The Prison Outreach Affinity Circle was started by Trime Persinger in 2013. On March 10, 2014, a conversation was hosted by Richard Reoch and Adela Sandness The conversation was recorded and transcribed following which the transcript was edited and divided into three parts. Following is Part Three of Three. Click here to read Part One and Part Two.

Conversation participants: Shastri Henry Chapin, Kate Crisp, Acharya Fleet Maull, Margot Neuman, Trime Persinger, Nealy Zimmermann (Circle Facilitator), Cara Thornley

Part III:  “It is such a relief to recognize our own flaws– he contemplation I gave this Sunday was off a dove candy wrapper: It is okay to be fabulous and flawed.”

Fleet Maull: I wanted to share one anecdote about the work we are doing with the correctional officers. Right now we are completing a 12-month wellness and resiliency training for correctional officers at five Oregon state prisons.

The reason we won the contract over another contractor is that the other organization tended to focus on the pathology of the situation and the fact that the correctional officers suffer from PTSD, which is true in many cases; but we presented a strengths-based resiliency model grounded in the view of basic goodness. They much preferred this more positive approach focused on building on their officers’ intrinsic healthiness and innate resilience.

Margot Neuman: In one prison, I work with a staff psychologist. She is very much into mindfulness, and is very supportive of creating a secular mindfulness group. We presented it to about twenty inmates who were interested in participating. One of them asked her if she was going to follow-up on an anger management program. She said to him: “First of all, you don’t require an anger management program, because you do not blow up and end up in the hole once a month.”  She said to me: “I wanted to push mindfulness first, because I believe it is much more effective than anger management.” What he was wanting was to have some relief from the state of constant anger, because he had been incarcerated since age seventeen, and in for twenty-six years already, so I guess he had a lot to be angry about. She said to him: “You are much better off with mindfulness than with anger management”.

Trime Persinger: I think the issue of people not believing in their own basic goodness is so prevalent in our society. I think that for people who are incarcerated, it is just huge. For many of them it is a lifetime issue of childhood abuse, and poor choices.

So, when I talk about being a light in the darkness, there is this sense that this possibility -extending this possibility to find this within themselves – just opens them up and they become like blossoms in the sunshine.  You can see their faces light up – and that contrast–we have all seen over, and over and over.  It speaks to the truth of basic goodness, the profound truth of basic goodness.  And the possibility when we start to communicate from that place of basic goodness in ourselves and reach out to that in other people, how that lights people up, changes their lives and changes the world that they live in.

I love what Fleet emphasized about adult to adult. We don’t condone–at least personally–any sense of the victim mentality that is pervasive in the system, and to recognize that–as we speak–our own flawed nature, that basic goodness is not about perfection.

There is a sense of commonality, a sense of commune about this that they find such a relief.  It is such a relief to recognize our own flaws–the contemplation I gave this Sunday was off a dove candy wrapper: it is okay to be fabulous and flawed. People get that, and I think they get that especially in the prison environment with their backgrounds. It is an incredible crucible for teaching the Shambhala Principle and living it.

Fleet Maull:  Your dove candy wrapper reminds me of the Suzuki Roshi quote about something similar: you all are perfectly wonderful, and you have a few improvement areas. It made me think of another reason why I think the Shambhala Principle is so important.

A lot of the people in prison–both prisoners, and staff for that matter, but especially the prisoners – come from very traumatic backgrounds, as Trime said, so they have developed very strong fear-based habitual patterns from childhood on to stay safe. They often have very strong victim identifications and often very little capacity for self-empowerment for real self-agency: so, they have a lot of work to do.

You can say, well, if they could just recognize their basic goodness, that is a big leap–and it is going to help a lot–but they have a lot of work to do to undo years of conditioning and programming and to re-train themselves to function as adults–especially on the outside–as responsible adults and to shift their mindset.

So, in our programs, we challenge them a lot. We really challenge the fundamental victim position from the beginning all the way through to the end of the program and really invite them into an adult space, but with no blame, as the Sakyong talks about that idea of “no mistake.” We are trying to shift into a context that is beyond blame–or trans blame–but it is a context of responsibility and ownership. It is not about blaming ourselves, it is not about blaming others: it is just about taking ownership for our own lives and our own circumstances and stepping into that adult position.

In order to challenge people in that way, you have to first create this ground of basic goodness. You have to weave that through the whole thing, because otherwise challenging that intensely is just going to reinforce–they won’t have the resilience. To do the work they need to do, requires a lot of resilience and a lot of self-empathy. They still have a lot of work to do, so I think that is why the message of basic goodness is so critical–to give them a context so they can do that work from a context of no blame or no mistake.

Annual luncheon for prison hospice volunteers

Nealy Zimmermann: I worked with prison hospice volunteers in particular. They experience working with fellow dying inmates: to be able to serve, to manifest their basic goodness in that way. They are incredible caregivers for their fellow inmates and–of course, working with dying, they understand impermanence. They also bond together as a group.

They are honored by their families for the work they are doing. There are annual gatherings with their family (as invited guests) where they are celebrated for the work that they do. It is not only self-improvement, but they get to give. They also express extreme gratitude of having taken from society, and now they can give back. Eventually they can get out, and now they can be helpful in the community with the strength of that experience of working in the infirmary for years and years.

Cara Thornley:  Richard [Reoch], I would just like to say I am here as a support for this group. I have no experience teaching in prisons. I appreciate being part of this very much; it is very inspiring. What is inspiring to me–are these persons who have spoken and who will speak–who have found a way to benefit people in these situations over the long haul. I actually led a weekend in a prison once a long time ago with women, but the ground had been laid by someone who had gone into that prison and taught them meditation before I even showed up. I just very much appreciate it.

Harish Rao, Whitney Hall & Melinda Rothouse – Goa

In March of 2015 I had the opportunity to travel to Goa, India, with two Shambhala friends, Whitney Hall from Austin, and Harish Rao from Los Angeles. I met Harish, whose family is from Goa, during Shambhala Art Teacher Training, and we had been talking for some time about collaborating to put together a contemplative arts retreat or workshop in India. This spring, we were able to plan a trip together to visit and start laying the groundwork for a possible program in Goa.

As Harish recently explained, “I have heard Shambhala referred to as a place where path, practice, and community come together. I have often felt this way about my native Goa, India. This stretches back to its Portuguese roots; travelers of divergent faiths and cultural backgrounds have arrived through the years to create a unique melting pot and diversity of art, spirituality, and music. It has long been a place where people have come to discover aspects of themselves they may never have known and connect with people from around the world seeking the same. It is a balance of Indian and Bohemian integration that is hard to describe, yet easy to experience. Goa, in some ways, is an untapped, secret court of riches waiting to be discovered by those who venture into its historical landscape.”

For me, the journey held a quality of pilgrimage, with the anticipation of visiting a sacred land, not knowing exactly what I would discover or experience along the way. I’ve always dreamed of traveling to India, the birthplace of so many sacred traditions and practices, including meditation and yoga, which have deeply influenced my life’s path. In addition to my meditation and contemplative arts practices, I work as a writing and creativity coach, and I am pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology, specializing in creativity studies. My dissertation research will explore how contemplative arts practices, such as those laid out in the Shambhala Art and Miksang teachings, facilitate healing, insight, and resilience in workshop and retreat settings. So for me the journey also represented a synthesis of my academic, research, and spiritual, explorations.

During the trip I took a number of miksang-style photos, through which I have attempted to convey some of my impressions of Goa. I find that the practice of contemplative photography helps to ground me in my present-moment experience and enhances my sense of wonder and everyday sacredness. It is always a delight to engage in contemplative photography practice while traveling, immersed in the sensory feast of new places, cultures, and experiences.

One of the most fascinating things about Goa is its unique cultural blend of Portuguese and Indian spiritual practices, language, and food traditions, all set within in the lush, tropical landscape of the western coast of India. As I reflect on our trip through the lens of my photos, what most touches me is the vibrancy of everyday life: the brilliant hues of fishing floats; an offering of flowers left in a church courtyard; the intermingling of people, animals, and nature. To me, the images convey a sense of beauty and vividness in the simple details of life, and a sense of appreciation.

Like any pilgrimage, the trip presented its own challenges, from the requisite violent stomach bug (which left me feeling simply happy to be alive, as I sipped on the ubiquitous Indian tonic of fresh lime soda), to the sensory overload of cars, mopeds, pedestrians, and animals all sharing the narrow streets, the sweltering heat and humidity, and the immense piles of trash left by the sides of the roads or burning in the open air. India is a place where where life, death, and decay commune and co-mingle much more fluidly than in the West. For example, one day we awoke to the sight of a dead dog left in the trash pile outside our hotel, which stayed there for several days in the searing heat, gathering flies, until a group of neighborhood men unceremoniously dragged it down the dirt road to the beach and out of sight. Another day I delighted in witnessing a sow and her piglets sifting through the same trash pile, a crow riding blithely on the sow’s back. Above all, in Goa I experienced palpable richness perhaps best conveyed through images.

These first two photos are from Dona Paula, the area where we stayed, a small fishing village on the outskirts of Panjim, Goa’s capital city:

………………………..To me, the fishing nets almost resemble strings of brilliantly colored pearls, the individual floats popping with vivid color. The canoes appear perched on the sand, waiting to be taken out to sea, carrying with them a sense of possibility and buoyancy. They recall the feeling of the warm, nourishing waters of Goa’s beaches, of the sun sparkling on the water, of journeys to new lands.

Another photo shows garland of flowers–carnations or marigolds—left on a low wall in the courtyard of a Catholic church we visited in Old Goa:

This church, the Basilica of Bom Jesus, actually houses the mummified remains of the missionary St. Francis Xavier, who traveled to and set up Catholic communities all over Asia. In contrast to the dark, musty interior of the basilica, and the aged glass casket housing the shriveled body of the monk, the courtyard felt like a breath of fresh air, the garland of flowers evidence of a fresh and living devotion.

