The May 2020 issue of Lion’s Roar magazine features wisdom and meditations from leading dharma teachers on freeing yourself from the patterns that hold you back. Inside, you’ll also find a remembrance of the late spiritual icon Ram Dass; Gesshin Claire Greenwood on how to practice homestyle oryoki; an interview with renowned Buddhist thinker and environmental activist Joanna Macy; Buddhist book reviews; and much more.
Editorial / Welcome to the Issue
The Secret Is Mind by Melvin McLeod
Free Yourself from the Patterns That Are Holding You Back
Freeing ourselves from our painful habitual patterns is the heart of Buddhist meditation. In this special section, 5 leading dharma teachers share their secrets to getting unstuck and becoming free.
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- Meet Bad Habits with Loving-Kindness | Meditation: A Song of Metta by Sylvia Boorstein
- Get to the Root of Your Patterns | Meditation: Loving Connection by Trudy Goodman
- How to Free Yourself from the 7 Obsessions | Meditation: Thoughts with No Thinker by Valerie Mason-John
- Notice Craving and Aversion | Meditation: Overriding the Habit of Procrastination by Josh Korda
- Befriend Your Feelings | Meditation: How to Make Friends with Your Emotions by Lama Willa Miller
Plus
Joanna Macy & the Great Turning
The renowned Buddhist thinker and environmental activist on the global awakening the planet needs—while we still have time. At heart, it’s a spiritual revolution.
One Day, My Child, All This Will Be Yours
Zen teacher John Tarrant on climate change, the Australian fires, and the magic of the primeval forest. “These forests have suffered a great burning now, those places in my blood and my marrow, and I feel a tremendous sorrow in their loss.”
Meditate with Care
Michael Stroud on what to do when meditation only makes things worse.
Ram Dass: A Life of Love & Service
For 50 years he spread warmth and light in America. Sara Davidson remembers a spiritual icon of our time.
Heart & Mind
Feel the Love Inside You
So many of us find it hard to love and care for ourselves. Here’s a simple practice developed
by psychotherapist and meditation teacher Ari Goldfield to give yourself the warmth and love you deserve.
This Dharma Life
The Old and the Beautiful
In Japan, wabi sabi is an aesthetic principle that sees beauty in imperfection and age. Can Kem McIntosh Lee see the wabi sabi of her own aging body?
How to Practice Homestyle Oryoki
Oryoki is the meditative way of eating practiced in Zen monasteries. Gesshin Claire Greenwood on how to bring the spirit of oryoki into our home kitchens—and feel more deeply nourished.
First Thought
In It for the Tea
Hilary Smith isn’t keen about Zen, but she does need some company. Isolation and depression are the wolves at the door of her mountain cabin.
Q&A
Buddhism Is Never Apart from Who I Am: Governor David Ige of Hawaii
Advice for Difficult Times
Trying to Stay Afloat by Kamilah Majied
Weekend Wisdom
Does a Dog Have Buddhanature? by Koun Franz
Share Your Wisdom
What do you say when someone asks you why you practice Buddhism?
Meet A Teacher
Roshi Joan Halifax
Books/Reviews
Hot off the press
Buddha Takes the Mound: Enlightenment in 9 Innings by Donald Lopez Jr.
Book Reviews
We review Big Love by Adele Hulse, Just So by Alan Watts, Tara by Rachael Wooten, and more.