Fear and Fearlessness
Spring 2003 Vol. 19 #2
Spring 2003 Vol. 19 #2
Introduction
Barbara Gates brings her characteristic introspection to this issue’s introduction.
Features
On Fear & Fearlessness: A Conversation with Tenzin Palmo, Yvonne Rand, Ajahn Sundara & Ajahn Jitindriya
By Barbara Gates
Barbara Gates convenes a lively discussion with a remarkable group of women teachers on our theme of fear and fearlessness.
Tenzin Palmo describes the founding of a nunnery for young Himalayan women—including the revival of a lineage of nun yoginis known as togdenmas.
Darlene Cohen grapples with the loss of her physical abilities.
Bestselling author Daniel Goleman talks about the latest scientific research on emotions, and ways that meditation practice benefits the brain.
On a monthlong vipassana retreat, being one of very few people of color, Charlie Johnson relives the trauma of almost being lynched.
Melody Ermachild Chavis describes Jarvis Masters’s experience of living in an isolation chamber in San Quentin prison and adjusting to change and loss.
Lama Surya Das describes a practice that turns fear into an ally in our search for freedom of mind—a great gift for those intrepid enough to claim it.
In the shadow of September 11, 2001, and impending war, Daniel Doane started a weekly meditation–peace vigil on the lawn in front of the U.C.Berkeley campus.
Kidder Smith is cotranslator of the 2,300-year-old Chinese text The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Shambhala Publications, 2001)—and a former member of Trungpa Rinpoche’s Buddhist military.
Alan Clements was one of the first Westerners to become a Buddhist monk in Burma. After disrobing, witnessing genocide and befriending Aung San Suu Kyi, he cautions that meditation is not a substitute for living.
Poems & Not Poems
5 Stone Lane • Every Word Leads to Every Other • (Untitled)
by poet Judith Stronach, with illustrations by Ray Lifchez.
Reviews
Passionate Presence: Experiencing the Seven Qualities of Awakened Awareness, by Catherine Ingram
Reviewed By Dan Clurman
(256 pp., Gotham Books, 2003)
(254 pp., 152 photos, University of California Press, 2002)
Sitting Inside: Buddhist Practice in America’s Prisons, by Kobai Scott Whitney
Reviewed By Patrice Clark Koelsch
(218 pp., Prison Dharma Network, 2002)
A Mindreader’s Briefing
Reviewed By Brian Hodel, Cator Shachoy, Jeff Greenwald, Barbara Gates, Joan Tollifson, Wes Nisker
Short reviews of Advice on Dying, and Living a Better Life • Buddhas of Burma & Angkor • Top of My Lungs: Poems and Paintings • Worship and Wilderness • Mindfulness in the Marketplace • Buddha in Your Backpack: Everyday Buddhism for Teens • Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing
Practice
Joseph Goldstein describes working with fear as the very essence of meditation practice.
Sangha Speaks
Witnessing her mother’s cremation, Bonnie O’Brien Jonsson sees amazing beauty.
The Dharma & the Drama
Researching Gandhi and interviewing the Dalai Lama in India, Wes Nisker finds deep and encouraging connections.