Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
The building controversy in New York — about the proposed construction of a Sufi mosque in Lower Manhattan — has, of course gone not just national, but international. And it’s only become more disturbing, thanks to Rev. Terry Jones. The Florida pastor infamously called for a 9/11 ceremony in which his congregation would burn copies of the Quran, and yesterday, the media reported that this had been called off, as a compromise seemed to have been reached: in order to keep the peace, Jones’s people would not burn the holy book, and the mosque would be relocated; averting an international outcry against such intolerance. (Not to mention keeping US military and citizens out of unnecessary danger from agitated Islamic extremists.)
The irony here is that the mosque project is spearheaded by one of the most liberal and ecumenical Muslim clerics in the US, Feisel Abdul Rauf (pictured), a good friend to many Buddhist, Christian, and Jewish progressives and contemplatives. The irony, of course, is that he is exactly the kind of person that those who oppose religious extremism should be supporting.
If you’re reading this now, we think it’s likely that you oppose religious extremism. So if you aren’t acquainted with him, perhaps now’s the time to meet Feisel Abdul Rauf, via this interview conducted by Shambhala Sun editor in chief Melvin McLeod. (And for another point of view see our interview with the feminist critic Irshad Manji, entitled “The Trouble With Islam.”)
“When fear occurs in your life, you should examine the nature of fear. This is not based on asking logical questions about fear: ‘Why am I afraid?’ ‘What is the cause of my fear?’ It is simply looking at the state of fear or panic that is taking place in you. Just look at it. We can always find good reasons to be afraid. But in this case, rather than taking an analytical approach to fear, you should just look at your fear directly.”
His work in this area has produced not just a fascinating book, Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics, but also a course at CIIS this past summer: “Buddhism and Psychedelics,” an online offering open to students outside CIIS, was a semester-long exploration of the history of drugs and dharma. I caught up with Allan to discuss the course, and the various ways Buddhists have understood the psychedelic experience.
Why teach a class about Buddhism and psychedelics? Why is this an important subject?
Ever since psychedelics first came into use in the West, Buddhism has had to deal with it. Most of the researchers and key characters in the psychedelic movement are also experienced in the philosophy and practices of Buddhism, and almost all first-generation Buddhist teachers in Europe and America have psychedelics lurking in their past. Continued »
Accordingly, in the practice-enlightenment of the buddha way, meeting one thing is mastering it — doing one practice is practicing completely. Here is the place; here the way unfolds. The boundary of realization is not distinct, for the realization comes forth simultaneously with the mastery of buddha-dharma.
We always want to keep track of things and witness what happens. The urge to know, to be aware of, to grasp intellectually is precisely what Dogen sees as being an illusion. We don’t own realization and it cannot be measured or known. No traces are seen, and understanding doesn’t take place before of after practice. [Click through to sit along with today's video.]Continued »
Not “friends” with the Shambhala Sun on Facebook? Then you might have missed this news:
Pema Chödrön’s upcoming three-day “Smile at Fear” retreat with Carolyn Gimian in Richmond, California — while long sold out — will be available online. And if you sign up for this “virtual” retreat (though SunSpace blogger/vlogger Jundo Cohen maintains there’s nothing “virtual” about online teachings, and he has a point), you’ll retain access to videos of the teachings and other essential materials as well. Just click here for more info and to sign up now.
It’s Labor Day in the States today — a day when, hopefully, you’ll get a chance to slow down and enjoy the fruits of your labor. For many of us, though, not even a day off is really a day off. As Sakyong Mipham wrote in the Shambhala Sun:
“The speedy mind is like an internal combustion engine. So much effort goes into the energy it produces, creating the harmful, wasteful byproducts of exhaustion and pollution. Even when we’re reading a book or watching a movie, the idling mind of speed does not shut off. [...] If we’re always flapping our wings, endlessly trying to get what we need with aggression, we will always be exhausted. We’ll never find what we’re really looking for, which is our own contentment.”
Well, we hope you’ll find at least some of your own contentment today. So: enjoy, whether you’re working today or not. And in case you could use a little more encouragement, see Sakyong Mipham’s article, “Slow Down, You Move Too Fast,” here.