Other memorable scenes include: a crow basking in the rays of the late afternoon sun:

A working woman dressed in a brilliant yellow sari, carrying jugs of water, her children running along with her:

Palm fronds in green and brilliant orange at the seaside:

A stack of plastic crates and woven baskets by the side of a road, evidencing both manual labor and skilled handiwork:

The rusty anchor of a ferry boat casting a shadow in the blazing mid-day sun:

Fishermen tending their nets at the bounteous mouth of the Terekhol River:

A pair of young lovers nestled into an alcove of an old Portuguese fort at dusk:

And finally, the sun drawing near to the horizon over the Arabian Sea, shrouded by a thin veil of wispy clouds, whispering to me of fullness, peace, and contentment:

The journey to Goa filled me with a sense of resonance, healing, and deeper insight into the simple and varied ways that basic goodness manifests; we have only to open our senses fully to witness and appreciate it. I will always savor the taste of fresh papaya in the mornings, the delicately spiced seafood and curries, the warm tingle of masala tea on the tongue, the sight of water buffalo strolling idly through the streets, and the soft caress of afternoon ocean breezes. With its lush landscapes and languid pace, Goa offer the ideal location for a contemplative arts retreat, and I hope one day to help share the wonders of Goa with others in such a context.

Sangha Member Inducted into Canadian Bridge Hall of Fame

article by Cara Thornley of St. Johsnbury, Vermont

Allan Graves was inducted into the Canadian Bridge Hall of Fame, Tuesday, May 26th by the chairman of the Canadian Bridge Federation in front of an enthusiastic audience that was in Montreal, Quebec to participate in the Canadian international team trials.

Jim McAvoy, from Victoria, B.C., long time bridge and personal friend, introduced Allan and spoke about the highlights of his career. Allan was introduced to bridge by his parents in Vancouver, BC at age 11, and went on to play in seventeen Canadian National Team Championships, winning 7 firsts, 2 seconds, and 4 third/fourths. After he moved to the U.S., Allan won 6 National American Bridge Championships and was selected for the U.S. Senior team in the 2013 World championships. In 2014, his team accomplished the rare feat of winning two of the three major U.S. team events in the same year.

Jim described Allan as being a great partner and teammate because he understands the importance of never blaming and knows that maintaining and facilitating confidence is “job one” for every member of the team.

Allan, graciously accepting the award, expressed appreciation for the Canadian Bridge Federation and the opportunity to play over the years with great Canadian players and friends.

In the middle of his speech Allan was interrupted by a standing ovation when he spoke about his own passion, and the passion of the people he was addressing, for the game of bridge and the need to find better ways to pass on the game in North America. “We need to stress the importance of playing primarily for the love of the game rather than only for winning and losing,” he said. One woman described Allan’s speech as being about “the good of the game” and the “importance of being a good partner.”

Allan – a talented bridge teacher – is currently working on curriculums for teaching new players the game. He is particularly interested in how bridge, recognized by the International Olympic Committee along with Chess and Go as a “mind sport,” can develop many positive mental patterns – relaxed focus and emotional patience being two of them – which are applicable not only to bridge but to living in society.

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Have an exciting piece of news to share? Send it to us: editor@shambhalatimes.org

COLUMN: Dharma Teachings

by Acharya Noel McLellan
originally published on broken leaf

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche wrote a text on how to educate a prince, someone who would grow up to be a wise, compassionate, skilful, and joyous leader. The text states that the prince’s education should occur in an environment free of jealousy and competition, and that those who raise the prince should not think in terms of raising a child in a conventional sense. Rather, they should take the attitude that they are educating the sky. Then the prince will begin to have inquisitiveness toward the world, developing wonder about the details and processes of things.

Every student is a prince or princess, an heir of the royal family of human dignity, and a potential ruler of future society. They possess a mind that is vast as the sky, and a heart that is pure, oceanic, and delicate as a drop of rain. These qualities of mind and heart exist within all of us. They may have largely been forgotten, but they’ve never been lost. A true holistic education is one that fosters the rediscovery and blossoming of these qualities as well as the teaching of knowledge and skills.

The basis for this approach is innate goodness, knowing the students to be good, worthy in themselves, holders of true dignity, and worthy of great care and attention. This is not to say that they are entitled to special treatment, or that they should be pampered and spoiled. Trungpa Rinpoche’s text also emphasizes great discipline. But discipline, learning, and the entire realm of education can be practiced as an appreciation and support of goodness. Rather than beginning from the perspective of a problem to be remedied, we take an extraordinary leap of kindness, and hold the view of confidence in the natural perfection of human beings.

It is the student’s sense of this goodness, and its manifestation as self-respect, that becomes the fertile soil for the cultivation of the full human being, what we call education. As Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche writes, “emphasizing human dignity as an educational foundation brings to students an inherent respect for themselves. The transfer of knowledge can then occur, and the discovery of wisdom is appreciated, which leads us to acknowledge the worthiness of others. If we doubt our own dignity, no matter how much education we receive, we will always feel inadequate.” (Shambhala Principle, pg. 180)

In our capitalist, credential-oriented culture it is often the assumption that respect and worthiness are conditional, to be granted upon success. The successful student learns to view their self-respect as earned, as opposed to inherent – it is the product of their choices, intelligence and hard work. The worthiness of others is then measured by their degree of success. Lack of success in others is simply a reflection of the level of worthiness they chose to earn. Conversely, planting the experience of “failure” in the soil of unworthiness yields further crops of self-doubt. In either case there is inadequacy, either of compassion or of confidence, as we have begun with a foundation of mistrust in our beings.

Teachers tend to be immensely practical, and this approach of great trust in human nature may seem naive or excessively philosophical. However, many teachers were inspired by a teacher they had who showed great faith in them, even if they themselves had lost heart or felt unworthy. What we see in our students and what we assume about them, not just about what they can do, but about who they are on the deepest level, determines everything that follows. It is a matter of the greatest practicality.

Acharya McLellan will be leading a program called Teaching from the Heart: Cultivating Basic Goodness in the Classroom and Community July 3-8 at Karme Choling. Click here to learn more.

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Noel McLellan is an Acharya in the Shambhala lineage, a mentor for the Ziji Collective, a middle and high-school teacher at the Shambhala School in Halifax, and the father of two small, ferocious beings. His work, rest and play are dedicated to creating good human society. Read more of his work at: lhasang.wordpress.com

Offering Meditation In The City – the Shambhala Meditation Center of New York’s very own podcast.

In this podcast episode, senior Shambhala teacher Acharya Eric Spiegel discusses the six paramitas: generosity, discipline, exertion, patience, meditation and wisdom – the six elements the Buddha taught as the basis of compassionate activity.

Click the link below to listen to this month’s podcast, and look forward to more coming soon!

It is missing the point if we adopt the outer appearance of being polite and kind but still maintain our inner irritability…

Since 1980 Acharya Eric Spiegel has been active in the growth and development of the Shambhala Meditation Center in New York. In addition to teaching the traditional syllabus of the Shambhala Community, Acharya Spiegel teaches on understanding the transitions of life and death, and on relating with the power and energy of wealth from a sane, empowered view point – and on the general lack of insight into this topic that pervades our culture. Eric has also been involved in the Stonewall Community Foundation, and the Queer Dharma and Diamond Metta groups.

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If you enjoy Meditation in the City, throw us a buck or two (or five, or fifty!). Any amount will help support this podcast. It’s easy, just click this link!

Podcast production by sonamgray.com

Spread the word and share this link with your friends!

Celebrating 20 Years of Dechen Choling

article by Acharya David Schneider, Cologne, Germany

Asked to contribute some words to the celebration of 20 years of Dechen Choling from the perspective of Shambhala Europe, the first point is that my having been the Director — and our having moved (my then-wife Melissa Moore and me) to Europe at all — is entirely because of Dechen Choling (DCL).

“They’ve just bought this land center,” the Sakyong said at dinner in San Francisco one night in late 1994, “and they’ve got to get it going.” There was a feeling of “or else” in his understatement, although he did not detail the risks. Nor did he say, a few days later, when he invited me to be the Director of Shambhala Europe (SE) that the administration, such as it was, was in bad shape, though this was immediately obvious when I came over for an exploratory visit in January of 1995.

Shambhala Europe (SE) was of course in debt, having just bought this property in France, and before that, having repeatedly flown SE Council members to various corners of Europe in search of the right place. The Council was geographically dispersed: Shambhala Training was administered from Saarbrucken, in coordination with Marburg. Bookkeeping took place in Marburg, but larger financial pictures and decisions about them were framed in Amsterdam. Buddhist programs were run out of Marburg. There was no Nalanda Gate to speak of, but a lot of energy for it bubbled in London.

This impractical plan had been put in place, apparently, as a safeguard against one nationality dominating things, seizing power. Of course Marburg had long been accused of doing exactly that, and the administration there (including, now, me) was viewed very skeptically by SE members in France, Netherlands, England, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, and even in some of the smaller, less central German towns.

Dechen Choling, celebrating today

The money back then was different: we didn’t have the Euro yet, so one was constantly converting: DM to pounds sterling to francs to guilders to pesos to dollars to you name it. Any attempt to collect funds meant that the banks took their own hefty cuts. My predecessor, the Ambassador Plenipotentiary, Mr. Steven Baker, whose abrupt departure from Marburg had led to the new system told me very few things before I came over. One of them was: “There’s a reason they have different countries over there — they’re different!” My own experience with this was both yes and no. In any case, it was a problem.

And at DCL?

The Sakyong had asked a very capable French & Canadian architect — Mrs. Catherine Eveillard — to oversee the renovation of the place, and she had been doing a marvelous job since she arrived in 1994. A great deal of money however had gone into essentially invisible work: redoing the ancient electrical wiring; redoing and bringing up to code the plumbing; putting in heating. Crucial work absolutely, but largely invisible.

The Sakyong had not appointed a Director of DCL, and decisions were necessarily being taken on the spot that would affect the look and functioning of the place for decades. Catherine’s indefatigably cheerful husband — long-time student and fine artist Herb Elsky — had gotten and kept the practice going, though it was an unpredictable, transient group who might or might not appear for the morning sitting. At what time? In which room? Which one is that, again? Catherine and Herb were also raising a very new baby, Felix. (His middle name, Dechen, reveals his early connection with the place.)

I went to DCL as often as I could: assembled council meetings there, and donor meetings, and legal meetings, but travel in 1995 also took longer. Reaching DCL from any European city other than Paris required a full day’s travel at the very least, and from Paris, it was usually a full five hours minimum. If I have emphasized obstacles and difficulties so far, it’s because that’s what a Director mostly sees. Very rarely — if ever! — did anyone call in to report, “Things are going well here, no problem!”

