Shambhala Training

Shambhala Training is a secular approach to meditation developed by the late Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa and his students. [Midal (2001) pp 233-247] [Gimian (2005) pp 337-345] It is based on what Trungpa calls Shambhala Vision, which sees enlightened society as not purely mythical, but as realizable by people of all faiths through practices of mindfulness/awareness, non-aggression, and sacred outlook. [Mukpo, pp 223] He writes:

I am honoured and grateful that in the past I have been able to present the wisdom and dignity of human life within the context of the religious teachings of Buddhism. Now it gives me tremendous joy to present the principles of Shambhala warriorship and to show how we can conduct our lives as warriors with fearlessness and rejoicing, without destroying one another... I have been presenting a series of "Shambhala teachings" that use the image of the Shambhala kingdom to represent the ideal of secular enlightenment, that is, the possibility of uplifting our personal existence and that of others without the help of any religious outlook. For although the Shambhala tradition is founded on the sanity and gentleness of the Buddhist tradition, at the same time it has its own independent basis, which is directly cultivating who and what we are as human beings. [Trungpa (1984), pp 25-34]

The Shambhala Training teachings cover art, society, and politics and the goal of creating an [http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/#ENLIGHTENEDSOCIETY enlightened society] . That goal is presented as not solely a social and political process, but one requiring individuals to develop an awareness of the [http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/#BASICGOODNESS basic goodness] and inherent [http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/#DIGNITY dignity] of themselves, of others, and of the everyday details of the world around them. This is facilitated by cultivating [http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/#GENTLENESS gentleness] and [http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/#BRAVERY bravery] . [Kohn, pp 674]

Shambhala Training is currently administered worldwide by Shambhala International (but see Controversial Changes).

Curriculum

Though Shambhala Training is a personal, ongoing practice of meditation and engaged activities, the Shambhala Training curriculum is presented in a series of progressive weekend programs, and then a longer retreat. The first five weekends are called "The Heart of Warriorship" and the latter seven weekends are called "The Sacred Path". The five Heart of Warriorship weekends are denoted Level 1 through 5. The Sacred Path weekends are titled Great Eastern Sun, Windhorse, Drala, Meek, Perky, Outrageous and Inscrutable, and Golden Key. These weekends are intended to be completed in order, though Windhorse and Drala are sometimes exchanged in the sequence. Students may then continue onto an intensive nine to fourteen day-long residential retreat called Warriors Assembly. Practices and root texts are made available as students complete the prerequisite study and practice stages. However, it is claimed by Shambhala adherents that much of their content is found in the book [http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/0-87773-264-7.cfm Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior] and others. [Seager, pp 133]

Teachings

The basic meditation technique initially presented in Shambhala Training includes sitting with legs loosely crossed, taking good posture, leaving the eyes slightly open, and focusing attention on the out-breath. A feeling of dissolving accompanies the out-breath but no specific attention is prescribed during the in-breath. The hands are placed face down on the thighs. Thoughts may be labeled neutrally as "thinking" before attention is returned to the out breath. [Trungpa, (1984) pg 37-40] Variations on the technique are taught during the first five "Heart of Warriorship" weekends.

Shambhala Training contains teachings relating to personal, household, and societal situations. One central teaching is on natural hierarchy. At first glance this appears to suggest that hierarchy is inherent to human societies and therefore oppression and subjugation are inevitable. But conventional social hierarchies or privilege based on class, gender, race, etc. would be considered unnatural hierarchies. Instead the Shambhala Training notion of natural hierarchy is akin to an arranged mandala where people are connected, interdependent, and communicate in natural ways. The Chinese notion of Heaven, Earth and Man is considered the prototypical pattern of natural hierarchy. Natural hierarchy recognizes that some people are better than others at things and communities benefit from a natural arrangement. However these arrangements of people are fluid and ossification creates unnatural hierarchy. [Prebish and Tanaka, chapter 14, pg 247-249] [Trungpa, (1999) pp 101-103]