Is enlightenment “sudden” or “gradual”? It’s a centuries-old debate in the Zen world (and in other realms of Buddhist practice, too). Zen’s answer has always been “yes” and “yes” – for while the realization of insights may be in instants beyond time, the cultivation and realization (that is, making real) is done via practice instant by instant in life.
Kensho (seeing original nature) is necessary and vital to this path. Can such happen in an flash? Yes, but it usually ends up a flash in the pan – unless cultivated slowly, step by step, and made a part of one’s life. Must enlightenment happen in an flash? No, for the Buddha’s Truths can pierce our marrowless marrow slowly, step by step, with steady years of practice. In either case, arriving at “no beginning no end“, or any other destination, is not the end of the trail, nor the beginning. [Click through for more, and to "sit-a-long" with today's video.]Continued »
Shambhala SunSpace readers recently had the pleasure of meeting Toni Bernhard via a guest post called “Why would a law professor write a Buddhist book on chronic illness?” Toni’s expertise, of course, isn’t merely scholarly: she actually has a chronic illness, and her new book, How To Be Sick, offers her hard-won lessons on living with that illness, many of which are informed by her Buddhist practice.
In this exclusive Shambhala Sun Audio interview, Toni speaks about how she’s come to find joy despite the pain and limitations caused by her sickness. She also offers a practice that she uses “every day, in every way” — and that she considers “the greatest antidote to clinging.” Click though to listen. Continued »
On Monday, September 13 in New York City, Buddhist monk and photographer Matthieu Ricard will meet with world-renowned composer Philip Glass to explore the crossroads between contemplation and creativity. Exploring how meditation can access the creative muse, the discussion takes its cue from Ricard’s new book, Why Meditate? (An article by that title, excerpted from the book, leads off the title section of our September 2010 How to Meditate issue.)
Ricard’s insightful work strives to foster the dialogue between Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Composer Philip Glass will share his similarly rewarding use of meditation in delivering some of the most heralded musical compositions in contemporary music. Moderated by noted psychiatrist Mark Epstein, M.D., the evening will draw from each panelist’s experience with meditation as a pathway to creative productivity.
Proceeds from the event will benefit Karuna-Shechen, Ricard’s humanitarian non-profit organization providing access to healthcare in India, Nepal and Tibet. (www.karuna-shechen.org)
A few people have written me recently who have a spouse or loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease or a similar condition. There are some people in my own family now struggling. My mother suffered a series of strokes before her passing a few years ago which left her increasing confused, until she could not recognize her children some days.
There is no easy way to see a loved one slip away. Yet, can we learn how just to be with someone we love during the time we can, and then be willing to let them go? [Click through for more, and to "sit-a-long" with today's video.]Continued »
On the New York Times Opinionator blog today, Robert Wright (author of The Evolution of God) writes:
A week of silent meditation can help highlight how technology keeps us in its grip, and what some of the costs of our ongoing surrender are.
Wright speaks from personal experience. His online piece, titled “Mind the Grid,” is based on his recent participation in an Insight Meditation Society retreat with Michael and Narayan Liebenson-Grady. Check it out here, and for more on how to mindfully naviagte the on- and off-line worlds, see Steve Silberman’s Did You Get the Message?, from the Shambhala Sun’s 2010 Guide to Mindful Living issue.
A related update — Now available: a new TED video of His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa talking about “the technology of the mind and heart”:
(That’s our friend Tyler Dewar for translating the Karmapa in this video. Our best and thanks to him.)
How might meditation change a life? Author Donna Rockwell asked four teachers just that, for inclusion in a Shambhala Sun article called “True Stories About Sitting Meditation.” How do their answers resonate with your experience?
Rockwell: Can you please complete the following sentence for me? “Meditative awareness has changed my life in the following way…”
Charlotte Joko Beck:“‘It has changed my life in the direction of it being more harmonious, more satisfactory, more joyful and more useful probably.’ Though I don’t think much in those terms. I don’t wake up in the morning thinking I’m going to be useful. I really think about what I’m going to have for breakfast.”
Joseph Goldstein: “…I’ve become more aware of the nature of my mind — how it creates suffering and how it can be free.”
Sylvia Boorstein: “It changed me from being afraid of being in a life to celebrating it.”
Sharon Salzberg: “…it has changed my view of who I am.”
