Passages
Spring 2011 Vol. 27 #2
Spring 2011 Vol. 27 #2
Introduction
Western Buddhists often see rituals as superficial distractions from the “real” work of practice, overlooking how ritual itself is a practice as much as meditation. Rituals of passage can strengthen our connection to dharmic intention, deepening our sense of meaning, of community and of the sacred dimensions of the dharma.
Features
Interview with Lama Tsultrim Allione: Elephant Bones
By Barbara Gates, Martha Kay Nelson, Wes Nisker
Tibetan nun-turned-wife-mother-Buddhist teacher, Lama Tsultrim Allione brings ritual and symbols into all aspects of life—from sending her daughter on a mountain trek to practicing with traditional clay tsatsas made from the ground bones of her recently deceased husband.
. . . . . Birth
Interview with Midwife Nancy Bardacke: Not Busy Being Born is Busy Dying
By Barbara Gates, Martha Kay Nelson
Midwife and longtime mindfulness practitioner Nancy Bardacke helps parents-to-be and health practitioners find expanding awareness through the birthing process.
Panicked and on the verge of defeat from the excruciating pain of labor, writer Christine Schoefer realizes, “The work of birthing, once begun, must be finished.”
We’re born on the in-breath; we die on the out-breath. . . Nancy Bardacke muses on passages of life that are inextricably propelled by the changes in the body.
Zen teacher Yvonne Rand describes a grief ceremony for babies who have died.
. . . . . Coming of Age
Vinny Ferraro recalls his days as a teen drug user and dealer, getting clean, finally facing his pain over his mother’s death—and now working with today’s teens to get real with their pain too.
Shocking even himself, Danny Fisher uncovers how his love of film eventually leads to life as a young Buddhist chaplain.
. . . . . Ordination
Should she or shouldn’t she? Ajahn Thanasanti Bhikkhuni tries to unravel the complicated factors impacting her decision on whether or not to become a fully ordained Buddhist nun.
. . . . . Marriage
Even the Buddhist Rev. Sumi Loundon Kim finds herself becoming a “Bridezilla” as she plans her wedding—to a former monk from Korea, no less.
Eric Kolvig’s wishes and advice for wedding couples will inspire you—especially if you’ve been asked to give a toast!
Evan Kavanagh, one of a pioneering group of trained ritual ministers, helps couples figure out what they truly believe and value as they create “authentic” Buddhist-inspired weddings.
. . . . . Death/Grief
Interview with Nancee Sobonya: Passing Through—A Conversation on Grief
By the Editors of Inquiring Mind
Filmmaker Nancee Sobonya finds ways to transform the suffering of loss into the “gifts of grief.”
Yvonne Rand practices breathing with the dying and washing the body.
As Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s normally cool and quiet meditation hall unexpectedly bursts aflame with wailing and dancing, Martha Kay Nelson undergoes a ritual healing of the lingering pain from a friend’s untimely death.
Barbara Gates is surprised by what unfolds—and dissolves—on a visit to her childhood hometown.
Poems & Not Poems
Scholars Patrick Donnelly and Stephen D. Miller present ancient thirty-one syllable Japanese waka.
Dharma Jewel
Patrick McMahon creates a fictional, composite character’s story of discovering What the Buddha Taught.
Reviews
Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness, by Susan L. Smalley, Ph.D. and Diana Winston
Reviewed By Charles Suhor
(264 pp., Da Capo Press, 2010)
Living This Life Fully: Stories and Teachings of Munindra, by Mirka Knaster
Reviewed By Kate Lila Wheeler
(304 pp., Shambhala Publications, 2010)
Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen’s Shobo Genzo, Edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi
Reviewed By Zenshin Florence Caplow
(1,171 pp., Shambhala Publications, 2010)
(227 pp., Clear View Press, 2010)
Skill in Questions: How the Buddha Taught, By Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Geoffrey DeGraff)
Reviewed By Matthew Grad
(538 pp., Metta Forest Monastery, 2010, Free Distribution)
How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers, by Toni Bernhard
Reviewed By Alexandra Frappier
(185 pp., Wisdom Publications, 2010)
(342 pp., Non-Duality Press, 2010)
(179 pp., Yale University Press, 2010)
Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg: The Letters, Edited by Bill Morgan and David Stanford
Reviewed By Wes Nisker
(500 pp., Viking Press, 2010)
Practice
Bhikkhu Bodhi leads us through this most fundamental of all Buddhist rituals.
The Dharma & The Drama
Wes Nisker joins fellow “spiritual tourists” Ram Dass, Jack Kornfield and Catherine Ingram to reflect on their lives and work over the past four decades.