Joseph Goldstein is a cofounder and guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. He recently wrote an article called “Liberation Through Non-Clinging Across Buddhist Traditions” that will be published on Tricycle’s website later this month.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Goldstein to discuss why he sees non-clinging as so central across Buddhist traditions, how dual and nondual awareness can complement and support each other, the dangers of becoming attached to emptiness, and how selflessness can offer a radically unique way of understanding ourselves and the world.

Jess Serrante is a climate activist, organizer, and longtime facilitator of the Work That Reconnects, a global movement and community created by the late environmental activist Joanna Macy, who passed away in July. Last year, Jess and Joanna produced a podcast together called We Are the Great Turning that explored Joanna’s teachings on cultivating courage and connection as we face the many crises of our time.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Jess to discuss Joanna’s life and legacy, why Joanna believed that we should always begin with gratitude, how we can work productively with anger and despair, what it means to bow to our pain, and how the Work That Reconnects can break us open—and break us free. Plus, Jess leads a guided meditation on connecting with our gratitude for the Earth.

Arthur Sze is a poet and translator based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and he was recently named the 25th Poet Laureate of the United States. To celebrate his appointment, we’re visiting a 2024 Tricycle Talks episode with Sze.

Unlike many contemporary American poets, Sze did not attend a traditional MFA program to learn to write poetry. Instead, the National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist turned to translation to hone his craft. His 2024 collection, The Silk Dragon II: Translations of Chinese Poetry, compiles fifty years of his translations, illustrating the vitality and versatility of the Chinese poetic tradition across nearly two millennia.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sze to discuss the ruptures and continuities between classical and contemporary Chinese poetry, the destruction and renewal inherent in the process of translation, and why Sze believes that we need translation now more than ever. Plus, he reads a few poems from his new collection.

Ada Limón is the twenty-fourth Poet Laureate of the United States and the author of seven books of poetry. Her latest book, Startlement: New and Selected Poems, brings together two decades of her work.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Limón to talk about how poetry can help us decenter ourselves, her daily practice of loving-kindness, the space that curiosity can open up, and how startlement can be a spiritual practice. Plus, Limón reads a few poems from her new collection.

Donald S. Lopez Jr. is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan and a longtime Tricycle contributing editor. In his new book, The Buddha: Biography of a Myth, he draws from a variety of sources to trace a single narrative of the Buddha’s life, from his birth through his enlightenment to his passage into nirvana. While a number of scholars have attempted to “demythologize” the Buddha by extracting the man from the myth, Lopez sets out instead to present a remythologized Buddha, highlighting the supernatural elements of his life.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Lopez to discuss his account of the Buddha’s life, as well as the larger question of whether the Buddha actually existed—and what’s at stake in the answer.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the bardo is a between-state. While the term is usually associated with the passage from death to rebirth, it can also refer to the journey from birth to death—as well as the various transitional states we encounter along the way. According to writer and Tricycle contributing editor Ann Tashi Slater, Tibetan bardo teachings can transform the way we live—and help us find lasting happiness in a world defined by impermanence. In her new book, Traveling in Bardo: The Art of Living in an Impermanent World, Slater explores how bardo wisdom can help us navigate change and transition with greater acceptance and creativity.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Slater to discuss the legends surrounding the bardo teachings, her own experience of illness and how it paralleled the bardo journey, how what we pay attention to determines the nature of our reality, and how the Tibetan Book of the Dead can teach us how to live.

Stephen Batchelor is a writer and longtime Tricycle contributing editor based in southwest France. In his new book, Buddha, Socrates, and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times, he explores how the Buddha and Socrates can teach us to live a just and dignified life in an unstable, contingent world.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Batchelor to discuss how Socrates and the Buddha both posited what he calls an ethics of uncertainty, how creativity can help us imagine another way of living—and another kind of society, and how Buddhist and Greek philosophy can support us in navigating the existential challenges of our times.

Living with a serious illness can be an isolating experience, and it can often provoke feelings of anger, anxiety, and fear. As a former oncology nurse, a mindfulness teacher, a clinical researcher, and a retreat facilitator for people living with serious illness, Susan Bauer-Wu has dedicated much of her life to developing practices to help people with serious illness live fully in the face of these challenges. In her book, Leaves Falling Gently: Living Fully with Serious Illness through Mindfulness, Compassion, and Connectedness, she lays out accessible meditations for people living with illness and their caregivers.

In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Bauer-Wu to discuss what it means to live fully with serious illness, methods for finding spaciousness in the midst of constriction, how to adapt mindfulness practices in the context of pain, and how the quality of each moment can determine the quality of our lives. Plus, Bauer-Wu leads a guided meditation.

Bhuchung D. Sonam is an exiled Tibetan writer, poet, translator, and publisher currently based in Dharamshala. His press, TibetWrites, has published more than fifty books by contemporary Tibetan writers.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Sonam to discuss how writing has helped him navigate life in exile, the importance of centering the stories of ordinary Tibetans, why he views writing as a form of resistance, and how literature can serve as a bridge across cultures. Plus, Sonam reads a few of his poems.

For Marie Howe, poetry is a form of prayer. “It is a way of quieting down to listen to that still, small voice,” she told Tricycle. “It’s about something ineffable that’s trying to find its way through the poem.”

Howe is currently the poet in residence at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Her latest collection, New and Selected Poems, which brings together four decades of her writing, recently won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Howe to discuss the role of not knowing in her work as a poet, how poetry helps us keep looking at what’s difficult, why poems are like koans, and what she’s learned from the Christian mystic Meister Eckhart. Plus, Howe reads a few poems from her new collection.