Recently a “Facebook friend” — though I bet he’d be my “in-person friend” if we lived near each other — posted what seemed to me to be an especially intriguing status update:
Meditation at Navy Medical Center this morning. After meditation one guy said, “Wow, thank you… I had no idea my mind moved so fast!”…It was the process of watching the mind that allowed him to see how much it jumps. It was his first ever meditation.
I didn’t quite get the context for this inspiring little story, but I knew I wanted to hear more. And then I got to thinking how much I’d like to know if our readers might share their own stories of first-ever or otherwise breakthrough meditation experiences — large and small. Sure, it’s a personal thing to talk about — but maybe doing so will help us help each other keep up the energy and will it sometimes takes to keep meditating.
After the jump: Facebook friend Jeffrey Zlotnik shares the background on his above anecdote, and in so doing shows that “TMI” can sometimes be a fine, fine thing. (It’s not what you think.)Continued »
The new book from the editors of the Shambhala Sun is here — with contributions from Thich Nhat Hanh, Mary Pipher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Steve Silberman, and more. Here’s what Publishers Weekly has to say:
“This excellent anthology embraces a range of issues (e.g., illness, food, caretaking, and nature) from Buddhist perspectives, becoming a demonstration of the ongoing and powerful interrelationship between Buddhism and life in the West, especially the United States. Continued »
Our special How to Meditate issue is on newsstands, featuring guidance from Matthieu Ricard, Noah Levine, Pema Chödrön, James Baraz, Cyndi Lee, Sakyong Mipham, Mingyur Rinpoche, and more.
Well, there’s lots more where that all came from. So come visit our special online How to Meditate Spotlight page. There you’ll find links to articles from the How to Meditate issue, as well as archived, classic teachings from the likes of Jack Kornfield, Thich Nhat Hanh, Judy Lief, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Pema Chödrön, Sayadaw U Pandita, and more.
The building controversy in New York — about the proposed construction of a Sufi mosque in Lower Manhattan — has, of course gone not just national, but international. And it’s only become more disturbing, thanks to Rev. Terry Jones. The Florida pastor infamously called for a 9/11 ceremony in which his congregation would burn copies of the Quran, and yesterday, the media reported that this had been called off, as a compromise seemed to have been reached: in order to keep the peace, Jones’s people would not burn the holy book, and the mosque would be relocated; averting an international outcry against such intolerance. (Not to mention keeping US military and citizens out of unnecessary danger from agitated Islamic extremists.)
“When fear occurs in your life, you should examine the nature of fear. This is not based on asking logical questions about fear: ‘Why am I afraid?’ ‘What is the cause of my fear?’ It is simply looking at the state of fear or panic that is taking place in you. Just look at it. We can always find good reasons to be afraid. But in this case, rather than taking an analytical approach to fear, you should just look at your fear directly.”
Master Dogen wrote:
Not “friends” with the Shambhala Sun 
It’s Labor Day in the States today — a day when, hopefully, you’ll get a chance to slow down and enjoy the fruits of your labor. For many of us, though, not even a day off is really a day off. As Sakyong Mipham wrote in the Shambhala Sun:
Is enlightenment “sudden” or “gradual”? It’s a centuries-old debate in the Zen world (and in other realms of Buddhist practice, too). Zen’s answer has always been “yes” and “yes” – for while the realization of insights may be in instants beyond time, the cultivation and realization (that is, making real) is done via practice instant by instant in life.
On Monday, September 13 in New York City, Buddhist monk and photographer Matthieu Ricard will meet with world-renowned composer Philip Glass to explore the crossroads between contemplation and creativity. Exploring how meditation can access the creative muse, the discussion takes its cue from Ricard’s new book, Why Meditate? (An article by that title, excerpted from the book, leads off the title section of our 
A few people have written me recently who have a spouse or loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease or a similar condition. There are some people in my own family now struggling. My mother suffered a series of strokes before her passing a few years ago which left her increasing confused, until she could not recognize her children some days.
On the New York Times Opinionator blog today, Robert Wright (author of The Evolution of God) writes:
How might meditation change a life? Author Donna Rockwell asked four teachers just that, for inclusion in a Shambhala Sun article called “True Stories About Sitting Meditation.” How do their answers resonate with your experience?
The new book from the editors of the Shambhala Sun is here — with contributions from Thich Nhat Hanh, Mary Pipher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Steve Silberman, and more. Here’s what Publishers Weekly has to say:
