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"Running Toward Mystery--Advice on contemplative mysticism from the life of Tenzin Priyadarshi"

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Summer 2020

A review of Running Toward Mystery--The adventure of an unconventional life by the Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi and Zara Houshmand.

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"Awakening from Climate Slumber"

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Spring 2019

A review of Ecology, Ethics, and Interdependence: the Dalai Lama in Conversation with Leading Thinkers on Climate Change.

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"Is Cultivating Inner Peace a Forgotten Art? Searching for Stability in Times of Uncertainty"

Document Journal, No. 12, Spring 2018

Essay accompanying a portfolio by British photographer Laurence Ellis. How to understand the transformative power of religious places.

Steven Pinker Enlightenment Now

"Who's Got Good News?"

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Spring 2018.

A review of Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker's new book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.

Tricycle Magzie, A New Way Forward

"A New Way Forward"

Tricycle Magazine, Spring 2015

Buddhist tradition and modernity are in many ways incompatible, but one Western intellectual tradition may hold a key to bringing the two into meaningful dialogue. This article is the first of a two-part Tricycle series on human science.

Phenomenologist Psychologist Amedeo Giorgi

"A More Human Science"

Tricycle Buddhism and Modernity Blog, Spring 2015

An interview with phenomenologist psychologist Amedeo Giorgi. This article is the second of a two-part Tricycle series on human science.

Philosopher Evan Thompson

"The Embodied Mind"

Tricycle Magazine, Fall 2014

An interview with philosopher Evan Thompson about why the mind isn't the brain.

Neuroscientist Catherine Kerr

"Don't Believe the Hype"

Tricycle Buddhism and Modernity Blog, October 2014

An interview with neuroscientist Catherine Kerr about how scientific research on meditation is portrayed by the media.

Dalai Lama's translator, Thupten Jinpa Langri

"Under One Umbrella"

Tricycle Magazine, Summer 2014

An interview with the Dalai Lama's translator Thupten Jinpa Langri.

Culteral critic Curtis White

The Science Delusion

Tricycle Magazine, Spring 2014

An interview with cultural critic Curtis White.

Meditation researcher Willoughby Britto

"Meditation Nation"

Tricycle Buddhism and Modernity Blog, April 2014

An interview with Brown University meditation researcher Willoughby Britton about the status of the scientific research driving the popularity of meditation.

Culture Wars, Tricycle Magazine

"Culture Wars"

Tricycle Buddhism and Modernity Blog, September 2013

An essay about what’s wrong with applying a scientific worldview to humanistic fields.

Tricycle Buddhim and Modernity Blog

"Eastern Self/Western Self Revisited"

Tricycle Buddhism and Modernity Blog, May 2013

An essay addressing readers’ responses to the previous blog post “Eastern Self/Western Self.”

Writer Gish Jen

"Eastern Self/Western Self"

Tricycle Buddhism and Modernity Blog, May 2013

An essay—inspired by Gish Jen’s Tiger Writing—about how different notions of self-identity in eastern and western cultures affect the understanding and practice of Buddhism. 

Buddhist Scholar David McMahan

"Context Matters: An Interview With Buddhist Scholar David McMahan"

Tricycle Magazine, Winter 2013

An interview with David McMahan about why the comtemporary practice of mindfulness might not be the same thing the Buddha taught. Also reprinted in the German Buddhist magazine Buddhismus acktuell as »Es kommt auf den Kontext an« (Buddhismus aktuell, 2/2015)

Charles Taylor, A Secular Age

"What's At Stake As the Dharma Goes Modern?"

Tricycle Magazine, Fall 2012

How research by philosopher Charles Taylor can shed new light on problems in the transmission of Buddhism to the West. Also reprinted in the German Buddhist magazine Buddhismus acktuell as: »Was steht bei der Modernisierung des Dharma auf dem Spiel?« (Buddhismus aktuell, 4/2013)

Robet N. Bellah, Religion in Human Evolution

"Religion in Evolution"

Tricycle Magazine, Summer 2012

A review of Robert Bellah's Religion in Human Evolution. There's a take-over afoot in the realm of human meaning.

An American Buddhist Life, Charls Prebish

"Pursuing an American Buddhism"

Tricycle Magazine, Spring 2012

An interview with Professor Charles Prebish, a leading pioneer in the academic study of Western Buddhism. 

