The Lion’s Roar Podcast (Lion’s Roar Foundation)

Buddhist teacher, author, and founder of Tara Mandala retreat center, Lama Tsultrim Allione, talks with Lion's Roar magazine's editor Andrea Miller about the meaning — and urgency — of embracing the sacred feminine as a way to resist the destructive aspects of patriarchal society.

Plus, a reading of "Green Tara: You Are the Divine Feminine" written by Lama Döndrup Drölma from the September 2023 "Women of Wisdom" issue of Lion's Roar magazine. Explore what's inside the issue on lionsroar.com

AI scientist and Buddhist teacher Nikki Mirghafori talks about how to live and love more fully by facing our mortality, including a guided meditation. 

Psychiatrist and Zen teacher Robert Waldinger directs the Harvard Study of Adult Development—a 75 year-long study on happiness, spanning lifetimes. He speaks with Lion’s Roar’s Melvin McLeod about the nature of happiness as found in the study, and how it all connects with what Buddhism has to say about suffering.

East Bay Meditation Center teacher Arisika Razak talks to associate editor Mihiri Tillakaratne about loving-kindness, intergenerational trauma, recognizing our shared humanity, and the vulnerability in “ugly crying.” Razak then leads a loving-kindness meditation practice for ourselves, those who have supported our journeys, and even the difficult people in our lives.

This episode is sponsored by Minding the Gap Coaching: mindingthegapcoaching.com

This Buddhist, Afrofuturist comic book co-authored by Steven Barnes and Charles Johnson and illustrated by Bryan Moss, is an anthology of interconnected parables inspired by the teachings of Buddha. Together with Lion’s Roar’s Pamela Ayo Yetunde, its creators discuss the power and process of storytelling through a Black lens and in a Buddhist context.

Award winning Sri-Lankan Canadian novelist and author of Funny Boy, talks about his latest historical fiction, Mansions of the Moon—the difficult and creative process of using fact and imagination to create an intimate tale of the Buddha’s wife, her relationship with him, their inevitable separation, and her own path to enlightenment.

The facts of aging, illness, death, separation, and loss can actually be encouraging, Buddhadharma’s Koun Franz explains. Then, a guided meditation and quick check-in on your meditation posture.

From her first encounter with Zen to her life as a poet, Black activist, and Zen teacher in Suzuki Roshi’s lineage, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel shares her journey and how it has been informed by the wisdom of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.

Jane Hirshfield is the author of ten collections of poetry, the most recent being The Asking: New and Selected Poems. She talks about creativity in the liminal state, then Anouk Shambrook—an astrophysicist turned meditation teacher—talks about the intersections between science and spirituality. First, a short reading from Buddhadharma’s Rod Meade Sperry of an article by world-renowned meditation teacher, Mingyur Rinpoche. 

Buddhadharma’s Koun Franz interviews Chan teacher and scholar Guo Gu about the essence of his latest book, Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening, in which he explains embodied practice and Chan methods of realizing your Buddha nature. 

Author of The Cure for Money Madness, Spencer Sherman talks about how one can grow spiritually while still engaging with money. Then Lion’s Roar editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod and deputy editor Andrea Miller discuss the latest issue of Lions Roar magazine, honoring both the late Thich Nhat Hanh and the late bell hooks, as well as a special look at Pure Land Buddhism.

In this insightful discussion with the Buddhadharma editorial team, Tibetologist David Germano talks about his work on the Generative Contemplation Initiative, a suite of projects that explore in depth the research on contemplative practices and how such practices might be more widely, and/or pointedly, applied to be of utmost benefit.

This episode is sponsored by Minding the Gap Coaching: mindingthegapcoaching.com

Exactly what is meditation good for? What does it do? Daniel Goleman and Tsokyni Rinpoche talk about their new book Why We Meditate: The Science and Practice of Clarity and Compassion.

In this episode of The Lion’s Roar Podcast, we’re thrilled to invite you to participate in BuddhaFest 2024, an online festival presented by Lion’s Roar. This year, BuddhaFest is dedicated to celebrating women in Buddhism.

