May 2020

Lion's Roar

BUDDHISM CULTURE MEDITATION LIFE

Lion's Roar2 min read
More From Lion’s Roar
In recognition of His Holiness’s 85th birthday, we’re re-releasing our special Collector’s Edition publication, The Dalai Lama. It features a gorgeous and in-depth photobiography; Lion’s Roar editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod’s exclusive interview with t
Lion's Roar2 min read
The Secret Is Mind
What’s the secret of life? That’s a question that seems trite and clichéd. But actually, it’s what we all want the answer to. What’s the one thing that makes all the difference? Our mind. That’s what the Buddha said. Mind is the ultimate cause of our
Lion's Roar7 min read
In It For The Tea
OUR FIRST WINTER on the San Juan Ridge was bleak. My husband and I had moved to California for the sunshine, but our off-grid homestead was shrouded in fog, and torrential rain carved deep ruts out of the long dirt road to town. The sky was dark for
Lion's Roar3 min read
Feel The Love Inside You
MY MOTHER LOVED PURPLE. She wore purple, and we had purple rugs and purple flowers on our drapes. Remembering this brings a smile to my face and warmth to my heart, as I recall the warm, loving, vibrant person she was. When I was ten years old, she d
Lion's Roar2 min readPsychology
Trying To Stay Afloat
QUESTION: I’m overwhelmed. Things are stressful on the home front and no less stressful at work. With so much coming at me at once, it feels like I’m drowning. I’ve tried pretending things are okay, but that doesn’t help. How can I cope? KAMILAH MAJI
Lion's Roar4 min read
The Old And The Beautiful
IN JAPAN, WHEN A TEA MUG has an imperfection visible to the eye, it is considered beautiful. The flaw shows that a human touched and molded a piece of clay into its present existence. The flaw is also a tangible reminder that all tea mugs will crack
Lion's Roar5 min read
Homestyle Oryoki
SOTO ZEN MONASTICS around the world learn a ritualized eating practice known as oryoki. This word combines the Chinese characters for “receive,” “amount,” and “bowl,” so it’s basically the practice of receiving the right amount. The ceremony is an el
Lion's Roar4 min read
Do I Have Buddhanature?
IN PERHAPS THE MOST FAMOUS koan of all time, a monk asks Chao-chou, a Chinese Chan master, “Does a dog have buddhanature or not?” Joshu’s reply, “Mu,” is not so easy to translate. It’s most often a prefix showing the absence of something, but it’s al
Lion's Roar2 min read
What Do You Say When Somebody Asks Why You Practice Buddhism?
I was raised as a Catholic and recognize the ultimate truth in both Catholicism and Buddhism. But I gravitate more to Buddhism for reasons I can’t quite explain and don’t fully understand. It’s akin to when you date one extraordinary person, and they
Lion's Roar11 min read
Ram Dass: To Love And Serve
I READ BE HERE NOW AND DECIDED: I have to meet this man. It was 1971. I was in my twenties, an agnostic, having success with my writing, and miserable. “Woe is me,” was my mantra, inherited from my Hungarian grandmother. My husband would counter: “Wo
Lion's Roar7 min read
JOANNA MACY and the GREAT TURNING
MELVIN McLEOD: You have had a long and influential career as a Buddhist thinker and writer, social justice activist, and respected voice in the environmental movement. You are also the root teacher of the “Work That Reconnects,” which you describe as
Lion's Roar3 min read
Joanna Macy: GUIDE FOR OUR TIME
From the very beginning, Joanna has been clear that the work is meant to be given away, that no one owns it. She never sought the role of head teacher or spiritual guru. Instead, she chose the generative path of mutual empowerment, based on building
Lion's Roar3 min read
Why We Need The Great Turning
Carl Jung once said that at the core of each life’s journey is one question that we are born to pursue. For me, that question has been How can I be fully present to my world—present enough to rejoice and be useful—when we as a species are destroying
Lion's Roar7 min read
One Day, My Child, All This Will Be Yours
Gathered at the thistle seed finches say, “We’ll be your winter flowers.” Meanwhile, in New South Wales, a common magpie has learned the song of the ever-present fire engine sirens. She has captured the rise and fall and the urgency—the mixture of al
Lion's Roar2 min read
MEET BAD HABITS with LOVING-KINDNESS
HERE’S my spiritual practice these days: moment-to-moment I try to be mindful of the arising of ill will in my mind and try to meet it with clear, compassionate response. This reflects the Buddha’s basic instruction on how to work with our negative p
Lion's Roar2 min readSelf-Improvement
GET To The ROOT Of YOUR PATTERNS
THE habitual patterns that arise in us seem to have a life of their own, shaping our behavior into contours of isolation, anxiety, self-criticism, addiction, or other self-destructive habits. These patterns make us unhappy. They are obstacles to what
Lion's Roar2 min readPsychology
HOW To FREE YOURSELF From The 7 OBSESSIONS
Watch your thoughts; they become habits.Watch your habits; they become stories.Watch your stories; they become excuses.Watch your excuses; they become relapses.Watch your relapses; they become dis-eases.Watch your dis-eases; they become vicious cycle
Lion's Roar3 min readProfessional Skills
FREE YOURSELF from CRAVING and AVERSION
“BAD habits” and compulsive tendencies, such as procrastination, perfectionism, and addictive distractions, are formidable roadblocks to our long-term well-being, happiness, and self-esteem. To address our “bad habits” we need to understand how they
Lion's Roar8 min readSelf-Improvement
Meditate with Care
Seven days into a Buddhist retreat, Amanda (not her real name) felt an overwhelming nausea. Suddenly her entire body locked up. She couldn’t feel her head or her hands. She was paralyzed. “I felt total terror,” she recalls. “I started to scream.” The
Lion's Roar7 min read
The First Noble Truth Of Baseball
IN THE BROADCAST BOOTH, Jim Kaat, the veteran left-hander who won twenty games three times over his long career, took off his headset, rose from his seat next to Bob Costas, and addressed the Buddha. “Lord, in my twenty-five years in the majors, I ha
Lion's Roar2 min readSelf-Improvement
BEFRIEND Your FEELINGS
WHEN we think about making and breaking habits, how often do we consider our feelings? The fact is that perhaps the most important habits we can make (or break) are those relating to how we are with our emotions. You might have thought that the way t
Lion's Roar5 min read
Reviews
The Liberating Power of the Female Buddha By Rachael Wooten Sounds True 2020; 312 pp., $17.99 (paper) The figure of the female buddha Tara emerged in the sixth century as part of both Hindu and Buddhist tantra. According to one legend, she lived eons
Lion's Roar10 min read
Buddhist Directory
4951 Bodhi Way, Ukiah, CA 95482. (707) 621-7000, info@drbu.edu, www.drbu.edu • Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU) is an accredited university in northern California dedicated to liberal education in the broad Buddhist tradition. 3436 Divisadero

Lion's Roar

More Issues From Lion's Roar