Shambhala Arts Coffeehouse
Saturday March 20th: 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM

In Room(s): Community Room

Shambhala Art Day has been designated by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche to occur on the spring equinox. It is a day when the entire Shambhala International community and friends are invited to celebrate art forms and disciplines that embody the Dharma Art teachings of the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. These teachings encourage the creation and manifestation of art that wakes up the viewer as well as its maker to a sense of unconditional sacredness within the phenomenal world.

“A work of art is created because there is basic sacredness, independent of the artist’s particular religious faith or trust. Sacredness from that point of view is the discovery of goodness, which is independent of personal, social, or physical restrictions.” Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Dharma Art pg. 112

This year, we will celebrate Shambhala Art day by hosting an evening of community performance, based on the Shambhala Art teachings.

If you are interested in being on the roster for this event, please contact Sarah Lipton at: info@shambhalaboston.org.

Donations for things to munch on and hot mulled cider will be taken at the door. This is an opportunity to relax and hang out with sangha, and enjoy the richness of our community!

Click Here to Register

This simple and flavorful recipe is from Center Coordinator Sarah Lipton. The dish is an original of hers, adapted from a recipe she learned in Nepal from her Gita didi (Nepali older sister).

Simple Yummy Greens (aka Saag)

6-8 cloves of garlic, mashed (not chopped) in a mortar & pestle or against a rough river rock if you have one
1-2 bunches of your favorite greenery - delicious with kale, collards, spinach, dandelion greens or chard (in Nepal all greens are called Saag)
two dashes of olive oil (canola oil, or ghee would work fine too)
a dash of salt
(for a more Nepali style - add a good dash of tumeric to the hot oil and cook briefly before adding the garlic and salt)

Mash the garlic and wash, dry and chop or rip the greens into bite-sized bits. In a large, wide bottomed pot or wok, heat the olive oil and toss in the mashed garlic with the salt, stir well for about a minute - don’t let the garlic turn brown. Then throw in a handful of the greens and stir into the oil/garlic mixture, let it cook down. Then add in another handful of greens and stir, letting it cook down, continue until all the greens are in the pot. Once they’ve cooked down, keep stirring and taste a piece to see if they need more salt or need to cooked a little more. Then, serve up and enjoy!

Shambhala Day at the Boston Shambhala Center this year was full of energy, celebration, laughter and tears. The shrine room was packed with almost 100 people. We started early with the set-up (and a big huge thank - you to the 15 and more people that helped with the Neutral Day Cleaning on Saturday and all the setup work!!!). People started to stream in to the Center at around 10 am in time to practice together the Sadhana of Mahamudra and the Elixir of Life. We had a boisterous and crowded lunch break in the community room and then resumed to watch the Year in Review followed by the Kasung’s presentation of the colors and then a delightful shouted ROAR to the entire Shambhala mandala through Shambhala Online.

Tears and joy were shared by all as we listened to the Sakyong’s recorded message of love and exciting tidings of a Royal Baby. Then the usual assortment of Board and Director addresses, a successful fundraising appeal, the throwing of the I-Ching and various Oaths and De-Oathings. The event at the Center culminated with a rousing rendition of the Shambhala Anthem, we quickly cleaned up, and a few of us even went bowling.

Enjoy the photos! And thank you for celebrating this new year of the Iron Tiger with us!

Moroccan-Spiced Warm Carrot Salad

This colorful, fragrant salad is just as much a joy to prepare as it is to eat. I enjoy watching the colors of the vegetables change as they are heated. I also like adding the spices to the oil one at a time so that I can notice how the fragrance of the dish slowly builds. Serve over long grain brown rice cooked in either chicken or vegetable broth. Long grain rice takes nearly an hour to cook all the way through, so put it on first, and take your time.

Ingredients:
½ lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1-2 large minced garlic cloves
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 cup spinach leaves
Black olives

1. Place the carrots in a steamer above 1 inch of boiling water, cover and steam 5 to 8 minutes, until tender. Remove from the heat, rinse with cold water, and drain on paper towels.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the garlic, cumin and lemon juice. Cook until the garlic smells fragrant, and stir in the carrots, pepper, and salt to taste. Stir together for a few minutes, until the carrots are seasoned.

3. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. Taste and adjust lemon juice and spices as desired.

3. Serve over brown rice cooked in either chicken or vegetable broth. Arrange with black olives.

The first day of my Level 1, I brought a frozen meal to heat up for lunch. An “all natural” bowl of rice, vegetables, and tofu, it looked like a fairly healthy choice, as frozen meals go. It was steaming and ready to eat in five minutes, and marginally cheaper than my take-out alternatives. Presumably, the bowl had enough protein and calories to get me through a long afternoon of practice. I ate a cheerful, invigorated lunch over good conversation, and followed it with a fragrant cup of green tea.

Lunch ended. The gong rang. We sat. My focus was suddenly poor, and I felt fatigued and fidgety at the same time. My mouth was parched and salty. My muscles felt weak and tired, as if I had not eaten at all. Food has never been a substantial source of distraction for me while meditating, but that afternoon it was all I could think about. My stomach felt both heavy and unsatisfied, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to be served at tea-time and what I was going to make myself for dinner.