In this conversation from BuddhaFest 2024, Gaetano Maida, executive director of the Buddhist Film Foundation, explores the intersection of film and Buddhism with Sharon Suh, president of the Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women, and author of Silver Screen Buddha. Together, they discuss the importance of telling women’s stories through film, the profound contributions of female filmmakers, and their own experiences watching this year’s selected BuddhaFest films.

This special event runs from July 15 through August 26. Your festival pass includes access to nine talks, 14 Buddhist films, musical performances, and more. Register at buddhafestonline.com‌

This podcast is sponsored by Karuna Training. Discover embodied compassion with Karuna's 2024 to 2026 Basic Training Program. Start your journey today at karunatraining.com

Sister Clear Grace is a black, non-binary monastic traveling across the country to lean in to the collective experience of the United States. The traveling nunk speaks with Lion’s Roar’s associate editor Pamela Ayo Yetunde about letting go of privilege, answering the call to become a monastic, and encounters on the road to liberation.

On a pilgrimage to India Lion’s Roar’s Andrea Miller explores the life and teachings of the historical Buddha and the new insights she gained by being there. Then, Zen teacher Enkyo O’Hara shares a quick tip about the subtle joy of Shikantaza, also known as Silent Illumination or “just sitting.”

Lion’s Roar editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod talks with Shantum Seth, a teacher in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition who leads the In the Footsteps of the Buddha pilgrimages. They discuss Thich Nhat Hanh's own pilgrimage to India, how visiting the places where the Buddha lived brings him to life, and bringing Buddhism back to the country where it was born.

In partnership with Shantum Seth's company, 11 Directions, this year's Lion's Roar pilgrimage destinations include include India and Vietnam. Learn more at lionsroar.com/pilgrimages

This episode is sponsored by Saint John’s College. Find out more at https://www.sjc.edu/lion

Beth Wallace is Lion’s Roar’s Associate Publisher, Finance & Operations, but she’s also big on dharma and mindfulness, and helps people understand and experience these for themselves. She sat down with Lion’s Roar’s Rod Meade Sperry to delve into the benefits of mindfulness at work, how work has changed since mindfulness entered the mainstream, and how to avoid some pitfalls in developing a deeper practice that works for you and your health, whether you identify as Buddhist or not. 

Sumi Loundon Kim, Buddhist chaplain at Yale University, talks with Buddhadharma’s Koun Franz about what she’s learned from teaching mindfulness to kids and their parents. Then, the Buddha is believed to have said the true nature of reality is beyond human comprehension, so journalist Judith Hertog asks former monk Georges Dreyfus can we know the truth if even reality isn’t real?

We reflect on the death of one of the greatest Buddhist teachers of our time, and preview the new issue of Lion’s Roar magazine. Then makeup artist, monk, and author of This Monk Wears Heels, Kodo Nishimura tells Pamela Ayo Yetunde how even makeup and drag can be an expression of the dharma.

Mariana Restrepo speaks to Buddhist teacher and translator Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön about visualization practice, a central aspect of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, explaining its benefits and how to do it. At the end of the episode, she guides us through a visualization practice of the bodhisattva of compassion, Chenrezig, also known as Avalokitesvara.

View an image of Chenrezig to accompany the visualization practice here.

This episode is sponsored by Saint John’s College. Find out more at https://www.sjc.edu/lion

Former physician, and internationally known mindfulness and Insight meditation teacher, Christiane Wolf is well versed in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and classical Buddhist mindfulness. Wolf talks about the early days of the modern mindfulness movement, how Insight and mindfulness communities inform each other, and how mindfulness-based approaches can be used in cognitive therapy and pain management.

Editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod, deputy editor Andrea Miller, and associate editor Ross Nervig talk about the latest issue of Lion’s Roar magazine and some of the highlights therein, from Ted Lasso to Dogen.

