Fall 2009 Issue

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Features

Charting the Future of Buddhist Translation
Peter Aronson reports on a meeting of leading Tibetan–English translators, Buddhist scholars, and lamas in Bir, India, and their plans for the next hundred years of dharma translation in the West.

Pointing Out Ordinary Mind
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche presents the essential teachings of Mahamudra and its methods for directly pointing out mind’s true nature.

SPOT On
Today’s sangha leaders need skills that aren’t taught in traditional Buddhist training, such as personal counseling and conflict mediation. Lewis Richmond and Grace Schireson report on a program to help Zen teachers develop the range of skills they need to lead contemporary communities.

Forum: Start With Your Body
Phillip Moffitt, Cyndi Lee, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, and Reggie Ray explore how our bodies are at the very heart of our meditation, providing both a gateway and foundation for practice. Introduction by Anne Carolyn Klein.

Trusting the Three Treasures
Taking refuge in the Buddha, dharma, and sangha, says Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, involves taking a leap forward with a deep sense of trust in our own basic nature and the natural wisdom of all phenomena.

Blowing Smoke
Logan Beaudry befriends a strange newcomer and fellow smoker during a weeklong Rinzai retreat and learns how not to respond to the question, Where are you from?

Departments

Commentary - each issue features an editorial written by one of the main teachers in Western Buddhism. Ezra Bayda: The False Promise.

Letters - Email letters to the Editor.

First Thoughts - a collection of short essays to open the journal, by notable teachers and writers

News & Culture - Burmese video journalists capture brutal crackdown in new documentary. Between the covers of “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.” V&A opens Britain’s first Buddhist sculpture gallery.

Ask the Teachers - Question: How do we retain passion in life and still follow the teaching that we should accept all of life with equanimity? Narayan Liebenson Grady’s answer. Email your practice questions.

Inside Art with Denise Leidy

Reviews -

• Readings of the Lotus Sutra, edited by Stephen F. Teiser and Jacqueline I. Stone. Reviewed by Paul Copp
• The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature, edited by John Whalen-Bridge and Gary Storhoff. Reviewed by Gary Gach
• The Lotus and the Lion: Buddhism and the British Empire, by J. Jeffrey Franklin. Reviewed by Elizabeth Harris

Book Briefs - Alexander Gardner reviews 9 of the latest books on Buddhism

Centers and Programs - A section highlighting upcoming programs being offered at various centers.

On Translation: Carl Bielefeldt

Profile: Kwan Um School of Zen

Lives Lived - Remembering Don Flaxman.

Network Listings - A directory of meditation and yoga centers throughout North America.

Journeys - Sandy Boucher: Two Dogs, a Parrot, and a Not-So-Silent Retreat

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