But there was tremendous pride throughout the European sangha that we now had our own practice place. We were just going to make it work, regardless of the challenges. The Sakyong as well gave DCL special attention. It was after all the first practice center he’d put in place; the rest having been established by his father. He made it my number one priority as Director:

1. Get DCL going
2. Strengthen the existing centers
3. Develop and reach out to new centres.

With an astonishing display of insight, intuition, wisdom, generosity (and all the other paramitas) the European Shambhala community not only got DCL going — they repaired it, purified it, refined it, deepened, broadened and beautified it, all of which continues to this very day. An inspiration.

Having painted a one-sided picture of difficulties at the beginning, let me offer another snapshot, one that may give a balancing view, from 5 or 6 years later. At this time, the Sakyong was using what we call “the Garuda room” in “the Suite” for interviews and business. On this day, he’d just finished a long series of interviews prior to a Bodhisattva Vow ceremony scheduled the following day. He’d allowed me to be in the room for the sensitive business of picking out a name for each person. This was part of ongoing archarya education. Also in for the interviews had been one of the traveling secretaries, Ms. Susan Dreier, writing down the names. The Sakyong sat in a prototype double-wide emperor’s style couch-chair he now uses for interviews.

In his personal room, to which we walked a few steps, instead of the emperor’s chair, was a large, high bed. He was staying on the DCL land for programs, though this severely limited his mobility, as people would constantly approach him with questions if he went for a walk or to inspect some particular aspect of the property. We were now only retiring to his room for a short break though (bathroom necessities) and to allow for a presentation to be prepared in Garuda. Mdm Eveillard was to present the short – and long-term development plans for DCL as she’d envisioned them from instructions he’d left her last time. This involved (at least) large, complicated, and beautiful architectural drawings, and, I think, a maquette as well — a 3-D scale model — to show what would go where, and to allow the Sakyong to walk around it and contemplate it at his leisure.

He emerged from his bathroom, reclined on the bed and said to me, and to Ms. Dreier, who had by now also entered the room, and to a kusung, who’d brought in a pot of tea, “You know, I was thinking that Dechen Choling has already done its job. It’s already succeeded. It’s already done.”

“Sir?” I asked in some wonder, after debating a couple seconds if I’d heard him correctly.

While he’d been in the bathroom thinking of success, I’d been in fact contemplating the fact that his room, while it did now have some covering on the floor, had neither the color nor style he’d suggested on his previous visit, and how the same was true of the large (and lovely) Louis 14-style chair that had been purchased for his room, despite the simple English wing-back he’d suggested. Like a director, I was thinking about what was wrong, what had not been done, if it could be repaired, and whose fault it had been.

“Yes, sure, we can continue to develop and build out the place — probably we should — but basically it’s already pretty good. It’s already kind of done.”

He did not elaborate, and in fact changed the topic, leaving me to contemplate in the next hours and days and weeks how indeed, although many problems remained for both DCL and SE, general cooperation was better, continent wide; and how the hours of practicing together at DCL, rooming together, cooking and cleaning and celebrating together had knit the European sangha closer than I’d ever seen it, and had particularly helped to diminish the undignified grip of nationalistic prejudice.

Friendships arose across national borders at DCL, and partnerships. Romances bloomed too between residents of geographically diverse countries. Maybe DCL had already done its job. Still, we soon walked back down the hall to see plans for the next phases of development.

The Office of the Kalapa Court is pleased to announce that the Sakyong, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, has formally appointed twenty new shastris. The position of shastri was created by the Sakyong in 2009, and these shastris join almost eighty currently serving in centers throughout the mandala. By all reports, the shastri program is a great success, providing local support for teachers, programs, and meditation students. These new shastris will, when possible, take their oaths this summer with the Sakyong, and again in the presence of their home Shambhala communities on September’s Harvest of Peace, when their duties begin.

Please welcome our newest shastris to their positions. Brief biographies, and the centers they serve, follow.

Jil Amadio (serving Toronto ONT SC) served previously as Practice and Education Director, inspired to work towards creating regional unity while supporting the development of local leaders. Jil’s career has been in communications, working in areas such as crisis and change management, corporate branding, and media skills training. She also sits on the board of an international NGO that works in child rights advocacy. Jil lives in Toronto with her husband, teenage daughter and pomeranian.

Tom Bell (serving Halifax NS SC) has actively served both of the Sakyongs and also the current Sakyong Wangmo. He was on the staff of RMDC (Shambhala Mountain Centre) in the mid,’70’s, was the director of Karme Choling from 2000-2003, and has been an active Shambhala teacher since 1976. He has worked to support his family through a career in business and economic development in Colorado and Nova Scotia. His immediate family now numbers fifteen, including his wife, three children, their spouses, and seven grandchildren.

Helen Bennett (serving Auckland SC) has been a part of the Shambhala community since 1996 and has been a student of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche since 2002. She works as a mediator, counsellor and couples therapist and lives in the village of Titirangi, New Zealand. She has a married daughter and a two year-old grandson and loves to walk in the lush New Zealand bush or on the wild west coast beaches of Auckland.

Tom Berthoff (serving Philadelphia PA SC), as a student of both Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, has been a meditation instructor and teacher since 1987, both in the US and Europe. Together with Lisa Kraus, he founded the Arnhem Shambhala Center in the Netherlands, where he lived from 1991 to 2000. He now lives in Philadelphia.

Janet Bronstein (serving Birmingham AL SC) joined the Shambhala community in Lexington KY, where she completed a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Kentucky. After attending Vajradhatu Seminary, she moved to Birmingham in 1984, where she is a founding member of the Birmingham Shambhala Center. She is currently on the faculty of the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has two adult daughters.

Renee Cowan (serving Atlanta GA SC) began practicing with Trungpa Rinpoche in 1973 and now studies with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. She is a chiropractor and now plans a move to Atlanta, where she has been teaching regularly. “I feel that my life has been blessed by studying with these two remarkable individuals and I am honored to serve as a teacher and guide on their behalf.”

Loretta Geuenich (serving Adelaide SC) is a student of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and lives in South Australia where she is a part of the small yet vibrant Adelaide Shambhala community. She works in the community sector and is currently undertaking post-graduate studies exploring contemplative practices in higher education.

Steve Gleich (serving Dorje Denma Ling) is a student of both Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. He has been married to Lilly for 38 years, and is now retired from more than thirty years in psychology and mental health and more than ten years as woodworker. He now lives in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, where he continues to volunteer at the local food bank.

Gary Heinz (serving Lexington KY SC) became a member of the Lexington Shambhala Center in 1976 after reading Meditation in Action. He became a Shambhala Training Director in 1987 and has recently served as Desung. He has been married for 34 years, and has three daughters and a grandson. After a career as a psychiatric registered nurse, Gary now has a strong interest in woodworking. His wife, Shastri Shelley Heinz, will serve as regional shastri in the Lexington area.

Sharon Keegan (serving Burlington, VT SC) completed the first three-year retreat at Gampo Abbey in 1996, and upon completion was asked to serve as the first lay administrative director of Gampo Abbey for the following three years. Subsequently she moved to Halifax and helped found the Hospice Society of Greater Halifax. For the past twelve years she has served as the administrator of a thirteen bed hospice residence in Burlington, Vermont.

Debbie McCubbin (serving Mississauga, ONT SC) is a former Centre Director of the Toronto Shambhala Centre, and one of the founders of the Mississauga Shambhala Centre. She has been active in teaching in the Ontario/Western New York region, including helping to develop and support satellite groups. Debbie is also the director internationally of the Course Leader beginner-teacher training programs. She has three almost-grown children (two of them teenagers) who give her lots of chance to practice in everyday life!

Frederic Loisy (serving Paris SC) discovered meditation and Shambhala teachings in 1995 just before going to work in Cambodia. He returned to Paris in
1997, and he took the teachings to heart while working and living with his wife and now two daughters.

Dana Marshall (serving Bussum SC in the Netherlands) has been weaving together like two strands of DNA the Shambhala warrior’s path with the path of visual art making since 1980. A second generation Shambhala Buddhist born and raised in New York City, she moved to Holland in 1989 to live with her future husband Rein van Heukelom whom she met at the 1988 Seminary. Dana teaches Mindfulness and Yin yoga in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Jackie Muse (serving Atlanta GA SC) co-founded the Atlanta Shambhala Center in 1976 and has worn many hats since then. She has been a Shambhala Training Director since the early 80’s, and until recently served as the director of Practice and Education. She is a Montessori teacher and has two grown daughters who, much to her delight, have both found Shambhala. For thirty-five years, she has been married to Keith Muse who is also a Shambhala senior teacher.

Gelong Loden Nyima (serving Gampo Abbey) is originally from San Antonio, TX and was raised as a musician, eventually teaching while completing a BA in Management and becoming active in Shambhala. Practice and fortunate conditions led him to enter monastic life in 2009 and he now serves as Monastic Secretary to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Currently he is at Gampo Abbey where he helps design and teach training programs from the Shambhala Monastic Order.

Russell Rodgers (serving Nelson B.C. SC) moved to the Kootenay region of British Columbia shortly after meeting Trungpa Rinpoche. During that time he has occupied many administrative and teaching positions. He helped to create the Shambhala Centre’s retreat land, and had a large part in buying and renovating the new building for the Nelson Shambhala Centre. Before he retired, he managed a drop-in centre for those with mental illnesses. He has a wife and three grown children, two of whom live with their families in Asia.

Jason Ruvelson (serving Bellingham WA SC) completed a Masters in Contemplative Psychotherapy at Naropa University, and worked as a psychotherapist for a number of years. After moving to Bellingham, WA he served as head of Practice and Education, Center Director, and currently as Chadzo for the Bellingham Shambhala Center. Additionally Mr. Ruvelson works as the Finance Director for North Cascades Institute whose goal is to inspire deep connections, appreciation, and care for the places in which we live. His current passion is practicing appreciation with camera in hand.

