Sakyong Wangmo, Jetsun Drukmo and Jetsun Yudra

Please enjoy this brief audio message from the Sakyong Wangmo and Jetsun Drukmo.

Your vote can help Shambhala San Francisco share Enlightened Society through Wisdom 2.0 

By James Beange & Marty Behrens

The San Francisco Shambhala community is aiming to share the message of Enlightened Society at the upcoming Wisdom 2.0 conference. The community has entered a video submission in an attempt to spread their message with a wider audience. The annual conference, which takes place in February, focuses on living in a way that is not only connected by technology but also beneficial to one’s personal well-being whilst maintaining our effectiveness and usefulness to the world.

This is an image of the Enlightened Society video submission by SF Shambhala.

Members of the San Francisco Shambhala community have submitted their idea to perform a lung reading of the Sakyong’s Treatise on Enlightened Society on the Wisdom 2.0 People’s Stage. Following this will be a discussion led by senior meditation leaders from the San Francisco Shambhala community. The combined reading and discussion aims to offer the Wisdom 2.0 audience members a path to see how confidence in our own basic human goodness can be developed through the practice of meditation. The message will in turn help to educate and inspire the audience toward a shared realization of Enlightened Society.

Wisdom 2.0 is a conversation about the merging of wisdom and technology that is held in San Francisco every year. The Conference features thought leaders from the worlds of technology, business and spirituality. It is an event in which participants can learn about burgeoning movements to bring more compassion and wisdom to our modern world. Next year’s event is set to attract 2,400 people from 20 countries to San Francisco. With such a large and diverse audience in attendance it is not difficult to see why the San Francisco Shambhala community is so eager to share the Enlightened Society message at this gathering.

Here, a traditional mandala ceremony slowly takes form at Wisdom 2.0 2015

It is not simply the size of the audience, however, that makes the community believe that the conference is the right place for this presentation. Most of those in attendance have a forward-thinking approach to the crossover between technological advances and mindfulness. San Francisco Shambhala member Marty Behrens believes that the recent embracing of mindfulness practices within the technology sector comes from a desire to change the world for the better. He believes that those in attendance will be “mindful, young, caring people who are taking action to help make the world more mindful and compassionate – that is Wisdom 2.0 and that is Shambhala.”

The People’s Stage is a key aspect of the Wisdom 2.0 conference. The People’s Stage involves presentations in which presenters can share their work, insights, and presentations with the Wisdom 2.0 community. To be eligible to go on stage, hopeful presenters must go through a submission and voting process which began last Monday.

The San Francisco Shambhala community hopes that (if their submission is successful) the Treatise and discussion will be able to offer a view that mindfulness is much more than simply personal growth. Audience members will also be offered a koan: “Is Society basically good?”

This question aims to spark another deeper level of awakening, to ultimately shift people’s orientation from ‘me’ to ‘we’. This helps to create an awareness of society’s basic goodness, the knowledge of which becomes a source of strength and clarity as well as motivation for those in attendance to become even more ‘awake’ and engaged in the world. You can help – go to the links at the end of the article and add your vote!

The San Francisco Shambhala community sincerely hopes that they will be able to spread this message of Enlightened Society within the Wisdom 2.0 community. However, for this to become a reality, their submission must first receive sufficient votes. Fortunately, the first round of voting is open to the public – so the international Shambhala community can make a difference. With around 100 submissions hoping to ultimately reach the People’s Stage, there is some stiff competition. Therefore, the San Francisco community requests that Shambhalians from near and far help to vote the Shambhala video through to the semi-final round of voting. The submissions themselves are video-base,d and you can see the one-minute Enlightened Society submission here.

If you too feel passionate about spreading the message of enlightened society to Wisdom 2.0, or just wish to support Shambhala San Francisco and would like to vote, please follow the simple steps below.

How To Vote

You do not have to register for the conference itself to vote in the poll. You can, however, help to spread the message of Enlightened Society in just a few moments. It’s simple – and it is just a 3-step process:

(1) click here to register for the voting, then

(2) retrieve the new password that Wisdom 2.0 just sent you in email and login here, and finally,

(3) go to the video here where you can do as it says, “Vote for this video”: “Enlightened Society: How can we make it possible?”.

Important Links:
Video Submitted: http://wisdom2contest.com/?contest=video-detail&video_id=165
A key video by Sakyong Mipham: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5wnHY7AExU
Wisdom 2.0 main site: http://www.wisdom2summit.com/
Voting Registration: http://wisdom2contest.com/?contest=upload-video&action=register
Top 10 Videos at this time: http://wisdom2contest.com/?contest=contest-top10

Other Enlightened Society Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4njUxuueVY&list=PLD07A3F92361F169A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHdRc_nEPV0

Celebrating Children’s Day, families gather for a kid-friendly event in Austria

by Hans Kaufmann

We met at four o’clock in the afternoon, in order “to tiger.” One of the boys had suggested  this term about two years ago, making a verb of the noun tiger.  It was his name for our monthly meetings, which are dedicated to exploring playful ways of approaching mindfulness, meditation and warrior principles with children.

There had existed something like “Shambhala Kinderunterricht”  in earlier years, but it had ceased at some point. About two years ago, I met with some other parents, discussing how to start fresh. We did not want to revive another version of “Religionsunterricht,” but rather to try out something else, something more interactive, something that involved parents doing something playful together along with the children.

We started to experiment with some “bricks” of such an event, consisting of movement, stories (which catch childrens’ attention most easily), simple mindfulness exercises (like listening to the gong until it fades), and, after a break, a simple tea ceremony, where children learn to serve tea and cookies and to talk as little as possible during drinking and eating. The “less talking” part is still a challenge, but is already much better than it was….

Today the group was very small, with two seven-year-old boys and two fathers, including myself. Two girls who often attended were sick, and one boy had to do a lot of homework for school on this Sunday afternoon. Continuity has turned out to be a big challenge. Some kids, who were participating, feel so burdened by school and other activities during the week, that they want “nur ruhe!” during weekends, and not to go to another event. But we have not given up, and most times there are four to six children participating.

One starting exercise, which is a favourite for the kids, the “monkey-tiger-magic,” we decided not to do today, because we were guests in the main Buddhist center of Vienna. We were in the Theravada room, neighbour to the Zendo where a group of zen meditators practice Zazen. (In fact some of these practitioners showed up later, complaining about some noise the boys had made during break.) Instead, we began with a short Yoga session, which they started to like. During one exercise, raising one arm slowly up, when we started with the right arm, one boy said to the other, “The right hand, not the left!” The second boy, not impressed at all, said, “Whether the right or the left goes first does not matter at all. What counts is to raise one arm.”

We continued to ‘listen to the gong,” in upright sitting posture, until it faded. The boys decided to make a competition of it, seeing who could hear the gong the longest, and we had a hard time convincing them not to stick their ears right in the gong itself. (Sometimes our sessions would have been good enough for a Laurel and Hardy short film!)

Then I asked the boys what they know about the winter solstice. They knew a lot, and we started to go into the Iljana story, which they remembered very well too. Every year in the fall, when we approach the winter solstice and Children’s Day, we use the opportunity to transmit a bit more of the meaning of the four dignities. Gaining already some understanding for the mindfulness of the tiger, we explored today humbleness (and its opposite, as represented in the familiar Grimms’ fairy tale about a fisherman and his wife). I was surprised how well they had remembered the words and tune of the Tiger song. We also repeated the Lion’s song, which we had not practiced for a whole year. When the children were asked –  looking at the lyrics of the song –  which quality they would connect with the tiger, both of them knew quickly: “Joy”!

Then we had a break, and somebody commented about the zen practitioners, saying that “perhaps their meditation does not seem so strong, when they are so easily disturbed by noise.”

After break we practiced the tea ceremony.  The children like to fulfill the different tasks needed for the setup and for the practice itself: serving out the cups, the tea, and the cookies, as well as bowing. This time they managed to bow even after having served somebody! When we closed the ceremony with a final bow, I asked what they knew about bowing. One boy said, “I think Buddhists do that, because it works much more quickly than shaking everybody’s hand.”

Then we cleared the space, put a little dana in the basket, and everyone headed for home. Children and parents will gather here again soon.

Author’s note: the “monkey-tiger-magic” is an exercise that I invented as an opening to our sessions, looking for a way to help the children to move from excited activity to a more slow and receptive mode of being. It starts with jumping around like monkeys, accompanied by a bass drum played in quite a quick rhythm. Then, when they are somewhat exhausted, the sound of the gong tells them to transform into tigers, moving slowly and very attentively through the jungle, opening their sense perceptions for feelings, sounds, smells and colors. After the gong, the rhythm of the drum slows down to the pace of the tiger song, which at some point, we start to sing. While singing, we are also assembling in the circle on the cushions, sitting upright (as much as possible) and listening to the gong after the song has ended.

Followers of many traditions come together to contemplate climate change through study of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si

by Russell Rogers

Here in Nelson British Columbia, the Kootenay Shambhala Centre is taking part in an extraordinary event. For the first time, 50 to 60 people from various churches in town are meeting to talk. Among them are Catholics, Lutherans, United Church, Anglicans, Buddhists and a local Ashram. All are represented by church leaders and members of their congregations. The occasion is the Pope’s Climate Change Encyclical, Laudato Si.

The event is remarkable on two fronts: firstly the churches, including the Shambhala Centre, are meeting and finding heartfelt common ground. Secondly, Pope Francis’ encyclical, if you haven’t read it, is not just about climate change, it’s all about what Shambhalians would call “enlightened society”. In fact, I think it would be a great document for contemplation and discussion by Shambhalians, since a lot of this document is a contemplation of the “how to” aspect of getting there.

On the first front, the meetings themselves, there was a lot of warmth, and it was apparent that theology wasn’t getting in the way of basic goodness. In terms of organization, here’s how it worked: each church, including the Shambhala Centre, hosted a study session on one of the six chapters of the encyclical, which is seventy pages in length. Contemplation questions for the next chapter were prepared the previous week by the hosting church. At the study session, a pastor, priest or spokesperson gave a brief overview of his organization’s point of view. Then, the group of about 50 to 60 people broke into smaller groups for discussion. After that, the results were harvested back in the main group.

The original idea came from the Nelson Eco Society, but the churches jumped on board enthusiastically. Each time I attend a session, someone expresses to me how wonderful it is that all the churches are finally together and talking to each other. The gatherings are completely enjoyable, and it’s great to hear people talking about things that matter to them. Somehow the “faith groups,” as they are called, seem to be able to stay grounded and caring, and able to listen genuinely without getting politically or theologically entangled.

In the Encyclical itself, the Pope’s writing is clear, to the point, and in many ways, revolutionary. His analysis is wide ranging—he brings together the roots of the climate crisis in religion, business, government, economics, education, technology and science. He does what only a pope could do in the context of Western culture. Into the clinical language of science and technology, the dollars-and-cents language of business economics, and the popularity contest of politics, he inserts a profound spiritual and ethical perspective. In other words, the Pope’s presence has shifted the dialogue.

The author being the Pope, theistic language appears. This could be a problem for some, but Pope Francis himself warns that in order for his message to be effective, it has to be spoken in the language and metaphors of each of the world’s cultures. For myself, I hear him trying to express the inexpressible via the language he lives in. Reading his words in the encyclical, and listening in the local group as we discuss it, I find myself focusing intently to understand what people actually mean, experientially, when they refer to “God.”

In Shambhala we also use words (“basic goodness,” “drala,” and so on) that make little sense to outsiders. We unpack them gradually over many years of teaching and meditation. If we understand “God” as metaphor for inexpressible direct experience, then the Pope’s writing becomes inspired even to a non-theistic reader. In fact, one of my “take-aways” from the interfaith meetings is that people do somehow know what matters, on a level that transcends theology.

In his writing about the spiritual dimension of the ecological crisis, we can see clearly why the Pope chose “Francis” as his papal name. His namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, was a 12th century saint who referred to the elements with terms like “Brother Sun” and “Sister Water.” He was said to be able to communicate directly with animals and birds. In 1979, Pope John Paul II designated St. Francis as the patron saint of ecology. The present Pope echoes that relationship when he says “Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God.” And “….Nature as a whole not only manifests God but is also a locus of his presence…Discovering his presence leads us to cultivate the ‘ecological virtues’.”

I think that the main importance of the interfaith gatherings was in the gatherings themselves, rather than the material, but I will extract a few limited quotes from the encyclical to give some idea of what Pope Francis says in the document:

Did God give humans untrammeled domination over nature?. “Nature is usually seen as a system which can be studied, understood and controlled, whereas creation can only be seen as a gift from the outstretched hand of the Father of all, and as a reality illuminated by the love which calls us together in universal communion.” And, “a misguided anthropocentrism leads to a misguided lifestyle…..When human beings place themselves at the centre, they give absolute priority to immediate convenience and all else becomes relative.”

The deified market: “The alliance between economy and technology ends up sidelining anything unrelated to its immediate interests. Consequently the most one can expect is superficial rhetoric, sporadic acts of philanthropy and perfunctory expressions of concern for the environment, whereas any genuine attempt by groups within society to introduce change is viewed as a nuisance based on romantic illusions or an obstacle to be circumvented.” And “whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market which becomes the only rule.” And “when nature is viewed solely as a source of profit and gain, this has serious consequences for society. This version of “might is right” has engendered immense inequality, injustice and acts of violence against the majority of humanity, since resources end up in the hands of the first comer or the most powerful: the winner takes all.”

On technology, Pope Francis says that “there is a tendency to believe that every [technological] increase in power means an increase of progress itself…..an assimilation of new values into the stream of culture….” And “technology tends to absorb everything into its ironclad logic, and those who are surrounded with technology know full well that it moves forward in the final analysis neither for profit nor for the well-being of the human race, that in the most radical sense of the term, power is its motive—a lordship over all.”

The intrinsic value of work: “the orientation of the economy has favored a kind of technological progress in which the costs of production are reduced by laying off workers and replacing them with machines” and “underlying every form of work is a concept of the relationship which we can and must have with what is other than ourselves….The goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replace human work, for this would be detrimental to humanity. Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfillment. Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work.”

Small Farms: “Economies of scale, especially in the agricultural sector, end up forcing smallholders to sell their land or to abandon their traditional crops. …because of the difficulty of linkage with regional and global markets, or because the infrastructure for sales and transport is geared to larger businesses. Civil authorities have the right and duty to adopt clear and firm measures in support of small producers and differentiated production. To ensure economic freedom from which all can effectively benefit, restraints occasionally have to be imposed on those possessing greater resources and financial power. To claim economic freedom while real conditions bar many people from actual access to it, and while possibilities for employment continue to shrink, is to practice a doublespeak which brings politics into disrepute.”

Science: Here, the Pope points out that science is essentially amoral—it purposely suppresses the influence of values in its process. “It cannot be maintained that empirical science provides a complete explanation of life, the interplay of all creatures and the whole of reality. This would be to breach the limits imposed by its own methodology. If we reason only within the confines of the latter, little room would be left for aesthetic sensibility, poetry, or even reason’s ability to grasp the ultimate meaning and purpose of things.” And “without somehow recognizing the spiritual worth of nature, science becomes a tool for exploitation.”

Knowledge as ignorance: Here Pope Francis decries the problem of people becoming specialists and not taking responsibility for the whole: “The fragmentation of knowledge and the isolation of bits of information can actually become a form of ignorance unless they are integrated into a broader vision of reality.” We could also apply this statement to the misuse of the vast amount of knowledge that is available on the internet. In isolated fragments, pieces of this knowledge can be used to support any preconceived view.

Climate Warriors

Ecological activism: Pope Francis says “At one extreme, we find those who doggedly uphold the myth of progress and tell us that ecological problems will solve themselves simply with the application of new technology and without any need for ethical considerations or deep change” and “unless we struggle with these deeper issues, I do not believe that our concern for ecology will produce significant results. But if these issues are courageously faced we are led inexorably to ask other pointed questions: What is the purpose of our life in this world? Why are we here? What is the goal of our work and all our efforts? What need does the Earth have of us?”

An appreciative farewell gathering is held to honor the service of outgoing Shambhala leaders Carolyn Mandelker and Anna Weinstein

by David Brown, with photos by Terry Rudderham

On December 18th the staff of the Halifax Kalapa Centre hosted a farewell gathering in appreciation of Carolyn Mandelker and Anna Weinstein on their final day in their respective positions as Executive Director and Director of the Office of Center and Group Support. Wendy Friedman, Director of the Office of Culture and Decorum, presented gifts from the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo with their love and blessings: a statue of Jetsun Drolma (or “Tara”) for Carolyn, and for Anna a Trident calligraphy by the Sakyong. 

Gifts from the staff were offered, including a safari helmet for Carolyn, who is now on safari in Africa, and a 19^th century dagger for Anna, Sergeant-Major of the Dorje Kasung. Toasts were raised, and out of the many messages of appreciation received, these two from Acharya Moh Hardin and the Sakyong were read aloud, capturing many of the warm feelings of their colleagues:

From Acharya Moh Hardin:

Carolyn preparing for safari

Carolyn: Never losing heart, always moving forward, the vision of the Great Eastern Sun emanating from your heart, cheerful, skillful, brave, open, taking the time to listen, always a good friend—these are just a few of the words that come to mind when I think of you and of your leadership of Shambhala. For the weight you have carried for all of us and for the enrichment you have given us, my gratitude is unending. You are a bright and brilliant example of warriorship. Thank you with a deep bow of respect.

The Sergeant-Major brandishes her new dagger

Anna: You are a remarkable person. Your skill, energy, and unhesitating engagement in resolving problems have touched and inspired me deeply. Your vision and support for regional development has provided direction and encouragement to many. You have tremendous depth in your being. My admiration for you is far beyond what words could express. I will miss working with you very much, and wish you the best of good fortune in all that you do.

Letter to Carolyn Mandelker and Anna Weinstein from the Sakyong

With a warm and open heart I would like to show my appreciation for Carolyn Mandelker and Anna Weinstein for their long and devoted years of service. This is a momentous day for both of you because it concludes your service within a seminal period in the development of Shambhala. Through this time you have supported me in what I believe to be one of the most critical times in the development of Shambhala Vision altogether.

Trident calligraphy

The period in which you have served has allowed for the unfolding of the Shambhala Terma as the profound and brilliant path of the Scorpion Seal and thus the actual arising of the Shambhala Lineage so that it is now clearly within the center of our mandala. Also, great strides have been taken in stabilizing the finances of Shambhala and the ground-breaking work of establishing unified giving, establishing leadership and regionalization, and within the Dorje Kasung the opening of the Trident teachings.

Even though many people have participated in and contributed greatly to these developments it is the tremendous conviction, inspiration and lungta of both of you that has helped keep this ship steady. In particular it is your attention to detail and cheerfulness on a daily basis that has kept things together so that the next stages of development within Shambhala can occur. It is through your tremendous dedication that the most fundamental evolution of Shambhala vision has come about in the establishment the Sakyong Potrang.

Jetsun Drolma statue

Therefore on this day we celebrate your accomplishments. And even though many things are still yet to be done it is important to mark this occasion. I appreciate personally your loyalty and selflessness in dedicating yourselves to this vision which I hold so dear in my heart. I have no doubt that even though this is a poignant moment on your journey, in the future you will continue to serve and participate in establishing the vision of the Great Eastern Sun.

Today is a great transition for you and for Shambhala Vision itself. Therefore in good Shambhala tradition take great cheer in what you have accomplished which will lay the ground for future success. On this day I also extend the best wishes and deep appreciation from the Sakyong Wangmo for all that you have done.

With profound gratitude, much love and blessings,

The Kongma Sakyong

Lighting Our Way: The Celebration of Children’s Day in Boulder

By Emily Takahashi

Snow, glorious snow! Winter does not seem fully realized until we have been housebound by our first deep snow. Snow is the great equalizer—everything is made beautiful when it has been laced by ice crystals, pure and white.

Boulder’s first deep snowfall this week helped prepare the mood for our winter solstice celebration last Sunday night. We cozy our way toward some deeper, inner warmth as the outside world turns colder and darker. We have been on this journey since the warm, sunlit days of midsummer, and in these last days we feel a deeply compelling magnetism—something is coming. By December 20, we have arrived at the “midnight” of the year, when darkness has achieved its zenith and light has completed its retreat. Derived from the Latin word sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still) the winter solstice is celebrated in Shambhala as Children’s Day.

Why do we celebrate our children at this point of ultimate darkness? Because when we pass through the winter solstice we participate in the sacred rite of the completion of death and the return of life. Our children are the first rays of dawn; they are seeds which will become the future flowers of our world.

Photo courtesy of Mary Philips

In the Christian calendar these anticipatory days of winter are known as Advent. Candles are lit and tiny windows are opened on colorful calendars to reveal a surprise picture or a piece of chocolate, in anticipation of the coming of the Christ Child on Dec. 25. In the Jewish faith the lighting of the eight menorah candles is the most significant part of the celebration of Hanukkah. Children in Shambhala join with these ancestral rituals of “bringing back the light” by entering the shrine room bearing candles as the late afternoon light wanes and night begins to fall. There they receive a treat from the King and Queen of Shambhala, who introduce the children to both the dignity and playfulness of being a good human being. As we share stories of Gesar and songs of love and bravery with our youngest community members, we know that our culture of basic goodness lives on, and that the light of the Great Eastern Sun is returning to the earth.

Reflections on meditation practice and living with mental illness

by David Engelbrecht

There is a mindfulness revolution happening in the world today. Nowadays, mindfulness is part of many therapies. The first time I saw the word was on the title of a psychotherapy workbook for clients. I felt it would change my life.

I have been living with mental illness since the fourth grade and addiction since age 16. Before mindfulness and meditation (shamatha) became part of my life, my mental health recovery was mostly based on medication and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). I have found that my meditation practice has made CBT more effective.

photo by Tony Henderson

CBT looks at the cognitive distortions my negative automatic thoughts have. But for it to be effective, I first have to be aware I have these thoughts. The activating event could be anything. It could all start when I’m watching TV. I might see a married couple my age with children. The negative automatic thoughts start without my awareness: I don’t have a wife or any children.  I’m 41 and it is too late to start a family. Nobody would ever marry me because I don’t have a great career or a lot of money. Who would be there when I’m old and sick and dying. I will die alone, in a dimly lit room in a convalescent hospital (I might have memories of the skilled nursing facility I was in when I was 25). The theme of this stream of thoughts is loss. I start to feel depressed. These thoughts are mixed with images (visions of how the future will be or memories of what happened in the past). A downward spiral could start and I might have another major depressive episode.

photo by Tony Henderson

When we notice our attention is no longer on the breath during meditation, we let go of the thinking (storyline) and return to the breath. We do it non-judgmentally. A thought is just a thought. There are no good thoughts or bad thoughts. We don’t analyze. In CBT, we write down our thoughts and look for cognitive distortions. I have found my meditation practice has made CBT more effective. Meditation has made it easier for me to identify these distortions as they happen in the moment because I have become more familiar with and have more awareness of how my mind works (but writing them down and taking a look at them is still helpful). When depressed, I can ride the energy wave of the mood and not increase the duration of the episode by mindlessly indulging in these thoughts and images. That is, I can let the mood live out its natural lifespan without increasing it with fuel (more negative automatic thoughts). Different moods and emotions will come and go. I can not stop this from happening. I have to radically accept this. However, I do have control over not making them worse (i.e., not increasing the duration).

In Turning the Mind into an Ally, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche writes: An emotion that feels as big as a house can be dismantled brick by brick. In dismantling, we use the emotion as the object of meditation. Emotion is a response to something or somebody. It isn’t premeditated or logical in any way. The way dismantling works is that we engage the missing element: reason. We begin investigating the feeling: “Why am I jealous? What has made me feel this way?” For a moment we rest our mind on these questions instead of the breath. The more reason we have, the more effective our ability to dismantle will be. In contemplating the reasons that our negative emotions have come together – and how they create pain, suffering, and anxiety – we can begin to take them apart. With reason we see the source of the emotion: what somebody said to us, the disappointment of an expectation we were holding. 

Depression can feel as big as a house. The way CBT would dismantle the depression brick by brick is by asking and reflecting on the following questions: Is this thought or belief true? Did I jump to a conclusion? What evidence do I actually have? Is there another way that I could view the situation? What’s the worst that could happen? Does it help me to think this way?

I still become symptomatic, but I now have many tools to help me cope. My meditation practice and CBT are two of them.

Editor’s note: originally published on the Portland Shambhala Center website.

Opening the hips to help open the heart

by Martha Whitney and Trina Magi

Tightness in the hips can make sitting meditation uncomfortable. “For a long time, I experienced pain in my upper back when I sat on the meditation cushion. When I started focusing on hip openers in my yoga practice, I noticed the back pain went away,” says Trina. What do hips have to do with the back? As Martha explains, “Sitting cross legged on a cushion is challenging for the whole body when hips are tight and the knees are lifted. It’s hard to relax into the base of support. Often the muscles of the back tighten in response to this holding. As we mentioned last month, sitting up higher can create greater ease.” Some people experience discomfort in the hips themselves.

Our hips become tight mostly because we spend so much time sitting in chairs, and the muscles and the connective tissue become short and rigid. One way to keep the hips flexible is to spend more time on the floor. Try sitting on the floor while you’re reading, watching TV, or talking on the phone.

In this final part of our “Yoga to Help You Sit” series, we offer three yin yoga poses to help open your hips. Hold the poses for a short time at first—perhaps three to five breaths. As you build capacity, you can hold the poses for one to three minutes. Try to relax the buttock and thigh muscles so that the benefit of the pose goes to the connective tissue of the joint. In yin yoga, when you find the shape of the pose that’s right for you, you remain still and breathe in a balanced, rhythmic way, breathing in for four counts and out for four counts. This will send a relaxation response to your muscles. You will need to practice consistently–four or five times a week–to see improvement. In between poses, it may feel good to do “cat” and “dog” (see Part 3).

1)  Pigeon Pose 

CAUTION: DO NOT DO THIS POSE IF YOU HAVE A KNEE INJURY.

-Start on hands and knees on a padded floor.

-Bend and slide left knee and place on floor near left wrist, with left heel under left buttock. For a deeper hip opening, slide the left heel in front of the pubic bone. Listen to your knee for feedback.

-Extend right leg straight back with right knee and top of right foot on the floor.

-Square the pelvis as much as is comfortable (perpendicular to your right leg).

-If left hip is off the ground, you can place a cushion or blanket under it to support it.

-You have several options for your hands:  a) Stay up on your hands, b) place forearms on the floor with elbows under shoulders, c) extend forearms out to the side and place forehead on the ground, or d) extend forearms, stack your fists, and place your forehead on your fists.

-Hold for several breaths and over time up to one to three minutes, breathing into the pelvis and out through the heart.

-Repeat on opposite side.

2)  Lunge (called Dragon in yin yoga)

-Start on hands and knees on a padded floor.

-Step right foot forward between hands.

-Support yourself on your fingertips with your right knee over the right ankle.

-Slide left leg back until you feel stretch on the left thigh.

-Keep your head and chest upright with a long line from head to tail and a little lift through the breastbone.

-Hands are on either side of the front foot, or both hands are the left of the front foot.  For greater ease, put hands on blocks or thick books or a meditation cushion.

-Hold for several breaths or up to one minute.

-Repeat on opposite side.

3)  Frog Pose (also called Wide-Knee Child’s Pose)

-Start on hands and knees.

-Bring big toes together on the floor, keeping knees spread apart as wide as is comfortable.

-Reach hips back to heels.

-Stretch arms out in front.

-Place forehead on floor, or stack your fists and place head on fists.

-If the stretch is too much, place a rolled blanket between buttocks and heels or narrow the space between your knees.

-Hold for several breaths or up to one minute.

Shambhala meditators and educators come together in Columbus to nurture the “inner teacher”

by Jean Pittman

As an educator and a visual artist, I find that meditation and the Shambhala Path are terrific and increasingly essential supports. This is why I was eager to work with the Columbus Shambhala sangha to bring together middle school educators and Shambhala practitioners Michelle King (Pittsburgh) and Acharya Noel McLellan (Halifax) to Columbus to lead a workshop called Nurturing the Inner Teacher: Wisdom and Mindfulness in the Classroom. The session was designed for all kinds of educators. Noel and Michelle teamed up to bring humor, meditation instruction, thoughtful tools, and important relevant discussion points to a group of around 30 area educators from pre-school specialists to museum educators to high school teachers to yoga instructors to university professors.

Teachers and mentors have a critical presence in all of our lives, all along the way. Adult teachers were important to us when we were children, and they play a crucial, ongoing role as we move from childhood learning to life-long learning. We discover, over time, that to teach and to learn are flip sides of the same coin. This is a key service element to my personal practice. Opening myself to new information, ways, people, places and experiences is a significant part of my path and dovetails perfectly with the Shambhala traditions, which support a deepening in mindfulness-awareness and contemplation practices that can inform our everyday lives and relationships.

A small gathering in good company leads to great insight, based on the Sakyong’s experience training falcons

by John David Smith

Last Tuesday night a small group of us gathered in the smaller shrine room to read some of Sakyong Mipham’s Turning the Mind into an Ally together.  The Meditation Warriors book study group meets the first and third Tuesday after the regular open sitting practice.  Reading bits of a book together like that is a great way to glean insights that apply to a daily meditation practice.  And it’s open to everyone.

On  Tuesday our reading included a paragraph on page 33, where Sakyong Mipham recounts how he trained falcons when he was young.  It was challenging and very slow, using little bits of meat to get the bird to respond to his whistle. He writes:

The Sakyong with Garuda, his hunting hawk-eagle, 1976.

“Training them for many months in captivity taught me the value of accepting small improvements. After the trust was there, I could release the bird into the wild. That was the moment of truth: when I blew the whistle, would the bird return to my hand? This is very much like how we train our minds to return to the breath in peaceful abiding. It takes patience.”

As we discussed this story, one fellow told a story about learning to accept small improvements at work.  He had spent three days solving a problem with with a new member of the team.  At the end of the three days they spent some time reviewing what they had done together.  It seemed like the new team member didn’t fully understand everything that they had done together.  Would the junior team member really be able to work through similar problems on their own in the future?  Were there missed opportunities for mentoring and teaching during the past three days that had been missed?

Photo by David Whitehorn

As he reflected on this collaboration, our story-teller realized that there was some impatience involved in his expectations for the three days.  There had actually been many small steps.  And further reflection suggested that being patient, with a new team member for example, does not necessarily feel comfortable.  More often what we experience directly is our impatience.  It takes an extra step to accept the small improvements.

It seemed like a big insight for a small group in the smaller room at the Shambhala Center, all from a vignette out of the Sakyong’s life: a meditation practice calls on our patience; letting our impatience guide our practice can set us up to miss the moment of truth.

How mindfulness can save us from drowning in our expectations for ourselves

by Georgia Pettit

Mindfulness meditation suggests we start the new year not with criticism and condemnation, but with an appreciation for the mind, body, and heart we have today.

One pop culture highlight from 2015 was the release of Jenny Lewis’ album “The Voyager,” particularly the song titled “The New You.” Ms. Lewis reminds us, “It’s a new you every day, putting on a different face.” This line defines that thrilling sense of potential that’s available to us each morning. We wake up with a desire to have a happier, more meaningful day than the one before, but when faced with the challenge of shifting our outlook, we may find that changing our face is easier than changing our mind.

This cycle isn’t reserved only for the morning. As the holidays transition into the start of a brand new year, that inspiring sensation of freshness can start to feel less like a clean slate and more like a crucible. What begins as an aspiring sense of potential can quickly become a vehicle for us to hyper-focus on our the exterior needs, nitpick our personalities, and construct unrealistic expectations that are impossible to uphold. Meanwhile, that little voice that just wanted a slightly more meaningful existence gets drowned out by the sound of new wheels spinning.

It can often feel like the world is purposefully blurring the line between self-improvement and personal inadequacy. Sometimes it feels like we are living each day for the one we’ll be good enough to enjoy, and of course, the bullseye for “good enough” is a moving target.

The Shambhala Meditation Practice suggests we start the new year with appreciation for the mind, body, and heart we have today. Learning to feel that we are fundamentally good, with or without an “improved me,” is the basis of mindfulness meditation. We are learning to be open with ourselves, in order to reveal a true picture of both our problems and our potential.

By opening up to ourselves, the everyday challenges we are struggling to fix one at a time will stabilize. Awareness will transform our relationship to our own life, and soon we’ll find that we ride our potential with precision, addressing our problems with directness, instead of letting them ride us.

This year, let’s stop avoiding ourselves with smoke and mirror resolutions. Let’s get past the feverish construction of a “2016 me,” and learn how to appreciate ourselves, as we are, today. Let’s skip the inevitable crash that follows when, come March, the anxieties, depressions, and boredoms remain the same or worse than before we ran ourselves rampant with hefty promises of a better self. This year, let’s go straight to the root of the resolution.

We are all voyagers starting a new year, and as Jenny Lewis sings, “The farther that we run from it, how will we overcome it? It’s a new you every day.”

Georgia Pettit is a member of the Shambhala sangha in New York. 

Jetsun Drukmo begins her formal studies in the Tibetan language

by Conner Loomis

The Sakyong with Jetsun Drukmo

On the auspicious third day of the eleventh month of the Year of the Wood Sheep, the eldest daughter of the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo, Jetsun Drukmo, began her Tibetan studies. To begin, she was taught the Tibetan alphabet by her great uncle, Tulku Karma Shedrup, the brother of His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche. Tulku Karma Shedrup is renowned as an umdze, a master of liturgy, and Gesar scholar.

The Sakyong and the Sakyong Wangmo felt that beginning her Tibetan studies while in Nepal on an auspicious astrological day would be a good introduction for Jetsun Drukmo. An auspicious day was picked, and Tulku Karma Shedrup was asked to be her tutor. In the Tibetan tradition, it is considered very important who introduces the alphabet and teaches one to read.

His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche

On the first day of study, His Eminence Namkha Drimed Rinpoche performed a ceremony to mark the occasion. He recited the Nang Se Nang Dak—“The Eight Auspicious Ones”—and a chant of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Then, as her first introduction, His Eminence recited the Tibetan alphabet to Jetsun Drukmo in order to create an auspicious beginning. After that, Tulku Karma Shedrup began the first lesson in pronouncing the letters.

Jetsun Drukmo will continue these lessons in Nepal for the next few months. When she returns to the West, Lama Pegyal has agreed to continue tutoring her in Tibetan liturgy in addition to her education at Ziji Early Elementary School. As Jetsun continues to grow and learn, she will continue this bicultural education, training in both Eastern and Western disciplines.

Sakyong Wangmo, photo by Ian Bascetta

The Sakyong and the Sakyong Wangmo are delighted that Jetsun Drukmo can begin her Tibetan education in such an auspicious way. It feels like an important landmark for the Mukpo royal family and the entire Shambhala community. While performing a lhasang at the Kalapa Court in Halifax to mark the occasion, the Sakyong said, “Learning the literary Tibetan language opens the door to the treasury of Buddhist wisdom.”

 Conner Loomis serves as chair of the Education Committee for the Mukpo Family.

The Kalapa Court and the Office of Culture and Decorum are pleased to announce this year’s Shambhala Day Poetry Contest.

With the blessings of the Sakyong, in celebration of the approaching Year of the Fire Monkey, the theme for this short poetry contest is “The Shambhala Lineage manifesting in the world today.” We invite all Shambhalians to submit one three-to-five-line poem by 29 January 2016.

The winning poem will be chosen by the poetry editors of the Shambhala Times, and read aloud to the international community on the Shambhala Day broadcast 9 February 2016. To submit a short poem, please send it in the body of an email to: poetry.shambhalatimes@gmail.com; please make sure to write “Contest Entry” in the email header.

News from the Education Project 

Just before Christmas, the Gesar Fund received a message from the Konchok Foundation, which is supported by the Gesar Fund with some 5000 euros per year. In the Gesar Fund 2014 Summary we already reported that things would change in the education programs the Surmang monastery offers to adults and children. The previously announced new educational program for young adults has now been realized.

The adults of this program now also are contributing to the children’s program by offering a safe container. Khenpo Tsering, the monk who has taught the children for years now, indicates that he has struggled with the class at times, especially due to all the turmoil created by the some of the “wilder” boys. At times he had to stop the program as windows and furniture needed to be repaired! And after resuming the program things often would go wrong again…

We rejoice in the fact that this winter, thanks to the extra adults helping out, the programs for the children have been resumed. Also, a small group of children now receives lessons at the Wechen nunnery. The group in the Surmang monastery consists of more than one hundred children, and both groups have their lessons mainly in the winter months.

See more photos from the Education Project here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gesarfund/sets/72157640943881673/with/23663651519/

To support this work, contributions are welcome through the Gesar Fund: http://www.gesarfund.nl/page/846/donate.html

A Buddhist alcoholic gets sober in AA: A spiritual journey

by David Engelbrecht

When I returned to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) this year, I was a Buddhist. I took refuge in 2012 and my last AA meeting was in 2009. In 2011, I started drinking again. It took a few years to get back to AA. When I got back, I wanted to take The 12 Steps right away. However, I was worried that being a Buddhist might be an obstacle.

AA started in 1935. The founders were involved in the Oxford Group, before they created AA. The Oxford Group practiced first century Christianity. This is probably why the word God is used so much in AA. Also, there probably weren’t very many Buddhists in the United States back in 1935.

So what was I to do about AA’s emphasis on God? Buddhism is a nontheistic religion.

When I was on Step 2 (Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity), my sponsor asked me where was I on the believing in a higher power spectrum. Did I have no problem believing that there was a power greater than myself? Was I an atheist? I said that I did not have a problem with believing there is a power greater than myself, but I’m a Buddhist. He said that there was no problem and I could have my own conception of a higher power. This was a relief. I didn’t have to believe someone else’s conception (e.g., an old man in the clouds controlling the universe). But I started to ponder what a Buddhist Shambhalian’s higher power would look like. Unconditional basic goodness? Buddha nature? The interconnectedness of the universe? Drala? The magic of reality, as it is?

Colorado Clouds, by Jim Rosen

I opened my mind. I had a beginner’s mind. Shunryu Suzuki writes in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” I did not know what this higher power was. I did not know what God was. My mind was open. In Chapter 4: We Agnostics from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, AA’s basic text, says, “We found that as soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God.” For me, the word God is a signpost pointing me in the direction of this Power I can not fully define or comprehend.

Nowadays, there is a lot of interest in mindfulness and meditation. The world of addiction recovery and AA are also interested. I remember my sponsor wanted to check out our Shambhala center. I think one reason is Step 11. Step 11 is “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.” The part that is in italics is very important. This is where AA says I can have my own conception of a higher power. In the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, a book by AA, it is says, “The actual experience of meditation and prayer across the centuries is, of course, immense. The world’s libraries and places of worship are a treasure trove for all seekers. It is to be hoped that every A.A. who has a religious connection which emphasizes meditation will return to the practice of that devotion as never before.” The kind of meditation the founders of AA were talking about was probably reflective meditation. This would be similar to what we call contemplation. However, Buddhist meditation has become secular and a wide variety of individuals, including people in AA, have become interested in it. I think Shambhala, via Heart of Recovery (HoR), could help make meditation available to people in recovery. This is my vision.

I have volunteered to co-facilitate HoR in 2016 at the Portland Shambhala Meditation Center. I contacted other centers about their HoR programs, and found the way New York runs its program was interesting. They actually discuss the 12 Steps. In an email from New York, the facilitator of their HoR wrote, “12 steps are supported and the readings are generally focused around one of the 12 steps.  This meeting is not an attempt to avoid the 12 steps, but generally more about differing ways of working with the 12 steps, recovery and meditation.” I’m hoping to use New York’s model for our HoR program in Portland.

HoR could also be a place where Buddhists and Shambhalians in AA could go and talk about their difficulties with the word God or The 12 Steps. A lot of people in AA are not religious. One person shared at an AA meeting that her sponsor was an atheist, and nature was her higher power. The reason we take the 12 Steps is to have a spiritual experience, or an awakening. AA is a spiritual program, not a religious one. If a Buddhist alcoholic like me can have a spiritual experience in AA, then so can others.

An exploration of our deep connections to one another, and to our own compassionate hearts

by Aaron de Long

We might think of community as something external to our life, something extra. We have our car, our home, our job, and then we have our neighbors, our coworkers: our community. But community is not just the people who live next door or who work in the same office, it is also the people who pave our roads, who work at the power plant, who grow the lettuce we eat and truck it to the store. Community is every connection we have with the world around us that sustains our way of life.

In our society, these connections can be hard to discern. The people upon whom we rely for our standard of living are often invisible, sometimes living thousands of miles away. In many ways, this complexity of connections that gives rise to our life, the geographical extent of our ‘community’, speaks to a profoundly developed civilization. The physical separation of our being with these others, however, can also lead to a feeling of isolation, of alienation.

The extent of our exchange with others is often reduced to a simple abstraction, a dollar, something that is increasingly not even encountered in a physical form. This feeling of isolation is a delusion–we simply could not exist without a multitude of connections–but it is a powerful one. In this place confusion takes root, and we can lose our understanding of what reality is. We can think the world is against us, or indifferent towards us, even while we ourselves are part of it. It is similar to a meditation practitioner who might see all his flaws more clearly through his practice, but fail to recognize the brilliance of mind within which these flaws are illuminated. We miss the forest for the trees; without communal support, we would be unable to ponder the perceived absence of that support.

Evolution

For life, community is the soul of prosperity. Living systems with low species diversity and sparse populations are in precarious positions in terms of survival, particularly if environmental conditions change. It is those systems with the greatest diversity and fecundity, the largest communities, which are the strongest and most robust. Humanity itself has only survived and prospered through the development of social networks, allowing for the sharing of resources, technologies, and the specialization of tasks. Today, more and more studies are linking individual happiness, longevity, and well-being to developed social networks, to community.

In the Buddhist context, this could all speak to the precious nature of the third jewel, the sangha. In the context of modern society, it could also speak towards the key to a more humane, sustainable future. Recently, I listened to Vermont’s U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speak of the descent of America into an oligarchy, a country controlled by a few billionaire families who are rigging ‘the game’ for their own benefit, at the expense of the rest of us. “Is there any hope?” he asked the listening audience. It seems to me that the hope lies in the further development of social networks, both in person and electronically. If we can communicate and work with one another, if we can build communal trust, we can begin to transcend a culture where all exchange is centralized and monetary. We can begin to create a new sort of social order echoing an older, ancestral one, one of cooperation and more direct trade.

photo by Tony Henderson

One of the bases of physics, the law of entropy, colloquially states that things fall towards disorder. In living systems, however, we often see things tending towards symbiosis, or, in a sense, to greater order. In the end, the development of strong, diverse communities is what allows for the greatest security for all individuals. It might not allow for the greatest number of one particular species at one particular time, but it can mean a longer survival period for that species, overall. Such a species, built for the long run, will cultivate diversity, build cooperative relationships with its neighbors and, in time, may even come to be indistinguishable from them. Mitochondria, the organelles that today produce the energy to power most of our cells, were probably initially parasites. Lichen are really the fusion of an algae and a fungus, two organisms that have joined to the point where they are considered one and cannot survive independently.

Compassion

We are all walking the road of life together. If we join hands or, perhaps more accurately, if we recognize that our hands are already joined, it is likely that we will go forth with more clarity, greater joy, and a better chance for humanity’s long-term survival. Our community is really our world, and we ourselves are little more than a series of relationships, inseparable from our neighbor on his lawnmower, from the fox in the hedge, or from the trees that stand by, stretching their limbs up into the sky.

At its inception, society is the interaction between two people. In its most basic form, it is birth. We might grow up to have painful interactions, to experience trauma and difficulty, but our lives began with someone else saving us, again and again. Our lives began with compassion. In this sense, compassion is the heart of community; it is the fabric of the interconnecting thread.

Aaron de Long has worked as a field biologist and organic vegetable grower over the past 15 years. He has published both numerous fiction and non-fiction pieces on-line and in the print media. He will write for food, and can be contacted at albertstephensen@gmail.com

COLUMN: Poetry Space

curated by the Shambhala Times Poetry Space Editorial Board
led by Jeff Fink

While we’re finishing up a forthcoming piece of reader submissions, here’s an unusual entry.  

Last fall, we hosted a Level 2 Shambhala training here in Salt Lake led by Shelley Pierce of Seattle.  

Given the prompt of “Community,” the eleven participants and five staff gave birth to following Doha on the evening of the blood moon eclipse. The accompanying photo was taken later the same night on a ridge in the Wasatch Mountains.

— Yours in the Great eastern Sun,  

Jeff

Community

so the community of warriors has given birth

leaping into the pool of life

as the red full moon rises

our roots reach down and meet each other

as we joyfully break bread

we swim in the sea of mud

in the pool the warriors should not grasp

after the reflection of the moon

the leaves float on the surface

and the red moon makes them appear

as if they were roses

the pool’s depth is unknown

peace and awareness embodied in this moment.

the stillness that comes with that peace

quiets the mind

so that we may

take a shower if the struggle

makes us dirty

the sword of the samurai has come down

the moon bleeds the red blood

of the warrior

a single heart

Practices for the two weeks leading up to Shambhala Day, reflecting on the passage of time and laying a good foundation for the coming year

by Walker Blaine

As we approach the coming New Year of the Fire Monkey on February 9th, it is important to acknowledge the conclusion of our time in the current year of the Wood Sheep. Even though the timing of any “new year” is a group choice made over many generations within a culture, whatever culture we find ourselves in, it is healthy and uplifting to make a relationship with the passage of time. As warriors, we cultivate an attitude of greeting transitions with openness and inspiration for the future.

The Shambhala Calendar

Our Shambhala calendar derives from the Himalayan Buddhist tradition. It is based on a combination of the movement of the sun and the moon, in contrast to the Western calendar, which is based solely on the movement of the sun. Using a calendar that combines the movement of the sun and moon is why Shambhala Day, which falls the day after a new moon, moves from year to year.

The reason we use both the sun and moon in our calendar is that the sun and moon together create the cycle of the seasons, and day and night, which we experience in the passage of time in the world around us. This is mirrored by the way that the sun and moon of bravery and gentleness, or wisdom and compassion, create a life of warriorship. A calendar like this helps us stay in touch with the seasons outside, reminds us of the good qualities within us, and spurs the activity of creating enlightened society together.

