Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is a multi-instrumentalist and composer, Zen priest, and hospice chaplain based in the Hudson Valley. Since his first foray into experimental music in the 1990s, he has been a pillar of the American music underground, collaborating with a variety of artists including Liz Harris, Félicia Atkinson, and Ilyas Ahmed. Although his music has often been labeled experimental or ambient, he himself describes it as personal liturgy.
Cantu-Ledesma’s latest album, Gift Songs, takes inspiration from the forms of liturgy and ritual he has found meaningful as a Zen priest and hospice chaplain, as well as from the Shaker notion of “gift drawings,” where art is seen as a gift from God. Through minimalist acoustic arrangements and evocative improvisations, Gift Songs foregrounds chance and collaboration, putting forth a vision of art as an offering.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Cantu-Ledesma to discuss what first brought him to Buddhism, the role of devotion in his work and practice, the synergies between creative practice and chaplaincy work, and why he views his music as an offering.
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How Compassion Works with John Makransky
According to Lama John Makransky, everything we care about—including our mental and physical well-being, our relationships, our spiritual life, and our ability to act justly in the world—depends on our ability to access our innate capacities for love and compassion. In his new book, How Compassion Works: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cultivating Well-Being, Love, and Wisdom, which he co-wrote with Paul Condon, Makransky draws from Tibetan Buddhism and contemporary cognitive science to lay out concrete practices for strengthening our capacities for wisdom and compassion.
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Makransky to discuss why compassion is essential to our survival, how meditation can help us tap into our basic goodness, and how we can integrate compassion into our service and action in the world. Plus, Makransky leads a guided meditation.
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Buddhist Masters of Modern China with Benjamin Brose
Benjamin Brose is Professor of Buddhist and Chinese Studies and chair of the department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. His new book, Buddhist Masters of Modern China: The Lives and Legacies of Eight Eminent Teachers, explores the histories and teachings of eight masters who brought about a Buddhist revival during the political turmoil of the 20th century.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Brose to discuss the persecution that Chinese Buddhists faced at the turn of the 20th century, the creativity and innovation with which many Buddhist monks and nuns responded to these challenges, the variety of approaches taken to revitalize the Buddhist tradition, and the remarkable life of the Chan master Laiguo.
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The Greek King and the Buddhist Monk with Maria Heim
The Questions of Milinda is one of the most renowned texts within Theravada Buddhism—and one of the most translated Buddhist texts around the world. The text follows a transformational philosophical dialogue between the Indo-Greek king Milinda and a Buddhist monk named Nagasena as they discuss the nature of the self, the meaning of renunciation, and the sources of knowledge. In her new translation of The Questions of Milinda, scholar Maria Heim devotes particular attention to the literary and aesthetic qualities of the text, presenting it as a literary classic as well as a philosophical one.
In this episode of Tricycle Talks, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, sits down with Heim to discuss the literary and aesthetic qualities of The Questions of Milinda, how treating Buddhist texts as literature can deepen our perception, what we can learn from the text’s famous chariot analogy, and the philosophical work that metaphors and analogies can perform.
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Remembering Our Belonging with Sebene Selassie
As someone who has been living with cancer for nearly two decades, Sebene Selassie is no stranger to being with suffering. In her work as a writer and dharma teacher, Selassie focuses on how we can tap into a deeper sense of love and belonging in the face of pain, violence, and division. Her most recent book, You Belong: A Call for Connection, draws from Buddhist philosophy, multidisciplinary research, and her personal experience to lay out what she calls a “map back to belonging.”
In this episode of Life As It Is, Tricycle’s editor-in-chief, James Shaheen, and meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg sit down with Selassie to discuss how loving-kindness can be an antidote to fear, what it looks like to center love right now, why we’re often divided from ourselves, and what we can learn from staying with paradoxes and contradictions.
Tricycle Talks: Listen to Buddhist teachers, writers, and thinkers on life's big questions. Hosted by James Shaheen, editor in chief of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, the leading Buddhist magazine in the West. Life As It Is: Join James Shaheen with co-host Sharon Salzberg and learn how to bring Buddhist practice into your everyday life. Tricycle: The Buddhist Review creates award-winning editorial, podcasts, events, and video courses. Unlock access to all this Buddhist knowledge by subscribing to the magazine at tricycle.org/join
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