Tricycle Talks Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

Helen Tworkov grew up in a family of artists where art was considered the religion. Yet from an early age, she sought another kind of religion—one that would address deeper questions of the nature of truth and the self. After traveling throughout Asia and experimenting with a variety of New Age practices, Tworkov eventually arrived at Buddhism—and went on to found The Tricycle Foundation in 1990.
In her new book, Lotus Girl: My Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and America, she uses her own spiritual journey to explore how Buddhism has developed in the West over the past sixty years. Set against the cultural backdrop of the Vietnam War and the American counterculture, the book offers a portrait of Tworkov’s search for meaning and truth as she travels through Japan, India, and Nepal and encounters the great Buddhist luminaries of her time, including the Dalai Lama, Pema Chödrön, Chögyam Trungpa, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Tworkov to talk about what first brought her to Buddhism, the dangers of exoticizing Buddhist traditions, the radical nature of Buddhist teachings in a relentlessly capitalist economy, and how she understands the bardos of old age and death.

Dr. Kamilah Majied is a mental health therapist, clinical educator, and consultant on advancing equity and inclusion through contemplative practice. In her new book, Joyfully Just: Black Wisdom and Buddhist Insights for Liberated Living, she draws from Black cultural traditions and the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism to lay out a path to liberation that is grounded in courage, curiosity, and deep joy.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Majied to discuss the parallels between Buddhism and Black wisdom traditions, why she believes joy is a mode of self-transcendence, how we can learn to suffer without being insufferable, and the importance of not taking ourselves so seriously.

In the face of global crises and catastrophes, how can we work with our anger effectively? And how can we channel our grief and rage without becoming consumed by it?
These questions are at the core of Jungwon Kim’s practice. Kim is a multidisciplinary communications strategist and advocate who has chronicled frontline environmental and human rights movements for the past two decades. She previously worked at the Rainforest Alliance and Amnesty International, and she also co-founded two BIPOC Buddhist communities.
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and co-host Sharon Salzberg sit down with Kim to discuss her work integrating spiritual practice and social action, the importance of embodied practice, the cathartic power of joy, and what we can learn from the Korean concept of han, or inherited grief and rage. Plus, Kim reads a poem by Thich Nhat Hanh.

Unlike many contemporary American poets, Arthur Sze did not attend a traditional MFA program to learn to write poetry. Instead, he turned to translation to hone his craft. His latest collection, The Silk Dragon II: Translations of Chinese Poetry, compiles fifty years of his translations, illustrating the vitality and versatility of the Chinese poetic tradition across nearly two millennia.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sze to discuss the ruptures and continuities between classical and contemporary Chinese poetry, the destruction and renewal inherent in the process of translation, and why Sze believes that we need translation now more than ever. Plus, he reads a few poems from his new collection.

Gaylon Ferguson is an acharya, or senior teacher, in the Shambhala International Buddhist community and a faculty member in Religious Studies at Naropa University. In his new book, Welcoming Beginner's Mind: Zen and Tibetan Buddhist Wisdom on Experiencing Our True Nature, he uses the classic Zen oxherding pictures as a way of illustrating the stages of the spiritual journey, exploring the paradox of how we can awaken to what we already are.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Ferguson to discuss how he as a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism came to write a book about Zen, why he believes dissatisfaction is actually a sign of awakened intelligence, what we can learn from welcoming and staying with our boredom, and the role of desire on the path to awakening.

Karma Lekshe Tsomo came to Buddhism because of a typo: years ago, her family name had been mistakenly changed from Zinn to Zenn. When her classmates started teasing her about being a Zen Buddhist, she took to the library to learn more about Buddhism and was instantly sold. After deciding to dedicate her life to Buddhist practice, she ordained as a nun and went on to found the Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women and the Jamyang Foundation, which supports educational programs for Buddhist women and girls around the world.
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Tsomo to discuss her unlikely path to Buddhism at a young age, her work advocating for women’s education internationally, how she integrates spiritual practice and political activism, and her hopes for the future of women’s ordination.