Instructors Brandon Jellison, Nick Trautz, and Timaree Bierle-Dodds (L-R)

While preparing my introductions of the Running Meditation instructors at last Saturday’s Running with the Mind of Meditation program at the Cambridge Tennis Club, I suddenly realized what an unbelievable team we have here in Boston. It’s not that this wasn’t already clear to me after seeing the group’s diligent preparation for this event over the past several months, but as I gathered the instructors’ “credentials” together I was suddenly floored.

It was no surprise that the program was a great success. Twenty-eight people attended the running workshop as presented in Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s new book, Running with the Mind of Meditation. Nick Trautz introduced the principles of mindfulness and meditation practice, Timaree Bierle-Dodds gave sitting meditation instruction, and Brandon Jellison talked about posture and led a round of shamatha yoga practice. We took a warm, sunny afternoon run along the Charles River and afterward discussed our

Brandon gives posture instruction

experience of the practice. Mr. Trautz closed the program by leaving the group with the image of windhorse, which was depicted on the running team’s Boston Shambhala Center shirts.

Nick is a former professional cross-country skier and coach, is pursuing a Ph.D. in Tibetan Buddhist studies, has run seven marathons, and served as a continuity Kusung (sort of like a personal assistant) for Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Brandon is a professional massage therapist, body worker and health coach, and is about to run his third marathon. Timaree is a registered nurse and skillfully brings the instructions to those interested in applying them to walking and jogging. All three of them have been practicing meditation for around fifteen years. And Jim Egan, who helped with the event but hasn’t formally done the instructor training, has run twenty-five marathons and has been practicing meditation for thirty-five years. You know you have a solid team when the guy not serving as a lead instructor has run twenty-five marathons and practicing for thirty-five years!

A number of people expressed interest in an ongoing running meditation group based out of the Shambhala Center, and the team is raring to go! If you would like to be added to our Running Email List: Email Us!

The group prepares to run with the mind of meditation

Heading to the Charles River for the run

Today is Ashley Goodwin’s birthday! I’d like to take a moment today to express appreciation for all the amazing work she has been doing at the Shambhala Center for the past year.

As you may be aware, Ashley is our beloved Head of Communications and Center Operations. Essentially, she is the motor that keeps the center running day in and day out. She has done fantastic work with our online communication system and website – bravely ushering us into the twenty-first century and beyond. She is a big-picture thinker and is constantly contemplating new ways for the center to reach and inspire new people. At the same time, she juggles hundreds of details on a day-to-day operational level that keep the center going.

Most importantly, Ashley brings to her role tremendous passion and enthusiasm for the Shambhala dharma and for making the world a better place. She warmly welcomes everyone who walks in the door and radiates kindness and wakefulness in working with people.

Thank you, Ashley, for all that you do. And CHEERFUL BIRTHDAY!

Shastri Frank Ryan displayed his prowess as an ever-perceptive observer of the arts this week as he conducted a Q&A session with actor Evan Brenner after Mr. Brenner’s performance in his one-man show, The Buddha: In His Own Words. The show, which was directed by well-known actor John C. Reilly, was performed May 3 and 4 at Redstar Union in Cambridge.

The play, which was adapted from an early Pali canon, takes the story of the Buddha’s life and presents it in a lively, accessible fashion. Mr. Brenner’s charisma and stage presence are fantastic and the show is well worth seeing if the opportunity arises. More information on the show can be found at www.thebuddhaplay.com.

Redstar Union, a new performance space and recording studio in Kendall Square, contacted the Shambhala Center about having a senior teacher in the community conduct the Q&A with Mr. Brenner at the end of the performance. Shastri Ryan proved to be the perfect fit, asking insightful questions about the actor/writer’s approach to creating the play and remarking on aspects of the show that he found particularly poignant and striking.

It was a great opportunity for the Shambhala Center, as we continue to get involved more and more in the local community. Shastri Ryan, Susan Ryan, Ashley Goodwin and I all had the opportunity to speak with audience members after the show, and I introduced Frank and Evan and shared a bit about the center. All in all a delightful evening!

-Dan

Last week, Boston University hosted an Earth Week service at Marsh Chapel, with environmentalist Bill McKibben giving the sermon. Shastri Carolyn Krusinski joined five other leaders from various spiritual and faith traditions around the city of Boston in offering an aspiration for our wounded planet.

