Nothing is permanent, everything is precious. Here’s a selection of some happenings—fleeting or otherwise—at Tricycle and in the Buddhist world this week.
The Winning Poems from Last Month’s Haiku Challenge
As moderator Clark Strand notes, the winning and honorable mention haiku for April’s challenge “captured the essential spirit of Nature’s most ubiquitous spring flower,” the dandelion. Read the winning poems here, and then submit your own haiku for a chance to be featured on our website and in the print magazine.
A Short Guided Meditation on Expanding the Visual Sense
In a new short audio practice, meditation teacher Lama Karma demonstrates the use of “panoramic vision,” a relaxation technique to help us take in our environment with increased openness and clarity. This is the second of a four-part series on Open Mindfulness, a framework that explores the yogic awareness practices of Tibetan Buddhism within the contemporary context of the mindfulness movement. Listen here.
A Teaching from Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa
In a reflection originally published on Thay Dorje’s website, the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa writes about the miracle of human life. Though our lifetimes are fleeting on a cosmic scale, we experience them as long and adventurous. Focus on this, he says, and you will be naturally motivated to make the most of life. Read the teaching here.
A Dharma Talk on the Strength of Goodness
Meditation teacher Joshua Bee Alafia’s Dharma Talk this month focuses on dana (giving), sila (moral integrity), and bhavana (cultivation, meditation) as means for living as heart-centrically as we can. Watch this week’s talk, “The Strength of Goodness,” here.
In Other News…
For the Second Year in a Row, the White House Celebrates Vesak
Leaders from the three Buddhist traditions gathered for prayers and candle-lighting at the event, organized by Wangmo Dixey, President of the International Buddhist Association of America.
Writer and Interfaith Minister Barbara Becker Wins Gold Nautilus Book Award
Becker’s memoir, Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind, received the gold award in the Death & Dying / Grief & Loss category. Listen to Becker discuss her award-winning book and the Buddhist teachings and rituals that help her turn towards death on Tricycle Talks.
The collection of poems and film, both titled Dancing in the Dark, will come out next spring.
A New Korean Temple Opens in Bodh Gaya
After two years of construction, Bunhwangsa Temple will open today in Bodh Gaya, India. A delegation of 150 monks from the Jogye Order, South Korea’s largest Buddhist order, will be in attendance at the opening ceremony.
Alanis Morissette to Release Album of Meditation Music
The singer-songwriter, who won a Tony Award in 2019 with her musical Jagged Little Pill, will release a new album of guided meditations called The Storm Before the Calm on June 17.
Husband and wife Robert E. Buswell, Jr., a Buddhist scholar, and Christina Lee Buswell, a translator of Korean religious scriptures, gifted $3.7 million to UCLA’s Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. The funds will create the Chinul Endowed Chair in Korean Buddhist Studies and the Robert E. and Christina L. Buswell Fellowship in Buddhist Studies in support of the department’s graduate students.