Tycho van der Reijden (serving Leiden SC in the Netherlands) is a student of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and has held different roles and positions, such as MI, teacher, board member, Warrior of the Center, member of the Dutch Teachers Council, and Director of Practice and Education in Leiden. Professionally he works as clinical- and organizational psychologist and runs his own private practice ‘IO Consult’. As therapist his main focus is to help clients to rediscover their basic goodness. As consultant and trainer he supports teams and organizations in the development of the skills of open and honest communication and radical collaboration. He wants to reach out to many other genuine warriors-traditions to defend what is true, innocent and good. He is father of two grown-up daughters: Dasha and Janinka.

Donna Williams (serving White River VT SC) has held various posts over the past decades, most recently as the Director of Practice and Education. She is one of a group of Buddhist leaders from the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire who are planning an ecology/activism/practice program at Dartmouth College for the spring of 2016. They are reaching out to other spiritual and ecological groups in the area to include as many collaborators as possible. For the past eight years she has taught and staffed programs in Chile; she continues to study Spanish and maintain a connection to her “other” sangha in Santiago and Copiapo, Chile.

Deborah Zarate (serving Milwaukee WI SC) was a part of the first graduating class at Naropa University to receive a BA in Buddhist Studies. She has been active as a teacher for Shambhala since the late 1980’s and currently teaches Meditation for Health and Wellness at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. She is partnering with other Milwaukee teachers to develop a meditation outreach program, and is also is an active member in the South East Wisconsin Interfaith Community.

The following active shastris are transitioning in their assignments:

Myra Woodruff, the current Director of Karme Choling, has taken a leave of absence from her shastri position in Burlington, VT.

Mimi Valiulis, shastri of Dublin, has taken a one-year leave of absence.

Friedrich Spengelin, shastri of Hamburg, has taken an extended leave of absence.

Christina de Block, formerly shastri of Dechen Choling, has moved to the UK and has taken a leave of absence.

Benoit Cote, shastri of Halifax, has resigned his post and assumed the post of shastri for the Montreal, QC SC.

Chuck Whetsell, shastri of Birmingham, has resigned his position.

Chandali Pietrzykowska, shastri of the Polish centres, has moved to France and is now a Shastri Emerita.

Oryoki bowls, courtesy of babblingbuddha.emeraldcity.bc.ca

Judy: Roland, can you talk about how oriyoki was first introduced to the Vidyadhara, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and to the Vajradhatu sangha?

Roland: The Vidyadhara sent out a formal request to Kobun Chino Sensei back around 1979/80 to give our community the oriyoki practice. We received this practice from Kobun Chino through Mipham Halpern and this in turn was presented to our sangha.

Years after receiving this practice, I had the opportunity to speak with Sensei directly and found out that he had to think about this request at the time, as this was a major decision for him. Giving the oriyoki practice transmission was not a small request. Once transmitted, the Vidyadhara entrusted the then Sawang with holding the oriyoki practice, so he was in charge of this in the community. Our form of oriyoki comes from the Zen tradition and is the most formal form of oriyoki. At the time we received this practice we did not know of all the various forms out there in the Zen tradition. The Vidyadhara loved the details of Oriyoki practice.

Judy: What else did Kobun Chino say about this practice?

Roland: Kobun Chino said that when you first pick up your oriyoki set above your head level, that your attitude should be as if you are receiving it directly from the Buddha. He also said that the Buddha bowl is viewed as the Buddha’s skull. In 1988/89 at Warrior’s Assembly, Kobun Chino Sensei was the guest of honor for an oriyoki meal. To my surprise, he received all his food (all 3 dishes) in his one Buddha bowl. This was totally different from how we had been practicing oriyoki, as we always used all 3 bowls, one for each dish. Our Vajradhatu version was very strict in terms of ‘rules’, as well as our logic about how and why things were done in oriyoki. Later, I had the chance to speak with Espe Brown (renowned Zen cook), who said that they ‘cheated’ all the time in the way oriyoki was practiced.

Judy: Can you tell me a little about the Vajradhatu history of oriyoki once it was presented?

Roland: The 1980 seminary was the first formal introduction to Oriyoki, and this was taught by Charles Zimmerman (Lady Rich’s brother). He then went on to teach me. Then in 1981, Bob Salskov and I formed the oriyoki committee and we worked on aligning the details of the physical practice of oriyoki with the liturgy and offerings. We had the Japanese form of oriyoki, the physical details of how you practice and the attitudes that go along with that, but the liturgy we used was Tibetan. The Tibetan liturgy we recite in oriyoki is the “Sutra of the Recollection of the 3 Jewels.”

Judy: How does Oriyoki affect the type of food that is cooked and served?

Roland Cohen

Judy: Can you give a brief explanation of what oriyoki looks like?

Roland: The oriyoki set comes with 5 nested bowls. Traditionally practitioners had black laquer bowls and the roshi would have reddish-orange laquer bowls, which is what the Vidyadhara used. It took a while for Vajradhatu to find someone to make the laquer sets, so many initially used the black plastic oriyoki sets. All our cloths were navy blue in color. The bowls sat in the middle of the base serviette, then a rectangular napkin sat atop of the set of bowls. The setsu case (which looks like a cloth pencil case, contains the chopsticks and wooden spoon), and this sits atop the napkin-like cloth. In the fold of the opening of this setsu sits the bamboo stick with a cloth tip used for cleaning the bowls. The wipe serviette is used to dry the bowls. We had a calligraphy cloth that sat on top. In learning oriyoki it seems like there are so many rules, but once you have practiced it you find that it becomes part of you. In Japan, many of these rules are just part of their everyday way of eating.

Judy: How is oriyoki a meditation practice?

Roland: Mindfulness is a big part of oriyoki. Sitting up straight, holding the bowls correctly, and not making noise when you eat are part of the practice. The Vidyadhara gave many talks at the 1980/81/82 seminaries about oriyoki and working with food neurosis. In oriyoki you take what is served and you eat all of it. This goes back to the begging bowl of the Buddha, where you accept whatever is given. The whole way you eat the meal includes the attitude that you are including all sentient beings, so oriyoki is also a Mahayana practice.

Roland Cohen feels that there is very much a strong transmission quality to oriyoki and how we practice it. He hopes to someday write a small manual about the practice and history of the Vajradhatu style of Oriyoki.

To read other entries in this column, please see: Kitchen Wisdom.

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Judy Sachs Sullivan is a personal chef, cook, food writer and recipe writer. She hopes this column will help preserve some of the history and stories of the Vidyadhara and Vajradhatu in how it pertains to food and meditation.

miksang photo by Charles Blackhall

Naropa University celebrated their 40th year last autumn by assembling some of the world’s most influential practitioners and leaders to explore the compelling topic of “Radical Compassion” at their first ever Radical Compassion Symposium. The Shambhala Times teamed up with Retreat.Guru to pursue interviews with a number of these guest teachers.

How innovative is it to be present to someone?

This could be interpreted as a profound question. We could pore over stacks in the library and lie awake at night mulling it over. We could write lengthy discursive treatises and develop research projects and have Talmudic debates over the answers. But for Adam Bucko, that’s not his point. Availability is simple, and that’s profound enough.

“We make things complicated by over-intellectualizing what our engagement or what our calling should be,” says Adam, when simply being present and available is enough to bring us to the heart of our engagement.

Contemporary ideas about social activism and service often emphasize creativity, innovation, and sustainability. All of these are admirable – and indispensable – but in our enthusiasm for this trinity, our culture seems to overlook the modest virtue of availability. When he finds himself confused by the difficult existential questions of his own service and purpose, Bucko goes back to the basics – making sandwiches. “I start feeding people, and then I invite my friends, and we pray together, and we do it together, and that always kind of locates me in my truth.”

Availability goes even a step further than that, however. “We’re available to all of our gadgets and what they need from us, and I think we learn how to respond to things that call our name, in the moment; but I don’t know that we know how to be available in a way that’s committed availability, where we really make a commitment to someone, even if it’s a bit uncomfortable; even if it doesn’t always serve our best interests.”

Where that availability takes us is deeper than an intellectual awareness or a measurable outcome. It’s a path towards a deeper, perhaps visceral experience, where we “accompany people to the depths of their pain,” as Adam puts it. “An authentic experience of inner peace in my life didn’t happen until I was able to be broken with the people that I serve.” When our availability immerses us in another’s suffering and pain and carries us beyond that breaking point, something emerges that allows our presence to surrender to the moment, to the way things are, and to the persons for whom we are available.

Bucko describes this as a two-fold path: contemplative practice and social engagement. Simultaneous involvement in the two, he says, “oftentimes leads to a sense of just knowing what’s next, what is required.” It’s a path that connects every part of one’s being and aligns it with the core. For some, it requires years of practice, but according to Adam, it’s a commitment worth making.

His advice for staying on that path is to have a good community, friends, and mentors who are available themselves, who are supportive and honest, and who will remind each other to be committed to availability, because, he poignantly reminds us, “aren’t we all here to do that?”

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Adam Bucko

Learn more about Adam Bucko.

Discover more wakeful content on Retreat Guru’s weekly newsletter and blog at: blog.retreat.guru

Learn more about Naropa University who hosted the Radical Compassion Symposium and inspired us to pursue these interviews.

The Shambhala Times is delighted to announce joyful felicitations on the marriage between Koos de Boer and Nicolette de Hoop, neighbors of Dechen Choling in Sainte-Marie-de-Vaux, France.

report from Maggie Lewis

It’s hard to know how to describe perfection, but you just know it when you witness it. There is a huge feeling of joy and warmth in your heart, which turns into an all day grin.

Koos and Nicolette’s wedding day was just like that. Despite the usual things that people worry about, there was not a cloud in the sky. The careful planning over the last few months was all done and everyone was ready. The night before, the happy couple had hosted a dinner party at their house for all the guests who had come from far away. Nicolette said she wanted people who hadn’t seen each other in years to have a chance to say hello and catch up. It was a very kind and thoughtful thing to do. But then, those of us who know both Nicolette and Koos know them to be the dearest and most generous warriors.