Shastri Krusinski shared that “2500 years ago Buddha sat down and realized what it meant to be fully human endowed with Basic Goodness. He made the gesture to touch the Earth as his witness.” She went on to say, “Now it is time for all human beings to contemplate together as one global society, who are we as humanity and how can we live in harmony with the earth and protect it.”

Closing the aspiration, Carolyn invoked the Sakyong’s key phrase from his 2011 Shambhala Day address: “May the great society of humanity find the goodness, wisdom, and bravery to act to restore harmony with the Earth. May we be All-Victorious and make the impossible possible!”

Mr. McKibben, who is well known for his tireless work in service of the environment, said in his sermon that it is vital for spiritual traditions of the world not to stand on the sidelines but be active players in the environmental movement. He likened this work to a more “conservative” approach while deeming those whose work, behavior or activity negatively affects the environment in extreme ways “radical.”

More information on Bill McKibben can be found at www.billmckibben.com or the website for the non-profit he founded, www.350.org.

Hello!

A new Shambhala website just launched: shambhalanews.com. This site emphasizes how Shambhala and Shambhala members engage in compassionate action throughout the world. Boston happens to be prominently featured not once but twice! Our article about the MFA Seeking Shambhala exhibition is there (and includes as video of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche seeing these thangkas during his 2005 visit to Boston), and there is also an article about meditation research studies taking place at MIT.

Take a look!

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s brand new book, Running with the Mind of Meditation, hits shelves April 10!

You can help support the book and the Sakyong by:

1) Pre-ordering the book from amazon.com. The pre-order price is a nearly 40% discount and it makes a huge difference in helping the book rise on the bestseller list! Amazon also has the first chapter available to read now!

2) Visit bookstores and ask them if they have the book! This will help spread the word and encourage booksellers to carry the book.

3) Purchase the book at the Shambhala Center!

Our team of Running Meditation Instructors in Boston will be leading a workshop on Saturday, May 12 at the Cambridge Skating Club from 2:00-5:00pm. Click here for more information!

Check out www.runningmind.org for more!

________________________________________________________

Within open meadows of Le Sirenuse
three sisters still play having abandoned
crystalline flute, lyre’s floating hexachords,
seductive song haunting over tumultuous waves;
no more do they crave the three-masted
battered wooden ships with their crews,
bitter taste of bloodied bronze shields.

As signal bandwidth & wireless networks
effortlessly expand quiet allure
across desert, jungle, tenement, and estate,
those eager for distraction
wend closer and closer
to fresh breakers on
hidden razor shoals.

Algorithms and distributed servers
speed our quests and enrich our lives,
but open ease accompanying
the touch of your skin,
insight dawning within, runs deepest.
Neither binding rawhide nor greasy beeswax,
just tender surrender to every moment.

-Shastri Frank Ryan

By Jill Blagsvedt

I was recently invited by Jennifer Lacy, Head of Family Life at the Shambhala Center of Boston, to present some of the Shambhala Art teachings and exercises to the Mindfulness for Children program. First I worked with a group of about ten children, ages 6-10, then a group of about eight tweens and teens. I was supported by colleagues Dan Melish and Esther Seibold who led various meditations.

I had so much fun that I wanted to share what we did and some of the spontaneous poetry that we created. We focused on the Shambhala Art exercises that help us to awaken our senses, and then create from that experience.

We talked about simply experiencing our senses versus thinking about them or thinking we already know what something is like because we see it. We then focused on the sense of touch by feeling objects in paper bags that I had prepared. They felt different objects in the bags, without looking (this was very hard!), with textures of smooth, pokey, sandy, squishy, soft and more. Then we experienced the senses of taste and again touch, over our snack break. Finally we came back together, sat in our meditation postures and in that space allowed our experiences of the felt sense to arise in words.

Those who were brave – adults and children – were then asked to share their poems! Here is a sampling of what arose:

the cracker was salty and crunchy
the carrots were hard to bite and had a crunch
the juice was cold

sand, grainy
beans, seeds
soothing to the touch
dry, cool

something was squishy and cool
It made me cold
It felt like ice

silky, soft
a little
warm, lots
big, costume

like “spiky” straws
from a summer barn…
I poke my
hand…

hard
flat
sticks
boiling in a pot
my scarf went in the pot

slimy, gooey
sticky, sharp and smooth
grains of rice flowing through fingers
impatience and curiosity
sense and sensibilitysquishy
greasy
smelly-fruity

Interested in exploring Shambhala Arts for yourself?

