The 100 Mile House Shambhala Meditation Group has just launched a blog, and they’ve wasted no time putting it to work. One post publicizes the Great Eastern Sun - Drala - Windhorse retreat they’re hosting at Mahood Falls, BC from August 30th to September 5th, 2010; another features Mahood Falls photos from a recent retreat.

To follow the Group’s activity, visit their blog: 100 Mile House Shambhala Meditation Group.

May basic goodness continue to flower in central BC!

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.

“The success of our community, and its future, is going to depend heavily on the visible and ‘feelable’ kindness that is in our mandala,” said the Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche, at the concluding session of the Fourth Shambhala Congress, which took place in Halifax in November. “We can be doing a lot of things right when it comes to programs, but if there is not a feeling of kindness, nothing is really going to stick.”

The Sakyong’s Council has now formally decided that the key strategic objective for the immediate period, in line with the Sakyong’s wishes and the aspirations expressed by the Congress, would be to “deepen community and manifest a culture of kindness.”

The aim of this post is to invite anyone in the Pacific Northwest Shambhala community (or beyond) to participate in a collective contemplation of what it means to deepen community and manifest a culture of kindness.

What inspires you about your local Shambhala community? How does kindness manifest there? What do you find challenging―or even alienating? What else…? Join the discussion in the comments section below. All respectfully expressed thoughts and feelings are welcome.

For related pre-Congress discussion, see the post Exploring community.

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The Abhidharma is the collection of the Buddha’s teachings on the composition and functions of the human mind.

If you are looking for a Buddhist Studies course offering a more in-depth exploration of these teachings than is presented in the Way of Shambhala curriculum, consider taking this one: Looking at Mind: An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology.

Taught by David Marshall, this course is scheduled to run at the Kootenay Shambhala Centre on six consecutive Thursdays, from February 11th to March 18th, 2010. Everyone is welcome. Online participation―through audio recordings and other materials―will be possible.

For a full course description, go to our Looking at Mind: An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology page.

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.

The Kootenay Shambhala Centre is pleased to confirm plans to host a Ten-Day Mahamudra Retreat with senior teacher Susan Chapman, from October 22nd to 31st, 2010.

This program is open to Rigden Abhisheka graduates and Shambhala Vajrayana Seminary graduates who have completed 20,000 prostrations if practicing Kagyü or Rigden ngöndro by number.

Save the dates and stay tuned for more information.

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In this five-class course scheduled for consecutive Thursday evenings starting November 12th, we will use the National Film Board of Canada’s two-part video The Tibetan Book of the Dead to help us appreciate the perils and opportunities that living and dying represent. The course will be led by senior teacher Russell Rodgers. Online participation is possible and everyone is welcome.

For a full course description go to our Tibetan Book of the Dead page.

The message below was posted on the worldwide Shambhala email announcement service earlier today.

For information about the Kootenay Shambhala Centre’s environmental activity, click on any of the related subject tags in the sidebar―e.g., protecting the earth―or contact Russell Rodgers, our Touching the Earth liaison, at info@nelsonbuddha.com.

Dear sangha,

A cheerful summer to you! This spring and summer have been exciting times for environmental action within the Shambhala sangha. The Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche offered his mindful instructions on Protecting the Earth in support of Earth Day 2009 and in July urged sangha members to sign the Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change.

Along with the Sakyong’s encouragement, the Touching the Earth working group launched the 2009 Shambhala Green Commitment initiative. We have been delighted so far at the positive actions centers are taking throughout the world and eagerly await responses from the remainder of the mandala. Read the rest of this entry »

In a talk at last night’s Kootenay Shambhala Centre Open House, senior teacher Russell Rodgers led participants in an exploration of the cultural and perceptual underpinnings of current ecological problems and described three Buddhist practices for addressing these problems at their root. Click on the icon below to listen to the talk.

Listen/Download “Buddhism and Deep Ecology,” with Russell Rodgers (MP3: 57.5 MB; 1 hr, 3 min)

To explore this topic more fully, please join us for this year’s annual Kootenay public one-week meditation retreat at our retreat land near Nelson, from June 27th to July 5th. A full program description is available on our Kootenay Public Weekthün 2009: Touching the Earth page.

Lisa Hill (with partner Julian Gonzales) coordinates Awake in Action, the Vancouver Shambhala Centre’s social action arm. She gave an hour-long talk on the group’s history, organization and activity to some thirty people at the Kootenay Shambhala Centre’s Open House on May 18th. Click on the icon below to listen to her talk.

Listen/Download “Awake in Action,” with Lisa Hill (MP3: 54 MB; 59 min)

Lisa has volunteered for WISH, a drop-in centre in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, which serves women and transgendered people working in the sex trade, and for Vancouver’s Citywide Housing Coalition on the issues of inadequate housing and homelessness. She aspires to raise awareness of the personal and societal benefits of mindfulness-awareness meditation. She gratefully acknowledges Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and His Holiness the 17th Karmapa for their compassionate encouragement to all of us to take an active roll in caring for the world.