Seattle Trains Shambhala Guides
Forty-five prospective Shambhala Guides completed the first phase of their training in May, creating a large new cohort of sangha members who soon will be ready to welcome people to their first experience of Shambhala.
Acharya Emily Bower and Shastri Ben Hines led the Guide Training weekend, which was the largest regional event of its kind in recent memory, with participants from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alberta, supported by two directors and 10 assistant directors. The weekend’s magic was intensified by the blue skies of Seattle springtime weather, which enabled groups to meet outdoors amid the trees and flowers of the blossoming Seattle Shambhala Center.
“Shambhala Guides can be likened to emissaries from Shambhala. They help convey it’s basic practices, path, culture, social vision, forms, lineage, and how these are relevant in our everyday lives.” This description from the new Shambhala Guide Training Manual expresses the broad, welcoming role of a Guide.
During the training, “we practiced deep and receptive listening, selfless curiosity, and openness to others,” said Assistant Director Cynthia Bradshaw. “It was fabulous.”
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, on hearing of the then upcoming Guide Training in Seattle, asked Center Director Tom Gaylord to “send my prayers to each of the participants.”
Our new Shambhala Guides will graduate after completing another day of training this summer. Guide Training is the foundation for future work as a teacher, leader, Meditation Instructor and mentor.