Join us on March 30th for Shambhala Art Day Community Celebration, and for Shambhala Art Parts I & II in July.

Shastri Diana Evans leading meditation

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts opened its exhibit, Seeking Shambhala early past Monday morning. The exhibition features a set of newly-conserved 17th century thangka paintings of the Rigden (or Kalki) Kings of Shambhala and is on display from March 6 through September 30.  Shastri Diana Evans of the Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston gave meditation instruction at the opening with over forty people, primarily museum staff and members of the media. The assembled sat on cushions on the floor of the exhibit hall and engaged in what Museum Director Malcolm Rogers called, “the first ever meditation session in the museum.”

Twenty-two of the thirty-two Rigden Kings are displayed, including the first, Dawa Sangpo or “Suchandra,” who received the Kalachakra teachings from the Buddha. Also on view are works by Japanese graphic artist Tadanori Yokoo, including his SHAMBALA series of prints produced in 1974, and work by the contemporary Tibetan artist Gonkar Gyatso, whose collage titled The Shambala in Modern Times was shown at the 53rd Venice Biennial. Mr. Gyatso spoke at the opening as well.

Artist Gonkar Gyatso, left and curator Jacki Elgar right

It is an incredible auspicious connection for the Shambhala Center of Boston, which is just a few minutes down the road from the MFA.  The center is working with the museum on another collaborative effort which will feature curator Jacki Elgar, the museum’s Head of Asian Conservation and Head of International Projects (Asia) at the Shambhala Center. We also plan to gather and take group trips to the museum to see the exhibition. There are a number of members of the Shambhala community who are also members of the museum.

First Meditation of the MFA's History

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche had the opportunity to have a private showing of the thangkas, which reside at the museum, in 2005 when he was in Boston to run the marathon. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche also viewed these thangkas in 1974 and felt that they were truly remarkable. President Richard Reoch plans to visit Boston this summer to see the exhibition.

Click here for more information about the exhibition, including a visual tour. You can also check out the Press Release and Fun Facts!

Also, see the coverage from the Boston Globe here!

Good Morning!

I would like to take this opportunity as we transition into the new year to look back at the Year of the Iron Hare and reflect on it, as well as to offer some thoughts on what’s ahead for us as center and a community in the Year of the Water Dragon.

Reflecting on the Past Year
The Year of the Iron Hare was quite full for the Boston Shambhala Center, and considerable changes occurred. The full time staff of the center is now a completely different team than it was at the start of the year. In the late spring, we had the departure of long-time Center Coordinator Sarah Lipton, beloved for her warmth and nurturing energy and her diligent efforts on the half of the center for over three years. We then saw Executive Director Jill Blagsvedt step down at the end of the summer, also after over three years of serving the sangha with tremendous kindness, insight and vision. The leadership and community went through a process and decided to add a full time Head of Practice and Education position, which Barbara Hopcroft was hired for in May after serving in that role in an interim capacity following her time as Resident Director of Shambhala Training. Also in May, Ashley Hodson (now Goodwin – even her name is different than it was at the start of last year!) was brought on board to fill the revamped role of Head of Communications and Operations, and I stepped into the Executive Director role at the end of September.

The center’s expansion process was a major focus of the Year of the Iron Hare. In April, the leadership identified 338 Newbury Street as a prime location for an auxiliary space, with a plan to increase membership and double the operating budget over five years to then put us in a strong position to move to a more vibrant and magnetizing location in Boston. We came very close to making this our second home before obstacles hit and the situation ended up not panning out. This was a definite disappointment for many as we headed into the winter and dön season. At the same time, the work done as the center leadership planned for the space was invaluable, both in terms of financial preparation for the future auxiliary space as well as architectural drawings from Greg Smith, in conjunction with Eva Wong and Steve Vosper.

We also saw some exciting opportunities emerge for the center to shine in the spotlight in the local community. In November, Shastri Carolyn Krusinski represented Buddhism in Boston at the 48th Annual Rotary Club Governor’s Prayer Breakfast with almost the entire Board present. A week later, the Shambhala Center hosted a screening of Crazy Wisdom, Johanna Demetrakis’ new film about Chögyam Trungpa, at the historic Coolidge Corner Theatre.

A large contingent from Boston participated in the Kalapa Governance Gathering at Karmê Chöling in September and many also attend the Sakyong’s teachings on governance and leadership in October in Halifax. We also enjoyed a visit from President Richard Reoch in October for our Center Director oath ceremonies.