In this episode, Lion's Roar Assistant Editor Sandi Rankaduwa talks to James Ishmael Ford, a Zen priest and Unitarian Universalist minister who describes himself as having a "Buddhist brain, a Christian heart, and a rationalist stomach." James shares what first drew him to Zen, how he balances it with his role as a Unitarian Universalist minister, and whether these two traditions complement each other. We also dive into the power of Zen koans, the roles of doubt and uncertainty in spiritual growth, and his advice for those seeking a spiritual guide. 

This episode is sponsored by Minding the Gap Coaching: mindingthegapcoaching.com

In this episode of the Lion's Roar Podcast, assistant editor Sandi Rankaduwa talks to Reverend Melissa Opel, a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a minister at the Buddhist Church of San Francisco — the oldest Jodo Shinshu, or Shin Buddhist, church in the mainland United States. 

Rev. Opel shares what drew her to Buddhism, what keeps her inspired as a minister, how acceptance and inclusivity are central to the Jodo Shinshu tradition, and how Buddhists and Buddhist institutions can offer meaningful support to the LGBTQ+ community.  

This episode is sponsored by Karuna Training. Find out more at karunatraining.com

The Center for Humane Technology is featured in the Emmy award winning Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, and co-founded by Randima Fernando. He talks about the promises and pitfalls of artificial intelligence; the existential questions it inspires, how Buddhism is uniquely suited to answering them, and how you can approach this new technology that has the power to change what it means to be human. For more on the future of technology and spirituality, find What A.I. Means for Buddhism at lionsroar.com.

In this episode of The Lion's Roar Podcast, Lion’s Roar’s Sandi Rankawduwa talks to Dr. Tania Israel, Professor of Counseling Psychology and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. With 25 years of expertise in LGBTQ psychology and social justice, and as the author of Facing the Fracture: How to Navigate the Challenges of Living in a Divided Nation, Dr. Israel offers invaluable insights on bridging divides with compassion.

In this conversation, she explores how to maintain connection amidst political differences, stay true to our convictions without demonizing others, and approach tough conversations — from navigating “cancel culture” to managing anger, and preserving our spiritual aspirations in the face of political conflict.

This episode is sponsored by Minding the Gap Coaching: mindingthegapcoaching.com

Photo of Tania Israel by Laurie Bailey.

Karla Jackson-Brewer is a senior teacher with the Tara Mandala Buddhist Retreat Center, and longtime student of Lama Tsultrim Allione. In this conversation, Lion’s Roar’s Pamela Ayo Yetunde Talks to her about internalized racism and the medicine Buddhism can offer to heal it.

Anxiety can be a pretty reasonable response to times of wide spread disease, environmental disaster, social unrest and polarization. Associate editor Chris Pacheco talks to Bruce Tift, psychotherapist and author of Already Free: Buddhism Meets Psychotherapy on the Path of Liberation, about attempting to control feelings of anxiety, why that only makes it worse, and what to do instead.

Diego Perez is the name behind the New York Times bestselling book, Clarity and Connection, written under the pen name, Yung Pueblo. His upcoming book Lighter, promises a “radically compassionate plan for turning inward and lifting the heaviness that prevents us from healing ourselves and the world.” Lion’s Roar Associate Editor Mariana Restrepo asks about his story–his life and family, how he established a consistent practice of meditation, and recommendations for your own practice. First, a quick preview of the upcoming issue of Lion’s Roar magazine from Lion’s Roar’s Melvin McLeod and Andrea Miller.

Author of The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering Your Natural Awareness, and co-author of Fully present: The Science, Art and Practice of Mindfulness, Diana Winston is one of the best-known teachers of mindfulness in the United States. Noami Matlow is a Mindfulness Studies Masters student, and former intern at Lion’s Roar. She asks Diana Winston about significant changes in the mindfulness movement, the relationship between the movement and Buddhism, and what might come next in the evolution of the movement.

American Tibetan Buddhist nun, Thubten Chodron, gives a humorous depiction of the consequences of believing in a solid self and an objective reality. Then, Chan teacher Guo Gu talks about founding Dharma Relief, a pan-Buddhist Covid relief program to distribute masks in the early months of the pandemic, and what’s next for the growing organization.