The ceremony was in Drala Hall at Dechen Choling, which was now full of family and friends all waiting for the bride and groom to enter. Acharya Sabine Rolf and her husband Hans-Willi would be performing the ceremony. The shrine was lovely, with beautiful roses and their offerings in the front. Suddenly, music began and in walked our dear, dear friends, looking like a King and Queen and totally radiant and beaming at the gathering. The ceremony was explained to the visitors who were not familiar with a Shambhala wedding. The explanation was warm and clear. Everyone was excited, and felt included while enjoying the ritual of the offerings to the six paramitas.

Following the kiss, the exchange of the rings and the vows, everyone left for the reception outside at the boutique. There were more wonderful flowers and a bamboo tower in the middle of a table piled high with champagne and canapes. Then the wedding “cake” was brought in. It was a pyramid of homemade macaroons in at least 6 colors and flavors. This incredible creation by Francoise Mourmont was absolutely stunning, delicious, gorgeous, amazing, there is nothing else to be said! Following this was the performance of a serenade by the Dechen Choling staff, accompanied by guitar and saxophone, followed by songs especially composed for Koos and Nicolette.

Then it was time for some of the guests to move over to the neighbouring house for the wedding dinner party. A tent had been set up for the chef who had cooked three kinds of tajine. Duck, lamb, and a vegetarian option were all served with cous cous and plenty of delicious wine. This was the time for family toasts and Nicolette’s eldest son brought tears to all our eyes when he raised a glass to the happiness of his mother being with Koos all these years. He said these were the years she had been the happiest.

Wedding presents were offered at the end of the banquet and included a golden horse rupa for their shrine and a painting by Temo Svirely (a very dear Ukrainian warrior who died a few months ago and had been sponsored by Nicolette a few times). Also offered was a unique book – “Liber Amicorum”, pulled together by Luz Rodriguez and Hermien Rodenburg, in which friends around the world contributed. As Luz and Hermien shared in sourcing stories for the book, you can see the manifestation of Koos and Nicolette’s partnership: “Chances are that at one point or another you experienced some kind of generosity coming your way from Koos and Nicolette. It might have been an invitation for dinner, an offer to drive you somewhere, an item that you forgot to bring to DCL, a free treatment, something that needed repair, a sleeping place, an on the spot Qijong session, translation at the doctor’s, a happy hour drink and chat, a loving presence next to your hospital bed, annual packing to make room for the Sakyong to stay in their home, help in numerous set-ups for Court, or ‘just’ a present for some other occasion.”

More toasts and jokes and laughter continued until it was dark and everyone moved back over to Dechen Choling to finish the night off with a big dance party. It was in the Kudo barn which had been decorated with colored lanterns and a huge keg of chilled local beer and a massive strawberry cake. Everyone got into the spirit as the music rocked on. Koos had chosen many of the tunes that were played and he and his wonderful new bride were out there on the floor until past midnight. As they waved good night and drove away, we all knew that we had just had one of the best days of the year.

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Did we miss your exciting announcement? Send it to us!

Dharma Teaching
by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

We sometimes forget how the Buddhist teachings came into being. We forget why the Buddha left his father’s palace. Dissatisfied with maintaining an illusion, he wanted to understand his life—and life itself. Just like the Buddha, most of us also would like to discover some basic truth about our life and get some perspective about what’s going on. But are we really capable of knowing what’s going on? This is a question that relates to the most profound truth of the Buddhist teachings. The Buddha’s answer is, “Yes, ultimately we are. But we need to go on a journey of meditation to find out, because essentially we are in a state of bewilderment.” Why are we bewildered? Because we don’t understand how our mind works.

The process of undoing bewilderment is based on cultivating the ability to become familiar with, stabilize, and strengthen our mind. Being aware and observant of happening in our mind gives us an opportunity to see a more profound level of truth all the time. In the practice of meditation, we learn to zoom back and get a bigger perspective, rather than always thinking so small.

The Buddha understood that if we want to go on any kind of journey—not just a spiritual one, but also a secular one such as studying or doing business—we need a mind that is workable. We need a mind that we can rely on. That’s the notion of training the mind, of making the mind workable so it can do whatever it needs to do. Shamatha—mindfulness—meditation is how we make this mind more stable, more useful. From this point of view, shamatha is not purely a Buddhist practice. It’s a practice that anyone can do. It doesn’t tie in with a particular spiritual tradition. If we want to undo bewilderment, we’re going to have to be responsible for learning what our own mind is and how it works, no matter what beliefs we hold.

The word shamatha in Sanskrit (Tib. shi-ne) means “peacefully abiding.” Peacefully abiding describes the mind as it naturally is. The word peace tells the whole story. The human mind is by nature joyous, calm, and very clear. In shamatha meditation we aren’t creating a peaceful state—we’re letting our mind be as it is to begin with. This doesn’t mean that we’re peacefully ignoring things. It means that the mind is able to be in itself without constantly leaving.

In meditation we learn how to calmly abide. We’re learning how to let ourselves just be here peacefully. If we can remember what the word shamatha means, we can always utilize it as a reference point in our practice. We can say, “What is this meditation that I’m doing? It is shamatha, calmly, peacefully abiding.” At the same time we begin to see that our mind isn’t always abiding calmly or peacefully. Perhaps it’s abiding irritatingly, angrily, jealously. Seeing all of this is how we begin to untangle our bewilderment.

Meditation is a very personal practice. Just like the Buddha, we can approach it by way of valid cognition: “What is truly valid? What is the truth of my experience?” We begin to realize what we don’t know. And we become curious.

In doing so we leapfrog from question to answer, with each new answer leading to a new question. And if we persist we begin to experience another truth that the Buddha also discovered: in every situation there is the continuum of the truth. Each answer is followed naturally by the next question. It’s seamless.

With this kind of practice and inquisitiveness, the Buddha learned to look at the landscape of life in a clear unbiased way. When he began to teach, he was just reporting his observations: “This is what I see. This is the truth about how things are.” He wasn’t presenting any particular viewpoint. He wasn’t preaching dogma; he was pointing out reality. We forget this. For example, most people would say that one of the key teachings in Buddhism is karma. But the Buddha did not create karma; the Buddha just saw it and acknowledged it. Saying that karma is a Buddhist belief is like saying that Buddhists believe water is wet. And if you’re a Buddhist, you must also believe that fire is hot!

In meditation what we’re doing is looking at our experience and at the world intelligently. The Buddha said that this is how we learn to look at any situation and understand its truth, its true message, its reality. This is what a buddha does—and we are all capable of being buddhas, whether or not we are Buddhists. We all have the ability to realize our naturally peaceful minds where there is no confusion. We can use the natural clarity of our mind to focus on anything we want. But first we have to tame our minds through shamatha meditation.

Perhaps we associate meditation with spirituality because when we experience a moment of peacefully abiding, it seems so far-out. Our mind is no longer drifting, thinking about a million things. The sun comes up or a beautiful breeze comes along—and all of a sudden we feel the breeze and we are completely in tune. We think, “That’s a very spiritual experience! It’s a religious experience! At least worth a poem, or a letter home.” Yet all that’s happening is that for a moment we are in tune with our mind. Our mind is present and harmonious. Before, we were so busy and bewildered that we didn’t even notice the breeze. Our mind couldn’t even stay put long enough to watch the sun to come up, which takes two-and-a-half minutes. Now we can keep it in one place long enough to acknowledge and appreciate our surroundings. Now we are really here. In fact, this is ordinary. We can bring the mind under our own power. We can train it to be useful and workable. This is the not just the point of being Buddhist, it’s the point of being human.

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Read more by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche by clicking here.

miksang image by Charles Blackhall

Shastri Matthew Lyon has spent many years on the Shambhala path as a practitioner, leader, and senior teacher within the Shambhala community. He is also an experienced financial advisor (see bio at the end). This article has been adapted for The Shambhala Times from the recently completed manuscript of Matthew’s forthcoming book, “Awakening True Prosperity”.

We can illuminate the theme of Buddhist Economy by shining the light of mindfulness on our personal state of mind in relation to money. Any vision for a more enlightened economy, I think, must begin at the grassroots, with a look at our own attitudes toward our personal financial journey. As a longtime financial advisor and practitioner, I’ve worked for many years to clarify the role of money in the meditator’s quest for spiritual integrity.

I’ve seen that poverty mentality is an essential issue for us to address individually and collectively. This state of mind can be described as a persistent feeling that we don’t have enough, that our lives are inadequate, insufficient, and that we need more of something to fill this inner need. This anxiety could attach itself to anything in our life that we feel we lack. Often, in this consumer society, it links up with materialism and fear about money. This inner dissatisfaction can’t be healed by having more money or material things, but so many of us are caught in the trap of trying to do so.

Meditation practice connects us with our inherent inner wealth – a deep feeling of worthiness, a sense that we are adequate just as we are to meet the demands of life. We awaken a sun of abundance in our mind; in this light the richness of the present moment of nowness can be completely fulfilling. In practicing simple presence, we feel that our human life is inherently wealthy. This experience, when often known, becomes a potent antidote to poverty mentality, and it can begin to affect our relationship with money.

In this true way of wealth, we see that money is not just an external entity, disconnected from our state of mind and our approach to life. In fact, we see clearly that our predominant state of mind, our attitudes and values directly impact the money matters in our lives. This may seem obvious, but often we aren’t consciously aware of this connection. The meditator can train in seeing the effects of our state of consciousness on the financial aspect of our lives. Most importantly, we aspire to maintain our connection to the great heart of basic goodness within us — the heart that directly feels the sacredness of our life, and which feels deep gratitude for the riches of human nature.

When we live with the energy of this awakened heart, we are fundamentally seeing our life as a fertile field of potential opportunity, possibilities for growth, and appreciation for our world. In this state, money is seen and appreciated accurately for what it can do: help us to provide shelter, food, and opportunities for a creative and more liberated life; and not for what it can’t do — provide ultimate security, prevent us from all harm, or guarantee psychological or physical health.

If we are in touch with our basic goodness, our attitude tends to be expansive and optimistic. Our basic nature in its awakened state is expansive, radiant, confident, and generous; our management of money matters in our lives becomes a reflection of this state as a vehicle for expressing our values. If we feel naturally worthy, with self-respect, we are naturally generous, because generosity and virtue bring more self-respect and satisfaction. We take care of ourselves properly, yet without obsessive self interest. When we learn to live from our basic goodness, we don’t live with constant inner insecurity, and so we don’t obsess over money as a way to solve our insecurity problem.

