Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

Sangha Buddhism has always been practiced in a community. From the time of the Buddha to the present, the sangha—monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen—has played a

Who were the first Buddhists?

The Buddha’s biographies indicate that he gave his first sermon to five ascetics with whom he had previously practiced yogic meditation and extreme austerities.

Learn more for free at the link below.

A Breath of Fresh Air Seven meditations for connecting with nature

"Nature teaches us simplicity and contentment, because in its presence we realize we need very little to be happy." –Mark Coleman

Dementia and the Sense of Self Tricycle’s executive editor discusses his father’s dementia diagnosis and the questions it has raised about memory, impermanence, and nonself.

“Where does the mind go as the neurons are occluded and the brain tissue withers? We may as well ask where the mind emerges from in childhood. It arises and passes away, ungraspable, in constant flux." –Phillip Ryan

Do Less, Accomplish More Marc Lesser on how to let go of the 5 things that waste your time.

"Much of the time we don’t even know our own motivations, so it can be very difficult to know the motivations of others. But we can be aware of the impact that their actions have within us." –Marc Lesser #DailyDharma

Tricycle's 31-Day Meditation Program Join Tricycle's 31-day meditation program to learn about the pillars of Buddhism and mindfulness with meditation teacher John Dunne.

Meditation is easier to sustain when you’re supported.

Subscribe to Tricycle for access to a guided email program to cultivate mindfulness, wisdom, and compassion that can be applied in everyday life.

Writing as a Spiritual Practice An online creative writing course from author and Zen teacher, Sallie Tisdale

Our popular online course Writing as a Spiritual Practice is back beginning March 23, 2026. This six-part online course will encourage you to write from the place in which spiritual work happens.

Learn more below.

Letting Go: Life on the Hospice Ward A new volunteer comes to terms with the ephemerality of relationships in a hospice ward

"The volunteers go as quickly as the patients in the hospice. Their absence is like a little death. The Zens are right. Everything is constantly changing." –Nancy Wakeman

The Way of the Rails Life as a train ride across the country

"All we have is the present, and this is our practice, in zazen and in life, to keep returning to this moment even as it passes, just like looking out the train window, frame after frame." –Susan Moon #DailyDharma

The Economy of Grace Through Amitabha's merit, we can break free from karma.

“The ultimate aim of the Buddhist path, however, is not merely to cooperate with the principle of karma but to break free of it altogether.” –Nagapriya

What Makes Humanity Worth Saving? Oscar-nominated filmmaker and activist Josh Fox talks about his new film, How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change.

"I think a lot of people working on climate issues feel this incredible burden all the time to save the world and save humanity. We live in these paradoxes: I don’t know how to save the world, yet I have to. I don’t know how to save myself, yet I have to." –Josh Fox

The Lama's Son: Tricycle Film Club “The Lama’s Son” illuminates the lesser known practices and beliefs of the Bon tradition of Tibet, and the challenges of ensuring its survival.

In the Bon tradition of Tibet, a lama’s son inherits his title. A new film from Kesang Tseten, “The Lama’s Son,” takes us on a journey to Lubra in northern Nepal, where an aging lama awaits his son’s return from the United States.

Watch the film now!

Who’s Zoomin’ Who? The Commodification of Buddhism in the American Marketplace Is consumerism the new American religion? Is the market itself determining not only the students, but the teachers of Buddhism?

"Once we awaken to where we are, we must take the responsibility to transform that world into a matrix of opportunity for wisdom and compassion, not just for ourselves but for all others." –David Patt #DailyDharma

My conversation with George Saunders in Tricycle. @tricyclemag.bsky.social #georgesaunders #authorinterview

Equipment for Living On the liberatory potential of Black movement and music and an embodied understanding of awakening

Social practice artist and organizer Jessica Angima offers a meditation on the role of Black musical production in tapping into embodied knowledge. Music, for Angima, allows us to access our buddha-nature by bypassing the intellect so that we can rest in our inherent joy.

The Lama's Son: Tricycle Film Club “The Lama’s Son” illuminates the lesser known practices and beliefs of the Bon tradition of Tibet, and the challenges of ensuring its survival.

In northern Nepal, an aging lama waits for his son to return home and inherit his role.

This month’s film pick, “The Lama’s Son,” offers an intimate look at the Bon tradition and the questions facing communities trying to preserve their spiritual heritage in a globalized world.