Psychologist and teacher Tim Burkett was ordained in 1978, but his path began in 1964, when he met Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the famed author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. He talks about learning the nature of enlightenment from Suzuki Roshi, and why the pursuit of enlightenment is futile.

Seth Godin is an expert on failure. While he’s founded several hugely successful ventures and written 20 bestselling books around the world including his newest book, The Practice, he has also learned from failing over and over. Today he explains what helps creative thought, and what so often gets in the way of true success.

New York Times bestselling author Susan Piver takes a well-known typology of personality types, and applies Buddhist principles to demonstrate how it can provide support on the path to deeper compassion for yourself and others. Then, Rod Meade Sperry reads a review of That Bird Has My Wings by imprisoned Buddhist author, Jarvis Jay Masters, which was recently selected for Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club.

Visiting professor of Buddhism and Black Studies at Union Theological Seminary, and author of Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation, Rima Vesely-Flad talks about her book on the connection between the practices of Buddhism, and the Black tradition of radical activism.

Teacher and co-founder of the BIPOC Sangha at Common Ground Meditation Center, Stacy McClendon talks about how mindfulness can transform the way we think about how we work.

Dream yoga specialist Andrew Holecek and one of the first American women to be ordained in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Lama Tsultrim Allione, share their expertise on powerful practices and contemplations from the profound teachings of Tibetan traditions as featured in Lion’s Roar’s online learning series, Open Heart, Vajra Mind.

A guided body scan meditation from Insight LA founder Trudy Goodman, plus  an audio clip from her presentation for the new Insight and Mindfulness online learning series, available now at learn.lionsorar.com.

East Bay Meditation Center teacher Mushim Patricia Ikeda is thinking about death. Having practiced Korean and Japanese Zen, and Vipassana, she now finds new wisdom on the end of life via the Vajrayana tradition. This piqued the interest of Lion’s Roar’s Rod Meade Sperry, who reached out to hear more.

Writer, filmmaker, actor, singer, and meditation teacher, Kevin Townley talks about his latest book featuring women whose work exemplifies each of the five wisdom energies in Tibetan Buddhism, how the energies can show up in daily life, and how the spiritualist abstract artist Hilma af Klint embodied the wisdom energy of emptiness.

Fear can lead us to do regretful, hateful, and even violent things. Lion’s Roar’s new online course Medicine for Fear, inspired by Zen teacher Eihei Dogen’s essential instructions for awakening, offers a way to minimize fear’s impact on us—featuring Koshin Paley Ellison and Chodo Robert Campbell of New York Zen Center, as well as Mushim Ikeda, Pamela Ayo Yetunde, Kodo Nishimura, and Mirabai Bush. In this clip from Medicine for Fear, Koshin talks about the problem of never feeling like you have enough.

Mariana Restrepo, deputy editor of Buddhadharma, speaks with Rosamaría Segura. With a background in the Vipassana and Soto Zen traditions, Rosamaría’s work has focused on advocating for social justice, supporting disenfranchised communities, and serving as a death doula — a central topic of today’s discussion. The conversation delves into how her Buddhist practice shapes her approach to death and dying, how to support those going through this transition, and the profound insights she has gained from those approaching the end of life.

Buddhist meditation teacher Kate Johnson leads a session of Tonglen meditation informed by current events, and talks about her new book, Radical Friendship: 7 Ways to Love Yourself and Find Your People in an Unjust World.

New York Times bestselling author and pop culture writer, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, talks about the film’s unexpected lessons in suffering impermanence, and awakening.

Mushim Patricia Ikeda examines how spiritual work can help us generate wholeness, joy, ease, and even ancestral healing. Then, Rick Hanson guides a short meditation to rewire your brain for the better.

Wellbeing and social justice are one and the same, according to neuroscientist Dr. Sará King. Pamela Ayo Yetunde asks about The Science of Social Justice, her illustrative Systems-Based Awareness Map, and the implications of the framework that has the power to change how you understand yourself, your community, and even political events such as the January 6 insurrection.