When we’re out of touch with our awakened heart, we feel insecure in general and we become self-protective out of fear. We don’t trust ourselves, so we look to external factors, objects, and money, for solutions to our anxiety. We treat money in our lives as a tool to reinforce this fear-based mentality. However, money can’t solve the inner problem of our fear, and we never feel that we have enough money, no matter how much it is. We’re hoping that something external can be the medicine for our fear and insecurity, but it actually never is, so we keep going for more, and the process is endlessly unsatisfying.

If we are a spiritually oriented person with heartfelt principles and values, we may also fall into the trap of thinking that money has an external identity, separate from our state of mind. We may feel that money is inherently problematic, evil, or tainted, and we don’t want to have much of it or seek to have more. There can be a very healthy quality in asceticism, but we should ask ourselves if our attitude toward money is also expressed as a poverty mentality about ourselves, our inner resources and our potential. We may be unconsciously cultivating spiritual weakness in our rejection of money, as it reflects a rejection of our basic goodness. One can be an ascetic or a very thrifty person, and still be a generous warrior of inner wealth — if we remain connected to our basic goodness.

I have worked with many people who are following a genuine spiritual path and who feel conflicted about money. Identifying themselves as financially poor, they may feel this to be a virtue, yet it can become a fixed identity to which they become attached. This can tend to solidify a general sense of poverty mind in one’s life, limiting our perspective on our life’s fulfillment.

Obviously the avoidance of greed and materialism can further our spiritual growth. However, the other side of this issue is that this state of mind can lead to a lack of generosity to oneself and to others. The virtue of thrift can devolve into a strict fixation on spending the least amount possible on everything – including experiences that would genuinely benefit our spiritual path.

Once, for example, I was leading a Shambhala meditation program which had been proven to be very helpful for hundreds of people over many years. A special discount was offered, as usual, for those who had financial hardship. In this case, almost every one of the 25 people who registered requested the special discount, which amounted to 20 or 30 dollars per person. I’m sure that for some, this discount was important.

Yet sometimes our efforts to save money arise from fear. Can we truly not afford it? Or is it more accurate to say, “I don’t want to spend money on this because I’m afraid of poverty?” So often this type of thinking is not rational, and it can hinder our spiritual growth by continually reinforcing a sense of our limitations.

If we identify spirituality with poverty, we can stray into the mindset of the skinflint – obsessively worried about money as a source of security. We become separated from the inner experience of abundance, the birthright of human nature and the essence of the path of loving kindness. In truth the most fundamental source of security is generosity toward oneself and others. Generosity and love are close allies on the warrior’s path, as they continuously flow together. Like the radiance of the sun, these virtues have an expansive energy which shines outward, expressively strengthening our connection with basic goodness, and therefore with our own power.

When we encounter a loving, generous person, does it not remind us of our own capacity to love? When we witness a stunning flower arrangement, lovingly created, does it not remind us of our own potential for elegance? As Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche once said: “the warrior is not afraid to be splendid!”

Here is a link to another article by Matthew on the Shambhala Center of Seattle blog “The Warrior’s Meditation on Wealth”

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Shastri Matthew Lyon has been a student of Shambhala Buddhism since 1974, and has been teaching in this tradition for over 30 years. He is the former Director of the Burlington, Vermont Shambhala Center, and he served as the longtime Director of the Seattle Shambhala Center as well. In 2010 Matthew was appointed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, as a Shastri, or senior teacher, in this wisdom tradition, and he has led numerous meditation programs. He is in business as a financial advisor, is also a musician, a composer, and an astrologer with an active counseling practice in this field. As a family person, Matthew is married, and has two daughters and 9 grandchildren. He and his wife Thomasa own a meditation retreat center on Whidbey Island, Washington, called Windhorse. He is currently preparing for the publication of a book entitled “Awakening True Prosperity.” The book explores the journey of meditative warriorship as it relates to our livelihood, our financial life, and the realization of inner and outer wealth.

Gampo Abbey Monastics Play Ball, Release Lobsters and Visit Kalapa Valley

article by Ani Lodro Dechen

Like the seasons surrounding us, life at the Abbey is very different in the summer than in the winter. In contrast to the period of deep retreat we engage in during the winter (“Yarne”, the traditional annual monastic retreat led by Gampo Acharya Pema Chodron), the summer comes with a buzz of activities, visitors, and enjoyment of the beautiful land and sea surrounding us.

Who would think, when living through a wild, icy, windy winter in a deserted Cape Breton, that the summer would be so lush, warm, and heavenly? The island is populated again as summer residents occupy their seaside cottages and tourists fill the scenic Cabot Trail. Wild roses fill the air with their delicate perfume, and Gampo Abbey opens its doors to the invitation of summer.

Every year on Canada Day (July 1st), the Abbey residents play a softball game against the volunteer firefighters of Pleasant Bay, the local community we are part of. The whole village, along with the Abbey residents and a few curious tourists, have a day of celebration together.

Strolling around Kalapa Valley, photo by Daniel Jean

Then comes the big game — softball! The tradition is that the monks and nuns play in their robes, while the firefighters wear their boots. However, we have noticed that the firefighters have been getting lax on their end of the deal…perhaps they feel slightly threatened as they sense an increase in our skill with the years? Even if that were true, somehow we always end up losing! This year the score was 17-3. It sounds bad, but it was a lot of fun! As Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche puts it: “Success and failure are your journey.”

Ani Chodron at Kalapa Valley, photo by Lodro Kalsang

We all pile into the boat, along with some 140 lobsters in crates, and sail out to sea, amazed by the rugged and beautiful coastline we live on, but rarely see. Captain Mark kindly sails all the way to where we get a good view of the Abbey, and after a chant and blessing, we proceed to releasing the lobsters back in the water, tail first, and gently. “Don’t go back in the trap!” we tell them!

Another beautiful place we have had the fortune to visit in Cape Breton is Kalapa Valley, the “sacred center of Shambhala,” as proclaimed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Living so close to such a powerful and beautiful place, Abbey residents love to find excuses to go for a visit every now and then.

Group photo at Kalapa Valley by Zaida Rigpa Belendez

Arriving at Kalapa Valley, we settled down in the shade of a big birch tree and enjoyed our picnic together. We then invoked the dralas with a lhasang, offering strands of local juniper, which grows abundantly on the cliffs near the Abbey. Wishing our teacher Ani Pema a cheerful birthday and a long life, we chanted the warrior’s cry and sung the Shambhala Anthem with gusto! We enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon hiking around and visiting the different parts of the valley, some people even taking a swim under the waterfalls.

May the summer bring us many more opportunities to meet with the good people, gentle animals, and awake dralas of this beautiful place!

A Talk on Enlightened Society
by angel Kyodo williams

The more we look, the more we realize how profound the vision of an enlightened society — in which each person’s basic goodness is recognized — is, how challenging it is to manifest, and how urgent the need to bring it forth in its most radical expression, here and now. How can we find relationship with the very fears that denies us a seat in the unshakable confidence of our basic goodness, separating us from our selves and others?

In March, angel Kyodo williams gave a brilliant Wednesday Dharma Night presentation to the San Francisco Shambhala Community. Below is a recording of her talk. We hope you find inspiration in her words.

Called “the most intriguing African-American Buddhist” by Library Journal, Rev. angel Kyodo williams has been bridging the worlds of spirit and justice since her critically acclaimed book, Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living With Fearlessness and Grace, which signaled a shift in the perception of American Buddhism as all white and upper middle class.

Now one of only two black women Zen Senseis, or teachers, she applies wisdom teaching to social issues and is a leading voice for Transformative Social Change. In recognition of her work, angel Sensei received the first Creating Enlightened Society Award from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Both fierce and grounded, she is known for her unflinching willingness to both sit with and speak uncomfortable truths. angel notes, “Love and Justice are not two, but one. Without inner change, there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters.” Whether in writing, teaching or speaking, her voice is unique.

A Shambhala Art Form for Social Change

A Look at the Training Offered by Acharya Arawana Hayashi

article by Maria Patten with Shastri Sandra Ladley

This conversation addresses applications of Shambhala Art in social change work today.

“Arawana’s work carried a deep meaning for me and the way I want to embody my spiritual practice and life’s work.” – Maria Patten

Maria Patten: In May, Sandra and I joined the first meeting of the year long advanced study in Social Presencing Theater (SPT). Ours is the second group to go through the program. It consists of 21 members, coming from India, Australia, Uruguay, Bolivia, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Hawaii and the mainland US. We are educators, coaches, facilitators, artists, healers, researchers, business people, church leaders, and community organizers. In age we range from 30-something to 70–something with 8 men and 13 women. There are 6 of us from the Shambhala community.

Shastri Sandra Ladley: Advanced Social Presencing Theater is offered under the auspices of the Presencing Institute, which was founded by Otto Scharmer and colleagues, including Acharya Hayashi. This is a global network of people engaged in social change projects using an awareness-based framework called Theory U.

Familiar with Arawana’s work at the Shambhala Institute for Authentic Leadership (now ALIA), Otto asked her to lead efforts to create what he called Social Presencing Theater. “Social presencing” is collective awareness that allows the wisdom of the group to arise. The root meaning of the word “theater” is a “place for viewing” or making visible the deeper patterns in the collective. That is how, as a method, SPT allows a community to see its patterns and relationships and to move toward saner and healthier choices. The basic goodness of society becomes evident.

MP: Acharya Hayashi brings the Shambhala principles, specifically around art, creativity and space awareness, into Theory U change work in the form of Social Presencing Theater. Presencing community participants are not necessarily involved in Shambhala programs. It was interesting to us how she modeled a way of bringing her commitment to creating enlightened society to this context. We can bring the view of basic goodness and establishing a sane and caring world to a great number of people. There is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) starting September 10th, 2015 (free) that will broadcast these teachings to thousands across the globe.

“There are moments in every person’s life when we are free from all the thoughts, assumptions, opinions, hopes and fears that we carry with us. We feel the unconditional goodness of life. We feel we are living in our body, connected to this earth, aware of our sense perceptions and the context in which we live. Everything seems to hang together. This is the starting point for a practitioner of SPT.” – Acharya Hayashi

Social Presencing Theater Group

MP: Through that work we became more sensation and feeling focused, more in the “now”, and more truthful about what we were doing in each moment. We began to make friends with stillness and pausing.

