About this issue: our editors provide context and an overview.
Interview with John Tarrant — Spilling Down Through All the Realms: The Light Inside the Dark
By Barbara Gates, Wes Nisker
Zen teacher John Tarrant addresses the tension between spirit and soul, between the realms of the absolute and relative, the dharma and the drama.
Buddhist/environmental writer Stephanie Kaza offers Buddhist perspectives on the ecological crisis culled from many lineages and ages.
Barbara Gates takes a stroll through her neighborhood—and the buried memories it brings up.
Soren Gordhamer describes teaching meditation in a juvenile detention center.
Teen Spirit: Teaching a Young Adult Retreat (Interview with Michele McDonald-Smith)
By Kathy Grayson, Wes Nisker
Michelle McDonald-Smith tells us about the Young Adults Retreat at the Insight Meditation Society.
Rick Fields’ touching essay and poem portray the illuminating wisdom shown by fifteen-year-old Gabe Catalfo as he lived with cancer.
(240 pp., Bell Tower, 1998)
Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World, by Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown
Reviewed By Tova Green
(223 pp., New Society Publishers, 1998)
The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living, by His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Howard C. Cutler, M.D.
Reviewed By Sharon Salzberg
(322 pp., Riverhead Books, 1998)
Stephen Fulder searches his Jewish tradition for teachings that resonate with his dharma practice and understanding.
Carol Wilson reminds us that, with a simple shift in attitude, every activity can become a vehicle for awakening.
Wes Nisker jokes about the scientific story of evolution, especially the biological chapters. But seriously, it can teach us about who we are, and serve as an aid to our happiness and liberation.