International Ziji Collective Leadership Summit: April 30th to May 2nd
By Annica Crouse. “Ziji” is the Tibetan word for the innate, brilliant confidence possessed by all beings. My Ziji is aroused! I’m going to San Francisco to meet the International Ziji Collective. Inspired and supported by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the Ziji Collective is a community of progressive individuals inspired to embody the Shambhala vision through … Continue
Manifesting More Space
The Seattle Shambhala Center is bursting at the seams. Community members who attended the March 9 meeting talked about how we can accommodate the growing interest in our programs and teachings. Three teams were formed and they are now working to coordinate community involvement, fundraising, and a search for the right location (real estate). Here are … Continue
Family Camp 2014
“It’s not down in any map; true places never are.” — Herman Melville Hey kids! It’s time to ask your parents if you can go to Family Camp. Camp is at the beautiful Windhorse Retreat Center on Whidbey Island and is tentatively scheduled for August 8-11, 2014. There will be games, activities, a beach walk, … Continue
ALIA Leadership Intensive: Register Quickly
For the first time the ALIA Leadership Intensive is coming to the Pacific Northwest, June 8-13, at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. The ALIA (Authentic Leadership in Action) web site offers details about this program for courageous leaders of transformative change at www.aliainstitute.org. Registration deadlines for best rates are approaching. Shambhala members receive a 10% … Continue
Where’s the Beef?
It was a cold day at the Shambhala Mountain Center, just up the hill from DENVER, when some staffers and visiting center directors got together to watch the Super Bowl. Just to heat things up a little, Seattle Director Tom Gaylord and Denver Director Nathan Railla made a bet on the game. The prize: a … Continue
Shambhala Day 2014
Together with 311 other Shambhala centers around the world, Seattle Shambhala welcomed the new lunar year, the Year of the Wood Horse, with meditation and renewed commitment to creating enlightened society. An early-morning lhasang ceremony sent up juniper smoke to invite the drala energy. More than 80 meditators settled into the shrine room to hear … Continue
Director’s Notes: Visioning Additional Space
Everyone in Shambhala Seattle is invited to a community meeting at the center, 2:00 pm, Sunday, March 9, to consider the possibility of opening an additional meditation space. The Seattle Shambhala Center is bursting at the seams. Our shrine rooms are crowded. Multiple events compete for space on the same day. Our practice and community are … Continue
What Is A Shastri?
by Shastri Ben Hines When you come to the Seattle Shambhala Center, you soon encounter a term never heard in the West until recently: shastri. It reflects a role and responsibilities conferred by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, spiritual leader of Shambhala, on certain senior teachers in many Shambhala communities around the world. Speaking personally, I think of … Continue
The Meditating Practitioner
About two years ago after returning from travels as Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s attendant, I hung out my own shingle as a solo attorney with equal parts excitement and trepidation. I decided to take advantage of a service provided through the WA state bar association for starting a law practice. As I was told some of … Continue
The Sun Returns to Seattle
The 2014 Winter Solstice and Children’s Day celebration: The sun returned to the kingdom of Seattle Shambhala as the sangha gathered for our annual Winter Solstice and Children’s Day celebration. Lewis Helsel, age eight, helped defeat the winter darkness by playing the role of the warrior who retrieves the lost sun in the short play, … Continue