Having a calendar also enables us to plan for work and play. It enables our culture to mark its growth and establish itself with dignity through community celebrations, program gatherings, and rituals that integrate basic goodness into our lives. The full moon, for example, is the time that we celebrate goodness together by practicing the Shambhala Sadhana. Other examples are Midsummer’s Day on the summer solstice, the Harvest of Peace on the fall equinox, and Children’s Day on the winter solstice. A calendar creates strength and sanity for everyone because it helps us to collectively move through time with a sense of purpose and inspiration.

Marking the Transition in Our Practice

The transition from one year of activity to the next holds great power and is especially meaningful and important to pay attention to. In Shambhala, the traditional time we mark the end of the year is the eleven days before Shambhala Day. This is a time when we focus on having good conclusions to our activity from the past year, and where we create the good conditions that enable us to enter the next year with a sense of clarity and strength.

Spiritually, the end of the year is a time to apply ourselves to meditation practices connected with overcoming obstacles. Generally speaking, these are the protector practices. Tibetan monasteries do intensive protector practices at this time, calling on the energies of awakenment to overcome both seen and unseen obstacles to compassionate activity. In Shambhala, our end of year practices are sometimes called “mamo chants,” which refers to the title of a protector chant we do intensively during this period. Mamos are a personification of the elements, which can become imbalanced and harmful at times of transition or societal change. The mamo chants are like a request to heal whatever imbalances have accumulated over the past year.

Another aspect of practice at the end of the year is to gather back any energy that might have dissipated over the past twelve months. It is good to spend some time prior to Shambhala Day reflecting on this aspect of our experience and to dedicate some practice to drawing back energy. This can be as simple as doing a period of sitting meditation or Shambhala meditation with that motivation and dedicating the merit at the end.

Marking the Transition in Our Household and Family

The end-of-year practice time concludes two days before Shambhala Day. The day before Shambhala Day is when we could do a thorough “spring cleaning” of our home to lay the ground for the New Year. Cleaning our home is a way to invoke fresh energy and literally clear away residue of the previous year, regrouping ourselves for a new beginning. It parallels the spiritual practice we did leading up to Shambhala Day. Cleaning our home can be a celebration of our good nature, rather than a chore or something we do because we feel bad.

Cleaning our home shrine is an important aspect of this process. If we have a protector tea-offering bowl, this is the day to clean it. The overall approach in taking care of our household at this time is to let go of staleness and create the environment for fresh energy to arrive. If we are able to conclude projects, honor obligations that we’ve been unable to fulfill, or pay back a debt before the New Year, this will allow more inspiration and energy to take root after Shambhala Day too.

The end of the year can also be a poignant time for families to work together on their household, and to reflect on how they spend time together, how the spaces in the home are working or could be rearranged. If there are children in the household, they can help with cleaning and re-establishing the shrine. This is a good time to explain the shrine implements and their meaning to our children, giving them another opportunity to be included in our practice and culture.

Burning incense in a lhasang pot

Shambhala Centers can also host a time for cleaning the center and shrines before the start of the new year. After the cleaning is finished—whether at home or at the center—we can do a lhasang, or divine purification. A lhasang is a simple ritual of burning juniper and chanting a liturgy that both cleanses and blesses a space. We can chant the lhasang at our shrine and then move through the entire home or center burning a little juniper, chanting the warrior’s cry in each room to invoke blessings for the future.

An Ongoing Exploration

There are many other things we might do to bring renewal and inspiration before the start of the New Year. Don’t be afraid to be both curious and playful. Do what feels best for you and your household to explore the transition to Shambhala Day in ways that feel right and strengthening. It is important to approach the process—especially the cleaning—with curiosity and relaxation rather than a being burdened by having to do it right. By bringing end-of-year traditions into our lives and creating some of our own, we participate in the exciting exploration of how to embody enlightened society. All of this lays the ground for the celebrations on Shambhala Day and walking forward through the seasons as a culture of basic goodness and the Great Eastern Sun.

Walker Blaine is Master of Liturgies to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and a Herald of the Kalapa Court. He has studied and practiced the dharma in Shambhala for more than 30 years. Walker lives with his wife Patricia in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Shambhala’s Midwest retreat center celebrates its 15th birthday with a major capital campaign

by Susan Firer

Windhorse Retreat Center started out as the Midwest Shambhala Retreat Center back in 2001. The seed was planted in 1997 when Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche came to visit the region and suggested that a regional retreat center would be of benefit to the Midwest. Through the devotion, discipline and exertion of many in the region, MSRC was born! Alan Anderson and myself were the first co-directors. I am embarrassed to say now that I think we actually appointed ourselves; not having ever done anything like this before we were naïve to the protocols, but our devotion, motivation and intention were pure.

Sakyong blessing the land

We started out with 3 acres and a building which served us well. An opportunity arose in 2005 to purchase another 33 acres of the surrounding property owned by Belden and Lisa Paulson, founders of the High Wind Association. Once again the devotion and commitment of the sangha kicked in and this effort was a success! The 33 acres are owned by Shambhala International. The blessings of the lineage continued and the Sakyong accepted our invitation to visit and bless the land. He came on July 4th of 2005 and shortly thereafter gave us our new name: Windhorse Retreat Center. We’ve been working very hard to live up to our name, to establish a proper seat up here for the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo, and to let the Shambhala teachings spread in the Midwest.

Windhorse pioneers

Currently we are wrapping up a successful Capital Campaign to raise money to buy the original building and 3 acres surrounding it; the mortgage has been held by an individual sangha member since 2002. Windhorse has been renting it at just the cost of paying that mortgage. This campaign is truly a monumental moment for all of us. It will legally and energetically establish Windhorse within the family of Shambhala retreat centers world wide. We have always been part of the mandala, but with the purchase of the building on behalf of Shambhala we will properly set the ground for our further expansion onto the 33 acres. What we plan to do on the 33 acres is a topic for another day, so look for another Shambhala Times story in the future! We’ve had good counsel about expansion from Eva Wong when she visited in 2004, and she asked that we invite her back when we are ready to make things happen.

These days, those of us involved with Windhorse on a day-to-day basis are working to further establish a proper working mandala. There is a lot to still be done on that front. We would like to have a structure that is conducive to promoting a sane workload with lots of attention to the health and well being of all sentient beings.

Supporters are welcome to visit our website, and to follow our blog postings to track the ongoing growth and development of this Center.

Susan Firer is a co-founder of Windhorse Retreat Center, and currently serves as its manager

Editor’s note: readers interested in learning more can click here to see the Windhorse Retreat Center video, and here to contribute to the capital campaign.