Summer 1987 Vol. 4 #1
Summer 1987 Vol. 4 #1
Features
Wes Nisker spent the last month of 1986 sitting, studying and talking with S. N. Goenka at a meditation center in India—resulting in an interview that’s steeped in context.
Part essay, part poetry, part interview: Barbara Gates and Susan Griffin share an intimate chat about the politics and costs of denial, the writing process, and truths to be found through nature.
In this installment of Kanthaka, a novel in progress, Jeff Greenwald weaves history and folklore into his own imagination, producing a beautifully human version of the story of Siddhartha’s conception and birth.
Wes Nisker reports on The Buddhist Publication Society in Sri Lanka, which distributes dharma literature around the world.
Joseph Goldstein reflects on the value of integrating the practice of meditation with active service in the world.
Jack Kornfield offers a tribute to his friend and mentor Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the beloved Tibetan lama, meditation master, founder of Naropa Institute.
Western teachers share fond memories of their encounters with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Ron Stark, who comes from “the Don Rickles School of Dharma Talks,” is trying enlighten the masses in the real world of elevators, bars and bus stops. It’s not going well….
Dan Clurman and Mudita Nisker posit that we have an interesting dilemma if we think that language actually represents the experiences it describes. Clarity is subjective.
Poems & Not Poems
Barbara Gates contemplates contrasting paths—the solitary quest and the tasks of domestic life—as reflected in the work of women poets.
Susan Griffin writes of she “at the centre of the earth” who suffers all and would comfort us “but we won’t listen.”
Practice
At a retreat in Bodhgaya, India, Christopher Titmuss answers questions relating to Buddhist practice.
The Dharma & the Drama
Wes Nisker takes us on a tour of South and Southeast Asia, where the path of the dharma is well worn and the Buddha’s message deeply rooted.