Life is Tough: Six Ways to Deal With It - The March 2013 Shambhala Sun magazine

Featuring Norman Fischer on six ancient Buddhist slogans that can help transform life's difficulties into awakening and benefit, tales of trauma and transformation from Buddhist practitioners, and a profile of three psychotherapists who combine Western psychology and Buddhism into a powerful path to love and fulfillment.

Plus: a survey of the world of Buddhist-inspired popular music, Rick Bass on friendship and eco-warriorship, and much more.

feature section: life is tough / here's how to deal with it

• Life is Tough: Six Ways to Deal With It

An ancient set of Buddhist slogans offers us six powerful techniques to transform life’s difficulties into awakening and benefit. Zen teacher Norman Fischer guides us through them.

• Mind Training for Today

Norman Fischer on why 52 sayings formulated almost a thousand years ago are more relevant than ever.

• When Ego Meets Non-Ego

Andrea Miller talks to Tara Brach, John Welwood, and Barry Magid, three psychotherapists who are combining Western psychology and Buddhism into a powerful path to love and fulfillment.

• Tales of Trauma and Transformation

Inspiring stories and helpful methods. Preview these via the links below.

• Ruth Ozeki: Nothing is Wasted • Josh Korda: Every Day a Reprieve • Margaret Roach: The Gift of Connection • John Tarrant: You Don't Have to Know

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more features

• Ruin, Beasties, & Constant Craving

Jazz, metal, rap, and beyond: Rod Meade Sperry reports on the intersection of Buddhism and popular music. Featuring Tina Turner, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, Born I Music , and more fascinating dharma-music innovators.

• The Best Place 

Rick Bass showed his friend Scott the best places, the secret places, of Montana’s remote Yaak Valley. Together, they fought to protect the wilderness and dreamed of a new Atlantis in the mountains.

• Spirit and The Boy

Mother to one, sister to the other—award-winning novelist Karen Connelly on three interwoven lives and the call she will always accept.

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• The Supreme Thought 

The intention to benefit all sentient beings is the best of all thoughts, says Sakyong Mipham. Dedicating ourselves to others, we become bodhisattvas.
RELATED SHAMBHALA SUN SPOTLIGHT:

• Sakyong Mipham: His best from the Shambhala Sun

• This Whole World is a Poem

This oriole, this friend, this daughter, this fox—Michael Sowder on all the poems that are just waiting for us to write them down.

• The Most Valuable Cups in the World

Leanora McLellan’s grandma handed down many skills and four crazy cups that have no price.

• What's Your Verdict?

Recognizing the judgments we all pass on ourselves, says Bonnie Friedman, is the first step to freedom.

• Review: "Loving-Kindness for Your Body"

Diana Winston reviews May I Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Yoga and Changing My Mind, by Cyndi Lee.

 • Books in Brief

Andrea Miller reviews new books by Marc Lesser, Jeffrey K. Mann, Rachel Neumann, Zachiah Murray, and more.

• About a Poem: Roger Housden on Ellen Bass' "If You Knew"

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Shambhala Sun, March 2013, Volume Twenty One, Number 4. On the cover: Inset #1 by Frank Yang, #2 by Randy Beacham

 

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The November 2012 Shambhala Sun magazine

Featuring Pema Chödrön on the compassionate life of the bodhisattva-warrior; three woman teachers changing Buddhism; Norman Fischer on how to live in our topsy-turvy world; three steps to creative power; a Jewish Buddhist in Germany, and more.
Also inside: "Jolly Good" — a never-before-published piece by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche on the Shambhala teachings.

this issue's editorial:
• We Can Be Heroes

By Shambhala Sun Associate Editor Rod Meade Sperry

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feature section: pema chödrön / "a greater happiness"

• A Greater Happiness

We've all got the potential to awaken and help others in meaningful ways, big and small. Pema Chödrön shows us how we can let go of self-centered worries and become a bodhisattva-warrior. It's the greatest happiness of all.

• You Can Do It!

Make your vow to help others real with this tonglen meditation teaching from Pema Chödrön.

• Thank You, Pema

Best-selling author Margaret Wheatley on her friend and teacher.

RELATED SHAMBHALA SUN SPOTLIGHT:• Pema Chödrön

• Enter... the Bodhisattva

David Loy says the bodhisattva ideal — updated for modern times — is what the world needs now.

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more features

• Feminine Principal

Andrea Miller profiles Trudy Goodman, Roshi Pat Enkyo O'Hara and Lama Palden Drolma, three women teachers who are changing the face of Buddhism. (You'll also find a teaching from each inside the magazine.)

RELATED SHAMBHALA SUN SPOTLIGHT:• Women and Gender Politics in Buddhism

• The Great Perfection of Creativity 

Geshe Tenzin Wangyal teaches us how to unleash powerful creative energy we can use anywhere from the office to the artist's studio.

