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

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.”

Maggie Lewis and Nicolette de Hoop during a recent retreat at Dechen Choling

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

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!”

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Roxanna Eden

Representing Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche at the Vatican

article by Acharya Fleet Maull

At the direction of His Holiness Pope Francis, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue convened a Buddhist – Catholic Dialogue in Rome in collaboration with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Approximately 40 Buddhist and Catholic leaders involved in social justice work were invited from five major US cities – Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC.

The event was called Suffering, Liberation and Fraternity and was organized by Professor Don Mitchell, a Catholic scholar of Asian philosophy at Purdue University. Professor Mitchell first identified Catholic leaders in these five US cities and then asked those invitees which Buddhist leaders they felt would be most appropriate to invite. The Catholic leaders in both Chicago and San Francisco encouraged Professor Mitchell to invite Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche because of the work the Sakyong has been doing with the Chicago and San Francisco Bay Area Shambhala Centers, the Imaging Peace work in Chicago and the Creating Enlightened Society events in the SF Bay Area.

The Sakyong was unable to attend and requested one of the acharyas involved in the Imagining Peace work in Chicago – Arawana Hayashi, Gaylon Ferguson, or me – to attend the Vatican meeting as his representative. I was able to go, and we later arranged for Aarti Tejuja to also attend representing the Chicago Shambhala Center.

We all gathered for an opening dinner, 40 Buddhist and Catholic leaders, at the Mariapolis Center in Castel Gandolfo about 45 minutes south of Rome on June 22nd. This classically picturesque Italian hill town is the location of the Pope’s summer residence. Centro Mariapolis, which abuts the Vatican property, is the headquarters for the international lay Catholic Focolare Movement.

The highlight of the four-day program was certainly our group audience with Pope Francis. We were bussed back to the Vatican in Rome early on the 2nd day of the conference and ushered into a relatively small audience hall where we awaited the Pope’s arrival. For both Aarti and me, it felt just like being in a group awaiting the arrival of the Sakyong, the same electric atmosphere of anticipation, the Swiss Guards (read Kasung), the Pope’s senior staff and so on.

The Pope arrived, beaming and waiving to everyone. He took his seat on a throne chair and offered a few welcoming and appreciation remarks in Italian that were translated into English. The Pope then arose from his chair and went around the circle personally greeting each of us. I was able to present Pope Francis with a copy of The Shambhala Principle inscribed with a greeting from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. I was also able to have a number or rosaries blessed that my Catholic brother and sisters had sent with me hoping there might be the opportunity to have them blessed.

After greeting each of us, Pope Francis again sat down and several more gifts were presented by some of the Sri Lankan-American Theravada and Chinese-American monks. At that moment, Aarti, who was holding a kata, indicated to the Pope’s senior aide – the head of the Vatican household – that she would like to present the kata to Pope Francis. He was resistant at first and there was a hushed conversation among the attendants and a whispered question to Pope Francis. The Pope nodded yes, and Aarti was invited forward to present the kata. Of course the usual protocol with a Tibetan Buddhist luminary would be to offer the kata and then have it placed over one’s own head by the lama. In this case, Aarti, boldly going where no one had gone before, placed the kata over Pope Francis’s bowed head.

I wasn’t sure whether I was witnessing an incredible faux pas, an international incident in the making, or simply a courageous and innocent gesture. The Pope’s attendants rather quickly removed the kata, but Pope Francis was all smiles. In discussions later amongst a number of the participants, Buddhist and Catholic alike, we speculated that this could go any of several ways. In the end, the Vatican actually included Aarti’s brave and beautiful gesture in the video clip from the audience released the next day on the Vatican news service, describing the moment as Pope Francis receiving a Buddhist blessing… international incident averted… yaaaay Aarti!

Pope Francis made a few closing remarks and then headed off to his public audience in St. Peter’s Square where many thousands awaited the Pope’s blessing. Our group went for a very celebratory lunch at a nearby restaurant. On the way out of the Vatican, Aarti coined a new phrase, which everyone took up in unison… Pope glow… describing the way we were all beaming, smiling and even glowing after our encounter with Pope Francis. Personally, I found Pope Francis to have a very strong, gentle and genuine presence. I felt somewhat haunted, in a good way, by his presence for several days. That afternoon we toured the Vatican museum, which was both fascinating and exhausting, leaving us all with very tired feet by day’s end.

The Dialogue conference itself was a wonderful exchange that focused on the considerable commonality within the shared Buddhist and Catholic commitment to peace, justice, compassion, service and attending to the needs of the poor and marginalized in our communities. Each morning began with a half hour chanting and meditation session lead by different Buddhist tradition representatives. Aarti and I lead the chanting and meditation on the final morning of the conference.

Following this Buddhist service each morning, we all walked in unison to the Catholic chapel where the Catholic Mass was offered each morning by priest from different Catholic traditions, including a Greek Orthodox sect that is part of the Roman Catholic church. We had wonderful meals together three times a day provided by Centro Mariapolis. Our dialogue sessions were mostly panels, combining Catholic and Buddhist speakers. The first day focused on the theme of suffering, the second on compassion and the final day on community.

The Buddhist representatives from the five US cities were primarily Asian American monastics or priests along with two lay people representing Theravada and Mahayana (Pure Land and Zen) Buddhist traditions from Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Viet Nam, China, Korea and Japan. Aarti and I were not only representing the Sakyong and Shambhala, but ostensibly representing Tibetan Buddhism as well. There were only four of us who identified as so called “Western Buddhists,” Aarti and myself from Shambhala, Alan Senauke from the Berkeley Zen Center and Mushim Ikeda, who is Japanese American, from the East Bay Dharma Center in Oakland, CA. The Catholics were a mix of diocesan priests, nuns, scholars, church administrators and lay volunteers from Catholic Charities and St. Vincent DePaul Society.

It was a week of very rich dialogue between Buddhists and Catholics dedicated to creating a better society. It was clear that continuing this dialogue and relationship building at the grass roots level will be great value, offering many possibilities for neighborhood collaborations among Buddhist communities and Catholic parishes and organizations.

The Buddhist and Catholic delegation from Chicago set a date for their first meeting back home in Chicago, and there are efforts being made to connect the delegations from the other four US cities with our Shambhala Centers in those cities. It was also clear to me after spending four days with this eminent group of Asian American Buddhist leaders that there would be great value in establishing closer ties and communication between so-called ethnic Asian American Buddhist communities and so-called Western convert Buddhist communities in the US.

The Shambhala Times is delighted to welcome this new baby into our midst:

Bodin Albert Ericsson Blagsvedt was born in the early morning hours of August 4th to Jill Blagsvedt and Tom Ericsson of Stoneham, MA. He was born quickly and has been content and alert. He is already interested in his big brother Rein, and Rein is really excited to be a big brother! He will go by Bodin Blagsvedt, and we like to call him “Bodi” as well.

