank you for this beautiful essay.

–Alina 

I was reminded of one of Tagore’s songs. Here is a feeble translation from Bengali:

What fear should the unknown hold for me, dear one?
For life unfolds, ever and again,
by learning the unknown.
I know: the familiar in my world
will never exhaust itself;
Yet beyond all signs, down trackless ways,
the unseen cord will keep drawing me on.
My mother too was once unknown,
yet she clasped me to her breast.
All love is born unnamed—
that is why the heart trembles.
Amid this unfamiliar earth,
how many hidden rhythms stir my heart!
This life of mine—still a stranger—
I wander in its spell.

–Kunal 

Dogen said, “with no place to abide, the mind emerges.” The intimacy of not knowing is being close to this emerging; to be always passing through the gate, to be enlightened by each moment that arises in conjunction with our emerging mind with nothing to compare it to. Problems fall away and become merely things to do.

–Jason Macauley 

To be considered for the next issue’s Letters to the Editor, send comments to editorial@tricycle.org, post a comment on our website or Substack page, or visit us on social media. Letters are edited for clarity and length.