• Don't Go There 

As a Jew and a Briton, Henry Shukman had avoided all things German. But as a Buddhist, he knew he had to when he was asked to teach at a zendo in the Black Forest. Together, he and his students faced the unfaceable.

RELATED SHAMBHALA SUN SPOTLIGHT:• Buddhism and Judaism

• The Vagabond Queen of Craigslist 

Hopscotching through Brooklyn apartments, Bonnie Friedman discovers the delight in nonattachment.



PLUS: we continue our year-long celebration of the Shambhala Sun's founder, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, with a series of never-before-published teachings. In this issue: Rinpoche on the Shambhala teachings.

RELATED SHAMBHALA SUN SPOTLIGHT:• The Teachings of Chögyam Trungpa

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other voices

 

• An ICU for the Soul 

When a friend is dealt a heavy emotional blow, Pico Iyer suggests to her that silence and stillness might be the best medicine. Sometimes, it seems, you've got to retreat before you can move forward.

RELATED SHAMBHALA SUN SPOTLIGHT:• Pico Iyer in the Shambhala Sun

• Something to Believe In

While belief can be just dogma or preconception, it can also be a guiding polestar that gives us a sense of direction. Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel on the power of belief to move us out of a small, self-focused world and into a bigger way of being.

• Is This Worth It?

Sara Eckel discovers that volunteering isn't about getting back more than you give. It's just about giving.

• Topsy-Turvy World

The strength of mind that comes from meditation, says Norman Fischer, can help us end the denial that keeps a world of problems spinning.

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departments

• No-Self 2.0

Andrew Olendzki reviews The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity by Bruce Hood.

• Books in Brief

Andrea Miller reviews books by Bhante Gunaratana, Thich Nhat Hanh, Lew Welch, and more.

• About a Poem: Carole Glasser Langille on Czeslaw Milosz's "Love"

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

The Mindful Society: Dispatches from the Mindful Revolution, from the editors of MINDFUL.

Source here

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Shambhala Sun, November 2012, Volume Twenty One, Number 2.

To order a trial subscription to the Shambhala Sun, click here.

ON THE COVER: Bhikshuni Pema Chödrön. Photo by Robin Holland.

The September 2011 Shambhala Sun magazine

The path of life is love — from loving ourselves, to intimate relationships, to love that embraces all beings. Our annual all-teachings issue offers Buddhist wisdom on bringing more love into your life.

Click on titles below to view full articles, excerpts, and related web exclusives. Click here to order a copy from the Shambhala Sun webstore.

this issue's editorial:

• Right Here With You

Shambhala Sun deputy editor Andrea Miller on truly enjoying love and celebration, but without getting "too sugary sweet." 

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features

• What's Love Got to Do With It?

She’s the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll. An unwanted child. A believer in the power of love. She's also a longtime Buddhist. Andrea Miller talks to Tina Turner.

• Let Me Count the Ways

John Tarrant on Falling in Love: It was his first kiss, a moment when no one was running the show and no calculations were being made. In so many ways, love is like enlightenment.
 
 

• Six Ways to Make it Work

After the honeymoon, real life sets in—budgets to balance, toilet seats left up, and in-laws coming for dinner—but if we practice the six paramitas, or transcendent perfections, we discover how to always live in love. Susan Piver on Being in a Relationship.

• Waking Up Alone

Everything changes; nothing lasts. In matters of the heart this can be an especially difficult truth to wake up to. What do we do when the love story ends? Karen Maezen Miller on Breaking Up.

• The Buddha in the Mirror

So much can happen if we have the courage to look at ourselves honestly. Carolyn Rose Gimian on Loving Ourselves.

PLUS: Norman Fischer on Practicing Together  and Judy Lief on Loving Everyone.

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other voices• Showing Up For Your Life

You're jealous or angry or lonely. Don't run from the feeling, says Pema Chödrön. Stay present.


RELATED SHAMBHALASUN.COM SPOTLIGHT:

• Pema Chödrön: Her best from the Shambhala Sun

• In Sync

When body and mind are synchronized, Sakyong Mipham says, we can live with grace and dignity, grounded and in harmony with the world around us.

RELATED SHAMBHALASUN.COM SPOTLIGHT:

• Sakyong Mipham: His best from the Shambhala Sun

PLUS: "The Sleeping Bird" by Mark Krieger; "Beyond Fight or Flight," by Gabriel Cohen, and a Q&A with Lisa See.

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barry boyce on "the mindful society"

• Building Harmony

As a teachers of architecture, Peter Schneider and Kat Vlahos seeks to instill in their students an aesthetic of simplicity, quiet, and harmony.

SEE ALSO:

• MINDFUL: Living with Awareness and Compassion

This website from the publishers of the Shambhala Sun will help you bring the benefits of mindfulness practice into every aspect of your life.

