Rebecca Hazell

By Shastri Rebecca Hazell

In mid-February, one of several governance conferences around the world was held in San Francisco. Victoria Centre Director Layth Matthews, Practice and Education Director Mark Hazell, and Shastri Rebecca Hazell (me) attended this huge gathering. People came from as far away as Texas and Tehran (yes, in Iran!) to participate. Here’s what it was like to be there:

After an opening lhasang at the new SF Dzong, we all walked to the nearby Baha’i Center, where the conference was held. Many of us cheerfully chanted the ki ki so so ashe chant aloud, astounding bystanders who smiled equally cheerfully. One commented that this was the best-dressed parade he had ever seen.

This atmosphere continued throughout the program, although there were also many tears and much emotion, as the leaders guided us through a series of contemplative, interactive, and dramatic exercises designed to open our hearts, heal old wounds, and bring our collective wisdom to the fore. The general atmosphere was gentle, humorous, and fearless. Read the rest of this entry »

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In a short and helpful piece titled “The Contemplative Practice of Giving and Receiving Feedback” posted on Shambhala’s Governance as Path webpage, Karen Kessel Wegela, Ph.D offers an approach to giving and receiving feedback whose purpose is “not to get ourselves or another person to change in accordance with our desires and preconceptions,” but “to enable us to become more aware.”

To extend the accessibility of the piece, it is posted here: Contemplative Practice of Giving and Receiving Feedback, by Karen Kessel Wegela, Ph.D (PDF)

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This post is part of a series intended to enhance the accessibility―and potential benefit―of key Shambhala leadership resources. It features an excerpt from the document Tenets of Shambhala Governance available on Shambhala’s Governance webpage.

DECISION MAKING AND PARTICIPATION IN SHAMBHALA GOVERNANCE

In Shambhala governance, natural hierarchy includes genuine participative consultation.

A distinctive feature of mandala structure as expressed through our social monarchy is the fact that decisions of major significance to the mandala at any level may be taken by the Sakyong, President and others empowered by the Sakyong and the Kalapa Court. A further aspect of mandala principle is that decisions making includes an appropriate balance of participative consultation. If there is too much authority, the energy, involvement and creative insight of the community is stifled and community needs are not sufficiently expressed or understood. If there is too much “democracy,” a confusing level of complexity develops and there is little forward motion.

Good decision process involves finding a balance. One role of leadership is to facilitate this balance, to make sure that in all important decisions those impacted are free to speak and be heard. Decision making should be informed by this consultation. In return, it is important that our leaders are properly empowered with sufficient authority to make informed decisions. Read the rest of this entry »

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Compiled by the Governance as Path Working Group, Third Shambhala Congress, and available from Shambhala Media, the book The Six Ways of Ruling: A Resource for Leaders contains commentaries and contemplations on the six ways of ruling, a key principle of Shambhala governance.

Presented below is the text from a corresponding wallet card file posted on Shambhala’s Governance as Path webpage.

THE SIX WAYS OF RULING

Heaven

Benevolent
Benevolence is rooted in patience. Our mind is spacious. We understand that people suffer. Our patience results in gentleness, absence of aggression. Benevolence requires the steadiness of an elephant―a sense of trusting ourselves and remembering the suffering of others. When others are acting out of aggression and speed, they can’t quite trust benevolence. The wisdom ruler often encounters blame and criticism. If we feel cornered in the hallway by irritation, it seems overwhelming, and we’re likely to react aggressively. Our mind becomes a little box. We begin to panic because we have no room for maneuver. At that point we don’t need to be less gentle―we need to be more gentle. Gentleness is always the best whip. It is devoted to the welfare of others. Read the rest of this entry »

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Enlarge image

The chart shown at the left is a handy depiction of elements that lead to good meetings. It is posted here for anyone who might benefit.

Shambhala President Richard Reoch fleshes out the chart in an accompanying talk, available as a transcript (along with the chart and a wealth of other leadership resources) on Shambhala’s Governance as Path webpage.

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This article is adapted from a Shambhala governance document on preventing leadership burnout and working with it if it arises. The ideas are presented here to make them more accessible to leaders, volunteers and others anywhere.

Other leadership resources include the book The Six Ways of Ruling: A Resource for Leaders and Shambhala’s Governance as Path webpage, where the original document is posted.

WORKING WITH BURNOUT

Working beneficially with burnout involves recognizing factors that can lead to it and bringing them to the meditative path. Key is developing a willingness to relate with one’s own mind in a gentle and tough way.

Factors leading to burnout (and ways of working with them) include:

• Avoiding practice
Balance your life so that meditation practice remains central. If you’re too busy to practice, you’re too busy.

• Difficulty saying “no”
Learn how and when to say “no” to others’ requests, and even to your own ideas. Look deeply into the experience of having difficulty setting limits.

• Taking things too personally
Leaders will always draw both praise and blame. Cultivate the ability to receive criticism with equanimity, and to work with pride, ambition and attachment to praise.

• Cognitive dissonance
Learn to accommodate the dissonance between the vastness of Shambhala vision and the sometimes messy reality of living on earth. Can you hold both aspects without being overwhelmed by either?

• Letting “best” undermine “good”
While aiming for excellence can be beneficial, it can become an obstacle if taken to an extreme. Look deeply into the experience of perfectionism.

• Engaging in harmful speech
Explore the impulse to gossip, speak harshly or complain. Learn to relate with others’ harmful speech without reinforcing or escalating it.

• Solidifying things
Explore the experience of seeing only problems and doubting the unconditional brilliance and goodness of things as they are. “We are ruling a dream, and we all share the same dream.” ―Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche