Lion's Roar

1 week ago | lionsroar.com | Francis Sanzaro

Two summers ago, my family and I visited Stagecoach Reservoir in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. The wind was blowing out of the west, which meant that, standing at the edge of the dam, on the east rim of the reservoir, we were getting blown over. My kids loved it, relishing in the sensation. As we played, I heard a dull whistling sound. I looked around, but before I could find the source, I got distracted, noticing an old Coke bottle lying in the dust.

1 week ago | lionsroar.com | Rod Meade Sperry

Thousand Harbours Zen in Halifax, Nova Scotia will make history this weekend with some first-of-their-kind — for Canada— ceremonies. The community, headed up by Soto Zen priest and former Buddhadharma editor Koun Franz — will be officially installing Franz as the abbot of its temple, Sensouji (pictured), in a “Mountain Seat Ceremony” (shinsanshiki). A Dharma Combat Ceremony (hossenshiki) will also be held, as well as a one-day retreat.

2 weeks ago | lionsroar.com | Rod Meade Sperry

On Tuesday, June 10, Upaya Zen Center in New Mexico announced that its founder and head teacher Roshi Joan Halifax would be undergoing major heart surgery that morning to repair what she said was “one leaf of my mitral valve [which] has become unmoored, and which was creating “excessive fatigue and shortness of breath.”After posting that the surgery had gone “really well,”on Wednesday, Upaya shared the news that “Roshi is recovering well and her heart is doing great.

2 weeks ago | lionsroar.com | Jon Kabat-Zinn |Melvin McLeod

Melvin McLeod: Could you share what current science tells us about how mindfulness affects our mind, brain, and overall well-being—and how that might benefit society? Jon Kabat-Zinn: This is now a flourishing field of scientific research, including all sorts of fascinating studies I won’t go into here, looking at new and experienced meditators and how their brains and bodies are affected by their meditation practice.

2 months ago | lionsroar.com | Rod Meade Sperry

National Public Radio has just released an exclusive new interview with Mohsen Mahdawi — the former president of Columbia University’s Buddhist Association and student activist who has been critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza, and was detained in Vermont by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on April 14. In the interview, Mahdawi reports that he continues to meditate every day while in prison, saying, “I am centered internally. I am at peace.