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.

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.

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.

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Heads-up: Our November Open House program includes a talk by special guest Acharya Allyn Lyon―Shambhala: A Buddhist Shamanic Journey for Modern Times―and a four-part series on the ever-popular topic Working with Emotions, with David Marshall.

We plan to add a selection of audio recordings of these talks to our Audio Library.

Learn more on our Open House page.

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Save the dates! Acharya Allyn Lyon is set to give Open House talks on Mondays, October 26th and November 2nd.

Learn more on our Open House page.

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The Kootenay Shambhala Centre invites Shambhala Vajrayana Seminary graduates to our annual October weeklong vajrayana retreat in beautiful Nelson, British Columbia. This year we’re offering a program of ngöndro, Werma and Vajrayogini practice and celebration with Acharya Allyn Lyon.

The arrival and departure dates are Saturday, October 24th and Sunday, November 1st respectively. The program will begin Sunday morning, October 25th and end Saturday evening, October 31st; it will count as one week of acharya-led group retreat at a residential practice centre.

Basic accommodation at the centre will be available. A small number of billets may also be available. Most meals will be provided. The schedule will allow time for a trip to the nearby hot springs and a taste of downtown Nelson’s delights.

For a full program description go to our Kootenay Vajrayana Weekthün 2009 page.