From April 17th to 19th, the Kootenay Shambhala Centre is presenting the program Gesar: Egoless Warriorship for Wrathful Times, with Acharya Jenny Warwick and Cameron Wenaus. You might (understandably) ask, “Who is Gesar and why should I care?” Here’s a response to that question.

Cameron Wenaus writes:

The Epic of Gesar is an ancient Central Asian tale―and one of the East’s longest and wildest stories! In Tibet, there are singing bards who, although they can neither read nor write, can somehow recall the story of Gesar in precise detail; their accounts can last for days. In the West, we have only recently had the good fortune to come across this magical story and its inner meaning.

Gesar was born in Ling, an area of Tibet, in 1038, at a time when the dharma was in great peril and was on the brink of being wiped out by materialistic forces. He was an emanation of Padmasambhava, who out of great compassion for humankind, took a rebirth in Tibet in order to subjugate four demonic kings who were intent on destroying the dharma altogether. He is associated with many miracles and is revered for overcoming all obstacles he faced, no matter what the odds. Read the rest of this entry »

At the Kootenay Shambhala Centre this past January, we introduced a weekly parents and infants meditation group⎯Calm Abiding Together⎯to provide opportunities for parents with infants to receive shamatha (“calm abiding”) meditation instruction and practice with their infants present. The group is led by Lynn Dragone and Sohan Ko.

Lynn and Sohan spoke about the group in the February 23rd episode of the Kootenay Co-op Radio (KCR) show “Parenting Path.” To listen to the KCR podcast of this episode, click here.