Teacher, author, and radical black activist Lama Rod Owens explores what it means to let go of the person you think you are, and how to face the inevitable discomfort and brokenheartedness that comes with working to liberate yourself and others.

Dr. Kamilah Majied is an expert on building inclusivity and equity using meditative practices. She talks to Lion’s Roar’s Pamela Ayo Yetunde about internalized racism in America, the nature of suffering, how to triumph over that suffering as a racialized person, and how we can all find a more freeing, joyous way to live.

Internal medicine physician and founder of the End Well Project, Shoshana Ungerlieder talks about the taboo of death and dying among medical professionals and the importance of taking time to ask what really matters to you and your loved ones, while you still can.

Today, we’re delighted to invite you to our new 5-week course, “Five Keys to the Complete Path of Mindfulness.” Led by renowned mindfulness teachers, the course includes live sessions, guided meditations, and practical exercises to help you apply mindfulness in your daily life. Sign up here.

In this conversation, Lion’s Roar associate publisher Beth Wallace speaks with editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod about taking mindfulness beyond the basics. Together, they explore the Complete Path of Mindfulness, which presents mindfulness as a way of life that integrates meditation with insight, ethics, compassion, and community. These five keys unlock the path to deep personal growth and transformation, leading to a more fulfilling life. To learn more about our online course beginning October 24th, visit our website.

Centered on a friendship between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the documentary Mission: Joy was produced and co-directed by Peggy Callahan while its real life complement, The Big Joy Project, is an experiment in “citizen science.” She and Dr. Elissa Epel, vice chair of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, talk about how both point the way to more joy in our everyday lives.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Dalit civil rights organizer and author of the forthcoming book, The Trauma of Caste, speaks with Lion’s Roar associate editor Noel Alumit about being classified as “untouchable,” how caste oppression relates to civil rights in the Western world, and what Buddhists can do about it.

Tibet’s first religion is not Buddhism. The authors of a new book on Bön, Tibet’s indigenous religion, talk to Melvin McLeod
about the history of Bön, its influence on Tibetan Buddhism, and why its earth-centered spirituality is so important for the earth today.

Founder of the Mindful of Race Institute, and author of Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism from the Inside Out, Ruth King talks to Lion’s Roar Associate Editor Pamela Ayo Yetunde about the Brave Space program, how to approach talking about race, and how mindfulness can heal racial wounds.

Roshi Joan Halifax, Upaya Zen Center founder and head teacher, offers two prayers for the New Year–or any time of the year. Then, the editor of a posthumous release from the trailblazing modern Buddhist nun and teacher, Ayya Khema, talks about the “force of nature” that she was–her adventurous life, her teachings on metta (loving-kindness) and her practices. Editor Leigh Brasington, who practiced and trained with her, also leads a practice in the Ayya Khema style.

Larry Ward, student of Thich Nhat Hanh, shares four everyday practices to better connect with the natural world. Then, Roshi Joan Halifax offers some words of encouragement for all those reeling after the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Secular Dharma Foundation founder Dave Smith is teaching an online, teacher-directed, community-based buddhist addiction recovery course. Buddhadharma’s Koun Franz asked him about the Four Noble Tasks of recovery and how they inform his new program.

Pema Khandro Rinpoche shares the life of the Tibetan yogi Shabkar, whose practice and teachings were inseparable from loss and grief. 

Following her insightful and compassionate commentaries on the war in Gaza for lionsroar.com, Buddhist teacher Tara Brach sits down with editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod to talk about the ultimate root of conflict, the destructive dehumanizing known as othering, and how we can overcome it in ourselves and society.

Read Tara Brach’s pieces mentioned in the episode:

• What Is Love Asking from Us? 
• Gaza and the Bodhisattva Path

Internal medicine physician and founder of the End Well Project, Shoshana Ungerlieder talks about the taboo of death and dying among medical professionals and the importance of taking time to ask what really matters to you and your loved ones, while you still can.