Bodin is an old Scandinavian name which translates as “refuge”. He gets his middle name from Tom’s father, Albert Ericsson, and Jill’s great grandfather Albert Schlegel. Tom’s father Al has helped many people as an army medic, a nurse, a volunteer fireman, and as a devoted father and husband. Jill’s maternal great grandfather, Albert Schlegel went by “Pa” because he thought he was too young to be a grandpa. He was a farmer in Northern Minnesota, and known as an outgoing person who loved people and children.

Say the parents, “We are all excited to have Bodin join our family. Cheers!”

Family Camp and Rights of Passage held at Karme Choling

During the 2015 Family Camp at Karme Choling the young teens group, “Explorers” were introduced into the heart of Kasung dharma. Dapon Will Ryken guided the Explorers through the teachings by cultivating the spirit of camaraderie and the understanding of container principal within a platoon formation and the body/mind practice of drill.

While Pablo Coddou and others instructed the teens in the details of marching as a unit, Anne-Marie Keppel introduced the principals of tightwire as an individual mindfulness practice. Living in tents, walking the land and sitting by the fire, the Explorers learned a new definition of clan and esprit de corps.

During the concluding ceremony of Rites of Passage Dapon Ryken led a color guard with three Explorer teens who presented the flags of Shambhala to the community.

Pictured here are Elsa Keppel, Melina McGaw, and Maitreya Suchocki.

The heronry that started it all

Buddhist and Shambhala liturgies make many references to caring for other sentient beings. But how do we put such aspirations into practice? The world is full of sentient beings, the vast majority of them being non-human. They don’t speak our language. How does one care for salamanders, otters, whales, alligators, snakes, bats and rhinoceros?

A simple answer is to protect wild nature. Wherever we live.

Paul and Cathy Keddy have just received an award for their contributions to protecting a square mile of forest and wetland in Lanark County, Ontario. The story begins in 1975 when they walked through a 100 acre property and found 30 pairs of great blue herons nesting in a wetland.

The land was for sale. Although they were just newly married, and living in Halifax, they found a downpayment and began paying 70 dollars a month to own this property. “You have to remember that at this time, there were no laws protecting wetlands, and any fool with a bulldozer could have destroyed that wetland in a matter of hours. Even though we could only visit occasionally, we knew the herons were safe.”

The property has 15 beaver ponds that provide habitat for a wide array of wild creatures

The Keddys cared for this land, and all its sentient beings, for more than 40 years. But what would happen, they worried, when they died? Would the land be logged, subdivided, or drained?So they gave it away last year. The Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust now owns some of the land outright, and owns development rights to most of the rest. This gift is for 999 years, renewable! (Not quite a kalpa, but still a long time.)

The Nature Conservancy is probably the best known organization that protects wild spaces in perpetuity, but there is now an international network of land trusts which seeks to expand the network of protected wild spaces. Land gifts and purchases are now growing a system that supplements protection provided by government parks and wilderness areas. So, wherever you live and practice, you will likely find a local land trust.

Cathy and Paul Keddy spent 40 years buying a square mile of forest and wetland in Lanark County. Then they gave it away

“What about our sons and the issue of inheritance? The boys are thrilled that a property with so many happy memories will stay the way they remember it. Moreover, our conservation easement agreement will leave each of them the option to some day live on the edge of the property and enjoy it with their own families. And the salamanders and warblers and turtles and all the rest of the innumerable inhabitants will be allowed to carry on their lives in relative peace.”

To read more about the gift of this land and its natural dwellers, you can visit the land trust’s web site. This gift was also covered in The Ottawa Citizen, with a longer article in the summer 2015 issue of Ottawa Magazine. The Ottawa Field Naturalists’ Club recently gave Paul and Cathy a conservation award in recognition of their contributions to protecting wild species and wild places.

Asheville, NC

Asheville, North Carolina
We are at our new location in Reynolds Village! The address is 60 North Merrimon Ave, #113. This location was previously occupied so there are already interior walls and flooring. We began meeting in Reynold Village on Sunday August 16th. Mindfulness meditation practice will continue on Sundays from 10am to noon (come for any part or all), and Thursdays from 7:00 to 7:45pm followed by a dharma reading and conversation while we upgrade the space. Everyone is welcome. Meditation instruction is available. Please come by and check it out!

Berkeley and Oakland, California
We are delighted to announce the opening of a new Shambhala weekly sit in the Temescal neighborhood of Oakland! Many of our members have expressed the desire for a regular sitting group in Oakland. We are curious what natural connections Shambhala practitioners can make in Oakland, and we hope that this satellite will provide significant opportunities to support people and projects with a similar social vision.

Northern California Shambhala, the San Francisco and Berkeley Shambhala Centers are co-partners backing this project. The Ziji Collective will host the weekly open house, with the intention of creating a culture of inclusion and warmth. After considerable research and discussion, a search committee representing these various organizations has settled on the Temescal Arts Center (511 48th St, Oakland) as the best place to launch this group. A ten-minute walk from the MacArthur BART station, in a busy, commercial neighborhood, we envision this vibrant, accessible space attracting numerous meditators of diverse backgrounds. Please check out our Facebook page for latest events, news, and musings.

Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama
The Birmingham Shambhala Center has gathered volunteers to help a Huntsville location open up. Bill and Carol Elliot of Huntsville have been working to remodel two older Victorian homes, one of which will be the Shambhala loction and the other will become a wellness center where they plan to offer massage therapy and other wellness-related services. Director of the Birmingham Center, Tonya Veitch, said the Birmingham Center hosts 100-200 people each week for meditation and other activities, including recovery outreach, youth programs and social justice campaigns. More than 1,100 people receive the center’s email newsletter.

“Huntsville will be its own center,” Veitch added, “but we are happy to help them with support and encouragement. From my discussions with Bill, he believes Huntsville is a great fit for the Shambhala teachings, and we will help them anyway we can.”

Anyone who is interested in helping support the opening of the new Huntsville center, may contact Kelly Phillips by email at: phillipskelly@att.net.

“We’re really excited about this because there’s really nothing like Shambhala in Northern Alabama,” Phillips said.

Chicago, Illinois

The Shambhala Center of Chicago has several new locations in the Chicagoland area. We encourage you to visit any of our locations during open hours.

Main Downtown Center | West Loop
Shambhala Chicago’s main home is located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The space was purchased last year and has completed renovations.
37 N Carpenter
Chicago, IL 60607

Edgewater (Northside)
6361 N Broadway
Chicago, IL

Hyde Park (Southside)
The home of Ira Abrahms & Rachel Krucoff
5441 S. Kenwood Ave., Apt. 3 (top buzzer)
Chicago, IL 60615

Des Plaines, IL (Northwest)
St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
1095 East Thacker Street
Des Plaines, IL 60016

Oak Park, IL (Near West)
Hug the Moon Wellness Studio
350 Harrison St
Oak Park, IL 60304

Libertyville, IL (Northern Suburbs)
American Legion
715 N. Milwaukee Ave
Libertyville, IL 60047

Halifax, Nova Scotia
With the move of Shambhala International to new headquarters, the Halifax Shambhala Centre has an opportunity to make changes to the physical environment as well an opportunity to re-envision our community’s path going forward.

The Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) was formed to facilitate the process of determining priorities in Halifax based on the Sakyong’s wishes for all centres to turn the flower outwards, and shift to more of a cultural center based on the principles of basic goodness. While nurturing the activities of the Shambhala community, our centres would also be an inviting space to host others in the Halifax community interested in creating a good human society, and a seat from which we can go out into the community.

The SPC has been meeting for several months. The members of the committee are representative of our community – younger and older students, various practice levels, different areas of expertise, and also include HSC staff. Its mandate is to develop the vision for the centre (its activity into the future, within and beyond the centre space), the building configuration that will best serve that vision, and the revenue generation methods to support it. From this work, the strategic planning commiittee will create a proposal to be submitted to the Sakyong and Kalapa Council for approval. See more on the Facebook page here.

New York, New York
Thanks to the support of members and friends, the Shambhala Meditation Center of New York has renewed our lease and committed to staying another five years in our large and beautiful center on West 22nd St in Manhattan. This spring we embarked on a REFRESH CAMPAIGN to invigorate our space and make it more comfortable, inviting and useful for our current and future needs.

A small army of talented volunteers and professional community members have come together to paint walls, redesign decor, hand build new furniture, replace worn cushions, refinish hardwood floors, reorganize the space and much more. These changes reflect our desire to energize our community and pave the way for many exciting new initiatives and programming at the Shambhala Center in the coming years.

Donate to their REFRESH CAMPAIGN by clicking here.

Santa Rosa, California
In an effort to discern the direction the center wants to go in, Santa Rosa recently held their 2nd Community Activate Gathering.

After presentation of the results of the 1st Community Activate Day, there was a good deal of discussion about the Catch 22 we are in:

1) How do we decide on the kind of place we are looking for without first knowing what kinds of programs and activities we will be creating for our center?

2) How do we create the programs and activities without having a center that makes it possible to develop the programs that would characterize our new center?

After coming to a recognition of this dilemma, people collectively came to the conclusion that the Masonic Lodge had a lot to offer us as a temporary space; and that we should embrace and appreciate that, and take full advantage of our time here to gather our resources, raise our energy to serve our existing community and magnetize new members – to do this through our programs and by creating and offering inviting community-based activities. At the same time, our intention would be to raise considerable funds to find and relocate to our ideal center, whether it is a long-term lease or purchase.

“Kinspiration” groups were identified and people signed up to participate in one of the three groups:

– Programs we might develop/offer
– Community Outreach to bring new people/members in
– Fundraising and Financial/Business Planning for our new center

In many ways it feels like we are off to a good start in terms of offering programs and maximizing the space. We have a number of programs planned for the Fall to energize the center activity.

Seattle, Washington
Seattle Shambhala offers group sitting, discussion, and meditation instruction around the Seattle area in multiple satellites, as well as in our main location in Madison Valley.

The Seattle Shambhala Center’s main location is in the Madison Valley neighborhood of Seattle:
3107 E Harrison St
Seattle WA 98112

Eastside Shambhala Meditation
Eastside Shambhala hosts group sitting, discussion, and meditation instructions Tuesday evenings in Redmond at the Dream Clinic
15436 Bel-Red Road,
Redmond WA 98052

Issaquah Shambhala Meditation
Issaquah Shambhala Meditation hosts group sitting, discussion, and meditation instruction Wednesday evenings in Issaquah.
Village Green Yoga Studio (upstairs)
Gilman Village
317 NW Gilman Blvd,
Suite 2,
Issaquah, WA

Ballard Shambhala Meditation
Ballard Shambhala Meditation hosts group sitting, discussion and meditation instruction Tuesday evenings in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.
Soma Yoga Studio
1423 NW 70th St
Seattle WA 98117

West Seattle Shambhala Meditation
West Seattle Shambhala Meditation hosts group sitting, discussion and meditation instruction Tuesday evenings in West Seattle across from the Delridge Community Center and Skatepark.
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
South Classroom
4408 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, WA 98107

Edmonds Shambhala Meditation
Edmonds Shambhala Meditation hosts group sitting, discussion, and meditation instruction the first Wednesday evening of every month in the town center of Edmonds, a few minutes away from I-5.
Innate Health Clinic
420 5th Ave South, Suite 103
Edmonds, WA 98020

Tacoma Shambhala Meditation
Tacoma Shambhala Meditation hosts group sitting, discussion, and meditation instruction every Tuesday evening at the Good Karma Center for Joy in downtown Tacoma.
Good Karma Center for Joy
711 St. Helens Ave.
Tacoma, WA 98402

See more online by clicking here.

West Chester, Pennsylvania
Still Seeking a New Space for Our Group!

Earlier this summer, we announced that we would be moving to a new space. Unfortunately, a combination of contingencies leads us to conclude it’s better to wait to find a larger space. We would have been taking on a four-year lease in a space that we would likely outgrow in less than four years. Of course a healthy community is a good sort of problem to have. We will continue to hold classes and sittings with our generous hosts at West Chester Friends Meeting.

Shambhala Times would like to thank all the centers for sharing their news and James Northcote for keeping us up-to-date on these developments. Thank you also to the great work being done by the Shambhala Environments team! We couldn’t do what we do without our amazing volunteers!

Announcing a New Book by Lodro Rinzler

I was leading a daylong meditation workshop in Boston. After studying Buddhist teachings and talking about how to apply them to our lives, I encouraged the participants to write down something they were struggling with and submit it anonymously. We put a dozen slips of paper in a bowl and, one by one, I pulled out these questions and read them aloud for the group to contemplate. And then I came to one that stopped my heart. I’ll never forget the first time I saw it:

“My boyfriend has never said he loves me. I feel unworthy of love. What can I do?”

The group that day had many wise teachings to offer in regards to this situation. But the question haunted me for weeks afterward. I was traveling for one of my books — to meditation centers, yoga communities, universities, bookstores, everywhere. And the more I traveled, the more I heard various forms of this sentiment:

“I don’t think I’ll ever find someone who will love me for me.”

“If I can’t love myself, how can I expect anyone else to?”

“Why am I single? Am I broken?”

In today’s consumer society we are often taught that we are broken. And then there’s the purported good news: there’s something we can buy or achieve that’s external to ourselves that will fix us. Instead of embracing who we are, we give in to societal whispers telling us we’re not good enough, lovable enough, or desirable enough. We are told we need products to scale higher rungs on the career ladder and then, when we attain that particular external factor, we will be happy. We are told we need to be different than who we actually are in this moment in order to free ourselves from this feeling of suffering. That is not the case.

From a Buddhist perspective, here is the real good news: You don’t need anything external to make you more lovable. You are perfect and inherently lovable just as you are.