SL: From mindfulness of body we expanded our awareness to the whole space and everyone in it. We practiced in duets, small groups, and in the larger group. We learned experientially how we are always communicating nonverbally, whether we are aware of it or not. The more we are conscious of it, the more conscious our actions become. We became a village.

“Any group, team, organization, or gathering is a collective body, or social body. We are always interconnected. We can directly experience this connection when we are continually sensing ourselves as part of this social body – part of a bigger organism that moves and breathes and pauses and reaches out and falls down.” – Acharya Hayashi

Shastri Sandra Ladley

We applied this attention to a specific area in our work or life where we felt “stuck.” We received reflections from others that led to embodied changes in my understanding and choices. The momentum from that experience continues, and a personal situation has shifted.

In The Shambhala Principle the Sakyong speaks of creativity as something we don’t have a choice about: “Whether we regard society as an unfortunate burden or a valuable gift and opportunity, we are already participating in creating it.”

Maria Patten

Look for our second installment report for the Shambhala Times in 2016.

Find out more about Social Presencing Theater and
The work of Acharya Arawana Hayashi.

Learn more by attending Basics in Social Presencing Theater in Boston this November.

Coming Home from Enlightened Society Assembly

article by Emma Cataford, Gampo Abbey
photos by Jacqueline Larson and Naomi de Ville

Between June 24th and July 3rd at Dorje Denma Ling, around sixty practitioners attended Enlightened Society Assembly led by Acharya Marty Janowitz and Shastri Mary Campbell. Given the shortened duration (eight days of actual program), it was an intense experience, with a tight schedule and plenty of material to cover. Under the full range of Nova Scotia weather (except snow, thank goodness), we had the full societal experience: from organizational dilemmas, to family warmth, to communal living irritation, to inspirational teachings, to disappointment and exhaustion, to heart connections.

At the beginning, the teachers explained the distinction between a “program” and an “assembly”. This assembly was going to be a time to connect with each other in exploring what it is to touch basic goodness and how that translates into the vision of enlightened society. That exploration was approached through a variety of formats such as one-on-one conversations, discussions on study material, wisdom exchanges and affinity groups. My first reaction to that was along the lines of “Oh, great. All talk and no practice.” But it wasn’t long before I started to appreciate the practice of seeing people, the practice of listening, the practice of accepting the elements, the practice of staying with bubbling feelings, and the practice of curiosity.

Shastri Campbell set the tone of the retreat by asking us to contemplate the question: “What is important to you about being here?” This revealed a variety of motivations that participants had to engage in creating enlightened society. It immediately uncovered the incredible richness of our sangha, all the different angles that practitioners take in bringing the teachings into their daily experience.

The whole retreat for me was an investigation of interdependence. It gave me the opportunity to better understand the journey our Shambhala community is going through as a whole. We have been hearing expressions like “cultural transformation” for a while, and ESA is a space to contemplate what that means for us not only as practitioners, but first of all as human beings that cannot exist in a vacuum. One prominent topic was how to create a mind of possibility where basic goodness can manifest. In discussing the ways in which we can create an environment for that to happen, questions came up about what kind of atmosphere we foster in our family, work and day-to-day activities, and, conversely, how we experience the atmosphere other people create around us.

The discussion around the basic goodness of society was particularly challenging as we can immediately point out the dire state our world is in. But if we take the view that violence and aggression come from separation, rather than from our inherent nature, then we can also see that seeking relationship or affiliation (no matter how misguided or harmful our actions are) is a manifestation of basic goodness. Here lies the revolutionary aspect of our lineage, through a teacher who even in the midst of genocide refused to forget about his birthright of human dignity. A powerful part of our gathering was hearing recollections of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche from Acharyas Janowitz and Bill McKeever (who we had the good fortune to have as one of our Meditation Instructors), which enabled us to connect to the stream of intention set out by the warriors before us.

So what to do once the intention is planted in our hearts? Such a radical approach can be understood by seeing how much occurs based on one shared thought. If I can share the thought of basic goodness in my immediate environment, than that is working towards enlightened society. Okay, but practically? Well, at ESA the practical aspect comes in by working in affinity circles. Various topics of interest were proposed and people spontaneously gathered around them, sharing expertise and contacts. It’s a great way to gather allies around a discussion you’re passionate about. Circles included family systems, sustainability, death and dying, yoga, technology, joy in the workplace, starting a business, conflict in the sangha, growth of Shambhala centers and groups.

In order to fully take the action part into our path, we must explore our minds. In our tradition, the two always go side by side. So it wasn’t all talk and no practice. The social interaction was framed by the formal practice of Shambhala Meditation and the Shambhala Sadhana. Being introduced to these new methods was indispensable to the exploration of enlightened society. I found them to be actual tools for my mind to establish the link between my aspirations and their realization. It’s a rich and potent way to go deeper into my understanding of the view, to question my resolve, and to strengthen my conviction.

In some ways I feel like I came home with more questions than before, and years of habit make me react to that with frustration. There’s always that nagging voice of spiritual materialism that says: “You’re not getting any answers here, let’s move on to something else.” But then I get a great sense of relief by just resting in the question. Acharya Janowitz talked about the value of doubt, which is not a problem in itself. Respecting the question, which is there for us to engage in, is a fertile ground for progressing on the path.

That ground becomes all the more fertile if we have the good fortune to share our doubts along with our aspirations with others on the path. Separate from the affinity circles, the participants were organized in smaller groups of around ten people that regularly got together throughout the duration of the retreat to talk about how we were doing generally in our practice and in the program itself. Coming from a deeply personal understanding, universal truths can be brought into a reality that is closer to home. That’s the most valuable thing I took home with me from ESA.

This kind of assembly, and possibly all Shambhala gatherings we attend, are a testing ground for the balance we try to strike between personal practice and social engagement. There is no substitute for our time on the cushion, but at the same time no amount of practice is going to give us the “heart workout” (as one of my fellow warriors put it) we get by simply being around other people.

Talking about the process of opening up to our heart’s potential, Shastri Campbell used an interesting image from the animal kingdom: the barnacle. This crustacean seems quite lifeless and unapproachable, but if you observe it interacting with the tide, you notice a little filament coming out of its shell and then retracting. The hope is that, through our practice, we can extend ourselves outwards, even when we’re feeling crusty and encased in our cocoon. By not being afraid of who we are, we can afford one little movement to touch basic goodness in ourselves and in our surroundings. Even if it’s a brief moment, this can lead to a whole path of awakening. From a feeble “meep” to a full-hearted roar.

~~
Emma Cataford grew up in Italy and studied Journalism in London, UK. She has been in Shambhala for about three years, is a bartender by trade, and loves dogs and diving. She is currently residing at Gampo Abbey as a temporary monastic, where she goes by the name Tharpa Chodron.

COLUMN: Enlightened Society Celebrates Diversity

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the People of Color Scholarship Fund (POC) Leadership Awards
Part One of Three

article and photos by Mabinti Dennis

In this first article, you will find a brief history of the development of the awards. Next time you will read individual stories of some practitioners who have received funds and how they are benefitting the Shambhala community. We will conclude with where the scholarship is today and how we can continue to serve the community in the future. We are delighted to have this opportunity to discuss this with the community and to provide information so that you will spread the word through our mandala.

In the fall of 2004, the Diversity Working Group reported the following on a Practitioner Survey:

Program fees have been a major impediment for some people of color to continue on the Shambhala path. The financial burden of attending programs and the embarrassment of soliciting donations from individuals or requesting a discount from centers has been discouraging. Despite recommendations made by the Shambhala Diversity Working Group to encourage sangha members to make modest donations to assist others and to encourage members to save money towards their programs, and although some financial assistance is available through practice centers, it is still a financial strain for some people of color to attend advanced programs.

“I gave up long ago the idea of trying to attend Warrior Assembly, Seminary, etc., because of the cost. …I can assure you from my exposure over the years to many other groups, that this Shambhala/Buddhist path is generally seen as for the rich.” Was one response to the Practitioner Survey in the fall of 2004 by a Shambhala practitioner of color.

The summer of 2005 was a pivotal moment in Shambhala, with the first Rigden Abhisheka and the marriage of the Sakyong to Khandro Tseyang in Boulder. It also saw the development of the People of Color Scholarship Fund. A conversation about attracting and retaining people of color to the Shambhala Buddhist path was initiated among Mabinti Dennis from Toronto, Alice Dan of Chicago, Cortez Rainey from Baltimore, and Bill Auerbach of New York.

Some of the ideas that arose from those discussions included how to attract and support members who are people of color and encourage them to attend advanced programs such as Warrior Assembly, dathun, seminaries, and trainings to become teachers, meditation instructors and leaders. “The founders were confident that the scholarship will benefit the whole community, that it will alleviate suffering among a broader spectrum of people in our local communities and in our diverse world, and that people of color will contribute to the richness of the Shambhala community through teaching, governance, and mentoring,” said founding member Mabinti Dennis.

After seminary the team developed a proposal and submitted it to then President Richard Reoch. In 2007, with support of the Sakyong and President it was presented to Shambhala International. We formed a board and began fundraising and the fund began to receive donations from the Shambhala community. In 2008, we received a grant of $4500.00 from the Shambhala Trust to help us develop our website and publicity materials, and to support scholarships. The leadership award was announced in 2008 and we began to receive applications and distribute scholarships to people of color across the mandala. In 2009, we received a matching grant of $5000.00 from the Sakyong’s Council and we were able to match that grant through donations from the community.

In 2010, the Board of Directors received a call from Shambhala International regarding a donation from Ms. Marilyn McGuire. Marilyn was an active member in the Minneapolis sangha for many years. Discovering that she had a terminal illness, she decided to make a planned gift to Shambhala. In consultation with Ms. Connie Brock she heard about the scholarship fund and designated a portion as a gift to the Shambhala People of Color Scholarship Fund. Although none of our board members had met Marilyn, she shared our aspirations to support leaders and teachers in diverse communities. Her gift has enabled the Fund to support a growing number of leadership awards over the last 5 years.