For more Buddhist wisdom on death and dying join the free, 5 day online event, Death, Love and Wisdom from October 12-16th.

Lion’s Roar’s Pamela Ayo Yetunde talks to Spring Washam, author of The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground about the power of calling upon the spirit of this veritable bodhisattva to heal the particular wounds of American injustice and tragedy.

As everyday normalities change, or even vanish, what used to make sense is out the door, and a new vision of our lives and our world is needed. Kaira Jewel Lingo, former nun in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition, offers a path forward as Associate editor Pamela Ayo Yetunde asks about her latest book, We Were Made for These Times.

Vanessa Sasson is a religious studies professor and author of Yasodhara: A Novel about the Buddha’s Wife, a fiction based on close study of historical Buddhist texts on the Buddha’s path to, and of, enlightenment. She talks with Lion’s Roar magazine’s Andrea Miller about the forgotten story of Siddhartha’s wife, shares an excerpt from the book, and describes some of the hidden lessons in Yasodhara’s story.

Dean of Students at the Institute of Buddhist Studies, Scott Mitchell, talks about his book, The Making of American Buddhism and how Western scholarship has largely ignored the role of Japanese immigrants and their American descendants in the development of Buddhism in America.

Zen practitioner, painter, and author of fifteen books, Natalie Goldberg talks to Lion’s Roar editor Andrea Miller about how writing can be a practice of studying your mind.

Sad music, rainy days–there’s beauty in the bittersweet state of mind. It can also teach us about creativity, compassion, leadership, spirituality, mortality and love. Lion’s Roar associate editor Chris Pacheco talks with Susan Cain about the surprising lessons we can learn from sorrow and longing. Also, director of the Dallas Meditation Center, Miguel Chen, reads his article on how to keep up your spiritual practice when enlightenment and wisdom seem unattainable. 

Korean American Zen priest Cristina Moon responds to the recent rise in anti-Asian violence in her article, “Anti-Asian Violence Is an Attack On Us All.” Then a quick conversation with Zen teacher Sensei Dorothy Dai En Friedman, recorded in preparation for Love & Resilience: The Contemplative Care Summit -- register at lionsroar.com/care.

Religious studies professor Brooke Schedneck is the author of Living Theravada: Demystifying the People, Places, and Practices of a Buddhist Tradition. She talks about Theravada Buddhism in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, from ordinary lay people to elite monks.

Psychologist and author of Neurodharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness, Rick Hansen shows Lion’s Roar’s Chris Pacheco how to use your mind to change your brain for the better, including a short practice.

Through the metaphor of Indra’s Net, Lion’s Roar’s associate editor Pamela Ayo Yetunde calls for a “compassion revolution” in her new book, Casting Indra's Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community. She talks with fellow LR editor Noel Alumit about the deep challenges that lead to violence, and how we can heal from them together.

Black, male-identified people have experiences in Buddhist communities that are markedly different than that of the majority–not only physically standing out in the group but facing unique internal questions and struggles. Willie Mukei Shoman Smith, SoOn Eli Brown-Stevenson, and Malik (MaLLy) Watkins talk to Lion’s Roar’s Pamela Ayo Yetunde about how they deal with inhabiting white spaces in the Buddhist context, and also what white sanghas can do to be helpful.

Judy Lief, a Buddhist teacher in the Tibetan tradition, talks about how you can work with your desires to find peace. Then Cheryl Fraser, a sex therapist and dharma teacher, shares her article, How to Have Mindful Sex. To close, professor, minister, and author of Living Nembutsu: Applying Shinran’s Radically Engaged Buddhism in Life and Society, Jeff Wilson, talks about the radically inclusive founder of the Jodo Shinshu tradition, Shinran.

Buddhist teacher Lama Tsomo talks about her new book, Deepening Wisdom, Deepening Connection, shamatha meditation, the four prized emotions referred to as the “Divine Abodes,” and how to find your own Buddhist teacher, including a “calm abiding” meditation.

