If you don’t already know about Shambhala Online―“a ‘virtual centre’, offering dozens of online programs at all practice levels”―now is a good time to check it out.

Earlier today Shambhala Online Director Heather Scott reactivated the Shambhala Online News Magazine with a number of posts that help give a sense of the incredible wealth of resources Shambhala Online provides.

See for yourself:
• Blog: Shambhala Online News Magazine
• Website: Shambhala Online
• YouTube Channel: Shambhala Online

In this video, scheduled for tonight’s Open House (Monday, September 27th), Pema Chodron suggests that we could come to appreciate those who provoke us.

Whether you attend in person or not, you’re welcome to express your thoughts and feelings on the topic in the comments section below.

For all Open House Online posts click here.

The video “Body Mind” with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is scheduled for our Open House on Monday, September 20th.

Whether or not you plan to attend or do attend, we invite you to join us in contemplating and discussing this video in the comments section below.

For all Open House Online posts click here.

The Kootenay Shambhala Centre has been offering online courses and other online programming for a number of years. This service is meant to support students, extend our Centre’s reach, and build community.

If you have any questions about the service―or if you participated in any of our core path programs (such as Shambhala Training weekends or other Way of Shambhala offerings) in the last few years and would like to revisit the teachings, but you’ve lost the info you need to access the participants-only webpage(s)―just let us know, at nelsonbuddha@gmail.com.

We showed the Pema Chodron video “This Lousy World” at our August 16th Open House, and as is typical at Open House, there was rich, thoughtful, heartfelt discussion.

The discussion among some of the participants has continued by email since then. So, at Centre Director Lynn Dragone’s suggestion, we’re inviting you―whether or not you attended the event at the Shambhala Centre―to use the comments section below to join in the discussion and participate in the first session of “Open House Online.”

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The Kootenay Shambhala Centre is pleased to present Earth Dharma, a five-class course with Russell Rodgers, on Thursday evenings, from May 20th to June 17th.

We will explore our relationship with the earth, our present ecological predicament, and how meditation and other practices can help.

Everyone is welcome. Online participation (through audio recordings and other resources) will be possible. For a full program description click here.

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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.

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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.

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Here’s a course you might not want to miss. You can participate in person at the Kootenay Shambhala Centre and/or online.

For a full program description go to our Contemplating Reality page.