Doubt Is My Best Friend Befriending our hindrances is a part of the practice.

"There are positive lines of questioning, 'dhamma vicaya,' which is a positive investigation that leads to wisdom and clarity. It is when we allow the mind to get mired in the ceaseless search for answers that we risk mental well-being." –Jessica Angima #DailyDharma

Insight Into Mindfulness Laura Bridgman explores how meditative awareness helps us meet experience, including the inner critic, with curiosity and compassion.

In our latest Dharma Talk, Gaylon Ferguson explores the true nature of our bodily, emotional, and mental experience, and how mindful awareness can open the door to liberation.

In the Mountains of Tibet Two new books reveal the entwined landscapes of pilgrimage and ascetic retreat in Tibetan Buddhism.

Explore two new books that underscore how the past is brought into the present through rituals of retreat and pilgrimage.

No Zazen for the Birthday Girl On motherhood, practice, and whether liberation moves through authority or care

What would Zen philosophy look like if it were written by women who perform the labor of care rather than by monastics who are free to spend their days in meditation?

Find out in the piece below.

The Body Is Already Mindful If you struggle to tame your thoughts, try turning over the reins.

"The body is not thinking or ruminating. It is just feeling and being, present, aware, and vibrant. In other words: the body is already mindful." –Willa Blythe Baker

Charting the Four Immeasureables From the perspective of the Buddhist teachings, the reason you can actually generate unconditional lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity is that these are your natural qualities

"Space accommodates all perfections and imperfections. Likewise, the basis of loving-kindness, compassion, equanimity, and joy arises when you can rest within an attitude that accommodates others as they are." –Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche #DailyDharma

Advice for Conflict Lessons from the Buddha about how we can use our speech to reduce instead of provoke hostility

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Karma as Active Resistance A philosopher argues that karma is an exercise of agency that fuels Buddhist social engagement.

In “Karma as Active Resistance,” originally published in SSRC’s @immanentframe.bsky.social, Jin Y. Park argues that karma is an exercise of agency that fuels Buddhist social engagement. @tricyclemag.bsky.social features this piece in its Spring 2026 issue. Read more: tricycle.org/article/karm...

Birth of the Mahayana Bhikkhu Anālayo discusses the continuities between the early mainstream teachings and the developments of Mahayana.

Bhikkhu Anālayo discusses the earliest layers of the Mahayana prajnaparamita and agama literature and sees more similarities than differences with the Mainstream traditions in a recent interview by Randy Rosenthal for Tricycle @tricyclemag.bsky.social

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When Longing Becomes the Teacher What my marriage to a monk taught me about love

What is it like to be married to a monk? Writer and cultural strategist Sofi Hyder reflects on her marriage to a Zen monk and what the relationship taught her about love.

Writing as a Spiritual Practice An online creative writing course from author and Zen teacher, Sallie Tisdale

This March, author and Zen teacher Sallie Tisdale will lead us on a journey to cultivate an attitude of openheartedness, curiosity, wonder, and fearlessness in our writing.

Learn more about the course and enroll today!

Advice for Conflict Lessons from the Buddha about how we can use our speech to reduce instead of provoke hostility

"It is inevitable that there will be a wide range of beliefs, opinions, practices, and behaviors in this large and diverse world. It is not inevitable that people must hate one another on account of this." –Andrew Olendzki

Sangha Buddhism has always been practiced in a community. From the time of the Buddha to the present, the sangha—monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen—has played a

In early Buddhism, sangha referred to a small group of monks who had attained enlightenment. Over time, the term expanded to include all monastics and laypeople. All together, this community is referred to as the fourfold sangha.

Learn more for free at the link below!

The Karmic Causality of Generosity On seizing the opportunity to make offerings and be charitable, in this lifetime and the next

"Generosity isn’t giving away all your material possessions; it is the mind being joyful and wanting to give. It is making an effort to give; it is going out of your way to be able to do it with your own hands." –Geshe Sopa with Beth Newman #DailyDharma

In the Mountains of Tibet Two new books reveal the entwined landscapes of pilgrimage and ascetic retreat in Tibetan Buddhism.

"By tracing the contours of pilgrimage and retreat...DiValerio reveals a tradition capable of continual renewal."—David DiValerio, @tricyclemag.bsky.social buff.ly/E7K3NrT #BuddhistStudies #Meditation #BookReview