When the Buddha sat down to meditate under the Bodhi Tree 2,600 years ago, he didn’t sit down to come up with a master plan to make himself different. He acknowledged he was suffering, and knew that he wanted to do something about that. He engaged in a simple meditation practice to begin to look at that suffering. The more he looked, the more he realized that at his core he wasn’t basically messed up. He was basically good. He was basically awake. And he’s not alone. We are, too. Our wakefulness is indestructible. It is like a diamond in a heap of dust. It is always there. We just need to discover it.

When we talk about the Buddha there is a Sanskrit term that is often used: he is the Tathagata. Tathagata can be translated as Buddha, but more directly as “the Awakened One.” What did the Buddha wake up to? His own indestructible nature. He woke up his mind and heart in a very big way and woke up to reality as it is, as opposed to how he wished it was, or how it used to be. That is what we mean when we talk about meditation practice and attaining enlightenment. We are talking about how we can follow in the Buddha’s footsteps by becoming more present and awake on the meditation seat and the rest of our day-to-day life.

One of the things that the Buddha discovered is that he didn’t have to bullshit. He saw reality for what it is, and was able to work with people and situations in a direct and genuine way. He wasn’t a diplomat. He wasn’t a politician. He was a revolutionary in that he presented himself authentically and people responded in kind. Whomever he met was inspired by his presence. Through the simple act of remaining openhearted, he invited people to join him in that space and be openhearted as well. I mention this story because we can do as the Buddha did and present ourselves authentically. In my experience there are three steps to this process:

1. Look at yourself
One of my favorite Tibetan words for “meditation” (there are several) is gom. Gom can also be translated as “familiarity.” It is the notion that through the simple practice of being with the breath and watching your thoughts float across the landscape of your mind you are becoming more familiar with them. The more familiar you become with the various ways you get hooked by emotion, the habitual patterns that keep you running from the present moment, and the nonstop chatter going on in your head, the more familiar you become with the essence of who you are.

2. Discover your basic goodness
When you become familiar with the essence of who you are, you see what the Buddha saw: that beyond whatever layers of confusion and pain that have developed over the years you are innately peaceful. You are inherently wise, good, and strong. That is your true nature, what is referred to within my tradition of Shambhala as “basic goodness.” Basic goodness is the experience that you are primordially whole. That is who you are. And it’s not just you; everyone else possesses this same nature.

3. Develop faith in that goodness
Once you have glimpsed that you are basically good, you should develop faith in that. It’s easy to give in to internal or external whispers that you’re basically not good enough, but if you can experience this sense of primordial wholesomeness, then that can trump whatever gets thrown at you. It’s not an idea, like the idea that you need a new iPad, but an understanding. We can have faith in our experience of basic goodness and continue to cultivate that both on and off the meditation cushion.

The essence of who you are is innately lovable. When we drop the constant critiques that come up throughout our day we experience a sense of peace and warmth. We learn to love ourselves. Most of the time we walk around thinking, I wish I hadn’t said that, or I really need to do that better next time. Rarely do we sit down and appreciate all the good we have done. All too rarely do we celebrate our human potential.

The beauty of the Buddhist meditation practice is that it is a simple tool for doing just that. Yes, we become familiar with both the sanity and insanity that rages in our mind through meditation, but we also get glimpses that we are lovely human beings. We see that we don’t need to rely on a new product or job or even romantic partner to be whole. My Buddhist teacher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, wrote, “True love is the natural energy of our settled mind.” Through training in being with something as simple as the breath, you are learning to settle down with yourself and also training in being with your inherent wakefulness. Within your natural state there is unfathomable love. That is what the Buddha discovered and what you can discover as well.

Adapted from “How to Love Yourself (And Sometimes Other People)”, by Lodro Rinzler & Meggan Watterson, Hay House, September 2015

On September 6th, 2015, Beka Davis and Tracy Steele exchanged marriage vows in a Shambhala Wedding Ceremony. Acharya Judith Simmer Brown led the joyful ceremony in Boulder, Colorado at the Boulder Shambhala Center. The vows were witnessed by family and friends from near and far and the Shambhala sangha. There was much rejoicing with laughter, tears, poetry, singing and dancing to mark the significance of this day. Beka and Tracy extend deep appreciation to the Boulder Shambhala sangha for holding and supporting their wedding. They were last seen riding off on bicycles!

Ellen Kahler and her wife Susanna

On the Scene in Montpelier, Vermont

by Sarah Lipton

Ellen Kahler, executive director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, is the winner of the inaugural Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial, Community Leadership.

You’ve met her before. Ellen Kahler was responsible for hosting Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in the Governor’s Office in Vermont June 2014 (click here to read more). There was also an article about her earlier this year in the Kitchen Wisdom Column (click here). Ellen also serves on the Montpelier Shambhala Group Council, as part of the leadership team that has been growing their local sangha. She didn’t really want us to write about her again, but the fact that she has found a platform in the greater society to espouse the teachings draws us to her.

Ellen has long been a figure in the transformation of Vermont society, having led both the Peace and Justice Center and now the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. Looking back at her career of over 25 years, Ellen has been remarkably tuned in to the issues that affect the state. While Ellen was the Executive Director of the Peace and Justice Center in Burlington (1990 to 2002), her most well-known works were the Vermont Job Gap Study and the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign, which won statewide attention around the issue of basic family needs, livable wages, and under-employment.

Ellen became the Executive Director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) in late 2005. Over the past 10 years, she has demonstrated leadership on projects such as the development and implementation of the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan – a 10-year plan to strengthen the food and farm economy in Vermont – and providing grants and technical assistance to farms and businesses in the forest products and bioenergy sectors. She is a graduate of Bucknell University in Pennsylvania with a BA in Political Science and from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a Masters in Public Administration.

Today, a few of us very proud Shambhalians had the pleasure to witness as Ellen received this very prestigious new award in Vermont:  the Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial, Community Leadership. The $15,000 award was presented to Ellen at a reception at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier.

As local newspaper The Times Argus explained, “The annual award recognizes the life’s work of Vermont leader Con Hogan by rewarding a midcareer community leader who shares his vision of a better Vermont and who seizes the responsibility for making that vision real.”

Furthermore, “the award recognizes a leader who shows deep community involvement, generosity, enthusiasm, a collaborative approach, and a focus on data and outcomes in his or her work. In the award’s first year, 25 Vermonters representing a variety of interests from across the state were nominated.” Ellen, after many nominations, was recognized as holding these leadership qualities and came out on top.

Con Hogan, Ellen Kahler, Stuart Comstock Gaye (CEO of the VT Community Foundation)

In her address to the assembled gathering of over 100 people, Ellen not only demonstrated her excellent leadership by naming all those who have mentored her on her path, but she also challenged the assembly, saying, “I invite you to consider how our culture of fear and greed has been built and what this has led to. And then think about the desire we all have to be happy and to live from a place of hope and optimism for the future. What will most enable that? Will a culture of fear and greed lead us to be happy or to solve the incredibly complex challenges we face as a species today? Or do we need a culture of kindness to help us get to happiness and a feeling of all-rightness.