Other key developments from the year included our “Mindfulness for Children” program, thanks to our Head of Families and Children, Jennifer Lacy, a revitalization of Nyida Days (community celebrations such as Midsummer’s Day, Children’s Day, and Shambhala Day), and a multitude of sangha members attending key path programs, including Warrior Assembly and the first-ever Enlightened Society Assembly (formerly Sutrayana Seminary), which just wrapped up at Karmê Chöling.

Looking Ahead
As we look ahead at the Year of the Water Dragon, we see first and foremost a very full and exciting spring that includes four online addresses from Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche in the span of five weeks! After this week’s Shambhala Day address, we have a March 10 address to Meditation Instructors, Assistant Directors, and Shambhala Guides. Following that, on March 17-18 we have our first ever Shambhala Sadhana Retreat, which will be led by Acharya Emily Bower, include online teachings from the Sakyong, and introduce a new practice to people who have taken the Enlightened Society Vow. Lastly, on April 1, the Sakyong will address the community as part of the 25th Anniversary of the Vidyadhara, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Parinirvana.

Additionally, the spring lineup includes a seven-week video class called “Celebrating the Life of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche” which is also part of our 25th Anniversary celebration, a visit from Ikebana teacher Marcia Shibata, a very special visit from Lady Diana Mukpo to teach Golden Key, and Acharya Suzann Duquette teaching the Rigden Weekend.

Also in the realm of programming, the Shastris, Ms. Hopcroft and myself are looking at ways to continue to develop and strengthen our “gateway” level programs and offer meditation instruction and present the teachings to newcomers in an accessible way that is relevant to everyday life.

This year will see us continue our expansion process, now with the aforementioned benefit of having done a lot of legwork that puts us in a good position to succeed with an auxiliary space. The Drala Spot committee, headed by John Ranco, is back on the beat looking at possible new locations for this space, and will be asking the community for help with ideas and leads. Stay tuned!

Another development is that the leadership (Shastris, Board of Trustees, and Shambhala Council) will be spending time with our very own Joe Inskeep, who serves as the Chair of the Mandala Structure and Governance Working Group for Shambhala, to explore whether Boston is ready to take on the new governance model that the Sakyong and President Richard Reoch are encouraging centers to put in place. Information about the Kalapa Governance model can be found here. We will keep you posted on any further developments in this area!

In April, the Sakyong’s new book, Running with the Mind of Meditation, will be released April 10, and the team of Running Meditation Instructors have been working with Barbara and myself to plan some events out in the community this spring in support of this book and offering these teachings. This will be one of many increased opportunities that are arising for us to get involved in the local community and offer programs and participate in events in the Greater Boston area.

We are also thrilled to be partnering with the Museum of Fine Arts and exploring our auspicious connection to their Seeking Shambhala exhibit of 17th century paintings of the Rigden Kings. Shastri Diana Evans will give meditation instruction at the exhibit opening and we are working with the museum on putting together a program at the center, as well.

We will also be paying close attention to a recent Shambhala News Service announcement about the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo’s meeting with the Kalapa Council, their senior leadership team, about moving forward with our “2020 Vision.” In 2010, the Sakyong wrote in his Letter of the Morning Sun:

If Shambhala as a vision, a lineage, and a community is to have any real effect on the world, the next ten years are essential. We must now begin to organize, train, and develop ourselves with greater commitment and determination. Therefore, I ask all Shambhalians to see the next ten years as a time to truly challenge ourselves. If we can make substantial progress over this time, I believe we will have shifted the momentum of the lineage and vision toward being able to fulfill the Dorje Dradül’s intentions.

You can read the full document about the gathering with the Kalapa Council here – it’s quite inspiring! There are a number of ways we are already working with these areas here in Boston, and we will continue make them an increased focus.

As you can see, the months ahead are exciting and full. I am looking forward to continuing the journey with all of you and stepping into my first full year in this role. I offer you all a humble and heartfelt thank you for everything you do – from offering financially, to coordinating programs, serving on committees, teaching programs, Kasung service, holding posts, housekeeping and cleaning – all of your offerings of service and support are innumerable.

As the new “Aspiration of Shambhala” chant says:
May the Shambhala Centres radiate kindness and inspiration. May they continue to expand, allowing a multitude of warriors to train.

Yours in the Shambhala Vision,
Dan