Pico Iyer, author of dozens of books including The Lady and the Monk and The Art of Stillness, talks to Lion’s Roar editor in chief Melvin McLeod about the profound wonder that travel invites, how he came to cherish the feeling of wandering in the unknown, and how he came to find a home within himself.

Senior student of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and author of Nothing to It: Ten Ways to Be at Home with Yourself, Brother Phap Hai talks about the connection between suffering and wisdom.

Today, we’re re-sharing one of the most popular episodes of The Lion’s Roar Podcast featuring essayist and novelist Pico Iyer. For Iyer, travel is a spiritual experience that shakes up our usual certainties and connects us to a richer, vaster world.

In this conversation, Iyer & Lion’s Roar’s editor-in-chief Melvin Mcleod, discuss Iyer’s book The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise and his eclectic contemplative practice.

Read Pico Iyer's articles discussed in this episode at lionsroar.com/author/pico-iyer/

Feelings of grief, panic and helplessness can lead one to do unpredictable, irrational things. In this selection from Lion’s Roar’s online course, Medicine for Fear, dharma teacher Mushim Patricia Ikeda of the East Bay Meditation Center talks about the art of “feeling all the feelings” without causing harm to yourself and others, and why the smallest act of kindness can be a powerful form of activism.

The Insight Meditation Society celebrates the 80th birthday of one of its co-founders, Joseph Goldstein this year. In his conversation with Buddhadharma editor Rod Meade Sperry, Goldstein applies the “harmonized understanding” approach he championed in his book One Dharma to the concept of buddhanature, to uncover the concept’s relevance to Buddhist practitioners. In the end, he argues, what matters is not who’s right or wrong about what buddhanature is; it’s whether or not engaging with it leads us to less clinging.

With Lion’s Roar’s free “Wisdom of Pema Chodron” Summit about to launch, we’re sharing Andrea Miller’s story abouts Pema Chodron and her advice on how to “walk the walk” of a spiritual person, and what being a “fake” spiritual person really means. Visit lionsroar.com to register.

Insight Meditation teacher Phoenix Soleil talks to Pamela Ayo Yetunde about dealing with racism, and how metta practice can help get you through.

In this special episode featuring music from Buddhist artists, Jessica Pimentel from Orange is the New Black talks to Lion’s Roar’s Ross Nervig about the intersection between her practice of Buddhism and her role as the frontwoman for the indie death metal group, Alekhine’s Gun. Then, rapper and meditation teacher Born I Music talks about the inspiration behind his latest single, In This Moment. 

While the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh may seem simple, they are profound. Anh-Huong Nguyen, one of the first students to be ordained as a meditation teacher in the Plum Village tradition, demonstrates how mindfulness has helped her and the fearful inner child within, through the worst of times.

White Lotus and Sopranos actor Michael Imperioli is also a novelist, screenwriter, director and musician. He and his partner Victoria Imperioli, a well-known interior designer, talk about how Buddhism informs their life together as artists and entrepreneurs.

The Lion's Roar Podcast is taking a momentary pause.

In the meantime, enjoy our library of 126 interviews, practices, talks and panels on a diverse range of topics.

Sam likes to chill, and Rex likes to play. When Sam wants to take a break from playing, Rex wonders ‘what’s so great about being still?’ Author Catherine Bailey talks about these characters in her children’s book, Dinos Don’t Meditate, and shares a thirty second practice you can do with your kids. Then, Vanessa Zuisei Goddard talks about her book, Weather Any Storm, in which  “the Wildering Billies”serve as a metaphor for waves of emotion that create an inner storm. Plus, Zuisei shares a short breathing practice for kids.

Mindfulness is effective when used properly, but the deep techniques of the Buddhist form of meditation known as Insight (or Vipassana) are truly the heart of mindfulness practice, and often go unaddressed. Trudy Goodman, Founder of InsightLA, talks about breath awareness, why it’s so important, and how to experience the true grounding power of mindfulness meditation.

Author of Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists, Chenxing Han reads her article examining the stereotypes that have marginalized Asian American Buddhists, and the rich diversity of a new generation of practitioners. 

How can Buddhist practice help you find refuge from racism? Especially from the internalized sense of inferiority that lives within the minds and bodies of racialized people? Teacher Sensei Alex Kakuyo and Lion’s Roar Associate Editor Pamela Ayo Yetunde discuss.

Koshin Paley Ellison and Robert Chodo Campbell are Zen monks who live in New York city where the death toll is reported to have risen to more than 10,000. They're the founders of the New York Zen Centre for Contemplative Care which helps caregivers, family, patients and clinicians cope with illness and death by using meditation and mindfulness as a foundation. Editorial assistant and podcast host Sandra Hannebohm asked how they've adapted to the new reality of coronavirus and quarantine, and what they’ve learned about grief and gratitude in the process. We start with a grounding meditation to open the interview, and end with a healing “pat of butter” meditation. 

Social distancing has become the new buzzword but it doesn’t mean you need to stop caring and communicating in a social way. Buddhadharma editor Tynette Deveaux talks to mindfulness teacher Oren Jay Sofer about how and why we can deepen our understanding of our relationship to ourselves, one another, and the world – an approach that the COVID-19 pandemic seems to urge us to take.  

Then, from Roshi Josh Bartok of the Greater Boston Zen Centre, a dedication to sentient beings (and even non-sentient beings) we depend on to help stop the spread of coronavirus. 

Dr. Larry Ward, ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh as a dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition, and the author of America's Racial Karma: An Invitation to Heal, says much of the global turmoil we face today is the result of a history of thought and practice that has likewise justified slavery, environmental degradation, and other atrocities. The revolutionary act therefore is slowing down, practicing kindness, and cultivating joy. These are radical social acts. In this dharma talk about America’s racial karma Ward describes how we can start to heal the trauma in ourselves and in the world.

The Buddhist community is reckoning with coronavirus as many brick and mortar centres temporarily shut down. Rod Meade Sperry of Lion's Roar shares a piece on what we can do to help. But first, a basic meditation to align the body and mind from Vipassana teacher Oren Jay Sofer.

Buddhist teacher and author Sylvia Boorstein finds herself asking a prominent teacher, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, for advice she hoped would open the way to profound enlightenment. What she discovered instead was one of the simplest and most understated practices in Buddhism, yet one of the most difficult disciplines to master. In this talk and practice Boorstein guides us in the discipline of goodwill. 

In another helpful conversation about Buddhism, illness, and health—especially relevant in the coronavirus era—Buddhist teacher Karma Lekshe Tsomo gets personal with her colleague Pema Khandro Rinpoche, talking about what she learned from her own very scary brush with illness after being bitten by a poisonous viper. They also discuss using pain as a tool, managing uncertainty, why Buddhist practice “is more important than ever in a circumstance of illness,” and more. 

Stephen Batchelor is a teacher and author of the national bestselling title Buddhism Without Beliefs. Buddhadharma deputy editor Koun Franz asks him about the role of study in Buddhist practice – what divides the scholars from the practitioners – and how Batchelor bridges that gap, showing how practice opens up questions we can pursue with an attitude of curiosity that inspires us to investigate its foundations.

Life as we know it has changed, including work life. Technology tends to fill in the gaps left open by the need to distance ourselves from one another, but can work and technology actually help our spiritual well-being? In his book, Buddha's Office: The Ancient Art of Waking Up While Working Well, Dan Zigmond gives a lot of thought to bringing technology and spiritual life together in healthful, wise ways. Melvin McLeod talked to him about how we can find a balance between the two, and how to incorporate our work lives into our spiritual lives in a way that can help us achieve right livelihood.

Lama Tsomo shares a guided tonglen meditation to apply your personal practice to widening social circles, and to move from fear into love.

Professional poker player Maria Konnikova says mindfulness not only helps ground her in life, but in her gameplay. She tells Lion's Roar's Andrea Miller how, in an interview for the article, “Life Lessons from the Poker Table.”