Shyam Selvadurai

Award winning Sri-Lankan Canadian novelist and author of Funny Boy, talks about his latest historical fiction, Mansions of the Moon—the difficult and creative process of using fact and imagination to create an intimate tale of the Buddha’s wife, her relationship with him, their inevitable separation, and her own path to enlightenment.

Award winning Sri-Lankan Canadian novelist and author of Funny Boy, talks about his latest historical fiction, Mansions of the Moon—the difficult and creative process of using fact and imagination to create an intimate tale of the Buddha’s wife, her relationship with him, their inevitable separation, and her own path to enlightenment.

The Woman Who Married the Buddha with Shyam Selvadurai

Brooke Schedneck

Religious studies professor Brooke Schedneck is the author of Living Theravada: Demystifying the People, Places, and Practices of a Buddhist Tradition. She talks about Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, from ordinary lay people to elite monks.

Religious studies professor Brooke Schedneck is the author of Living Theravada: Demystifying the People, Places, and Practices of a Buddhist Tradition. She talks about Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, from ordinary lay people to elite monks.

Theravada in Everyday Life with Brooke Schedneck

Tim Burkett

Psychologist and teacher Tim Burkett was ordained in 1978, but his path began in 1964, when he met Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the famed author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. He talks about learning the nature of enlightenment from Suzuki Roshi, and why the pursuit of enlightenment is futile.

Psychologist and teacher Tim Burkett was ordained in 1978, but his path began in 1964, when he met Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the famed author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. He talks about learning the nature of enlightenment from Suzuki Roshi, and why the pursuit of enlightenment is futile.

Enlightenment is an Accident with Tim Burkett

Stacy McClendon

Teacher and co-founder of the BIPOC Sangha at Common Ground Meditation Center, Stacy McClendon talks about how mindfulness can transform the way we think about how we work.

Teacher and co-founder of the BIPOC Sangha at Common Ground Meditation Center, Stacy McClendon talks about how mindfulness can transform the way we think about how we work.

Mindfulness in Your Workplace with Stacy McClendon

Visiting professor of Buddhism and Black Studies at Union Theological Seminary, and author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation, Rima Vesely-Flad talks about her book on the connection between the practices of Buddhism, and the Black tradition of radical activism.

Visiting professor of Buddhism and Black Studies at Union Theological Seminary, and author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation, Rima Vesely-Flad talks about her book on the connection between the practices of Buddhism, and the Black tradition of radical activism.

Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition w. Rima Vesely-Flad

Kevin Townley

Writer, filmmaker, actor, singer, and meditation teacher, Kevin Townley talks about his latest book featuring women whose work exemplifies each of the five wisdom energies in Tibetan Buddhism, how the energies can show up in daily life, and how the spiritualist abstract artist Hilma af Klint embodied the wisdom energy of emptiness.

Writer, filmmaker, actor, singer, and meditation teacher, Kevin Townley talks about his latest book featuring women whose work exemplifies each of the five wisdom energies in Tibetan Buddhism, how the energies can show up in daily life, and how the spiritualist abstract artist Hilma af Klint embodied the wisdom energy of emptiness.

Hilma af Klint and the Five Buddha Families with Kevin Townley

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

From her first encounter with Zen to her life as a poet, Black activist, and Zen teacher in Suzuki Roshi’s lineage, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel shares her journey and how it has been informed by the wisdom of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.

From her first encounter with Zen to her life as a poet, Black activist, and Zen teacher in Suzuki Roshi’s lineage, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel shares her journey and how it has been informed by the wisdom of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind with Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

Christiane Wolf

Former physician, and internationally known mindfulness and Insight meditation teacher, Christiane Wolf is well versed in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and classical Buddhist mindfulness. Wolf talks about the early days of the modern mindfulness movement, how Insight and mindfulness communities inform each other, and how mindfulness-based approaches can be used in cognitive therapy and pain management.

Former physician, and internationally known mindfulness and Insight meditation teacher, Christiane Wolf is well versed in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and classical Buddhist mindfulness. Wolf talks about the early days of the modern mindfulness movement, how Insight and mindfulness communities inform each other, and how mindfulness-based approaches can be used in cognitive therapy and pain management.