“I think we need to have a conversation about re-defining wealth in this country. We need to shift the definition of wealth from a level of accumulated money to a feeling of well-being. A feeling that you have ‘enough.’ What would that take? What would the metrics be to gauge kindness, care and ‘enough-ness’ in our society?

“Just think about it, if a person has a sense of well-being and ‘enough-ness’ and lives in a culture that reinforces this, then that person will want that same feeling of ‘enough-ness’ for others. It just works that way. How might that affect our societal structures? Our human services system, our economic system, and how we treat and interact with the planet and other beings who call earth home?”

Jane Arthur, Scott Robbins and Suzanne Trahey

Jane Arthur, in attendance at the event, had these thoughts to share about Ellen: “Ellen is someone who came into Shambhala already quite far along in understanding where we’re heading with the teachings, particularly those on enlightened society. The teachings have enriched the person that she already is, and have given her a compass point to continue doing all the great work that she is doing in Vermont. And she is definitely doing it. She is manifesting like Rinpoche is asking us to do. What a wonderful acknowledgement of somebody’s overt wisdom and goodness for her to be receiving this really special award, which is named for someone who has also exhibited that in his lifetime.”

Suzanne Trahey, also in attendance at the event, shares, “Ellen Kahler manifests leadership and humility through the humanity she brings to her work and to her community of Vermont. Her receiving this award is a validation and empowerment of the Shambhala teachings.”

“In conversations with those who have known her over her career,” said Scott Robbins, “it is obvious that her contributions and leadership have been well-regarded by many in the legislature and the non-profit sector. I get the sense that all that she has accomplished has been rooted in a long-standing aspiration for the betterment of all those in society, and that her discovery of the Shambhala teachings and our vision of enlightened society has only underscored and reaffirmed these values. Adding the profundity and simplicity of basic goodness to this drive has given Vermont a powerful voice for the inclusion of kindness and a recognition of our interdependence in the dialogue held by those who serve the public.”

When asked about how she feels, Ellen shares, “Being in a leadership position affords me lots of opportunity to work with managing my ego through moments of one of the eight worldly concerns – praise and blame. Receiving two significant leadership awards in Vermont in the span of a couple of weeks caught me by surprise and has been incredibly heart-warming, though a bit surreal. I am so used to just doing my work in Vermont, with as much equanimity as I can muster, and so don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how others might be viewing my leadership and perceived impact. The outpouring of love and congratulatory remarks by friends, family and colleagues has enabled a deep feeling of being grateful to everyone.”

Ellen has clearly demonstrated a profound embodiment of the Shambhala teachings, and we couldn’t be more proud to congratulate her on receiving this wonderful award!

On the night of an extraordinary full moon, Boulder Shambhala Center offers the Shambhala Sadhana

by Elaine Logan

I walk into the main shrine room at the Boulder Shambhala Center on the full moon, Sunday, August 30, for the Shambhala Sadhana practice. Achary Dan Hessey sits up front, surrounded by expectant folks. I sit at the back, facing the shrine. The shrine room feels full – so many people showed up!  Something different is happening. People came out of their homes late on a Sunday afternoon, just to do this sadhana, just to be here with folks of like mind and to chant about basic goodness.

Acharya Hessey introduces the sadhana. While I listen, I look around the room. I see old friends, and I see new faces. I see young couples. I see children. I see young teenage friends sitting beside me in the back. Later I ask one young man, “What brings you here? Are you Buddhist?” He says, “No. I just came with my friend.”

In front of me a woman and her daughter sit on red gomdens. During the sadhana, mother and daughter share a magenta scarf. The daughter pulls the scarf from her mother’s shoulders and stretches it over her arms. A radiating tattoo of dots and triangles wraps around the mother’s arm like a sleeve.  She wears red lipstick – a look I love.  Black springy curls surround the daughter’s face. She looks ten years old. During the sadhana, I see the daughter is chanting too. I am impressed. What’s it like to feel basically good right from childhood?

During my own chanting, I hear an old Scots voice, “Who the hell do you think you are to be so good?” Regardless of this voice I chant, “I am basically good.” After the practice, we all retire to the community room for a spread of refreshments topped by two huge homemade pies: apple and pumpkin! I love to mingle with my favorite folks on the planet, the Basically Good Guys!

Now Shelly Webb, the Boulder Shambhala Member and Volunteer Coordinator, asks me to write something up about this event. “We had at least 74 people here tonight. We’d like to put something into the Times about it.” Sounds great, but by this time almost everyone has gone. So, I followed up with some calls. First, I asked Melanie Klein, the Shambhala Center’s new Executive Director. Melanie was delighted: “A wonderful blend of senior and brand new students, some even brought their children along. Folks told me that practicing the Sadhana was just what they needed.”

To find out more about this whole shebang, I called Les Schafer, who coordinated the event. “How did it feel to see so many people?” “Wondrous,” Les said. “Pato [Valderrama] and I were coordinating. Noel Smith said ‘Set up for 20.’ We set up for 30. Then Noel went and set up for 40. Then more and more people kept coming and we kept putting out more and more cushions, chairs, and support cushions. Everybody was so wonderful. Everybody helped!” Les went on to describe what happened later: “Pato and I were downstairs putting away food and Eileen Malloy comes downstairs and says, ‘Your cushions are all put away in the post-meditation hall.’ We didn’t ask anyone. They did that on their own. Everyone was compassionate and good-natured. Pato and I thought we’d be there till 9:00!”

I followed up with Bill Haas, a colleague from Seagate Technology. How did Bill find the evening? “It was heartwarming and encouraging that so many people showed up,” said Bill. “Man, we pretty much filled the place up.  More and more people are connecting to the magic of that practice. It is so to the point. It so speaks to the whole situation, individually, and globally, and everything else in between. The other thing I like about it is that it’s not exclusive. We exclude no one. If you’ve never done it before, you’re welcome. If you do it all the time, you’re welcome. That warms my heart.”What makes it magical?” I ask Bill. “Well, it helps because there is group energy. We are not just individuals. We transcend the boundaries of our bags of skin.”

I caught up with Acharya Dan Hessey driving to another teaching event. What did the Acharya think of this event? Acharya Hessey said, “This was an exciting and pivotal event. It provides context where the entire community could hear, contemplate, and meditate on the core principal of Shambhala which is Basic Goodness. This has a new level of inclusivity.”

Inclusivity? “When people hear about Basic Goodness at any point in the path, two things take place: a deep intuitive inspiration that it’s possible that Basic Goodness is at the heart of every being in the world and the world itself, and at the same time our doubt about that is brought up to the surface. The group sadhana provides a community to experience basic goodness and contemplate their doubts and hesitations. What a wonderful path!”

Aha! Yes. I remember that Scottish doubting voice.

