Musician Lyra Pramuk on Astrology
Lyra Pramuk, a Berlin‑based producer, likens astrology to music, citing Hazrat Inayat Khan’s 1923 treatise on sound as a philosophical bridge. She describes both disciplines as governed by mathematical relationships, tension and release, and a universal choreography of vibrations. Pramuk’s latest album, Hymnal, continues her blend of rogue electronics, modern classical forms, folk memory, house rhythm, techno structures, and gospel invocations. The record frames music as a communal rite, echoing her belief that every individual is a unique note in a larger cosmic symphony.
What We Lose When Nothing Is Hard
Faisal Hoque argues that the ease provided by modern technology erodes the meaningful effort that turns information into skill and attachment. He cites a 2025 Harvard‑MIT study showing AI‑generated essays lead to poorer knowledge retention and originality. Hoque distinguishes between...
Pádraig O’Hora: ‘My Answer Isn’t in the Pub. My Answer Is in the Sea or It’s on the Mountain’
Mayo Gaelic football star Pádraig O’Hora is preparing to summit Mount Everest in May 2024, after a series of extreme endurance challenges including a recent climb of Aconcagua. He frames the expedition as a mental‑health antidote, partnering with the Mayo...
Happiness Break: Make Uncertainty Part of the Process
The latest "Happiness Break" episode features poet‑author Yrsa Daley‑Ward leading a short meditation that frames uncertainty and silence as fertile ground for personal growth. The six‑step practice guides listeners through stillness, naming doubt, and ending with self‑compassion. By blending poetic...
You Are Already a Buddha
In a personal essay, Mingyur Rinpoche recounts how his father taught him the principle of buddhanature—that all beings share the same awakened nature. He describes his initial skepticism, rooted in anxiety and panic attacks, and explains how Vajrayana Buddhism offers...
Through Heaven’s Eyes at the Seder Table
The essay reflects on a father‑son moment watching the Prince of Egypt’s song “Through Heaven’s Eyes,” using it to illustrate how perspective shapes identity. It links the song’s metaphor of a single thread in a tapestry to the Passover Seder’s...
Ancient Egyptians Got High to Seek Transcendence Through Altered States of Consciousness, Archaeologists Say
Archaeologists analyzing residue from Bes‑shaped ritual mugs uncovered a psychotropic brew containing harmaline from Syrian rue and aporphine from the Egyptian lotus, alongside honey, sesame, pine nuts, licorice and grapes. DNA and chemical profiling confirmed the mixture was deliberately prepared...
A Meditation to Allow Genuine Happiness, Even In Hard Times
Wellness educator Wendy O’Leary introduces a guided meditation designed to help individuals access genuine happiness even during hardship. The practice combines body‑scan techniques with vivid recollection of joyful moments, encouraging participants to acknowledge difficult emotions while expanding the felt sense...
Gratitude, Belonging, and Philosophy
An essay recounts the author’s journey from a military‑oriented upbringing in Northern Virginia to graduate studies in philosophy, highlighting how unexpected exposure to a student‑led philosophy club sparked a lifelong passion. The narrative weaves personal challenges—including the COVID‑19 pandemic, a...
From the Academy: Yogacara
The Tricycle newsletter explores Yogacara, the “mind‑only” school of Mahayana Buddhism that emerged in 3rd‑century India and was systematized by the monk brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu. Its central doctrine, vijñaptimātratā, argues that all experience is a mental construction shaped by...
The Mirror & the Flame
Rebwar Fatah’s essay draws a parallel between 12th‑century Persian mystic Farid ud‑Din Attar and 19th‑century German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel, showing how both treat alienation not as failure but as a catalyst for self‑realisation. Attar’s *Conference of the Birds* depicts the soul’s journey...
Love & Emptiness in the Sufi Tradition
Jalal al‑Din Rumi’s poetry frames emptiness not as lack but as a fertile void that precedes creation, urging seekers to empty the self to experience divine love. He depicts self‑negation as a conscious sacrifice, using chants like “Bismillah” to dissolve...
What Do I Have to Fear, Have I Ever Diminished by Dying?
Zahra Rashid’s new poem weaves Sufi philosophy with Rumi’s verses, using the traditional taḍmin technique to embed classical lines within her own reflections. The piece traces a cyclical journey of death and rebirth, moving from matter to plant, animal, human,...
The Wisdom of Women
Erica Bassani, author of *Women in Love with the Divine*, releases a new book compiling twelve interviews with women spiritual teachers from Buddhism and other faiths. The work, born from her Women Awakening Project, explores themes of divine femininity, the...
A Conversation With Peter Geffen on Civil Rights, the Holocaust, and the Power of Optimism
Peter Geffen, a New York‑based educator and civil‑rights veteran, links his Cold‑War upbringing and early exposure to Holocaust testimony with a lifelong commitment to social justice. He credits the memory of genocide and his father’s protests for shaping his work...
Your Deepest Questions
A Zen practitioner recounts a week‑long, highly ritualized retreat where strict protocols forced constant attention. The teacher assigned a seemingly simple koan—“When you see the stick, where is God?”—that ultimately led the author from intellectual guessing to a non‑conceptual breakthrough....
Discovering What’s Alive for You Right Now
Rich Fernandez argues that purpose is not a fixed destination but a dynamic state that shifts with what feels most alive in the moment. He illustrates this by sharing his own North Star—integrating mindfulness across every life domain—and explains how...
May 2026: Books in Brief
May 2026’s Lion’s Roar roundup spotlights a wave of new Buddhist titles, from Margaret Cullen’s *Quiet Strength* that re‑centers equanimity, to Bodhipaksa’s 28‑day habit builder *Sit*. It also features Reb Anderson’s Zen parable collection, the Hases’ partnership guide, Roy Remer’s caregiver...
Ethics Are the Heart of Spiritual Practice
The article argues that ethics is the essential foundation of any Buddhist or spiritual practice, emphasizing non‑violence (ahimsa) toward all beings. It warns that advanced non‑dual teachings can tempt practitioners to abandon moral restraints, leading to ego‑driven misuse of spiritual...
The Wisdom of Animals
The Lion’s Roar article weaves Buddhist practice with observations of five animal species—bears, snakes, owls, salmon and eagles—to illustrate mindfulness principles. Each creature’s natural behavior is presented as a concrete reflection on rest, letting go, deep listening, perseverance and resilience....
Finding My Higher Power in the Ten Thousand Things
The author recounts a decade‑long sobriety journey that merged Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with Zen Buddhism, highlighting how the AA Big Book eventually recognized Buddhist members. He explains that the Buddhist Eightfold Path mirrors AA’s Twelve Steps, allowing both frameworks to...
How to Find Your Middle Way
The article explains the Buddhist concept of the "middle way," tracing its origins from the Buddha’s rejection of both self‑indulgence and extreme asceticism to the Mahayana Madhyamaka school’s philosophical emphasis on emptiness. It illustrates how the Buddha’s first turning of...
Marc Andreessen’s Mistake
Marc Andreessen sparked controversy after a podcast appearance in which he claimed he strives for "zero" introspection, arguing that self‑reflection is a modern folly. The remark ignited a cultural clash between tech‑savvy “action‑oriented” leaders and humanist critics who see his...
Romualdez Reminds Pinoys About Power of Prayer, Reflection in Lenten Message
Former House Speaker Martin Romualdez used Palm Sunday to urge Filipinos to treat Holy Week as a period of prayer, reflection, and personal accountability. He highlighted the nation’s current challenges—division, mistrust, and social strain—and called for spiritual renewal to foster...
Silent Underground
On December 1, 2025 a Triratna Buddhist monk and four sangha members meditated for twelve hours on London’s Circle line to raise funds for a new UK centre and to protest urban noise. The silent sit, filmed and shared by...
As an Overachiever, I Didn’t Think I’d Like Yoga. I Was Wrong.
Former collegiate athlete and serial overachiever Katie Jesionowski recounts her reluctant first encounter with yoga, a brief glimpse of calm that she later dismissed after a challenging class. Six years later, therapy and meditation led her back to a small...
Does Mindfulness Make You a Pushover?
Oxford Mindfulness director Claire Kelly challenges the notion that mindfulness creates passivity, arguing it actually fosters clearer, more deliberate action. Systematic studies of MBCT and MBSR show participants gain better emotional regulation, reduced stress, and sharper decision‑making. Kelly emphasizes that...
The Dilemma of Choice
Eric Maisel’s article "The Dilemma of Choice" explores how modern abundance of options creates anxiety and paralysis. He argues that self‑coaching can help people navigate uncertainty by clarifying core values, reframing decisions as experiments, and distinguishing personal motivations from external...
Just One Thing: Be Kind to Yourself by Being Kind to Others
Rick Hanson’s latest Just One Thing entry argues that the most effective way to care for yourself is to extend genuine kindness toward others. He illustrates the point with a personal story of a high‑pressure keynote where shifting focus from...
The Doctors Who Say Spirituality Belongs in Medicine
Physicians from leading academic centers published a paper in Neurology Clinical Practice urging routine spiritual care for neurological patients. The study cites a survey of 1,000 adults where 60% want spiritual support in medical settings. Researchers provide concrete questions and...
Dear Young People: You Do Not Have to Hurry
The article argues that societal pressure forces young people to chase rapid, visible success, often by age twenty‑five, creating a scripted timeline of achievement. It reveals that this urgency is largely manufactured by industries that profit from insecurity, such as...
What The AI Consciousness Question Conceals
The article argues that the debate over AI consciousness distracts from the real economic question: how human‑AI configurations create value. It cites research showing that when AI is integrated as a collaborative partner—preserving human judgment—performance improves, whereas naïve automation harms...
Seven Strengths for an Uncertain World
The article outlines seven developable inner strengths—compassion, flexibility, purpose, gratitude, mindfulness, empowerment, and calm—that help individuals thrive amid uncertainty. It argues that these qualities are not innate traits but neuroplastic skills that can be cultivated through daily practice. The author...
Whoever Keeps My Word Will Never See Death
The reflection explores humanity’s deep‑seated fear of death and frames it as a catalyst for spiritual practice. It cites Bishop Fulton Sheen and St. Paul to argue that daily self‑offering, or “daily death,” mitigates that fear. The piece then examines...
The Five Remembrances
The article revisits the five remembrances from the Upajjhatthana Sutta—aging, illness, death, separation, and karmic consequence—and describes how the author uses them in Buddhist chaplaincy work. Personal anecdotes from a hospice setting illustrate how confronting these truths fosters authentic presence...
The Iron Garden Sutra by A. D. Sui
A. D. Sui’s *The Iron Garden Sutra* follows Iris, a death‑monk of the Starlit Order, as he investigates a murder mystery aboard the ancient generation ship *Nicaea*. The story intertwines a sprawling, forest‑filled spacecraft, a hostile AI, and a clash of faith...
Meaning, Mortality, and the Brain: Why Only Some People Become Philosophers
The article highlights a fundamental divide between people who obsess over life’s meaning and those who operate without such existential concerns. It links this split to brain wiring, particularly intolerance of uncertainty, and shows how it influences leadership styles and...
The Mindfulness of Tidying Up
Shoukei Matsumoto’s excerpt from *Work Like a Monk* frames everyday cleaning as a form of mindfulness rooted in Japanese Buddhist practice. He describes how collective cleaning in schools, temples, and even stadiums reinforces gratitude, presence, and a sacred bond with...
Indika Forced Me to Confront some of Life's Toughest Questions, and I Think It's Made Me a Better Person
Indika, the latest release from indie developer Odd Meter, is a dark narrative‑driven game that intertwines puzzle‑platforming with retro arcade sequences while confronting religious hypocrisy and personal faith. Set in an Eastern Orthodox convent, the four‑hour experience follows a nun...
Sacred Plate: At Ananda In The Himalayas Food Is A Healing Hero
Ananda in the Himalayas, a luxury wellness retreat founded by Ashok Khanna of the Oberoi lineage, blends Ayurvedic nutrition, yoga, and ancient Indian philosophy within a historic palace estate. Guests undergo a personalized dosha assessment that shapes their meals, emphasizing...
What Sets Human Consciousness Apart From AI? – Podcast
Award‑winning journalist Michael Pollan’s new book *A World Appears* tackles the enduring mystery of human consciousness, probing how physical processes give rise to subjective experience. In a recent Guardian podcast, Pollan discusses how thoughts and feelings shape our conscious life...
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A Complete Guide to Buddhist Meditation: Principles, Techniques, and Benefits
The article offers a comprehensive guide to Buddhist meditation, outlining its historical roots, core principles such as mindfulness, impermanence, compassion, suffering, and non‑self, and detailing three main techniques—Samatha, Vipassana, and Metta. It explains step‑by‑step instructions for beginners, highlights scientific research...
Reading Socrates in Silicon Valley
The Financial Times article "Reading Socrates in Silicon Valley" is currently locked behind a subscription wall, offering only a teaser and a series of pricing options. The piece appears to explore philosophical influences on tech culture, but full content is...
A Place to Land
Dr. Willoughby Britton, a Brown University neuroscientist, founded Cheetah House to support meditators experiencing severe distress such as hyperarousal, dissociation, and psychosis after her research showed meditation outcomes are highly variable. The nonprofit provides evidence‑based peer support, clinician consultation, and...
Practicing Yoga in Another Language Changed the Way I Show Up. Here’s How.
The author, a lifelong athlete and self‑identified perfectionist, enrolled in a free Seattle yoga class taught entirely in Spanish. Struggling with both language and his yoga practice, he discovered that the unfamiliar instructions forced him to stay present, sharpening breath...
Turning Back to Place
The essay argues that modern mobility has severed people’s ties to specific places, weakening stewardship of local ecosystems. Citing Gary Snyder and Daniel Wildcat, it highlights how a homogenized consumer culture blinds citizens to climate signals such as pollinator loss. Snyder’s...
Stargazing Really Is Good for the Soul
The piece weaves together five distinct observations: stargazing in Chile’s Atacama desert illustrates how dark‑sky environments can improve mental health, prompting researchers to propose a Night Sky Connectedness Index. A study on insomnia reveals that most people misinterpret heritability, leading...
“This Bitter Earth… May Not Be so Bitter After All.”
Brother Dinh Thanh recounts a recent pilgrimage in Vietnam that follows Thich Nhat Hanh’s footsteps, centering on the Root Temple of Tu Hieu and the forest of Phuong Boi. He uses the classic song “This Bitter Earth” to illustrate the...
How Slow Can You Go?
Recent books and essays argue that relentless pursuit of GDP growth accelerates ecological and social crises. Authors like Timothée Parrique and Kohei Saito call for a degrowth mindset, while psychologists highlight the cultural addiction to speed. Mindfulness scholar Andrew Olendzki suggests shifting from...
Interminable Ignorance
The essay argues that human ignorance has historically powered imagination, giving rise to myths, religions, and early social structures, as noted by Vico and Nietzsche. Modern science, driven by a relentless will to knowledge, has delivered unprecedented benefits but also...