Presented here is the March 2010 dharma teaching from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s website.

By Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

It is absolutely possible to create a good human society here on earth. To do so, we need strong mindfulness and intention. As human beings, we are influenced by our environment. If we create an environment of aggression and disharmony, stress will become the norm. Conversely, if we create an environment of kindness, love, discipline, and generosity, we will all begin to feel a sense of peace.

One characteristic of this dark age is that we doubt our innate goodness. We look outside ourselves for fulfillment, which creates individualism, where we believe only in our own interests. We solidify our mind and consciousness—which are naturally fluid and harmonious—into material entities. We become hard individuals who communicate through anger and arrogance. We imagine that all that will satisfy us is material. With this view we create a hard, angry, and materialistic world.

At present, the world seems to be running on self-centeredness, speed, and aggression. As this pattern exacerbates, the possibility of peace, both personally and socially, will diminish. Materialism will never make us happy because it is of a different nature than consciousness. Even though material things are important, they are not fundamentally at the core of the human being. The antidote for this materialistic outlook is peace, the opposite of stress.

In creating peace, our relationship with the environment is critical, particularly our relationship with the inner environment—our consciousness. If we don’t have a peaceful and harmonious relationship with our own being, it will be impossible for us to create peace anywhere else. Without a personal experience of peace, we won’t even believe in the possibility. Therefore we must become mindful of peace. Read the entire teaching on the Sakyong’s website.

In his Shambhala Day address this year, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche delivered a potent teaching on manifesting love and kindness.

“At this particular time, it is love that is the message. We don’t need to give into hate, but rather we should have the power and maturity to express our love. I believe that this maturity to express love and kindness is what will save our mind and will save our planet. Love is believing in our basic goodness.”

To listen to an audio recording of the address, click here.

In this two-minute excerpt from a talk on Shambhala’s new core curriculum―the “Way of Shambhala”―recorded at the Akron/Canton Shambhala Center (Cuyahoga Falls, OH) on October 13th, 2009, Acharya Adam Lobel speaks about the possibility of living our human life fully.

To view more of this talk, click here.

This short video was recorded at the “Smiling at Fear” weekend retreat that Pema Chödrön led at Omega Institute (Rhinebeck, NY), October 30 - November 1, 2009.

The document linked here―Practices for the Earth (PDF)―contains an essay written by senior Kootenay Shambhala Centre teacher Russell Rodgers outlining the teachings he presented at last summer’s Kootenay Public Weekthun 2009: Touching the Earth meditation retreat, and describing the approach used to deliver the teachings.

He submitted the document for the possible benefit of Shambhala teachers, environmentalists and others.

Topics include:
• Container Principle
• The Root of Ecological Problems
• The Senses: Our Gateways to the Natural World
• Making a Heart Connection to All Living Beings
• The Eco-dharma of Emptiness
• Drala: Working with Presence
• Introduction to the Lhasang

An “Afterthoughts” section provides additional material.

You can offer feedback by leaving a reply below, or by emailing Russell Rodgers at info@nelsonbuddha.com.

Tonight, for the second time in as many weeks, Acharya Allyn Lyon drew a large crowd to the Kootenay Shambhala Centre’s Monday Open House. In her talk, titled “Shambhala: A Buddhist Shamanic Journey for Modern Times,” she spoke about a path of working with the energies of the world to restore balance in an age of rampant materialism. Click on the icon below to listen to her talk.

Listen/Download “Shambhala: A Buddhist Shamanic Journey for Modern Times,” with Acharya Allyn Lyon (MP3: 53 MB; 58 min)

ALLYN LYON was appointed an acharya in 2000, after several years serving as Director of Shambhala Mountain Center and in other Shambhala administrative positions. Since then she has been traveling and teaching while creating a home base in Tepotzlan, Mexico, where she is the resident acharya. Her main interest in teaching dharma is the nature of mind and how it functions: “What is mind? How does practice work with mind? What is real?” But if there’s a bottom line, Allyn says, “it’s that I really enjoy practicing the dharma, teaching and sharing my love of the dharma with students.” For more about Acharya Lyon, click here.

Visiting senior teacher Acharya Allyn Lyon gave tonight’s Open House talk, speaking about reasons one might choose to meditate (to develop peace, to explore the nature of mind, or to discover the world’s richness, for instance) and generally entertaining the large audience with her characteristic earthiness and humour. Click on the icon below to listen to her talk.

Listen/Download “Why Meditate?” with Acharya Allyn Lyon (MP3: 39.4 MB; 43 min)

ALLYN LYON was appointed an acharya in 2000, after several years serving as Director of Shambhala Mountain Center and in other Shambhala administrative positions. Since then she has been traveling and teaching while creating a home base in Tepotzlan, Mexico, where she is the resident acharya. Her main interest in teaching dharma is the nature of mind and how it functions: “What is mind? How does practice work with mind? What is real?” But if there’s a bottom line, Allyn says, “it’s that I really enjoy practicing the dharma, teaching and sharing my love of the dharma with students.” For more about Acharya Lyon, click here.

This post is a response to numerous requests for teachings on working with pain.

Shambhala Sun magazine is one excellent resource. Its online Working with Pain and Suffering section offers a wide selection of articles on the topic.

You can share ideas, approaches or other resources that you’ve found helpful by leaving a comment below.

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Read from a selection of Shambhala Sun magazine articles related to seeing things as they are.

And join us for any of our four weekly public meditation practice sessions (see our Regular Public Events Schedule).

Here is the October 2009 dharma teaching from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s website. Other topical teachings are available in the website’s Archive.

By Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

The Tibetan word for refuge means “to be protected by.” Every day we wake up and tacitly take refuge in something that we think will offer us security and protection. Most of the time we put our poker chip on the little thing that says “desire.” We spend our time chasing worldly gains. We take refuge in comfort, in having things, in being busy.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with external pleasures, when we believe that our happiness depends on them, we’re reinforcing a circular and endless process that results in pain, suffering, and disillusionment. This is called samsara. We work hard for what we think we want and when we get it, we don’t feel the happiness we expected.

In formally becoming Buddhists we take refuge in the three jewels: the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha. Read the entire teaching on the Sakyong’s website