Tricycle Talks

Francis Weller is a writer and soul activist who has worked as a psychotherapist for forty years, and he is currently on staff at Commonweal Cancer Help Program. In his most recent book, In the Absence of the Ordinary: Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty, he lays out practices for embodying new ways of being so that we can meet the anxieties and unknowns of our time with presence and faith. Weller is also the author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief and the companion workbook, Entering the Healing Ground, which will be released on February 24.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Weller to talk about why he views listening as an art of reverence, the subversive power of restraint, how not knowing situates us at the edge of discovery, and the role of ritual in navigating what he calls the Long Dark. Plus, Weller leads a guided practice.

Brandon Shimoda is a poet and a professor at Colorado College. His new book, The Afterlife Is Letting Go, examines the ongoing legacies of the US government’s mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Drawing from years of archival research, visits to the ruins of incarceration sites, interviews with survivors and their descendants, and his own family history, the book explores the resonances between forms of oppression and state violence past and present.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Shimoda to talk about how he learned about his own family history of wartime incarceration, the question of how to memorialize an event that is still ongoing, how writing the book was a process of pilgrimage, and how he views the role of poetry in reckoning with this history. Plus, Shimoda reads an excerpt from the book.

Sarah Ruhl is a playwright, poet, and professor based in New York. She recently published her first children’s book, as did meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg. Sarah’s book, The Dreams I’ll Dream Tonight, is a whimsical bedtime story that illustrates the power of choosing where we place our attention, while Sharon’s book, Kind Karl: A Little Crocodile with Big Feelings, follows a young crocodile as he learns to control his temper.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sarah and Sharon to discuss what inspired each of them to write children’s books, the importance of imagination in helping children work through fear, and how they’ve each adapted teachings on loving-kindness to a younger audience. Plus, they both read excerpts from their new books.

Sharon A. Suh is a professor of theology and religious studies at Seattle University, and she is currently the president of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women. Her new book, Emergent Dharma, brings together the voices of eleven Asian American feminist Buddhists to present a dynamic vision of Buddhist practice and identity.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Suh to discuss why she describes herself as a bad Buddhist, the dangers of equating Buddhism primarily with meditation, what it means for the book to be a sangha in written form, and what she’s learned from bell hooks about love as an action to end domination.

Ralph Steele is the founder and guiding teacher of Life Transition Meditation Center in Santa Fe, where he teaches somatic meditation and other practices geared toward supporting people through major life changes. Steele grew up on Pawleys Island, where he was raised by his grandparents after his father was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. As a teenager he moved with his mother to Japan, where his exposure to martial arts sparked a lifelong fascination with practices of embodiment. Eventually, after serving in the Vietnam War, Steele ended up practicing meditation as a way of coping with trauma and addiction.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Steele to talk about his remarkable life story, including the dharma lessons he learned from his grandmother, Sister Mary, how meditation helped him learn to sit in the fire of pain, and how he adapts Buddhist teachings in the retreats he has been leading for veterans.

Read more about Ralph Steele in his 1999 Tricycle article, “In the Lineage of Sister Mary.”