Philosopher and psychologist Eugene Gendlin

"Focusing"

Tricycle Magazine, Fall 2011

An interview with philosopher/psychologist Eugene Gendlin about the origin and nature of Focusing, an innovative technique for self-transformation he developed out of work with Carl Rogers.

Nichiren Buddhist priest Myokei Caine-Barrett Shonin

"A Right to the Dharma"

Tricycle Magazine, Fall 2011

An interview with Nichiren Buddhist priest Myokei Caine-Barrett Shonin about the origins of Nichiren and her experience as a woman of color practicing Buddhism in America.

Atula Shah

"A Great Force of Energy"

Tricycle Magazine, Summer 2011

An interview with Atula Shah about Buddhist life in Kenya.

Whose Buddhism is Truest? Tricycle Magazine

"Whose Buddhism is Truest? Long-Lost Scrolls Shed Some Surprising Light" 

Tricycle Magazine, Summer 2011

How the recent discovery of ancient Gandharan scrolls settles the question of what the Buddha really said. This article is the 2011 story highlight in Tricycle magazine's 20 year retrospective (Fall 2011) and has also been selected to appear in Penguin's Best Spiritual Writing 2013.

Kathryn Schulz's Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error

"Making Room for Error"

Brown Alumni Magazine, September/October 2010

Review of Kathryn Schulz's Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error. We all love being right and hate being wrong. But why?

Philosopher and scientific theorist Christine Skarda

"No Turning Back"

BuddhaDharma Magazine, Spring 2009

Seventeen years ago, Christine Skarda's investigations into the nature of perception drew her out of the research laboratory and onto the meditation cushion. She left behind a career as a philosopher and scientific theorist for a life of Buddhist study and retreat.

Nikolai Grozni's Turtle Feet: The Making and Unmaking of a Buddhist Monk

"Nirvana Can Wait"

Brown Alumni Magazine, July/August 2008

Review of Nikolai Grozni's Turtle Feet: The Making and Unmaking of a Buddhist Monk--a smart, funny memoir about coming of age in Dharamsala.

Nikolai Grozni's Turtle Feet: The Making and Unmaking of a Buddhist Monk

"Dharma Bums"

Brown Alumni Magazine, July/August 2008

The author of Turtle Feet talks about being a monk, falling under India's spell, and re-learning how to live in the West.

Atul Gawande

"The Best Medicine"

Stanford Magazine, July/August 2007

Atul Gawande works to learn how good doctors improve.

Ecotourism in Mexico

"The Road Home"

Plenty Magazine online, August 29, 2007

Ecotourism in Mexico's Sierra Norte gives Zapotec teens a reason to stay put.

2006 Nobel Laureate Craig Mello

"How to Win a Nobel Prize--Just Smart Enough"

Brown Alumni Magazine, May/June 2007

Research by 2006 Nobel Laureate Craig Mello '82 has given scientists a way to turn genes easily on and off. Here's why that might one day save your life.

Professor, novelist, AIDS researcher, and physician Michael Stein

"In the Land of the Sick"

Brown Alumni Magazine, March/April 2007

An Interview with Michael Stein [Q & A] 
Professor, novelist, AIDS researcher, and physician Michael Stein's first work of non-fiction, The Lonely Patient, tries to understand illness from the patient's point of view.

Buddhist monks create a sand mandala on the Brown campus.

"All is Flux"

Brown Alumni Magazine, January/February 2007

It's not every day you'll see artists throw a masterpiece in a river. Buddhist monks create a sand mandala on the Brown campus.

Narragansett Brewery

"Hi, Neighbor. Have A 'Gansett."

Brown Alumni Magazine, January/February 2006

Brown alumnus revives the Narragansett brewery brand.

Roman Catholic cell biologist Ken Miller

"The Evolution of Ken Miller"

Brown Alumni Magazine, November/December 2005

How a Roman Catholic cell biologist became one of the country's leading defenders of evolution--and what's at stake. This article won the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Silver Medal for "Best Feature Article of the Year" in its annual alumni magazine competition.

Brown Alumni Magazine Cheaters

"Cheaters"

Brown Alumni Magazine, May/June 2005

CEOs cook the numbers. Baseball players take steroids. Politicians consort with lobbyists. Faced with a culture of sleaze, what's a nineteen-year-old to do?

The Industry Standard

"Want a New Job? The Shrink Will See You First"

The Industry Standard, October 2, 2000

Tech writing candidate finds out that personality really does go a long way.

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