The New Wave of Mindfulness with Christiane Wolf

Pico Iyer

Pico Iyer, author of dozens of books including The Lady and the Monk and The Art of Stillness, talks to Lion’s Roar editor in chief Melvin McLeod about the profound wonder that travel invites, how he came to cherish the feeling of wandering in the unknown, and how he came to find a home within himself.

Pico Iyer, author of dozens of books including The Lady and the Monk and The Art of Stillness, talks to Lion’s Roar editor in chief Melvin McLeod about the profound wonder that travel invites, how he came to cherish the feeling of wandering in the unknown, and how he came to find a home within himself.

Travel as a Spiritual Experience with Pico Iyer

Karla Jackson-Brewer

Karla Jackson-Brewer is a senior teacher with the Tara Mandala Buddhist Retreat Center, and longtime student of Lama Tsultrim Allione. In this conversation, Lion’s Roar’s Pamela Ayo Yetunde Talks to her about internalized racism and the medicine Buddhism can offer to heal it.

Karla Jackson-Brewer is a senior teacher with the Tara Mandala Buddhist Retreat Center, and longtime student of Lama Tsultrim Allione. In this conversation, Lion’s Roar’s Pamela Ayo Yetunde Talks to her about internalized racism and the medicine Buddhism can offer to heal it.

Medicine for Internalized Racism with Karla Jackson-Brewer

Meditations, interviews, dharma talks and features from Lion's Roar Magazine and Buddhadharma: The Practioner's Quarterly.

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Polly Young-Eisendrath

Judith Simmer-Brown

Author and activist bell hooks shares a simple formula for a healthy romantic relationships, starting with the myth that love is a feeling – a noun. In fact she says, “love is what to do.” Jungian psychoanalyst and Zen Buddhist Dr. Polly Young-Eisendrath lays out the pitfalls of romantic love that lead us to idealization, delusion, disappointment and depression, and how to avoid them. Then an introductory tonglen meditation to refresh and expand your heart, from the online course Flight of the Swans: Dharma Comes West, by Lion's Roar and Naropa University. 

Author and activist bell hooks shares a simple formula for a healthy romantic relationships, starting with the myth that love is a feeling – a noun. In fact she says, “love is what to do.” Jungian psychoanalyst and Zen Buddhist Dr. Polly Young-Eisendrath lays out the pitfalls of romantic love that lead us to idealization, delusion, disappointment and depression, and how to avoid them. Then an introductory tonglen meditation to refresh and expand your heart, from the online course Flight of the Swans: Dharma Comes West, by Lion's Roar and Naropa University.

How to Love with bell hooks / The Truth of Romantic Love with Dr. Polly Young-Eisendrath / Pure Love Tonglen Meditation with Dr. Judith Simmer-Brown

Valerie Mason-John

Life has a way of throwing us a curveball when we least expect it, and when we think we can’t withstand any more, something else happens. Author and mindfulness teacher Dr. Valerie (Vimalasara) Mason-John shares the parable of the "second arrow" – a metaphor for the extra suffering we cause ourselves – and five ways to work with habitual thoughts so we can start rolling with the punches, and stop kicking ourselves.

Life has a way of throwing us a curveball when we least expect it, and when we think we can’t withstand any more, something else happens. Author and mindfulness teacher Dr. Valerie (Vimalasara) Mason-John shares the parable of the "second arrow" – a metaphor for the extra suffering we cause ourselves – and five ways to work with habitual thoughts so we can start rolling with the punches, and stop kicking ourselves.

The Second Arrow of Suffering with Dr. Valerie Mason-John

JoAnna Hardy

In a world full of reasons to be scared, Vipassana meditation teacher JoAnna Hardy says loving-kindness is the antidote to fear. Hardy approaches meditation with an emphasis on compassion, and she says this opening of the heart is one of the most radical endeavours a person can take on. 

In a world full of reasons to be scared, Vipassana meditation teacher JoAnna Hardy says loving-kindness is the antidote to fear. Hardy approaches meditation with an emphasis on compassion, and she says this opening of the heart is one of the most radical endeavours a person can take on.

How Radical Can You Be? with JoAnna Hardy

Koshin Paley Ellison

The simplest practice of all is the ability to "just stop," says Chief Editor Melvin McLeod, but it's not easy. In this brief editorial he sheds light on why we struggle to slow down, and why we should do so anyway. Then, a guided meditation to help you embody your best qualities even when you’re deep in "the heart of your darkness,” with Zen teacher Koshin Paley Ellison.

The simplest practice of all is the ability to "just stop," says Chief Editor Melvin McLeod, but it's not easy. In this brief editorial he sheds light on why we struggle to slow down, and why we should do so anyway. Then, a guided meditation to help you embody your best qualities even when you’re deep in "the heart of your darkness,” with Zen teacher Koshin Paley Ellison.

Just Stop: The Simplest Meditation / Golden Butter Meditation with Koshin Paley Ellison

Gesshin Greenwood

Claire Gesshin Greenwood discovered Oryoki in the monasteries of Japan, where monks in training practice a ritualized eating ceremony with bells and chanting. There’s a right way to use the bowls, a right way to clean them, a right way to hold them, and a right way to eat what’s in them – all to help them experience greater clarity and gratitude for their lives. Greenwood says we can experience this same stillness and sense of interconnectedness in our homes. She explains why, even after she left the cloistered monastic life, she was inspired to bring this practice back to her San Francisco home. 

Claire Gesshin Greenwood discovered Oryoki in the monasteries of Japan, where monks in training practice a ritualized eating ceremony with bells and chanting. There’s a right way to use the bowls, a right way to clean them, a right way to hold them, and a right way to eat what’s in them – all to help them experience greater clarity and gratitude for their lives. Greenwood says we can experience this same stillness and sense of interconnectedness in our homes. She explains why, even after she left the cloistered monastic life, she was inspired to bring this practice back to her San Francisco home.

Eating Oryoki with Claire Gesshin Greenwood

Oren Jay Sofer

The Buddhist community is reckoning with coronavirus as many brick and mortar centres temporarily shut down. Rod Meade Sperry of Lion's Roar shares a piece on what we can do to help. But first, a basic meditation to align the body and mind from Vipassana teacher Oren Jay Sofer.

The Buddhist community is reckoning with coronavirus as many brick and mortar centres temporarily shut down. Rod Meade Sperry of Lion's Roar shares a piece on what we can do to help. But first, a basic meditation to align the body and mind from Vipassana teacher Oren Jay Sofer.

The COVID-19 Era Sangha Needs You / Aligning the Body and Mind with Oren Jay Sofer

How does personal experience shape how we understand the dharma? How does that understanding shape how we take social action? Buddhist leaders Kamilah Majied, Willie Mukei Smith, and DaRa Williams explore how their experiences as black Americans shaped their understanding of the dharma, interacting with other faith traditions to inform how they understand Buddhist teachings like collective karma, liberation, and the Bodhisattva vow to alleviate suffering. 

How does personal experience shape how we understand the dharma? How does that understanding shape how we take social action? Buddhist leaders Kamilah Majied, Willie Mukei Smith, and DaRa Williams explore how their experiences as black Americans shaped their understanding of the dharma, interacting with other faith traditions to inform how they understand Buddhist teachings like collective karma, liberation, and the Bodhisattva vow to alleviate suffering.

Black Buddhist Panel on Dharma, Community and Activism

Larry Ward

Dr. Larry Ward, ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh as a dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition, says much of the turmoil we face is the result of a history of thought and practice that has justified slavery, environmental degradation, and other atrocities. The revolutionary act therefore is slowing down, practicing kindness, and cultivating joy. These are radical social acts. In this dharma talk Ward describes how we can start to heal the trauma in ourselves and in the world.

Dr. Larry Ward, ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh as a dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition, says much of the turmoil we face is the result of a history of thought and practice that has justified slavery, environmental degradation, and other atrocities. The revolutionary act therefore is slowing down, practicing kindness, and cultivating joy. These are radical social acts. In this dharma talk Ward describes how we can start to heal the trauma in ourselves and in the world.

Healing America's Racial Karma in Ourselves with Dr. Larry Ward

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