Shambhala Day Festivities and Center News

by Greg Wolk

Dear friends,

I am writing to connect with you and share some of our experiences during Shambhala Day here in Seattle, February 9th.

Because Shambhala Day was on a weekday this year, we offered two celebrations: one in the morning to welcome the beautiful day with a lhasang, our crisp color guard, and to watch the live broadcast led by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche from Boulder. We had about 50 people come in the morning to watch the unveiling of the Shambhala lineage thangka – a masterpiece of spiritual art that took ten years to make! To see and read more about the thangka, click here: http://shambhalatimes.org/2016/02/08/nepal-epilogue-the-shambhala-lineage-thangka/

We then welcomed our new Center Director, Mr. Michael Busby, and his wife, Shastri Trinley Busby! We also offered a standing ovation to Mr. Tom Gaylord for his efforts and leadership.

It was then announced that Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche will be coming to Seattle in November 2016! Ki Ki So So! Specifically, he will be offering an evening talk to the public on Friday, November 4 and another talk for a full program that Saturday. He will also address the regional leadership that weekend. This is obviously HUGE news for us and we will be sharing more information as we learn more in the near future.

We then provided updates on the state of the Center, including efforts to obtain a new building, the Center‘s finances and programs, and several new and exciting outreach efforts. Finally, we offered an opportunity to support Shambhala financially and threw the I Ching. Thank you so much to those who donated!

In the evening, over 40 of us gathered to enjoy beverages, banh mi sandwiches, and social discourse before replaying the morning’s broadcast. Mr. Gaylord then formally took the retirement oath, followed by another standing ovation, and Mr. Busby took the Center Director Vow, formally becoming our new Center Director! We then shared the great news about Rinpoche coming to Seattle and the updates about the state of the Center. We also welcomed new members, and offered all members the opportunity to take the membership aspiration. We again concluded with a short fund-raising request: this is another shout out to those generous members who were able to offer donations! Thank you!

If you were unable to attend, please also consider making a one-time donation. We aspire to have over 100 of our nearly 200 members make a one-time donation for Shambhala Day. We already have over 66 people. Please offer your donation to Shambhala International here: http://shambhala.org/giving/

This will help us reach our goals for the year, at the beginning of the year, to support the efforts, guidance, and teachings we need from the Center of the Mandala.

Thanks so much for your attention and consideration of the request for a donation!

Yours in the Vision of the Great Eastern Sun!
Greg Wolk
Seattle Representative of the Shambhala Office of Culture and Decorum