“When ‘tasted’ deeply, life itself is more genuine, less guarded,” writes Bonnie Myotai Treace in her review of William Scott Wilson’s “The One Taste of Truth: Zen and the Art of Drinking Tea,” from our May magazine. One person who understands that is Jesse Jacobs, the owner of Samovar, a San Francisco tea lounge previously [...]
If you’re even a semi-regular here, you likely know the name of our colleague and friend Andy Karr. Each week on SunSpace, Andy presents an image exemplary of the “contemplative photography” he teaches and champions in his second book, The Practice of Contemplative Photography and on the book’s website, Seeing Fresh. But Andy’s first book [...]
By Steve Silberman Friday night, in celebration of his new book of collected poems “How to Live on Planet Earth,” the San Francisco Poetry Center and Green Arcade Books hosted a tribute to Nanao Sakaki in a mattress factory. The event featured Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, Joanne Kyger, Patricia Wakida, Gary Lawless, Dale Pendell, Malcolm Margolin, [...]
It’s Star Wars Day (“May the Fourth” — get it?) — and to celebrate, we’re sharing an excerpt from Matthew Bortolin’s book, The Dharma of Star Wars. In the book, Bortolin, an ordainee of Thich Nhat Hanh, sorts through the films’ spiritual themes and applies Buddhist teachings to George Lucas’ epics. Bortolin writes in the [...]
April 29, 2013 – 12:15 pm
A Handful of Quiet: Happiness in Four Pebbles By Thich Nhat Hanh Plum Blossom Books 2012; 64 pp., $14.95 (cloth) For many years, Thich Nhat Hanh has been teaching pebble practice to give children and their families a tangible way to return to their breath and connect with the world around them. A Handful of [...]
April 12, 2013 – 10:50 pm
Looking for a great new read? Andrea Miller reviews new titles from Natalie Goldberg, Thich Nhat Hanh, Michael Carroll, and more in the May Shambhala Sun. Click here to read them all. To see what else is in our May magazine, click here. If you’re not a subscriber, click here to subscribe and save half.
Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma readers are likely familiar with Ruth Ozeki — for example, a look at her writing process, and its interactions with her Zen practice, can be seen in “Confessions of a Zen Novelist,” in the current, Spring Buddhadharma magazine. The acclaimed Ozeki has a new novel out, too: A Tale for the [...]
If you’ve read our publisher Jim Gimian’s editorial in our May magazine, you might have noticed something a little odd about it. (That Jim calls himself an “Achiever” in the very first sentence may well have tipped you off.) The editorial is loaded with references to The Big Lebowski, and it’s not just because Jim’s [...]
There are many reasons to drink tea — to relax, to wake up, and, as an increasing body of research suggests, for its many health benefits. Drinking tea can burn calories and prevent heart disease and some types of cancer, according to this recent Washington Post article, and that’s helping increase its popularity. But tea [...]
March 17, 2013 – 12:10 pm
Featured on the ShambhalaSun.com homepage today is “Annie Mirror Heart,” a chapter from an unfinished novel by Maura O’Halloran. O’Halloran was a young Irish-American woman who took to Zen practice (and how!), as famously recounted in her journals, posthumously published as the book Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind: The Life and Letters of an Irish Zen [...]
Jerry Braza, author of The Seeds of Love, reflects on growing mindful relationships. Imagine a baby as she leaves the haven of her mother’s womb to be born into the world. Her only major fear comes when she gasps for her first breath. She is surrounded by loving parents and extended family, who celebrate her [...]
If you guessed California, you guessed right. You may recall our recent reporting on San Francisco Zen Center, one of American Buddhism’s most important communities, as it celebrates its fiftieth year. (Click here to read that article, “Always Beginner’s Mind,” by Colleen Morton Busch.) Likewise, the San Francisco Chronicle has now taken a look at [...]
Natalie Goldberg’s new book is called The True Secret of Writing, but we’re not going to like the secret, she warns in this new Huffington Post interview. “Basically, the most raw, deep truth is shut up and write,” she says. “There’s no such thing as a writer’s block. If you’re having trouble writing, well, pick [...]
January 24, 2013 – 5:07 pm
For the past few months, we’ve been sharing videos from Tara Brach’s Finding True Refuge project, which features stories of people’s intimate journeys into meditation; what they’ve learned, how they’ve struggled, why they began and how it’s transformed their lives. Now, Brach’s new book, True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart, [...]
January 16, 2013 – 5:03 pm
From Ocean of Dharma comes this quote from Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from The Profound Treasury of Knowledge, Volume Two: The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion. Any confusion you experience has within it the essence of wisdom automatically. So as soon as you detect confusion, it is the beginning of some kind of message. At [...]
