With all the talk of print’s decline, Tricycle’s newsstand sales are flourishing. We did not experience the same sharp drop that general-interest magazines suffered over the past year. As a publication serving what’s referred to as a “niche audience”—that’s you—we’ve navigated a tough print environment well.
At the same time, I think there are other reasons for our healthy sales. Our readership has always formed what we’ve come to think of as a community—the Tricycle Community. The letters we receive from readers are sometimes startling for their impassioned praise and harsh criticism, which is something that used to concern us when we first published. Yet over time we have come to understand that you rightly feel you have a stake in what we do and share a sense of ownership with us—and you should: As a not-for-profit endeavor, Tricycle has always relied on the generosity and interest of readers like you.
The Tricycle Community is more than just an idea now. It’s a thriving, interactive online presence that has become global in its reach. And I mean global: not long ago, poking around our site, I discovered that a Vipassana group in Nairobi had joined us! In the United States and around the world, people have been particularly taken with Tricycle Online Retreats, monthly series of four-week video teachings and discussions led by teachers from a number of traditions. The retreats are available to Sustaining Members, who receive both the print edition and full online access (you can find a schedule of retreats for the coming quarter on page 5, and become a Sustaining Member at tricycle.com/join).
More than anything, the Tricycle Community is here to support your practice. In this issue we offer as a gift the first card in our Altar Card series (see page 32), and we’ll include one in each issue to inspire your practice. In the spirit of community—and in support of the practice of others—you can share a virtual altar card by sending our e-version to a friend. You can choose the one you see above or select from a number at our altar-card gallery, tricycle.com/gallery. May these images spread far and wide!
You will also want to take a look at our exclusive online content. In particular, I suggest Kemmyo Taira Sato’s “D. T. Suzuki and the Question of War,” generously made available at tricycle.com by our friends at the Eastern Buddhist. In “The Fog of War,” on page 78, Gary Snyder and Nelson Foster discuss Sato’s rigorous rebuttal to harsh criticism leveled at D.T. Suzuki for his alleged complicity in Japan’s war effort. At tricycle.com you can also read the complete version of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s previously unpublished “Investigate Your Mind,” which begins on page 66.
I invite you to help us shape the future of the Tricycle Community. Visit us at tricycle.com/ feedbackforum and let us know what you think. We’ve just begun our effort and we ask you to join us in building a diverse and inclusive dharma community that supports you in your practice.
—James Shaheen, Editor and Publisher