I feel happy with my work. Too bad I don’t get a chance to chat with that mother and daughter who sat in front of me. Then, just this past weekend, I assistant directed a Shambhala Training Level One in Boulder. Steve Seely, the director, is my old meditation instructor from the 1984 Vajradhatu Seminary, and I decided to reconnect.

When I walked into the Shambhala Training Meditation hall Saturday morning I found, not just the mother who sat in front of me at the Shambhala Sadhana, but her daughter too. This daughter loves her Mom so much she likes to meditate with her. On Saturday, we meditated with Paloma. We walked with Paloma, and saw her hands perfectly joined in the walking meditation mudra. In the aimless wandering exercise, Paloma was the first one to look behind the curtain that says, “Don’t look behind this curtain.” And we all looked with her.

Before we leave that day, Larissa Godat, Paloma’s mother, tells me about their full moon Shambhala Sadhana, “We went by accident,” she says. “We thought it was the Basic Goodness mantra chant. We really enjoyed that chant when the Sakyong visited. And the email said it was a family event. But there was no childcare, or we missed it somehow. We ended up in the shrine room, expecting a different practice. Then I realized I had brought Paloma to something really advanced. Some parts she could do easily, like ‘I am basically good.'” Larissa apologized to her daughter; they didn’t find out until later that there had been a whole game room set up just for kids. But Paloma impressed her mother: “She did the whole sadhana. She hung in there! I was just so mindblown that we had done it, that she had done it. I was just so completely impressed with her!”

I ask Paloma Godat herself, what does she think of that whole shebang? “It was full of complicated words I couldn’t understand.”

Were there words Paloma did understand? “Yeah! Heart, and Buddha.”

How about Basic Goodness? Does Paloma feel that she is basically good? “Yeah – sort of.” Another pause … “But mainly – I’m basically bored!”

Elaine Logan ​was thrown out of Scotland in 1984 for being too cheerful. She works for Seagate Technology, writing the documents that make the whole world sing. ​Elaine volunteers for hospice and the Boulder Shambhala Center​, and she is writing a memoir of life in Scotland, called “Who, Me?” Elaine’s daughter, Rowena Lair, teaches history in New York City.​

Chicago Shambhala Center’s open mic night builds community, fosters diversity

by Sai Wei

photos by Chase Bauer

On the third Friday evening of every month, the Chicago Shambhala center transforms from a peaceful meditation center to a throbbing hub of music and expression. Gone are the smartly dressed middle class adults, and in come teenagers in sweatpants, Nikes, and baseball caps. Gone are the white majority. There are mainly African Americans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and other people of color at this venue. They are here for an evening down in the basement, where the space is dark except for the spotlight and the stage. The silence and quiet of the center is gone, pierced by the loud proclamations of rap, song, and dance.

It’s my first time experiencing a Speak Up Chicago open mic night and I am not comfortable.

It’s the noise. It’s the darkness. Everything is so different from how things are normally run at Shambhala Chicago. The young people here might not even know this is a meditation center. They’re here for a stage where they can express themselves with no judgement, no matter how twisted and tortured and real the issues they bring up are. As an intern of Shambhala, I, like many others who come to the center, came for the meditation. I came for the beautiful flower arrangements and the pure and tranquil atmosphere. I am all about finding peace and bravery in daily life. And now I’m putting my hands over my ears because the speakers are so loud. I hate staying up late during the night.

But Speak Up Chicago is more than an open mic night. Despite the title. It is simply an open invitation for the youth in Chicago to find support in whatever venture they’d like to explore, whatever creative thing it may be. To tell the tale from the beginning, it starts with the Sakyong. Under his inspiration to “open the flower outwards”, Shambhala Chicago began to interact with the outside community, beginning with a few conferences and trainings with mindfulness meditation.  After the conference “Imagining Peace”, a student named Joshua Lazu, who was a part of the conference, came up to Aarti Tejuja, the current director of Social Engagement at Chicago Shambhala, and asked if he could start an open mic night at the center. Aarti said yes.

Around the same time several young people (including myself), started dropping in and telling her they were interested in working for social justice or the open mic night. Encountering many different challenges along the way, we began to form a core group. We have traveled this strange journey of life together, supporting and helping each other along the way.

Speak Up Chicago seems to have generated a lot of buzz. It’s true, this group is definitely different. But sometimes I and others at Speak Up worry about becoming the poster children of Shambhala. We represent a new vein from the white hippies that eventually became Chogyam Trungpa’s students. We’re a group of people of color who are simply hanging out, becoming a close knit family, sharing our sorrows and joys. Because beyond what we do in this vision of engagement and working for peace in the face of violence, there is a primordial aspect of family in this group. We share each other’s homes, lives, and activities, going to barbecues and birthday parties.

Family. That’s an aspect that Shambhala seems to lack, in fact. It seems many come to Shambhala from other religious traditions, where they felt like there wasn’t a genuine spirituality that they could relate to. Shambhala offers something special, fostering bravery and gentleness. But after the retreats are done, we go back to our lives. We return to our homes and come back to the center for the next class or the next meditation session. But how much do we really offer up to share? Everyone knows that acquaintances only share the good parts, the pretty parts of their lives. True family shares everything, the darkness and the light.

Within Speak Up, we offer up something that expands the vision of what Shambhala can be. Shambhala can become more than a meditation center. There is an energy that magnetizes the space, where we continue to challenge the older, more senior folks in creating new ventures, new horizons to reach for. We’re looking for people from Englewood and other violent neighborhoods to interact with people from downtown and Hyde Park. We’ve attended the Sakyong’s “Making Peace Possible” conference, and have traveled to Mexico to attend the Ziji Summit as the largest represented group of young people in Shambhala. We’re planning to do a retreat at the Windhorse center in Wisconsin.

We come from a different part of the city, not the clean, well-educated, protected areas, but the places people whisper about, where some of us have endured traumas that people have only heard of and never have experienced. Some of us suffer from a continuous lack of support and financial means, contributing to the high probability of not graduating from school and being involved with crime and drug abuse. Many of us are scarred by the systematic racism that does not allow people of color and lower economic means to thrive. But we are Shambhala as well, an enlightened society that arises from true reality.

What is Shambhala exactly then? What are we? These questions come up in the face of our existence. Because the fact remains obvious:  Shambhala is dominated by middle class, college educated white people. Why is it so hard to attract people of color or poor people? Even I, a fairly whitewashed, middle class Asian American college student, feel uncomfortable in the Shambhala Level classes because I am constantly surrounded by white people. And I am committed to and deeply inspired by the Shambhala vision. There is nothing I want more than to be a true warrior. And yet, I constantly struggle with the feeling of discomfort on being the only person of color in the room while attending Shambhala activities. Why do I feel like an alien, like an outsider?

What exactly attracts only white people to Shambhala? Maybe because it’s so squeaky clean and articulate, and offers an image of Eastern wisdom that Westerners long for. But what if that’s problematic? On my return from the Ziji Collective retreat in Mexico, I realized that there was an inordinate number of Harvard graduates and professors at the conference! Is the very culture and language that we have adopted too sophisticated and wordy for the average high school dropout? What if people speak in different ways? How can we foster diversity in Shambhala? It seems our existence forces us to expand the vision of what Shambhala means, because it means different things to different people now.  Speak Up Chicago is a testament to a different kind of Shambhala.

Sai Wei is the intern of Social Engagement at the Chicago Shambhala center. She is currently studying at Shimer College with an emphasis on philosophy. 

On the morning of November 14th, Khenchen Michael Taney, Rusung of Vermont’s St. Johnsbury Shambhala Center and long-time student of both Sakyongs passed away. He had recently been diagnosed with a rare form of aggressive cancer. He was surrounded family, including Susan and Gabe Taney and Pamela Keats while they were playing a Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso song, which begins, “Leave your body as a corpse…” when he passed.

Khenchen Michael Taney joined the Shambhala community at the Philadelphia Dharmadhatu in 1978, going to Seminary in Bedford Springs, PA in 1983 and has served in both the Gesar and Kusung arms of the Dorje Kasung since 1979. He received Vajrayogini Abhisheka in 1991 at Karme Choling with Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, attended the second Rigden Abhisheka that ever happened at Karme Choling and entered the Scorpion Seal path in 2009, continuing through SSA3.

Khenchen Taney served as Rusung of St. Johnsbury twice, exemplifying dharma, community service and protection. Khenchen Taney is remembered for his cheerful service and wry sense of self-deprecating humor, as well as his wisdom and humility. No task was too small for him. He is an inspiration and humbling reminder to all of us who have the unique opportunity to serve the Shambhala community. Both the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo were deeply saddened by the sudden news. The Sakyong expressed how loyal and dedicated he was, recognizing how much time and service Michael has contributed to the community in St. Johnsbury and beyond. The Sakyong Wangmo expressed fond memories of Michael from her recent visit to Karme Choling. She was well aware of how active and present he was during this past summer’s campaign.

Michael was born on October 28, 1951 in Westport, CT to J. Charles Taney II and Amie Hollingsworth Taney. He grew up in New Rochelle, NY and graduated from New Rochelle High School. He graduated with a BA from Westchester University in Westchester, PA.

Michael is survived by his son Gabe, now a freshman at Massachusetts School of Art and Design in Boston, by his partner Pam Keats, and his ex-wife Susan Taney. He was a loving and devoted father and grandfather. Michael is also survived by seven siblings: Ria Brownlow, Monica Brooke Taney, Charlie Taney III, Peter Taney, Suzanne Hutchinson, Mayda Taney, and Damon Taney. He was predeceased by his parents. Music played a big role in Michael’s life. As a young man he played guitar and harmonica in several rock bands. He loved classic jazz of the big band era, bebop and American Blues. Michael’s livelihood was supported by two careers. He was a professional in internet connectivity, marketing, telecommunications and web design. He created websites for several organizations, including Samadhi Cushions. He was also trained as a paralegal at Woodbury College and served as an investigator for public defense attorneys.

Following are a number of remembrances. Share yours below in the comments field.

Rupa Acharya Suzann Duquette, Resident Acharya, Karme Choling
Michael’s honesty and true heart were always a teaching to me. His complete dedication and loyalty to the Mukpo lineage and steadfastness to the kasung path were an inspiration. Michael always offered himself honestly, and he faced his dying with this same true heart and Michael humor. His death is a great sadness, and a huge loss to our community. I wish Michael a clear journey and his family my deepest sympathy.

Tara Bass and Doug Stark, Assistant Directors, Karme Choling
Michael Taney was completely committed and always available to Karme Choling. When we asked him to help us with a project it was never a question. He was here and ready to help, no matter how last minute it was or what else he might have had going on. He was not shy in expressing how he may have felt about a given situation, but that was one of the gifts that he gave us. You always knew exactly how he felt about something and he always showed up. Not only did he show up, but he arrived with a glint in his eye, a smile on his face and commitment in his heart. Michael demonstrated complete commitment of body, speech and mind. We are so grateful and fortunate to have had him in our close community.

Sara Demetry, Kado, Regional Desung Commander
Over the last 11 years, Michael Taney and I have served together as kasung in many campaigns. He was always warm and loving, occasionally edgy and very devoted to his community and family with a sense of humor I often could not understand but admired. I watched him show up for virtually every campaign. He was steady and loyal.

In spite of our long acquaintance, it feels now that my friendship with Michael started on September 12th this year when I went to see him at home. I thought we were going to talk about back pain, but instead Michael disclosed that he was told 2 days earlier that he had lesions on his sciatic nerve and that it seemed it might be an aggressive cancer, but more tests were needed. We went on to have a long and wonderful dialogue about our paths with Shambhala, our inspiration, our families of origin, experiences with our parents’ deaths, and stories about how we connected with the dharma. It was a spectacular sunny day on his back porch. For days afterward, my heart felt opened by our contact.

What strikes me now, what I will take with me from him, is the truth that opportunities to connect deeply with one another are right in front of us all the time. I wish I had more time to know him more deeply and intimately as a friend and fellow kasung. But I am inspired to remember that each conversation has the power and the opportunity for the kind of presence I felt with him that day.

Khenchen Byron Wild, Rusung at Karme Choling
I knew Michael as a member of the Vermont sangha and particularly as the St. Johnsbury Rusung. We worked together on several occasions co-hosting Essential Heart of Kasungship and supporting the Garuda’s Nest Court. He took such joy in kasung practice. I will always remember him as a passionate advocate for the straightforwardness and earthiness of being kasung. He was strong, steady, loyal, and funny.

I was asked to place the pins on his uniform once his body arrived at Karme Choling. I took my time. I fussed over millimeters and wondered how he had the patience to deal with the faulty clasp on the back of the flag pin. His belt was on backwards so I fixed it. Finally, I stepped back and felt something shift into place. He had so much dignity and calm. I imagined him as a warrior in his best armor setting out for his final battle. His decision to leave this life as a kasung melted my heart. Farewell and much love my kasung brother. May you protect the Mukpo lineage for lifetimes to come.

Tom Bryer, Director, St. Johnsbury Shambhala Meditation Center
Michael was always available to be of service. He was there for the center, for his family and for his community. Photographing events, playing music, organizing fundraisers…his service is a long, long list spanning many years. He loved to greet dignitaries at the center with proper decorum. I remember him standing on the sidewalk on a cold Vermont winter evening waiting for an Acharya to arrive. He was passionate about it. His dedication to Shambhala and the Dorje Kasung was boundless. Michael will be greatly missed. Not just for all that he did but for who he was. We will remember him as a Noble Warrior of Shambhala. Thank you Michael for all that you shared with us.