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reviews

• Gods & Kings for Modern Times

Gaylon Ferguson reviews All Things Shining: Reading the Western Classics to Find Meaning in a Secular Age, by Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly, and To Uphold the World: A Call for a New Global Ethic from Ancient India, by Bruce Rich.

• Books in Brief

Andrea Miller reviews Donna Quesada's The Buddha in the Classroom, Emily Hunter's The Next Eco-Warriors, Leza Lowitz's Yoga Heart, and more new releases worth your while.

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about a poem

• Michael Sowder on James Wright’s “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota”

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Shambhala Sun, September 2011, Volume Twenty, Number 1.

ON THE COVER: Rose (Rosa 'Gemini') Photo by Brian Gadsby / Science Photo Library

The July 2011 Shambhala Sun magazine, our Second Annual Guide to Mindful Living

Cultivating our natural mindfulness has proven benefits for our health, happiness, and relationships, bringing more skill and compassion into everything we do. That's what our July 2011 magazine is all about. At newsstands in the first week of June.

Click on titles below to view full articles, excerpts, and related web exclusives.

july 2011 editorial

• Something's Happening Here

Shambhala Sun publisher James Gimian introduces our second annual Guide to Mindful Living, and shares evidence that what looks to be a true "mindfulness revolution" is under way. 

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the second annual guide to mindful living

• How to Tame the Wanting Mind

You’re hungry, but what are you really hungry for? Mindful eating expert Sasha Loring on opening your heart, offering your attachments, and knowing when you’re satisfied.

• Savor

Sweet, juicy, crisp — Thich Nhat Hanh and Lilian Cheung on the pleasures of mindfully eating an apple.

• Wisdom 2.0: The Digital World Connects

Silicon Valley gets mindful! Barry Boyce reports on a group of far-thinking digital leaders who are using mindfulness to humanize and make better the brave new world they’ve created.

• This is Your Brain on Mindfulness

Meditators say their practice fundamentally changes the way they experience life. Dr. Michael Baime reports on the modern neuroscience that shows how it works.

• The Science of Meditation

Andrea Miller looks at the Mind & Life Institute, which explores the intersection between ancient meditative disciplines and modern science.

• Sea Change

Teenagers "get" mindfulness — they soak it up like sponges and it transforms their lives. Gina Biegel on the best ways to introduce teens to this valuable practice.

• Answering the Call to Serve

Stuart Lord, president of Naropa University, on the value of contemplative education. It’s about the deep questions.

• A Higher Education

A survey of colleges and universities offering contemplative alternatives to conventional education.

• A Bell With a Crack in It

It may not ring as clearly, but it can ring as sweetly. Bestselling author Diane Ackerman gets personal about her husband’s stroke and explores the language of healing.

RELATED ONLINE EXCLUSIVE:

• Shambhala Sun Audio: Diane Ackerman

Listen as the author talks about the benefits of paying mindful attention to nature. From the archives of our blog, Shambhala SunSpace.
PLUS: Elizabeth Brownrigg on letdowns as painful yet necessary treasures, and Anne Cushman on what a trip gone awry taught her about too much planning.

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barry boyce on "the mindful society"

• Reading on the Mind

A roundup of some of the latest good reads about cultivating mindfulness, awareness, and compassion.

SEE ALSO:

• MINDFUL: Living with Awareness and Compassion

This website from the publishers of the Shambhala Sun will help you bring the benefits of mindfulness practice into every aspect of your life.

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other voices

• Sunny Side Up

Sakyong Mipham explains how cultivating bravery gives us the confidence to live in the brilliance of the Great Eastern Sun.

RELATED SHAMBHALASUN.COM SPOTLIGHT:

• Sakyong Mipham: His best from the Shambhala Sun

• Creature Comfort

Dogs comfort us, and parrots care for their injured mates. When we increase our understanding of how animals show compassion, says behavior ecologist Joanna Burger, we understand more about ourselves.

• Q&A: Raj Patel

The author of The Value of Nothing talks to Andrea Miller about the current economic model and alternative ways to value the world around us.

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reviews

• The Mindful Way to Self-Compassion

Kelly McGonigal reviews The Mindful Way Through Anxiety: Break Free From Chronic Worry and Reclaim Your Life, by Susan M. Orsillo and Lizabeth Roemer, and True Belonging: Mindful Practices to Help You Overcome Loneliness, Connect With Others, and Cultivate Happiness, by Jeffrey Brantley and Wendy Millstine.

• Books in Brief

Andrea Miller reviews Peace is Every Breath by Thich Nhat Hanh, Dharma Road by Brian Haycock, The Natural Kitchen, and more new releases worth your while.

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about a poem

• Andrew Schelling on M.C. Richards' "Poem"

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Shambhala Sun, July 2011, Volume Nineteen, Number 6.

ON THE COVER:

Enso painting by Kazuaki Tanahashi.