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The difference between people with scientific beliefs and those with religious beliefs is that most religious believers are aware that their position is based on faith and that believers in other religions, or even different sects of the same religion, have different beliefs. People who put their faith in scientific materialism are often unaware that their beliefs are beliefs at all. They usually think of them as the truth.

— Rupert Sheldrake, “A Question of Faith”

# magazine science atheism new atheism materialism militant atheism

Posted 18 hours ago 8 notes
Rekindling CommunityBy Maude WolfeI live in a small town on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In 2005, this littoral place, with its ever-shifting boundaries on the edge of land and sea, was almost swept away by Hurricane Katrina. After the storm, I shuddered with the recognition that my life as I knew it was gone. The same was true for my circle of friends; there was no one whose life had not been dramatically changed by Katrina. Amidst sudden and thoroughgoing uncertainty, I contemplated isolation and community, vibrancy and desolation. Oddly enough, in the immediate aftermath of the storm, I felt a momentary surge of what felt like freedom. I felt privileged in a particular way. It seemed like a tremendous opportunity to practice, to put my beliefs to the test. However, this feeling soon wavered under the weight of the tasks and decisions at hand. Separated from my home, workplace, and community, what endured most apparently of the identity “Maude” were daughter, wife, and sister, and in a matter of weeks, the needs, real and imagined, and desires of these essential roles became a tangled knot. Continue Reading.

Rekindling Community
By Maude Wolfe

I live in a small town on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In 2005, this littoral place, with its ever-shifting boundaries on the edge of land and sea, was almost swept away by Hurricane Katrina. After the storm, I shuddered with the recognition that my life as I knew it was gone. The same was true for my circle of friends; there was no one whose life had not been dramatically changed by Katrina. Amidst sudden and thoroughgoing uncertainty, I contemplated isolation and community, vibrancy and desolation. 

Oddly enough, in the immediate aftermath of the storm, I felt a momentary surge of what felt like freedom. I felt privileged in a particular way. It seemed like a tremendous opportunity to practice, to put my beliefs to the test. However, this feeling soon wavered under the weight of the tasks and decisions at hand. Separated from my home, workplace, and community, what endured most apparently of the identity “Maude” were daughter, wife, and sister, and in a matter of weeks, the needs, real and imagined, and desires of these essential roles became a tangled knot.

Continue Reading.

# tbt

Posted 1 day ago
Not What I ThoughtBy Patricia Mushim Ikeda Although I was wearing grey Korean Buddhist clothing, was a temple-dwelling renunciant with hair cut short, and had logged plenty of hours in our own meditation hall, the bhikkhus declined to invite me to meditate with them because I was a woman. I was completely new to their traditional way, and I was completely shocked. There was absolutely no unfriendliness on the part of our hosts; they were simply following the rules. My teacher politely declined the invitation. He later explained that he did so because, if I couldn’t join the meditation session, then he didn’t want to do so either. The silence in the car was broken when my teacher remarked, “Those candles looked like big phallic symbols.” No kidding, I thought to myself. “Frankly,” he continued, “they were the only thing I could relate to there.” Continue Reading.

Not What I Thought
By Patricia Mushim Ikeda

Although I was wearing grey Korean Buddhist clothing, was a temple-dwelling renunciant with hair cut short, and had logged plenty of hours in our own meditation hall, the bhikkhus declined to invite me to meditate with them because I was a woman. I was completely new to their traditional way, and I was completely shocked. There was absolutely no unfriendliness on the part of our hosts; they were simply following the rules. My teacher politely declined the invitation. He later explained that he did so because, if I couldn’t join the meditation session, then he didn’t want to do so either. 

The silence in the car was broken when my teacher remarked, “Those candles looked like big phallic symbols.” 

No kidding, I thought to myself. 

“Frankly,” he continued, “they were the only thing I could relate to there.”

Continue Reading.

# tbt

Posted 1 day ago 2 notes

TO BE AWAKENED: THIRD WEEK OF ROSHI PAT ENKYO O’HARA’S ONLINE RETREAT

The third week’s teaching of Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara’s retreat, “To Be Awakened,” takes on the third of Zen Master Dogen’s phrases from the Genjokoan: To forget the self is to be awakened by the myriad things. Many of us on a spiritual path endlessly seek something we don’t recognize that is right here, always. This is the myriad things. In this teaching, Roshi invites us to consider that this whole world—everything—contains the potential to wake us up in each moment. Watch the teaching.

# retreat zen

Posted 1 day ago
Becoming OurselvesBy Meara Claire HaydenI didn’t really want to go. Meditation seemed ridiculous to me; something that my mom does at 5:30 in the morning. And to go to a retreat where you do nothing but sit there for an entire week—it seemed like there was scarcely anything that could be less appealing or a bigger waste of time.  It was September of my freshman year of high school, and I was 14 and not particularly happy. I hated my school. The kids all seemed to be cut from the same apple pie; if anyone was thinking for themselves, they certainly didn’t speak their minds out loud. I was attempting to create my own group, but I felt unhappy all the time, and I just didn’t fit in.  Continue Reading.

Becoming Ourselves
By Meara Claire Hayden

I didn’t really want to go. Meditation seemed ridiculous to me; something that my mom does at 5:30 in the morning. And to go to a retreat where you do nothing but sit there for an entire week—it seemed like there was scarcely anything that could be less appealing or a bigger waste of time. 

It was September of my freshman year of high school, and I was 14 and not particularly happy. I hated my school. The kids all seemed to be cut from the same apple pie; if anyone was thinking for themselves, they certainly didn’t speak their minds out loud. I was attempting to create my own group, but I felt unhappy all the time, and I just didn’t fit in. 

Continue Reading.

# tbt

Posted 1 day ago 3 notes
We reached out to three members of the Tricycle community who in some way or ways didn’t fit the image of a Western Buddhist put forth in the popular press or, for that matter, in the Buddhist press. Each of their stories lifts a corner to reveal parts of the Buddhist experience often hidden. Read them here. View Larger

We reached out to three members of the Tricycle community who in some way or ways didn’t fit the image of a Western Buddhist put forth in the popular press or, for that matter, in the Buddhist press. Each of their stories lifts a corner to reveal parts of the Buddhist experience often hidden. Read them here.

# tbt

Posted 1 day ago 1 note