Since my Level 1 I have had several wonderful weekends and half-days of sitting, bolstered by the experience of eating fresh, simple meals that just can’t be replicated on a supermarket shelf. Mindful eating – in which every aspect of the food is noticed, during and after eating – has become one of the most pleasurable parts of my practice. I pay attention to taste, texture, temperature, and aroma. The flavor of food changes when it touches different parts of the tongue, and this makes a one-dish meal exciting down to the very last bite. I enjoy the slow, rhythmic movements of chewing, and the changes in my body as energy sifts into my bloodstream – a feeling of relaxation, a warm limberness building in my muscles. Eating is a truly remarkable process.

The joy in eating mindfully isn’t just about the taste, nutrition or satisfaction – it’s about the preparation, too. I found peeling potatoes to be incredibly dull until I first paid close attention to the qualities of a raw potato: the clean and earthy scent, the patterns of the eyes, the crisp, even texture, the slipperiness under the skin. I now enjoy peeling carrots just to spend time with their vibrant color. Food preparation is a daily opportunity to engage my senses, to forget about anything other than the process of offering my body something that it needs and wants. Worrying about a meeting? Back to the sweet smell of the pear I am cutting into yogurt for breakfast. Stressed about a deadline? Back to perfecting the thickness of the risotto I am stirring.

For the next ten weeks, I will be posting a weekly favorite recipe from either myself or another member of our sangha. The emphasis will be on freshness, simplicity, and joyful preparation. Have a recipe you would like to share? Email magazineeditor@shambhalaboston.org.

It was a small voice piping up near the back row: “Are you enlightened?”

They were 66 squirmy but attentive 5th graders sitting in the main shrine room on cushions that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. The gong rang once, twice, and the group quieted down to silence.

From my position at the back of the room, I could watch them watching each other and watching the teacher, Gail Flynn of the Trident Booksellers and Cafe. Upon receiving meditation instruction, they each settled into a form that looked reminiscent of a meditation posture. What was striking to me mostly was the power of their silence - that 66 10 year olds could quiet down together and begin to question what it might be like to discern their thoughts, questioning what it means to open your heart.

They were curious - about the room, about the Buddha, about the shrine and the water and how to do walking meditation, about the banners on the wall, and about why we keep our eyes open when we sit. Gail rang the gong again and asked them to listen, to listen until they couldn’t hear anything anymore, saying: “Where does the sound go?”. Some of them giggled in response, and another one said: “nowhere, it just goes away.” The same question was asked about anger: “When you are angry at your friend, where does your anger go to?” “We forget about it” was one response, another was: “We feel bad about it so we let it go.” I’m telling you, these kids were insightful.

This was a group of three 5th grade classes - the school called us to see if we could host their students for an hour’s talk and meditation instruction. This wouldn’t have happened 10 years ago! And it was only one of 8 phone calls in a week requesting us to teach meditation to children of all ages. It is apparent that meditation has become a house-hold word, that people have heard of it, and that they know meditation has incredible benefits. Compassion was a word these children had heard of. To be in that room with them was inspiring, moving, and full of lungta. It seemed like the Great Eastern Sun was shining very, very brightly, even though it was a cloudy day.

Come celebrate the New Year with us this Friday, February 19th! Jim’s Big Ego - starring Shambhala sangha member Jim Infantino - will be performing live onstage upstairs at the Boston Shambhala Center. Join us from 7-9:30 for drinks, light hors d’oeuvre, dancing and celebration.

Come prepared: There will be a cash bar, donations will be accepted for the musical entertainment, and Jim’s Big Ego’s CD’s will be on sale.

Please RSVP by registering, so we can plan accordingly.

The biggest challenge that I have faced since starting this practice hasn’t been on the cushion – it’s been maintaining my vision after getting back up. One of the first things I learned is how reflexively I harden and begin to ignore both my surroundings and my own body when under pressure. Learning to not snap into my “setting sun” cocoon in response to a frustrating encounter or stressful deadline has been an on-going journey with many unexpected lessons.

I have found the Shambhala Center’s work-study program to be an ideal setting to explore the ways that these ideas can fit into my daily life. During my work-study hours, I help out with a variety of different tasks, some of which I do during my daily life outside of the center, and some of which are totally unfamiliar to me. I try to be particularly mindful of my reactions while I am working; for instance, how I respond mentally and physically when presented with a task I feel I will excel at versus how I respond when presented with task I think I will find very difficult. It is much easier for me to remember to notice these subtleties when working at the center than when I am at my other job or in class. I have learned invaluable things about how my mind works through this process, and just as important, I am learning how to work with these reactions rather than against them. I am learning to be gentler.

Work-study has helped me strengthen my practice, and as an added bonus, it helps me pay for programs that I could not otherwise afford while also giving back to the community. If you would like more information about the Boston Shambhala Center’s work-study program, contact Sarah Lipton at info@shambhalaboston.org.

Days of Sunshine and Storm by guest writer Frank Ryan

Have been told that
Mamo
is a term of affection
for dakinis
of open awake
sunshine and storm
tuning in or turning stone.

Neither casually cruising
nor ponderously proclaiming,
we invite, praise and command
these various women
who fill a thousand realms
to banish into space
these viper mirages of outer, inner and secret.

Only mind itself
nothing but your smiling face
can pacify these raging squalls,
avert sickness, döns and obstacles,
master the glory of profound, brilliant,
just and powerful,
and usher in self-existing kingdom of delight.