“The teachings held by the Shambhala mandala challenge us as individuals to recognize and dissolve barriers that separate us from others. As a community of practitioners, we strongly encourage understanding of and respect for the basic goodness inherent in all individuals, social groups and cultures.”
~ Shambhala Aspirations on Diversity, Accessibility and Compassionate Conduct.

Since its inception the Scholarship Fund has supported more than 22 practitioners to attend 45 programs, including Enlightened Society Assembly, Sacred World Assembly, Warrior Assembly, Shambhala Guide, Assistant Director and Meditation Instructor training. Applicants can receive awards until they have completed their program to become a Meditation Instructor or Assistant Director. We try to provide assistance to all people of color who apply for a scholarship. During the development stage many members of the community provided their support in establishing the scholarship.

In 2008, Alice Dan, then director of the Chicago Shambhala Center, said in a support letter, “In Chicago, we are solidly in favor of efforts to support diversity in the greater Shambhala sangha. This idea to establish a fund for People of Color is an excellent way to address a group who are currently underrepresented in the North American Shambhala centers and groups. The message sent by establishing the fund will support participation by racial/ethnic minority sangha members, far beyond the amounts of money to be donated. It shows that we go beyond “lip service” in our efforts to build a more diverse community, and that we value people of color moving into leadership positions. For these reasons, the Chicago Shambhala Center will be proud to serve as fiscal agent for the People of Color Fund. We will accept funds donated, maintain records and disperse funds to the programs where applicants have been accepted, as directed by the Governing Committee. We will keep administrative records of the People of Color Fund separate from our own center finances. In this way, we hope to support these efforts to increase diversity throughout Shambhala.”

The Chicago Shambhala Center finance manager Ellen Schweri managed the fund for ten years, opening our account, keeping financial records, helping develop our bi-laws and distributing funds to the land centers. Recently, she helped make the transition from Chicago Shambhala center to the Sakyong Foundation as our fiscal agent.

Other members including Traci Yamashita, Estelle Schwartz, Cortez Rainey, Blessie Selvig, Nancy Grant, Marvin Robinson, Connie Brock, and Alex Halpern, Charlene Leung, Carolyn Mandelker, were active in the development stage assisting with proposal writing, developing policies and procedures, design of our website, and first publicity materials, fundraising and serving as Board members and also donate money or service. In later years, Laurie Lewey, Claudelle Glasgow, Margaret May, George Free and Peggy Stockholms have also actively participated during the ten years.

“I am certainly in support of a scholarship fund for People of Color. It is good that you have convened an initiating group to work on issues of inclusion in a sane and dharmic way. I appreciate the efforts you have all made and encourage all of us to continue to move forward.”
~ Acharya Arawana Hayashi, New York City Shambhala Meditation Center.

Our vision for initiating the awards is to remove the barriers that limit participation in programs, to increase the ability of people of color to participate in advanced Shambhala programs and enable them to further their practice and studies in Shambhala Buddhism.

The Scholarship Fund addresses two goals identified by the Diversity Working Group: 1) to reduce costs for attending programs for underrepresented members for whom tuitions are prohibitive, and 2) to develop a diverse group of teachers, MI’s, guides, and leaders. We want to support the aspirations of people of color to take on greater responsibility in Shambhala leadership, teaching, and mentoring roles and increase diversity at those levels within our community.

If you are an MI or part of the administration of a local center we hope that will refer members to our website. We also hope that you will consider making a donation: spocsf.shambhala.org

~~
Mabinti Dennis is one of the founding members of the POC scholarship fund. She has been a member of the Toronto Shambhala Center for over 20 years. Mabinti is involved in the Black community where she is facilitating workshops for youths who are in transition from prison to school, community and home life.

Amaia Luna

Introducing Amaia Luna, born to Pablo Coddou and Anne-Marie Keppel of Craftsbury, Vermont. The family shares this: “A small angel arrived brilliantly in our home on summer solstice day, as the sun was low in the sky, and clouds played delicate songs with the wind. Amaia Luna presently enjoys the sound of singing birds, resting in her father’s lap during practice and falling asleep while drowning out the phenomenal world at the sweetness of her mama’s breast. Proud, humble, and delighted out of our minds, we are now resting in bliss. May all families enjoy the opportunity to experience such love!”

………………………………………………………………………………..

Roxanna Eden

photo by Mike Levy

His Holiness Drubwang Pema Norbu Rinpoche (Penor Rinpoche), then the Supreme Head of the Nyingma lineage, conferred the enthronement in the midst of the Shambhala Celebration known as Joining Heaven & Earth. This festive celebration, held at Pier 23 in Halifax, lasted nine days and had thousands of Shambhalians in attendance. As part of the celebration, Penor Rinpoche auspiciously conferred the Kalachakra Empowerment for Enlightened Society.

The title of Sakyong means “earth protector.” It was previously conferred on the Vidyadhara, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche on May 24, 1982 by His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. The Sakyong’s enthronement was only the second time that this rare ceremony has been conferred in the West and, at the time, marked a milestone in the then 25-year history of Shambhala International.

The Shambhala community celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Sakyong’s Enthronement in a gathering in Boulder, CO on July 5th which was broadcast internationally to Shambhala Centers around the world. The morning began with the practice of the Shambhala Sadhana, a liturgy composed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in 2011 to illuminate basic goodness. Following that, Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown provided the context for the celebration with a brief account of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s journey to the west and the establishment of the Shambhala lineage.

Once the Sakyong arrived, there were a series of mandala offerings, one from the Sakyong’s family, offered by the Sakyong Wangmo, Khandro Tseyang, assisted by Lama Pegyal and Gyurme Dorje, and another from the Shambhala community, offered by Acharya Susan Skjei, assisted by the Kasung Ki Khyap Jesse Grimes and Melanie Klein, Center Director of the Boulder Shambhala Center.

The Sakyong donned the cloak and crown that he wore during his enthronement as Sakyong to receive these offerings (shown in the photograph above).

ANNIVERSARY

You have performed goodness and genuineness.
You have lived up to the standard of genuine son.
Your chuckle has turned out to be great humor.
Your bravery is better than Garuda’s cry.
I appreciate your being a real person.

As much as we celebrate,
You should join the Tiger Lion Garuda Dragon Dignities.
Your icicle is good and your fire is magnificent.
Your meaningful smiled have turned out to be chariots
Which will bring along the Great Eastern Sun.

~ The Vidyadhara, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

March 22, 1978
Dixville Notch, New Hampshire

Excerpted from Royal Songs, a collection of poetry published on the occasion of the Sakyong’s enthronement in 1995.

Shastri Holly Gayley read the poem, “Anniversary,” composed by the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche on the occasion of his son’s coming of age, one year prior to his empowerment as Sawang in Boulder in 1979, thirty-six years ago. As if to herald the occasion, church bells sounded throughout the reading. To cap off these offerings, Julia Emory offered a stunning cello solo.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche addressed the community on this occasion. Below is an edited excerpt from the address:

I very much feel the blessing, humor and timing of my father, the Vidyadhara, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the Dorje Dradul of Mukpo, who thirty-six years ago in this very room planted a seed of human goodness and continuity in my empowerment [as Sawang] and sixteen years later that came to fruition in the enthronement of myself [as Sakyong]. Even though this day marks that occasion, I really think what happened is that it was essentially the enthronement of Shambhala, the enthronement of all of us. So I see this not just for myself personally, but all of us.

The notion of enthronement is a ceremony of taking our seat, of taking our principle. And, in a sense, on that day, we all took our seat of basic goodness. So you could say that what was enthroned was basic goodness. What was enthroned was human dignity. What was enthroned was the notion of good human society. So that is something that occurred.

At the same time, I feel like what we are celebrating today is not just the past. But really, we are on the precipice of the future. On the one hand, I feel like what has happened over the last twenty years is that we have ourselves worked with this notion: are we worthy to be here? It feels like there is a sense of strength and kindness and good confidence that has developed. Right now we are at this interesting crossroads where, in a sense by taking our seat, we can take our seat at the table of global society. We have the opportunity to take our seat and also to determine and participate in how the future unfolds.

So this is very much a time when all of us have to gather our strength, gather that sense of who we are, personally and communally, and look towards the future. People have plans, but society has to have a vision. In many ways, the focus over the last twenty years has been myself. Right now, the transition is that it is on all of you, all of us. We must manifest as a community. And, If we are to embody these teachings, which have so much power and possibility, we have a community and we’ve worked hard…

Building community is not easy, but we have somehow persevered and succeeded. Yet I feel like there is more to do. So it is important to take this moment in the continuum of our community to reflect on what we would like to see in the future. What can our community be in the future? Can we participate in a world that is right now in a very fragile situation?

So on the one hand, this has been my responsibility. The word sakyong means “earth protector.” On this day, when you are supposedly celebrating myself, I’m going to do a big switcheroo. I’m going to make all of you earth protectors. I’m going to need some help. So, on the one hand, I am delighted and honored by this responsibility. But this notion of how a human being can wake up to their potential and wake up to who they are is so powerful.

If we can create a community where this becomes the norm, this becomes the community, then we are all protecting wakefulness, dignity, human culture, ethics, all these elements.

So we have to become not only protectors of humanity, we have to become protectors of the environment, and we have to become protectors of society. How do we do that? It is us all realizing that we have this precious human life.

On this day, I would encourage all of you to reconnect to your own sense of journey and warriorship. It’s so easy right now to loose our way in life. So on a personal level, please connect with your own particular practice, your our own sense of journey, meditation. But not just leave it here, also connect with what we can do for others, for society. If we as a community can do this, there is so much that is possible.

As a community, can we have the courageousness to raise our gaze and look out?

Just by that gesture of looking up, it create possibilities for future generations. So it is no longer about the past, it’s not even about the present. It’s about how we can evolve. On this day, we are now enthroning and acknowledging future generations who will be in this space and around the world in the Shambhala Centers and having the opportunity to look up.

So I would like to ask that we bring this sense of vision to our homes, to our Centers, and to all those activities that we are doing in trying to help the world. When we do this, it gives such power.

This is something that’s beyond us. In many ways, the sun is just rising. So I would like to celebrate this golden dawn of Shambhala vision of human dignity and goodness.

~~
You can watch the full recording of the Sakyong’s address and the celebration in Boulder on Livestream via Shambhala Online.