Gerry Haase, Kado, currently holding the desung post at the St. Johnsbury Shambhala Meditation Center
Two months… That’s all Michael Taney would have wanted. Two months to put his affairs in order. We traveled to Boston, Pam, Michael and I, on November 2nd for a second opinion. The oncologist at Dana Farber cancer clinic did not hold out false hope. That’s when he understood it was a matter of days or weeks at most. Michael spoke openly to me about wanting to reconcile with anyone he felt he might have harmed in this life. Although at times in excruciating pain, Michael exhibited tremendous courage, love, and appreciation for his family and his community.

Michael was not always an easy person. His colossal rants are legendary. Form and protocol were extremely important to him. Beware the person who broke decorum. In the face of death, with the precious time that he had left, Michael showed himself to be a Dorje Kasung through and through. He handed over his Rusung responsibilities, taking his Oath of Resignation on his deathbed while being entered into the Trident path with yet another oath. It is said we can be called back to duty at any time…

~~
Tribute compiled by Sarah Lipton as an act of remembrance for her Kasung Brother. Please leave your remembrances below in the comments field.

Introduction

The First8: From bottom left to right—March Wood; Endia Sowers Paige, Rashid Hughes. Top left to right is Chiquita Richardson, Jennifer Nash, Alice Bellis, Erin Johnson, Donna Lawson, Cleon Peoples.

Washington DC Shambhala Member March Wood completed her Masters at The Howard University School of Divinity earlier this year. While she was at Karme Choling participating a weekthun in the fall of 2014, she had an inspiration about bringing some of her classmates (mainly African American Christian leaders) to experience meditation and the retreat container, as a way of cultivating new strengths and skills they can use as they serve their communities. Cara Thornley, who was the Director of the retreat, was also enthusiastic about the idea; she solicited the interest and support of Acharya Gaylon Ferguson, and with the help of the KCL staff, they put together a plan for a 5-day immersive retreat for this group of Black leaders. The Shambhala Center of Washington DC signed on as a sponsor, so as to provide a tax-deductible platform to raise the funding to cover retreat expenses. March, DC Chagdzö Judy Gillespie, and DC Center Director Jayne Sutton started a campaign that raised the necessary funding in a little more than a week, and the retreat took place in July. We are viewing this first effort as a pilot we hope will move forward to build new partnerships and networks for social justice and racial healing.

Following is a letter from the retreat group about their experience.

OPEN LETTER TO THE SHAMBHALA COMMUNITY

From

The HOWARD UNIVERSITY FIRST EIGHT

The First 8, eight members of the historically black Howard University community in Washington, DC, extend our gratitude to the unwavering commitment and generosity of the Shambhala community for our five-day retreat to Karmê Chöling this July.  Our experience “can only be described as transformative!” shared participant Cleon Peoples. The participants overwhelmingly agree that the intimacy and encouragement of all of the retreat participants and our retreat team laid the foundation for a strong bond among us all. “Since our ultimate goals are not just personal, but social,” said Dr. Alice Bellis, Howard University School of Divinity (HUSD) faculty member and retreat participant, this bond was particularly important to bring back to our communities following this historic endeavor.  

Gaylon Ferguson

This first of its kind retreat was wonderfully led and skillfully facilitated by our all star Karmê Chöling team, notably Senior Teacher Cara Thornley and March Wood as co-coordinators, Acharya Gaylon Ferguson and Kasung Dr. Deborah Marshall as educators, and the entire Karmê Chöling community. March Wood, a HUSD graduate, conceived of this idea following her participation in a weekthun with Cara Thornley at Karmê Chöling. The rest is history! The natural beauty of Barnet, Vermont, and of Karmê Chöling contributed a magical background to our experience. “Karmê Chöling is much more than a place, it’s a sacred experience,” said participant Rashid Hughes. The true commitment to our cause and comfort by this retreat team and by the Karmê Chöling community as a whole allowed us to experience, together, “a unique cultural immersion that provided fertile ground for the safe development of multidisciplinary spiritual leadership,” shared participant Erin Johnson.

For five days we studied under the only African-American Acharya within the Shambhala Buddhist organization, the deeply respected Gaylon Ferguson, as well as engaged in daily one-on-one meditation instruction with experienced Kasung Dr. Deborah Marshall, also African-American. “The biggest takeaway from the retreat has been the practical tools that I learned to support a meditation practice in my daily life” shared participant Endia Sowers Paige. “Acharya Gaylon Ferguson and Deborah Marshall did an amazing job of demystifying my previously held opinions and assumptions about both meditation and Buddhism.”

Karme Choling

Our teachers, the immersion into meditation practice and the overall exposure to Shambhala culture at Karmê Chöling, laid a safe foundation for us, both as African-Americans and as spiritual leaders, to discuss our collective struggle for citizenship amidst the ongoing genocide of our people, both as individuals and as a group. Our discussions were deepened from considering our struggle through the lens of the Shambhala vision of Enlightened Society, and witnessing the Shambhala response to some of the African American community’s most difficult ordeals.

Festive Dinner

We read and discussed Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s July 2, 2015 letter to the Charleston, SC Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where he asked a question of great importance to all of us: “In this time of instability and extreme challenge, where can we find refuge?” “For me, the powerfully sacred answer to the Sakyong’s question is that we can ultimately find refuge within ourselves, through meditation” participant Erin Johnson shared. We also had the opportunity to view the Dhamma Brothers documentary about meditation successes in U.S. prisons (including the prison where Dr. Marshall used to work!) and the recent CBS News “Religion and Culture” feature highlighting the Sakyong’s meeting with members of Chicago communities empowering the collective pursuit of peace amidst gang violence.

Howard Family

Finally, of the upmost importance to this retreat, was sowing the seeds for collective organized resistance. This was our call to the Shambhala community, and the community answered with a resounding outpouring of love, financial support, education, patience, compassion and kindness. We, as African Americans and as spiritual leaders, collectively recognize how powerful of a force this retreat, the practice of meditation, and the Shambhala tradition, can be not only in our lives, but as a galvanizing force aligned with the attainment of Enlightened Society within the Shambhala tradition.

The First8: March Wood; Endia Sowers Paige, Rashid Hughes; Chiquita Richardson, Jennifer Nash, Alice Bellis, Erin Johnson, Donna Lawson, and Cleon Peoples.

Editor’s note: if you enjoyed this article, you may want to see this video of Carolyn Mandelker’s interview with March Wood.

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

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

Cheerful Season’s Greetings from the Shambhala Times!

Traditionally, Shambhalians recognize and celebrate the changing of the seasons on Nyida Days. One of the most beloved of these celebrations is Children’s Day, which comes at the winter solstice, celebrated this year on December 21st. We hope you enjoy this selection of images from past celebrations from the last few years, and encourage you to send photos and descriptions of your home or center events for 2016 to editor@shambhalatimes.org . Share the joy of Children’s Day!

Boulder Shambhala Center’s Children’s Day Shrine, with a local tiger making a debut

Children’s Day event at the Vienna Shambhala Center

Karme Choling’s Children’s Day shrine

Marguerite Drescher and family’s Children’s Day Shine

Children’s day participant at the San Francisco center