Re: Shambhala Guide Resource Manual: A Resource for Director
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Detailed Experiential Overview of the Shambhala Path
1. Basic Meditation: Rediscovering Basic Goodness
The path begins with basic sitting meditation as a way to cultivate our awareness, synchronize mind and body, and discover more about who and what we already are. Our original nature, or “basic goodness,” is not just an idea; it is an experience that we can rediscover through practical training. The Shambhala approach to meditation is simple and profound. Our approach is to relax with what is, rather than begin by struggling to correct, fix, and improve our selves. We emphasize a gentle but precise relationship with meditation in which we cultivate friendship with our emotional, physical, and perceptual experience in the present. We learn to simply feel and be, as we are. Such training develops friendliness towards our selves, even in the midst of anxiety, stress, and suffering. Meditation can open up a genuine space in which the frightened and speedy mind can relax into freshness and simplicity. Bodily tightening and mental contraction can unwind and release through daily practice. This allows our sense perceptions to be more attuned and receptive. Human consciousness is naturally clear, and a more basic awareness emerges when it is allowed to.
Obstacles
The obstacles to this experience are the habitual mind of distraction, speed, anxiety, reactivity, and self-aggression—a constant and ongoing inner-dialogue of criticism and judgment. This makes true relaxation difficult and keeps us from feeling our present experience. We close down. Body and mind are not synchronized and we recreate our own patterns of suffering, always looking somewhere else for satisfaction. We miss our life. Therefore, during the stage of basic meditation we learn to acknowledge and work with this level of struggle. We become curious about the causes of suffering in our experience and learn to uproot them. We look directly at our own mind, our habits and fears, and invite care, mindfulness, and curiosity into our life. We train in feeling whatever arises with gentleness and nonconceptual immediacy.
Gentleness and Friendliness
The heart of this foundational stage of practice is discovering friendliness towards our own being. This is known as “placing the mind of fear in the cradle of loving kindness.” We do not have to be afraid of who we are; we do not have to live with a sense of guilt or self-loathing; and we do not have to deceive our selves or others. When many of us first hear this teaching, we may think that friendliness sounds rather simplistic or childish. However, though we may seek out the path of meditation in order to discover peace, if we approach our meditation practice by harshly judging and pushing ourselves, we may simply reproduce our own aggressive habits and the result of our practice may be more frustration. This is why the atmosphere of gentleness is so significant and practical. Therefore, the Shambhala path begins by discovering an attitude of human-hearted care. If the way we practice is gentle, the result of our practice will be peaceful. The first phase of training is learning this way of practicing. We immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of basic goodness as we sit in silence and stillness with our mind, sense perceptions, and heart soft and open. We feel our body and emotions just as they are, in their raw and direct reality. The mind of habit and fear—the ego—can melt in this pervasive space of feeling infused with care. Or, we could say that the ego mind of fear may surrender in this gentle, wakeful atmosphere. Through this simple and human training, we learn to feel and just be. We can touch the underlying openness that we call basic goodness, our original nature.
The Foundation for a Mindful Life
This discovery can be the basis of an appreciative, confident, and content human life. We train in the art of being human by mindfully engaging in every activity of our day—from the dishes to each footstep to not causing harm with our speech. Mindfulness, peace, and emotional health can already emerge in this first phase of the path. We can take this into our lives, relationships, work, art, and service to the world. When we are more friendly to ourselves, we tend to be less judgmental, more supportive, and kind to others. As we rest with the simplicity of our innate awareness, we discover that we have everything that we need—nothing is missing. Rather than constantly searching for contentment somewhere else, we rest mindfully in nowness. Appreciating our precious lives on this good earth is possible and natural.
The Foundation for the Spiritual Journey
The discovery of basic goodness can also be the ground for the complete spiritual journey. In this foundational stage, we learn how to walk the path. The very way that we meditate and explore our lives can be open, curious, and gentle so that the experience of the path itself expresses basic goodness. Through reconnecting with our natural awareness we help to create a stable and sustainable foundation to go deeper. Without a sense of friendship with our own being, it is very difficult to move forward on the path. When we are at war with our selves, it is hard to be curious about our own mind, curious about others or about reality itself, or curious about how to create enlightened society. We need to learn to be truly curious and receptive, to reawaken a sense of humility and wonder. Therefore, practicing basic meditation is like creating the most potent “vehicle” to go forward. Genuine confidence arises from friendship with our mind, and trust in our ability to skillfully work with whatever arises in our life. Our mind is no longer stolen by ordinary everyday activities nor bloated with arrogance, guilt, or self-aggression. With this good, mindful ground, we can allow a further unfolding of our own path.
Specific Courses of Training
In the Shambhala path of practice and education, Buddhist psychological and philosophical teachings, dialogues, the arts, and contemplations help to support the simplicity of consistent sitting meditation. All Shambhala centers offer weekly introductions to basic meditation as well as the core teachings of basic goodness, gentleness, and natural awareness in our introductory programs. In particular, the themes mentioned above are explored in detail in the following courses and retreats:
This foundational stage of the path can be strengthened by attending weekly meditation sessions and talks at your local Shambhala center, through online courses available through ShambhalaOnline.org, and through introductory classes and weekend retreats at the Shambhala center. In particular, the beginning classes of the Everyday Life series: “Meditation in Everyday Life” and “Contentment in Everyday Life” are specifically focused on the themes of this first phase of the path. Shambhala Training Level 1 is also the ideal weekend retreat at this stage. Deeper retreats, such as a week-long meditation retreat called a “simplicity retreat” or “weekthün” may be offered in both city centers and land centers. A full month of meditation, called a Dathün (month-sit), is offered seasonally at our land centers around the world. These longer practice retreats are a way to immerse your self in meditation.
Main Practice: Basic meditation, Shambhala Meditation
2 Opening the Heart: Rediscovering tender-joy
Through the first phase of the path we cultivate mindfulness, friendliness, peace, and simplicity and we will continue to train in these qualities throughout the journey. Each stage is cumulative—the experiences build upon each other and are brought along with us into the next step. We never really “finish” with one of the stages. However, the complexities of our human lives require more than just the mindful calm and contentment of basic meditation. We also will need a spark of uplifted energy, open heartedness, and joy. The second stage on the Shambhala path taps into the vital, strong, and healthy energy of our human heart. Through basic meditation training we might begin to discover how much we have covered over our own heart. So we now train in opening further than we had thought was possible as we gradually step beyond the barriers of our habits and fears. We uncover our own heart, and to our surprise, we may find that the tenderness brings delight and makes us more receptive to others and our world.
Personal Energy
In the speed of our life, when there are constant demands on our energy, each day can feel too short. We can feel like we barely have enough energy to get through the day. How could we possibly have enough energy to go forward on the path of meditation? We need a pure, strong, and sustainable energy supply for the journey. In the second stage of training, we discover for ourselves the human experience of virtuous energy that is taught in many cultures and traditions. Now, in addition to the peace of mindfulness, we uncover a wind of delight that infuses our path with sustainable energy.