Some key concepts presented include:
* basic goodness - our essential nature is good, workable, and worthwhile. This is sometimes contrasted with the idea of original sin, although it is arguable that both notions include the concept of a primordial purity that is stained or covered over. [Manning, pp 9-10]
* [http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/#COCOON cocoon] - conceptualization can become armor that cuts us off from the vividness of the world around us, and we are better to discard that armor. [Trungpa (1984) pp 60-64]
* [http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/#DRALA drala] - akin to kami or spirit conventionally, this also refers to the use of direct sense perceptions to overcome conceptual mental fixation. [Hayward (1997) pp 17] [Trungpa, (1984) pp 103-115]
* Wind Horse (Tib. lungta) - akin to Qi [Trungpa, (1999), pp 234] or life force, practitioners cultivate windhorse through a variety of practices and disciplines. [Trungpa, (1999), pp 109-110] [Trungpa, (1984) pp 114-115]
* [http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/#HE heaven, earth, and man] - the role of humanity (man) is to connect the ground of the situation (earth) with the vision of possibility (heaven), so to rule oneself or society is to join heaven, earth, and man. [Trungpa, (1999), pp 112-113] [Trungpa, (1984) pp 129-130]

During the Sacred Path weekends and Warriors Assembly, students study Shambhala texts composed by Chögyam Trungpa, as well as practices such as that of the stroke of ashé. The stroke of ashé was first produced on the night of October 25, 1976, while Trungpa was leading a three-month seminary in Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin [Mukpo, pp 220-223] . It was followed by subsequent texts, some of which were considered to be terma, which were received over the next few years. [Midal, (2001), pp 220-232]

Controversial Changes

Shambhala Vision, including Shambhala Training, was initially presented as a secular path to a society that recognizes the sacred, open to all because of the inherent goodness of their nature, and which does not require one to become a Buddhist. However, in May 2000, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, head of Shambhala International, published a letter declaring the Shambhala teachings and Buddhism to be "in tandem" and described practitioners who were not Buddhist as both welcome in the organization but also called out separately. [Mipham (2000)] This was the introduction of a new, Shambhala Buddhist, lineage.

After the 2003 Kalapa Assembly program the study and practice of the werma sadhana was moved from the Shambhala Training to the Buddhist curriculum. These announcements and changes are considered by some as a move away from a purely secular path for Shambhala Training and from the vision of realizing a society that includes equally many kinds of religious practitioners. [Shambhala Congress (2005) Q&A Transcript]

References

* Gimian, Carolyn Rose. (2005) "From Cowards to Warriors: The Origins of Shambhala Training", in Midal, Fabrice (2005) "Recalling Chogyam Trungpa". ISBN 1-59030-207-9
* Hayward, Jeremy and Karen. (1998) "Sacred World". ISBN 1-57062-361-9
* Hayward, Jeremy. (1997) "Letters to Vanessa: On Love, Science, and Awareness in an Enchanted World". ISBN 1-57062-077-6
* Kohn, Sherab Chodzin ed. (2003) "Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa, Volume 2". ISBN 1-59030-026-2
* Manning, Tara Jon. (2005) "Compassionate Knitting: Finding Basic Goodness in the Work of our Hands". ISBN 0-80483-707-4
* Midal, Fabrice. (2001). "Chögyam Trungpa: His Life and Vision". ISBN 1-59030-098-X
* Mipham Rinpoche, Sakyong. (2000) "Shambhala Buddhism". [http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/sakyong/smr-shambu.html Published letter]
* Mukpo, Diana. (2006) "Dragon Thunder". ISBN 1-59030-256-7
* Prebish and Tanaka ed. (1998) "The Faces of Buddhism in America". ISBN 0-52020-460-3
* Seager, Richard Hughes. (1999) "Buddhism in America". ISBN 0-23110-868-0
* Shambhala Congress. (2005) [http://www.shambhala.org/congress/2005/Congress2005QA1.pdf Transcript of February 15, 2005 Q&A with Sakyong Mipham]
* Trungpa, Chogyam. (1999) "Great Eastern Sun". ISBN 1-57062-293-0
* Trungpa, Chogyam. (1984) "Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior". ISBN 0-87773-264-7

Notes

External links

* [http://www.shambhala.org Shambhala International home page]
* [http://shambhala.org/shambhala-training.php Shambhala Training home page]
* [http://www.glossary.shambhala.org/ Shambhala Training Glossary]