The Lion’s Roar Podcast

Big-league baseball is on hold thanks to the coronavirus but a new book by Dr. Don Lopez captures the feel of the game in Buddha Takes the Mound: Enlightenment in 9 Innings. Rod Meade Sperry talks to him about the book, which combines Lopez's love of both baseball and Buddhism. Then, a chance for fresh air: Oren Sofer shares a 10 minute guided walking meditation. Find more meditations from his website at OrenJaySofer.com.

Longtime Buddhist practitioner, mindfulness teacher, and hip hop artist Born I Music talks to Rod Meade Sperry about how he and his family are using mindfulness to cope with the shutdown due to coronavirus, how he came to learn and teach meditation, and how that practice has informed his newest album, 11:11. Includes a track from the forthcoming album.

Arthur Russell was a genius musician, known for experimenting with genres from Indian classical to disco. He passed away at just 40 years old, leaving behind more than 1,000 tapes of unreleased music. Rod Meade Sperry asks Russell archivist Steve Knutson how these tapes fell into his possession, eventually becoming several posthumous albums, and about Russell's life as a Buddhist. Includes clips and a full track of Russell music.

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. 

Roshi Joan Halifax is the founder, head teacher and abbot of Upaya Institute and Zen Center. In an interview with LionsRoar.com editor Rod Meade Sperry, she talks about how the center adapted to the threat of coronavirus by switching in-person programs and events to online platforms. Then, a quick practice to navigate the illness and fear brought on by the coronavirus crisis, and any time we confront illness. Also, details on the Spring Practice Period: Honoring Women of the Way, and the upcoming Varela International Symposium on the nature of awareness in May. 

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. 

Food writer and practicing Buddhist Elissa Altman lays out five ways to appreciate more of your meal, even if it means making peace with not having your favourite ingredients. But first, Bonnie Myotai Treace shares three powerful reflections and practices to help us stay open-hearted and connected as we cope with widespread fear and uncertainty.

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.

Dr. Larry Ward, ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh as a dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition, says much of the turmoil we face is the result of a history of thought and practice that has 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 Ward describes how we can start to heal the trauma in ourselves and in the world.  

In a world full of reasons to be scared, Vipassana meditation teacher JoAnna Hardy says loving-kindness is the antidote to fear. Hardy approaches meditation with an emphasis on compassion, and she says this opening of the heart is one of the most radical endeavours a person can take on.