Joy of Discipline
One way to understand the second stage of training is to explore our growing relationship with discipline. In the first phase of the path we may run into an interesting contradiction: on the one hand we are invited to be gentle and friendly towards our selves, but on the other hand, we are asked to sit and meditate regularly and to train with some exertion. How can we do both at the same time? What does being gentle to ourselves mean if we don’t want to meditate but feel like we are supposed to? How can we walk a path of training without the path feeling heavy, guilt-ridden, and stressful? This paradox reveals the need to discover a joyous relationship with personal discipline. Discipline can be unwavering, delightful, and invigorating rather than based upon aggression, comparison, or harsh striving. This is a focus for the second phase on the path.
Uncovering the Heart
As we uncover the heart, we will likely feel more than just joy, however. We also encounter the full range of emotions from anxiety, to anger, to sadness. On this second stage we learn to work with our heart so that we can stay open, rather than close down to our life and the challenges we face on our planet. The primary challenge here is doubt in selves. We sometimes doubt whether we can open in this way or whether that is even such a wise idea. This kind of doubt can be a trap and we may find ourselves returning to old habits. In the phase of opening the heart, we explore and transform doubt so that it does not trap us. This releases more energy and our path can unfold with less obstructions.
Conventionally, opening further to our world and opening our heart to other people may seem threatening or foolish. However, from the perspective of Shambhala warriorship, being willing to be touched by our world can lead to freshness. Rather than the claustrophobia of having to maintain our habits, we can let go and cheer up. We can open our eyes and our hearts and connect with others. Although we will encounter difficult people, frightening global circumstances, and painful emotions, it is possible to let these challenges soften our heart, instead of harden our heart. In the Shambhala teachings, joy means living with an open, tender heart and open perceptions. In the second stage we train the body, mind and senses to be synchronized and completely open.
With the gentleness and acceptance of ourselves that we cultivate in the first stage of basic meditation training, we begin to let our genuine heart emerge. When we do, we find that beneath many layers, our heart is tender and full. This awake heart is called bodhichitta in the Buddhist tradition. It is a soft, open heart. It is the genuine heart of sadness. It is our innate capacity for love and empathy, our ability to feel and share the pain of another person, community, animal, or ecosystem.
This phase of the journey is divided into two traditional categories of awakened heart: The first is called “aspiring” in which we work with powerful practices to help open the heart, such as generating loving-kindness and compassion, and “sending and taking” (tonglen) practice. The second is called “entering” in which we go beyond aspiring and begin to work with real action in the world, especially the “6 transcendent actions:” generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation, and knowledge.
Creating Enlightened Society
The shift in the second stage of the path comes to fruition when we recognize our complete interconnection with our world. In this stage of training, we look especially at our relationships with others and with society. We shift from reflection on our “own” personal experience of basic goodness and begin to ask, “what does basic goodness mean for others and in social experience? What does it mean for our planet?” We explore the possibility of the basic goodness of society by extending the warmth of our hearts out to others and to our whole world.
This is very practical. Many of us assume that spirituality has to do with our own mind and our private meditation practice. Then, when we get up from our meditation seat and have to face other people we may feel that things get complicated. The Shambhala teachings are about making this transition between the personal and the relational. We train in integrating our social relationships with our spiritual path. The two are inseparable. Society is not just a big abstract thing: it refers to the way two people communicate, our households, our workplaces, local school boards, our towns, cities, economies, and the everyday choices that we make collectively. Shambhala vision recognizes that there is global human wisdom that can encourage a more awakened society.
This second stage culminates in a group retreat called Enlightened Society Assembly in which we train in a practice to expand the warmth and strength of our hearts called the Shambhala Sadhana. We have a chance to make a personal commitment to be of benefit. When we return home from Enlightened Society Assembly, we encourage community practice, especially of the Shambhala Sadhana. At this important step on the path, there is emphasis on practicing together with groups of friends, building a strong sense of connection. We build a community of kindness that cares for each other and work together to bring the experience of basic goodness into our households, towns, cities, and global culture. Many practitioners also begin to volunteer at their local Shambhala centers at this stage of the path, and view the Shambhala center as an experiment in creating a culture of kindness.
The softness and tenderness that comes when we uncover our heart is tremendously powerful and strong. There is a sense of having struck pure gold, or having witnessed the sunrise, something completely flawless and true. Awakened heart is so alive and pure that it is also the source of tremendous confidence. Mothers and fathers and compassionate leaders, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., can find great strength and power through the awakened heart. Human beings can go beyond what is comfortable, or beyond what seems possible, because of the strength of the awakened heart. Through this tender but brave heart, we long to be of benefit to our world and this can become our motivation to go even further on the journey to unconditional warriorship.
Reaching this stage on the path is very full and rich. At this point, we have received enough teachings and practices to not only work with our own mind, but also to open to others. For many Shambhalians, the practices received at Enlightened Society Assembly will be sufficient for many years. Some may choose to rest with this experience, focus on family and work in the world, and helping to create enlightened society. This is a milestone on the journey.
Main Practice: Basic meditation, Shambhala Meditation, generating lovingkindness and compassion (4 Immeasurable practice), sending and taking practice (tong len). Working with the 6 transcendent actions. Volunteering at the center and in your community.
Specific Courses of Training
The themes mentioned above are explored in detail in the following courses and retreats:
Phase 3. Fearless Space: Rediscovering confidence
Having opened the heart and made a commitment to be of benefit to the world, the next stage of the path offers additional practical tools and trainings to cultivate the fearlessness, skill, and open-mind in order to help others. This also invites us into a more inner and profound dimension of the journey. With the gentle and mindful foundation of basic meditation, and the energy, joy, and tenderness of the open heart, the Shambhala practitioner can now open into deeper and more ultimate teachings. So far along the path we have been working with the immediacy of our experience but we have approached our self and our world within a relatively conventional perspective. In the third phase of the path, we learn to let go into a profound and vast dimension of experience that is free from the conceptual mind, and free from the duality of “self and other,” altogether. Here we integrate more and more spaciousness into our being and relax with the expansiveness of awareness itself. We train in intensifying the compassion in our hearts to become so sharp that it abruptly cuts through concepts and opens into freedom.
Metaphorically, the first two stages of the path are connected with the groundedness of the earth. In the third stage we begin to explore “heaven,” the open, space-like qualities of reality. In particular, we look explore the impermanence of all things, acknowledging the reality of change and death. As we look with curiosity and honesty, the third stage of the path invites us to recognize the groundlessness of reality.
Fearlessness
The groundlessness or transience of all things can be frightening, and therefore the primary focus of the third stage of the Shambhala path is to learn to work with fear. Conventionally, we may think of fearlessness as “less fear” or the reduction of fear. But in the tradition of warriorship, we learn to appreciate fear as part of our humanity. Fearlessness means being brave enough to feel fear. This takes training. Now the importance of the gentle mindfulness of the first stage and the joyous discipline and open the heart of the second stage are even more apparent. With these foundations, we cultivate the skill to look at impermanence, death, and the groundlessness of ultimate reality without becoming overwhelmed or disheartened. In fact, it can lead to great freedom and ease.
This topic is at the heart of warriorship itself. The study of our own fear can be approached in a very direct, everyday, and personal way. Fear is rampant in our world. We may experience the anxiety of doubting ourselves. We experience uncertainty as to the direction of our health, our lives, our families, and our financial stability, as well as fear of those different from us, and great fear for the future of our planet and our civilization. Depending on the year, there may be tremendous swells in fear of violence and war, disease, or economic and ecological instability.
For some, fear is experienced as an everyday background of anxiety of which we may or may not be aware. For others, fear is an abstraction, something that we will face “one day.” For others still, fear is a constant, paralyzing threat. Some of us have experienced traumas in our life. Nonetheless, there is always the possibility to train our selves to have a brave and outrageous relationship with fear: We are encouraged to develop a new relationship with fear based on basic goodness. We acknowledge the tender reality of human fear and shakiness and bring this directly onto the path. The warrior learns to smile at fear. In this way, we may experience unconditional confidence.
Ultimate Reality
In addition to providing a practical exploration of fear and bravery, the third stage of the path reveals the profound, ultimate nature of reality. To explore fear is also to look directly into our fear of open space. Ultimate truth is beyond our concepts and reference points. In fact, ultimate truth is beyond all of our ideas and even our sense of self. In Buddhist teachings, this is known as “emptiness.” There is nothing solid to hold on to. Yet this emptiness is not nihilistic, depressing, or void. In this stage of the path, we study the philosophical teachings of emptiness as well as expand our meditation technique to include more and more space. We train in being free of the need to grasp and conceptualize and our practice leads to increasing carefree freedom.
We may be afraid of impermanence, change, and death. We may rather hide from such truths. Penetrating into the nature of fear will lead us to encounter a deeper sense of space. Hope and fear keep us from truly letting go—both in our understanding and in our meditation practice. Hope can also be a trap in the sense that we constantly hope for other meditative experiences, hope for something “better.” As our meditation deepens, we also need to let go of trying to manipulate our experience or hoping for something more. The most ultimate teachings of Buddhism, such as the Great Perfection (dzokchen), describe abiding in the nature of mind as beyond hope and fear. If we follow this path beyond hope and fear, it will lead us to the primordial openness of the mind itself.
Therefore, the third stage of the path works on the level of our everyday, habitual anxieties. We train in practical tools for understanding, working with, and conquering fear. At the same time, the third stage works on an absolute level. We study the vast, empty, openness of space beyond limit. We learn to be willing to experience, understand, and open to the fear of such primordial expansiveness. This deepens our experience of the basic goodness of all.
Unconditional Confidence
The third stage of training emphasizes unconditional confidence. Such confidence is understood to be our nature, part of our basic goodness. It is our birthright as humans to be confident.
Conventionally, may think that confidence will arise when everything works in our favor and we feel in control. We may even attempt to feel confident through hiding from hear. In the Shambhala teachings, confidence comes from simply being, without pretense or pretending.
Unwavering confidence is powerful. It is not only gentle and spacious, but it is sharp, vivid, and cuts through all aggression. We now train in fearlessly intensifying the gentleness and warmth of our human hearts to become a source of unconditional confidence and power. This unshakeable quality is known as Ashe, which refers to the power of basic goodness to manifest directly in our world. It is a living and active experience of unconditionality that resides in the human heart and can influence our life. Warrior Assembly is dedicated to receiving and practicing such teachings.
Specific Courses
In local Shambhala centers, we train in a series of weekend retreats called the Sacred Path that gradually introduce some of the inner Shambhala principles of warriorship, such as principles of luminosity and “windhorse” or the energy of basic goodness, and “drala” or the living and sacred quality of the world. These weekends are the preparation for the group retreat called Warrior Assembly. The third stage of training culminates in this Warrior Assembly in which we receive the potent Ashe practices to strengthen our sense of fearless, unconditional confidence. Enlightened Society Assembly softens the heart, revealing warmth and compassion. Warrior Assembly then intensifies the confidence in the heart to become strong, sharp, and powerful. We study advanced teachings on absolute reality and the confidence that resides in our human heart and learn a contemplative art practice using brush and ink to express the Ashe. The Ashe represents non-conceptual awareness, a direct experience of mind beyond thought, and the fearless, gentle, intelligence that resides in our heart. The dignity and precision of this practice helps us experience the Ashe, and we learn a simple technique to rouse this fearless strength quickly and effectively in our everyday life.
Main Practice: Expansive and spacious meditation; contemplatively exploring fear, training in inner Shambhala practices of windhorse, and the advanced “Ashe” practices introduced at Warrior Assembly.
Specific Courses of Training
The themes mentioned above are explored in detail in the following courses and retreats:
Phase 4. Ordinary Magic: Dancing with the natural perfection of the cosmos
Some practitioners will choose to stay with the practices of the first three stages of the path for many years, and some will never move on to the fourth stage of the path. The meditation methods and teachings established in the initial three stages are very complete in themselves. Shambhala is more than a path of practice; it is also a community and a global society. In any society, there are many different kinds of people, and not all Shambhalians choose to go deeper into the more esoteric and advanced practices contained within the fourth phase of the journey. This is part of the richness of our tradition—some of us are in a stage of life where we are more focused on school, or on raising our families, or on our work in the world, while others of us are more focused on intensive practice. The fourth phase of the journey is a clear step into more intensive practice. One can still sustain a family and career while engaging the fourth phase of the path (even the advanced Shambhala stages are designed to work in an ordinary life) but now meditation practice becomes truly essential in your life.
With the ground of 1) mindful gentleness, 2) open-hearted energy, and 3) the vast awareness free of concepts and fear, the final phase of the Shambhala path enters into the fullest expression of basic goodness: the complete sacredness of our world. The first phase of the path introduces our own basic goodness. The second phase emphasizes the basic goodness of all beings and society itself. In the third and especially the fourth phase, we explore the basic goodness of reality and the ordinary magic of perceptions. Here the meditative training in basic goodness extends beyond boundaries and we learn practices to open awareness to the living harmony, or ordinary magic, of the universe. In the vajrayana tradition of Buddhism this is called “sacred outlook,” a way of perceiving the world and oneself as intrinsically good and unconditionally free.
Ordinary Magic
If the third stage related metaphorically with open space, the fourth stage relates with the fullness, energy, and luminosity of experience. There is a risk that we may get very used to the open space and freedom of the third stage—it is so simple and expansive. Therefore, we are invited to work with the complexity and energetic display of our experience, so that we cannot hide. We are asked to not withdraw from the sharp points of our world, but to move towards the raw vividness, beauty, and pain of reality. You could say that we “return” to the complexities of everyday life after having glimpsed the empty-spaciousness of ultimate truth. Yet we now return to play or dance with reality. In the final stage of the path there is nothing that is rejected. Everything—every experience and every emotion—can be brought onto the path. Even anger and desire can be workable and appreciated as part of the energetic dance of the universe. Practicing in this way also increases confidence that a more awake society can be possible.
Ordinary magic refers to the real world. This is not the magic of turning water into fire, or pulling rabbits from hats. It is the magic of fire itself, water itself, space itself, and earth itself. The elemental realities of forests, oceans, deserts, mountains— even urban sprawl and landfills—have their own magic. Much of the training in the fourth stage of sacredness is learning to tune into this ordinary magic through relaxing our senses. We study the process of perception, engage in contemplative arts, and spend time in nature. We study the “drala” teachings about invoking the living quality of existence present in the everyday world. As the Sakyong writes in The Shambhala Principle, “basic goodness is not simply a human experience, or something that is experienced only in deep meditation. Rather, it is alive, humming through the universe as an elemental energy that is very ordinary.”
Vajrayana Practices and Path
Entering fully into the final phase of the Shambhala path means making a deeper commitment to meditation. In addition to basic meditation, compassion practices, and awareness methods to cut through concepts, in the fourth phase of practice we are introduced to vajrayana techniques such as visualization, sacred sound (mantra), and yogic practices that open the subtle body. All of these practices are ways to use the whole range of our human experience as part of the path. We have very powerful imaginative capacities that we learn to develop in visualization practices. We are constantly using speech and relating with sounds, so we learn how to bring sound onto the path. We have complex bodily energies, such as sexual energies, that move through our bodies. We learn practices to skillfully relate with them as part of spiritual practice. These methods are very practical and can help increase our confidence that every part of our being is workable and has its own wisdom.
Though we learn about sacredness and ordinary magic in many of our earlier programs, such as the Drala program, Sacred World Assembly is the name of the advanced group retreat in which we are officially and authentically introduced to the inner Shambhala practices. Making a more direct connection with the Sakyong as a teacher is a large part of this step on the journey, so it is helpful to try to attend teachings with the Sakyong before making this step. Before this point, we work with many teachers in the Shambhala community. But as we enter formally into inner practices, we work more closely with the Sakyong as the primary lineage holder of Shambhala.
At Sacred World Assembly we study teachings about sacredness and the various practices that help us connect with the natural world. We receive an important meditation instruction called “the nature of mind” transmission, offered only by the Sakyong. We also begin the traditional “preliminary practices” (ngöndro), which help to strengthen our commitment and gradually introduce us to various methods, such as visualization and mantra. One can complete these preliminary practices over the course of about one to three years of focused daily sessions and a week of group retreat. One of the unique aspects of the Shambhala path is group practice.
We definitely are encouraged to practice daily on our own and in solitary retreats at times, but we are also encouraged to come together, to learn, practice, and celebrate as community.
Upon completing the preliminaries, the next milestone is called Rigden Empowerment, which is a vajrayana ceremony offered by the Sakyong. Here we are introduced to the central practice of the inner Shambhala teachings, known as the Werma Sādhanā. Werma is an ancient term for the sacred display of reality and sādhanā means, “accomplishment,” or a way to deeply engage with this aspect of the universe. This meditation practice is based upon very simple but profound visualizations and inner meditations to directly experience basic goodness as the primordial ground of being. Then we learn to draw this primordial experience into our own lives and body, and especially into our society.
The Scorpion Seal
After training in the Werma Sādhanā for about a year or so, practitioners may apply to enter the Scorpion Seal path. This is the final and innermost step on the path. Here the Sakyong directly guides the most advanced practitioners into the very essence of the Shambhala teachings. Through annual retreats that last for many years, the Sakyong teaches practices that include deeper training in the vajrayana techniques, especially very subtle and simple meditation instructions on resting directly in the nature of awareness. In a sense, we return to the simplicity of basic meditation, and realize that the whole journey has been present from the beginning. These methods are quite similar to practices in the renowned Great Perfection (dzokchen) tradition, considered by many to be the highest teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. The Scorpion Seal Assemblies, and the whole Shambhala path, culminate in a month long personal retreat in which we practice these subtle methods in nature.
Creating Enlightened Society
All of these more mystical-seeming practices are very potent methods that draw upon the sophisticated “spiritual technologies” of the Shambhala lineage, stretching back for many thousands of years. Their purpose is to help us master all of the energies of our experience, and therefore be of the most benefit to our world. The ultimate Shambhala practice is creating enlightened society, in which what appeared to be meditative awareness, wisdom, and compassion emerge in our culture and the social institutions of our world. The most advanced vajrayana training is learning to make this a reality. During each phase throughout the path, we are encouraged to be “warriors in the world,” to brave and skillful as we manifest the teachings in our daily life. In this sense, there is no end to the path. We continually work to create the conditions to allow the most beautiful, wise, and compassionate human presence on this planet, and through this, to celebrate and delight in the fullest potential of our precious lives. Every practice and step on the path is in service of this possibility.
Main Practice: Effortless awareness meditation; the Ashe practices, the Preliminary Practices, Werma Sādhanā, Scorpion Seal practices.
Specific Courses of Training
The themes mentioned above are explored in detail in the following courses and retreats:
The Logic of the Assemblies
Enlightened Society Assembly begins with an exploration of the basic goodness of society. The primary practice of this Assembly is the Shambhala Sadhana, a meditation which cultivates confidence in the basic goodness of oneself, others, and society. As we train in opening our being, the experience of warmth and compassion is like a sun of goodness in our heart. We study the Enlightened Society Vow in order to make a lasting commitment to being of benefit to our world.
Warrior Assembly then strengthens and intensifies this sun-like warmth in our hearts. We learn practices to abruptly rouse our confidence and energy, helping to overcome any blockage to accessing our heart. The sun in our heart can transform into a tool or even weapon of gentleness and fearlessness to help us create enlightened society.
Sacred World Assembly introduces teachings and practices that emphasize the living quality of reality. We train in joining the warmth and confident-strength in our hearts with the magic of the whole world. With no separation, the primordial sacredness of phenomena shows itself.
1. Basic Meditation: Rediscovering Basic Goodness
The path begins with basic sitting meditation as a way to cultivate our awareness, synchronize mind and body, and discover more about who and what we already are. Our original nature, or “basic goodness,” is not just an idea; it is an experience that we can rediscover through practical training. The Shambhala approach to meditation is simple and profound. Our approach is to relax with what is, rather than begin by struggling to correct, fix, and improve our selves. We emphasize a gentle but precise relationship with meditation in which we cultivate friendship with our emotional, physical, and perceptual experience in the present. We learn to simply feel and be, as we are. Such training develops friendliness towards our selves, even in the midst of anxiety, stress, and suffering. Meditation can open up a genuine space in which the frightened and speedy mind can relax into freshness and simplicity. Bodily tightening and mental contraction can unwind and release through daily practice. This allows our sense perceptions to be more attuned and receptive. Human consciousness is naturally clear, and a more basic awareness emerges when it is allowed to.
Obstacles
The obstacles to this experience are the habitual mind of distraction, speed, anxiety, reactivity, and self-aggression—a constant and ongoing inner-dialogue of criticism and judgment. This makes true relaxation difficult and keeps us from feeling our present experience. We close down. Body and mind are not synchronized and we recreate our own patterns of suffering, always looking somewhere else for satisfaction. We miss our life. Therefore, during the stage of basic meditation we learn to acknowledge and work with this level of struggle. We become curious about the causes of suffering in our experience and learn to uproot them. We look directly at our own mind, our habits and fears, and invite care, mindfulness, and curiosity into our life. We train in feeling whatever arises with gentleness and nonconceptual immediacy.
Gentleness and Friendliness
The heart of this foundational stage of practice is discovering friendliness towards our own being. This is known as “placing the mind of fear in the cradle of loving kindness.” We do not have to be afraid of who we are; we do not have to live with a sense of guilt or self-loathing; and we do not have to deceive our selves or others. When many of us first hear this teaching, we may think that friendliness sounds rather simplistic or childish. However, though we may seek out the path of meditation in order to discover peace, if we approach our meditation practice by harshly judging and pushing ourselves, we may simply reproduce our own aggressive habits and the result of our practice may be more frustration. This is why the atmosphere of gentleness is so significant and practical. Therefore, the Shambhala path begins by discovering an attitude of human-hearted care. If the way we practice is gentle, the result of our practice will be peaceful. The first phase of training is learning this way of practicing. We immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of basic goodness as we sit in silence and stillness with our mind, sense perceptions, and heart soft and open. We feel our body and emotions just as they are, in their raw and direct reality. The mind of habit and fear—the ego—can melt in this pervasive space of feeling infused with care. Or, we could say that the ego mind of fear may surrender in this gentle, wakeful atmosphere. Through this simple and human training, we learn to feel and just be. We can touch the underlying openness that we call basic goodness, our original nature.
The Foundation for a Mindful Life
This discovery can be the basis of an appreciative, confident, and content human life. We train in the art of being human by mindfully engaging in every activity of our day—from the dishes to each footstep to not causing harm with our speech. Mindfulness, peace, and emotional health can already emerge in this first phase of the path. We can take this into our lives, relationships, work, art, and service to the world. When we are more friendly to ourselves, we tend to be less judgmental, more supportive, and kind to others. As we rest with the simplicity of our innate awareness, we discover that we have everything that we need—nothing is missing. Rather than constantly searching for contentment somewhere else, we rest mindfully in nowness. Appreciating our precious lives on this good earth is possible and natural.
The Foundation for the Spiritual Journey
The discovery of basic goodness can also be the ground for the complete spiritual journey. In this foundational stage, we learn how to walk the path. The very way that we meditate and explore our lives can be open, curious, and gentle so that the experience of the path itself expresses basic goodness. Through reconnecting with our natural awareness we help to create a stable and sustainable foundation to go deeper. Without a sense of friendship with our own being, it is very difficult to move forward on the path. When we are at war with our selves, it is hard to be curious about our own mind, curious about others or about reality itself, or curious about how to create enlightened society. We need to learn to be truly curious and receptive, to reawaken a sense of humility and wonder. Therefore, practicing basic meditation is like creating the most potent “vehicle” to go forward. Genuine confidence arises from friendship with our mind, and trust in our ability to skillfully work with whatever arises in our life. Our mind is no longer stolen by ordinary everyday activities nor bloated with arrogance, guilt, or self-aggression. With this good, mindful ground, we can allow a further unfolding of our own path.
Specific Courses of Training
In the Shambhala path of practice and education, Buddhist psychological and philosophical teachings, dialogues, the arts, and contemplations help to support the simplicity of consistent sitting meditation. All Shambhala centers offer weekly introductions to basic meditation as well as the core teachings of basic goodness, gentleness, and natural awareness in our introductory programs. In particular, the themes mentioned above are explored in detail in the following courses and retreats:
Courses
• Meditation in Everyday Life
• Contentment in Everyday Life
• Who Am I? The Basic Goodness of Being Human
Retreats
• Learn to Meditate days
• Weekend Retreats: Shambhala Training Levels 1, 2
• Deeper Retreats: Simplicity Week (weekthun) or Month long retreat (Dathun)
Commitment
• The Shambhala Vow offered at Unconditional Confidence: The Rigden weekend retreat
• For those who choose to make a connection with Buddhism, the Refuge Vow may be requested.
This foundational stage of the path can be strengthened by attending weekly meditation sessions and talks at your local Shambhala center, through online courses available through ShambhalaOnline.org, and through introductory classes and weekend retreats at the Shambhala center. In particular, the beginning classes of the Everyday Life series: “Meditation in Everyday Life” and “Contentment in Everyday Life” are specifically focused on the themes of this first phase of the path. Shambhala Training Level 1 is also the ideal weekend retreat at this stage. Deeper retreats, such as a week-long meditation retreat called a “simplicity retreat” or “weekthün” may be offered in both city centers and land centers. A full month of meditation, called a Dathün (month-sit), is offered seasonally at our land centers around the world. These longer practice retreats are a way to immerse your self in meditation.
Main Practice: Basic meditation, Shambhala Meditation
2 Opening the Heart: Rediscovering tender-joy
Through the first phase of the path we cultivate mindfulness, friendliness, peace, and simplicity and we will continue to train in these qualities throughout the journey. Each stage is cumulative—the experiences build upon each other and are brought along with us into the next step. We never really “finish” with one of the stages. However, the complexities of our human lives require more than just the mindful calm and contentment of basic meditation. We also will need a spark of uplifted energy, open heartedness, and joy. The second stage on the Shambhala path taps into the vital, strong, and healthy energy of our human heart. Through basic meditation training we might begin to discover how much we have covered over our own heart. So we now train in opening further than we had thought was possible as we gradually step beyond the barriers of our habits and fears. We uncover our own heart, and to our surprise, we may find that the tenderness brings delight and makes us more receptive to others and our world.
Personal Energy
In the speed of our life, when there are constant demands on our energy, each day can feel too short. We can feel like we barely have enough energy to get through the day. How could we possibly have enough energy to go forward on the path of meditation? We need a pure, strong, and sustainable energy supply for the journey. In the second stage of training, we discover for ourselves the human experience of virtuous energy that is taught in many cultures and traditions. Now, in addition to the peace of mindfulness, we uncover a wind of delight that infuses our path with sustainable energy.
Joy of Discipline
One way to understand the second stage of training is to explore our growing relationship with discipline. In the first phase of the path we may run into an interesting contradiction: on the one hand we are invited to be gentle and friendly towards our selves, but on the other hand, we are asked to sit and meditate regularly and to train with some exertion. How can we do both at the same time? What does being gentle to ourselves mean if we don’t want to meditate but feel like we are supposed to? How can we walk a path of training without the path feeling heavy, guilt-ridden, and stressful? This paradox reveals the need to discover a joyous relationship with personal discipline. Discipline can be unwavering, delightful, and invigorating rather than based upon aggression, comparison, or harsh striving. This is a focus for the second phase on the path.
Uncovering the Heart
As we uncover the heart, we will likely feel more than just joy, however. We also encounter the full range of emotions from anxiety, to anger, to sadness. On this second stage we learn to work with our heart so that we can stay open, rather than close down to our life and the challenges we face on our planet. The primary challenge here is doubt in selves. We sometimes doubt whether we can open in this way or whether that is even such a wise idea. This kind of doubt can be a trap and we may find ourselves returning to old habits. In the phase of opening the heart, we explore and transform doubt so that it does not trap us. This releases more energy and our path can unfold with less obstructions.
Conventionally, opening further to our world and opening our heart to other people may seem threatening or foolish. However, from the perspective of Shambhala warriorship, being willing to be touched by our world can lead to freshness. Rather than the claustrophobia of having to maintain our habits, we can let go and cheer up. We can open our eyes and our hearts and connect with others. Although we will encounter difficult people, frightening global circumstances, and painful emotions, it is possible to let these challenges soften our heart, instead of harden our heart. In the Shambhala teachings, joy means living with an open, tender heart and open perceptions. In the second stage we train the body, mind and senses to be synchronized and completely open.
With the gentleness and acceptance of ourselves that we cultivate in the first stage of basic meditation training, we begin to let our genuine heart emerge. When we do, we find that beneath many layers, our heart is tender and full. This awake heart is called bodhichitta in the Buddhist tradition. It is a soft, open heart. It is the genuine heart of sadness. It is our innate capacity for love and empathy, our ability to feel and share the pain of another person, community, animal, or ecosystem.
This phase of the journey is divided into two traditional categories of awakened heart: The first is called “aspiring” in which we work with powerful practices to help open the heart, such as generating loving-kindness and compassion, and “sending and taking” (tonglen) practice. The second is called “entering” in which we go beyond aspiring and begin to work with real action in the world, especially the “6 transcendent actions:” generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation, and knowledge.
Creating Enlightened Society
The shift in the second stage of the path comes to fruition when we recognize our complete interconnection with our world. In this stage of training, we look especially at our relationships with others and with society. We shift from reflection on our “own” personal experience of basic goodness and begin to ask, “what does basic goodness mean for others and in social experience? What does it mean for our planet?” We explore the possibility of the basic goodness of society by extending the warmth of our hearts out to others and to our whole world.
This is very practical. Many of us assume that spirituality has to do with our own mind and our private meditation practice. Then, when we get up from our meditation seat and have to face other people we may feel that things get complicated. The Shambhala teachings are about making this transition between the personal and the relational. We train in integrating our social relationships with our spiritual path. The two are inseparable. Society is not just a big abstract thing: it refers to the way two people communicate, our households, our workplaces, local school boards, our towns, cities, economies, and the everyday choices that we make collectively. Shambhala vision recognizes that there is global human wisdom that can encourage a more awakened society.
This second stage culminates in a group retreat called Enlightened Society Assembly in which we train in a practice to expand the warmth and strength of our hearts called the Shambhala Sadhana. We have a chance to make a personal commitment to be of benefit. When we return home from Enlightened Society Assembly, we encourage community practice, especially of the Shambhala Sadhana. At this important step on the path, there is emphasis on practicing together with groups of friends, building a strong sense of connection. We build a community of kindness that cares for each other and work together to bring the experience of basic goodness into our households, towns, cities, and global culture. Many practitioners also begin to volunteer at their local Shambhala centers at this stage of the path, and view the Shambhala center as an experiment in creating a culture of kindness.
The softness and tenderness that comes when we uncover our heart is tremendously powerful and strong. There is a sense of having struck pure gold, or having witnessed the sunrise, something completely flawless and true. Awakened heart is so alive and pure that it is also the source of tremendous confidence. Mothers and fathers and compassionate leaders, such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., can find great strength and power through the awakened heart. Human beings can go beyond what is comfortable, or beyond what seems possible, because of the strength of the awakened heart. Through this tender but brave heart, we long to be of benefit to our world and this can become our motivation to go even further on the journey to unconditional warriorship.
Reaching this stage on the path is very full and rich. At this point, we have received enough teachings and practices to not only work with our own mind, but also to open to others. For many Shambhalians, the practices received at Enlightened Society Assembly will be sufficient for many years. Some may choose to rest with this experience, focus on family and work in the world, and helping to create enlightened society. This is a milestone on the journey.
Main Practice: Basic meditation, Shambhala Meditation, generating lovingkindness and compassion (4 Immeasurable practice), sending and taking practice (tong len). Working with the 6 transcendent actions. Volunteering at the center and in your community.
Specific Courses of Training
The themes mentioned above are explored in detail in the following courses and retreats:
Courses
• Joy in Everyday Life
• How can I help? The Basic Goodness of Society
Retreats
• Weekend Retreats: Shambhala Training Level 3
• Deeper Retreat: Enlightened Society Assembly
Commitment
• The Enlightened Society Vow
• For those who choose to make a connection with Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva Vow may be requested
Phase 3. Fearless Space: Rediscovering confidence
Having opened the heart and made a commitment to be of benefit to the world, the next stage of the path offers additional practical tools and trainings to cultivate the fearlessness, skill, and open-mind in order to help others. This also invites us into a more inner and profound dimension of the journey. With the gentle and mindful foundation of basic meditation, and the energy, joy, and tenderness of the open heart, the Shambhala practitioner can now open into deeper and more ultimate teachings. So far along the path we have been working with the immediacy of our experience but we have approached our self and our world within a relatively conventional perspective. In the third phase of the path, we learn to let go into a profound and vast dimension of experience that is free from the conceptual mind, and free from the duality of “self and other,” altogether. Here we integrate more and more spaciousness into our being and relax with the expansiveness of awareness itself. We train in intensifying the compassion in our hearts to become so sharp that it abruptly cuts through concepts and opens into freedom.
Metaphorically, the first two stages of the path are connected with the groundedness of the earth. In the third stage we begin to explore “heaven,” the open, space-like qualities of reality. In particular, we look explore the impermanence of all things, acknowledging the reality of change and death. As we look with curiosity and honesty, the third stage of the path invites us to recognize the groundlessness of reality.
Fearlessness
The groundlessness or transience of all things can be frightening, and therefore the primary focus of the third stage of the Shambhala path is to learn to work with fear. Conventionally, we may think of fearlessness as “less fear” or the reduction of fear. But in the tradition of warriorship, we learn to appreciate fear as part of our humanity. Fearlessness means being brave enough to feel fear. This takes training. Now the importance of the gentle mindfulness of the first stage and the joyous discipline and open the heart of the second stage are even more apparent. With these foundations, we cultivate the skill to look at impermanence, death, and the groundlessness of ultimate reality without becoming overwhelmed or disheartened. In fact, it can lead to great freedom and ease.
This topic is at the heart of warriorship itself. The study of our own fear can be approached in a very direct, everyday, and personal way. Fear is rampant in our world. We may experience the anxiety of doubting ourselves. We experience uncertainty as to the direction of our health, our lives, our families, and our financial stability, as well as fear of those different from us, and great fear for the future of our planet and our civilization. Depending on the year, there may be tremendous swells in fear of violence and war, disease, or economic and ecological instability.
For some, fear is experienced as an everyday background of anxiety of which we may or may not be aware. For others, fear is an abstraction, something that we will face “one day.” For others still, fear is a constant, paralyzing threat. Some of us have experienced traumas in our life. Nonetheless, there is always the possibility to train our selves to have a brave and outrageous relationship with fear: We are encouraged to develop a new relationship with fear based on basic goodness. We acknowledge the tender reality of human fear and shakiness and bring this directly onto the path. The warrior learns to smile at fear. In this way, we may experience unconditional confidence.
Ultimate Reality
In addition to providing a practical exploration of fear and bravery, the third stage of the path reveals the profound, ultimate nature of reality. To explore fear is also to look directly into our fear of open space. Ultimate truth is beyond our concepts and reference points. In fact, ultimate truth is beyond all of our ideas and even our sense of self. In Buddhist teachings, this is known as “emptiness.” There is nothing solid to hold on to. Yet this emptiness is not nihilistic, depressing, or void. In this stage of the path, we study the philosophical teachings of emptiness as well as expand our meditation technique to include more and more space. We train in being free of the need to grasp and conceptualize and our practice leads to increasing carefree freedom.
We may be afraid of impermanence, change, and death. We may rather hide from such truths. Penetrating into the nature of fear will lead us to encounter a deeper sense of space. Hope and fear keep us from truly letting go—both in our understanding and in our meditation practice. Hope can also be a trap in the sense that we constantly hope for other meditative experiences, hope for something “better.” As our meditation deepens, we also need to let go of trying to manipulate our experience or hoping for something more. The most ultimate teachings of Buddhism, such as the Great Perfection (dzokchen), describe abiding in the nature of mind as beyond hope and fear. If we follow this path beyond hope and fear, it will lead us to the primordial openness of the mind itself.
Therefore, the third stage of the path works on the level of our everyday, habitual anxieties. We train in practical tools for understanding, working with, and conquering fear. At the same time, the third stage works on an absolute level. We study the vast, empty, openness of space beyond limit. We learn to be willing to experience, understand, and open to the fear of such primordial expansiveness. This deepens our experience of the basic goodness of all.
Unconditional Confidence
The third stage of training emphasizes unconditional confidence. Such confidence is understood to be our nature, part of our basic goodness. It is our birthright as humans to be confident.
Conventionally, may think that confidence will arise when everything works in our favor and we feel in control. We may even attempt to feel confident through hiding from hear. In the Shambhala teachings, confidence comes from simply being, without pretense or pretending.
It is important to understand what we mean by the confidence of the warrior. The warrior is not developing confidence in anything. In this case, the warrior has self-existing confidence. This means that s/he remains in a state of confidence free from competition and any notion of struggle. The warrior’s confidence is unconditional. In other words, because s/he is undistracted by any cowardly thoughts the warrior can rest in an unwavering and wakeful state of mind, which needs no reference points whatsoever.
—Chögyam Trungpa
Unwavering confidence is powerful. It is not only gentle and spacious, but it is sharp, vivid, and cuts through all aggression. We now train in fearlessly intensifying the gentleness and warmth of our human hearts to become a source of unconditional confidence and power. This unshakeable quality is known as Ashe, which refers to the power of basic goodness to manifest directly in our world. It is a living and active experience of unconditionality that resides in the human heart and can influence our life. Warrior Assembly is dedicated to receiving and practicing such teachings.
Specific Courses
In local Shambhala centers, we train in a series of weekend retreats called the Sacred Path that gradually introduce some of the inner Shambhala principles of warriorship, such as principles of luminosity and “windhorse” or the energy of basic goodness, and “drala” or the living and sacred quality of the world. These weekends are the preparation for the group retreat called Warrior Assembly. The third stage of training culminates in this Warrior Assembly in which we receive the potent Ashe practices to strengthen our sense of fearless, unconditional confidence. Enlightened Society Assembly softens the heart, revealing warmth and compassion. Warrior Assembly then intensifies the confidence in the heart to become strong, sharp, and powerful. We study advanced teachings on absolute reality and the confidence that resides in our human heart and learn a contemplative art practice using brush and ink to express the Ashe. The Ashe represents non-conceptual awareness, a direct experience of mind beyond thought, and the fearless, gentle, intelligence that resides in our heart. The dignity and precision of this practice helps us experience the Ashe, and we learn a simple technique to rouse this fearless strength quickly and effectively in our everyday life.
Main Practice: Expansive and spacious meditation; contemplatively exploring fear, training in inner Shambhala practices of windhorse, and the advanced “Ashe” practices introduced at Warrior Assembly.
Specific Courses of Training
The themes mentioned above are explored in detail in the following courses and retreats:
Courses
• Fearlessness in Everyday Life
• What is Real? The Basic Goodness of Reality
Retreats
• Weekend Retreats: Shambhala Training Level 4
• Unconditional Confidence: Rigden weekend
• The Sacred Path weekend retreats
• Deeper Retreat: Warrior Assembly
Commitment
• Warrior Assembly Oath
Phase 4. Ordinary Magic: Dancing with the natural perfection of the cosmos
Some practitioners will choose to stay with the practices of the first three stages of the path for many years, and some will never move on to the fourth stage of the path. The meditation methods and teachings established in the initial three stages are very complete in themselves. Shambhala is more than a path of practice; it is also a community and a global society. In any society, there are many different kinds of people, and not all Shambhalians choose to go deeper into the more esoteric and advanced practices contained within the fourth phase of the journey. This is part of the richness of our tradition—some of us are in a stage of life where we are more focused on school, or on raising our families, or on our work in the world, while others of us are more focused on intensive practice. The fourth phase of the journey is a clear step into more intensive practice. One can still sustain a family and career while engaging the fourth phase of the path (even the advanced Shambhala stages are designed to work in an ordinary life) but now meditation practice becomes truly essential in your life.
With the ground of 1) mindful gentleness, 2) open-hearted energy, and 3) the vast awareness free of concepts and fear, the final phase of the Shambhala path enters into the fullest expression of basic goodness: the complete sacredness of our world. The first phase of the path introduces our own basic goodness. The second phase emphasizes the basic goodness of all beings and society itself. In the third and especially the fourth phase, we explore the basic goodness of reality and the ordinary magic of perceptions. Here the meditative training in basic goodness extends beyond boundaries and we learn practices to open awareness to the living harmony, or ordinary magic, of the universe. In the vajrayana tradition of Buddhism this is called “sacred outlook,” a way of perceiving the world and oneself as intrinsically good and unconditionally free.
Ordinary Magic
If the third stage related metaphorically with open space, the fourth stage relates with the fullness, energy, and luminosity of experience. There is a risk that we may get very used to the open space and freedom of the third stage—it is so simple and expansive. Therefore, we are invited to work with the complexity and energetic display of our experience, so that we cannot hide. We are asked to not withdraw from the sharp points of our world, but to move towards the raw vividness, beauty, and pain of reality. You could say that we “return” to the complexities of everyday life after having glimpsed the empty-spaciousness of ultimate truth. Yet we now return to play or dance with reality. In the final stage of the path there is nothing that is rejected. Everything—every experience and every emotion—can be brought onto the path. Even anger and desire can be workable and appreciated as part of the energetic dance of the universe. Practicing in this way also increases confidence that a more awake society can be possible.
Ordinary magic refers to the real world. This is not the magic of turning water into fire, or pulling rabbits from hats. It is the magic of fire itself, water itself, space itself, and earth itself. The elemental realities of forests, oceans, deserts, mountains— even urban sprawl and landfills—have their own magic. Much of the training in the fourth stage of sacredness is learning to tune into this ordinary magic through relaxing our senses. We study the process of perception, engage in contemplative arts, and spend time in nature. We study the “drala” teachings about invoking the living quality of existence present in the everyday world. As the Sakyong writes in The Shambhala Principle, “basic goodness is not simply a human experience, or something that is experienced only in deep meditation. Rather, it is alive, humming through the universe as an elemental energy that is very ordinary.”
Vajrayana Practices and Path
Entering fully into the final phase of the Shambhala path means making a deeper commitment to meditation. In addition to basic meditation, compassion practices, and awareness methods to cut through concepts, in the fourth phase of practice we are introduced to vajrayana techniques such as visualization, sacred sound (mantra), and yogic practices that open the subtle body. All of these practices are ways to use the whole range of our human experience as part of the path. We have very powerful imaginative capacities that we learn to develop in visualization practices. We are constantly using speech and relating with sounds, so we learn how to bring sound onto the path. We have complex bodily energies, such as sexual energies, that move through our bodies. We learn practices to skillfully relate with them as part of spiritual practice. These methods are very practical and can help increase our confidence that every part of our being is workable and has its own wisdom.
Though we learn about sacredness and ordinary magic in many of our earlier programs, such as the Drala program, Sacred World Assembly is the name of the advanced group retreat in which we are officially and authentically introduced to the inner Shambhala practices. Making a more direct connection with the Sakyong as a teacher is a large part of this step on the journey, so it is helpful to try to attend teachings with the Sakyong before making this step. Before this point, we work with many teachers in the Shambhala community. But as we enter formally into inner practices, we work more closely with the Sakyong as the primary lineage holder of Shambhala.
At Sacred World Assembly we study teachings about sacredness and the various practices that help us connect with the natural world. We receive an important meditation instruction called “the nature of mind” transmission, offered only by the Sakyong. We also begin the traditional “preliminary practices” (ngöndro), which help to strengthen our commitment and gradually introduce us to various methods, such as visualization and mantra. One can complete these preliminary practices over the course of about one to three years of focused daily sessions and a week of group retreat. One of the unique aspects of the Shambhala path is group practice.
We definitely are encouraged to practice daily on our own and in solitary retreats at times, but we are also encouraged to come together, to learn, practice, and celebrate as community.
Upon completing the preliminaries, the next milestone is called Rigden Empowerment, which is a vajrayana ceremony offered by the Sakyong. Here we are introduced to the central practice of the inner Shambhala teachings, known as the Werma Sādhanā. Werma is an ancient term for the sacred display of reality and sādhanā means, “accomplishment,” or a way to deeply engage with this aspect of the universe. This meditation practice is based upon very simple but profound visualizations and inner meditations to directly experience basic goodness as the primordial ground of being. Then we learn to draw this primordial experience into our own lives and body, and especially into our society.
The Scorpion Seal
After training in the Werma Sādhanā for about a year or so, practitioners may apply to enter the Scorpion Seal path. This is the final and innermost step on the path. Here the Sakyong directly guides the most advanced practitioners into the very essence of the Shambhala teachings. Through annual retreats that last for many years, the Sakyong teaches practices that include deeper training in the vajrayana techniques, especially very subtle and simple meditation instructions on resting directly in the nature of awareness. In a sense, we return to the simplicity of basic meditation, and realize that the whole journey has been present from the beginning. These methods are quite similar to practices in the renowned Great Perfection (dzokchen) tradition, considered by many to be the highest teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. The Scorpion Seal Assemblies, and the whole Shambhala path, culminate in a month long personal retreat in which we practice these subtle methods in nature.
Creating Enlightened Society
All of these more mystical-seeming practices are very potent methods that draw upon the sophisticated “spiritual technologies” of the Shambhala lineage, stretching back for many thousands of years. Their purpose is to help us master all of the energies of our experience, and therefore be of the most benefit to our world. The ultimate Shambhala practice is creating enlightened society, in which what appeared to be meditative awareness, wisdom, and compassion emerge in our culture and the social institutions of our world. The most advanced vajrayana training is learning to make this a reality. During each phase throughout the path, we are encouraged to be “warriors in the world,” to brave and skillful as we manifest the teachings in our daily life. In this sense, there is no end to the path. We continually work to create the conditions to allow the most beautiful, wise, and compassionate human presence on this planet, and through this, to celebrate and delight in the fullest potential of our precious lives. Every practice and step on the path is in service of this possibility.
Main Practice: Effortless awareness meditation; the Ashe practices, the Preliminary Practices, Werma Sādhanā, Scorpion Seal practices.
Specific Courses of Training
The themes mentioned above are explored in detail in the following courses and retreats:
Courses
• Wisdom in Everyday Life
• What is Real? The Basic Goodness of Reality
• Entering the Vajra World
Retreats
• Weekend Retreats: Shambhala Training Level 5
• Unconditional Confidence: Rigden
• The Sacred Path weekend retreats, especially Drala and Golden Key
• Deeper Retreats: Sacred World Assembly
• Rigden Empowerment
• Scorpion Seal Assemblies
Commitment
• Shambhala Samaya (commitment to sacredness)
The Logic of the Assemblies
Enlightened Society Assembly begins with an exploration of the basic goodness of society. The primary practice of this Assembly is the Shambhala Sadhana, a meditation which cultivates confidence in the basic goodness of oneself, others, and society. As we train in opening our being, the experience of warmth and compassion is like a sun of goodness in our heart. We study the Enlightened Society Vow in order to make a lasting commitment to being of benefit to our world.
Warrior Assembly then strengthens and intensifies this sun-like warmth in our hearts. We learn practices to abruptly rouse our confidence and energy, helping to overcome any blockage to accessing our heart. The sun in our heart can transform into a tool or even weapon of gentleness and fearlessness to help us create enlightened society.
Sacred World Assembly introduces teachings and practices that emphasize the living quality of reality. We train in joining the warmth and confident-strength in our hearts with the magic of the whole world. With no separation, the primordial sacredness of phenomena shows itself.