What is Shambhala?

Shambhala Meditation Center of Atlanta is part of Shambhala, a global social movement to bring kindness, insight, meditation, and sacredness into society.

 

What is Shambhala?

Shambhala is about the inherent wisdom, compassion, and courage of all beings, and even of human society – our fundamental nature. We can acknowledge our inherent human dignity, worthiness, and completeness and have confidence in that. These can be the foundational principles for society. They are the potential for an enlightened society. In this tradition, enlightened society is not a Utopian state, but it is a society that has enough confidence and trust to acknowledge humanity’s most innate principle: basic goodness.

The tradition holds that these principles do not belong to one culture or religion. This is a secular non-religious approach that teaches the way to cultivate courage, dignity, and kindness, and therefore a good human society. The Shambhala tradition holds that these noble qualities are inherent in all beings and are ultimately more stable than aggression and greed.

“Shambhala” is the name of a mythical kingdom in Central Asia where the people enjoyed harmony, good health, and well-being. The basis for such an enlightened society is the people’s confidence and respect for inherent goodness, wisdom, and dignity – in themselves, in each other, and in society. The wisdom that enabled the culture and community of Shambhala to flourish has been handed down from teacher to student, and is the core of Shambhala’s offerings. The kingdom of Shambhala is a model for the creation of enlightened society here and now.

Shambhala Teachings

The teachings are grounded in ancient wisdom and practical knowledge from many traditional cultures, especially teachings from ancient Tibet. These teachings begin with the understanding that all beings are basically good, and that life is worth living. We call this a path of spiritual warriorship, which here means living a life of fearlessness, gentleness, and intelligence. The Shambhala teachings emphasize being in the world, and bringing together everyday life, work, family, and social action with the path of meditation. The teachings focus on how to help this world. In essence, Shambhala is about living a full human life, right in the midst of challenges.

“The Shambhala teachings are founded on the premise that there is basic human wisdom that can help to solve the world’s problems. The wisdom does not belong to any one culture or religion, nor does it come from the West or the East. Rather, it is a tradition of human warriorship that has existed in many cultures at many times throughout history.”

— Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior

 

The Shambhala Path

Discovering one’s own innate goodness and the goodness in society

Discovering one’s own innate goodness and the goodness in society is the Shambhala view that every human being has a fundamental nature of goodness, warmth, and intelligence. This nature can be cultivated through meditation, following ancient principles, and it can be further developed in daily life, so that it radiates out to family, friends, community, and society. In the course of our lives, this goodness, warmth, and intelligence can easily become covered over by doubt, fear, and egotism. The journey of becoming fully human means seeing through fear and egotism, and waking up to our natural intelligence. It takes kindness–to ourselves and others–and courage, to wake up in this world.

The journey of awakening is known as the path of the warrior, as it requires the simple bravery to look directly at one’s own mind and heart. The essential tool for doing this is mindfulness meditation. As we continue on the Shambhala path, we learn many other practices to help us break through the ancient crust of ego and awaken to the joy of fully living in this world. Awakening and opening, we discover the world to be naturally sacred, pure, and full of beauty. We begin to see clearly the goodness and wisdom of others, and to feel compassion to help them in myriad ways.

Shambhala vision is rooted in the contemplative teachings of Buddhism, yet is a fresh expression of the spiritual journey for our time; it is available to practitioners of any tradition. Our lineage draws on the wisdom of the Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism, as inherited by founder of Shambhala, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. In the mid-1970’s Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche began to introduce teachings on Shambhala vision, based on his encounter with the Western world, and on the specific wisdom imparted from the Buddha to King Dawa Sangpo, the first sovereign of the legendary kingdom of Shambhala. This tradition teaches how to live in the secular world with courage and compassion.

 

FOUNDER

Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was one of the most dynamic teachers of Buddhism in the 20th Century. He was a pioneer in bringing the Buddhist teachings of Tibet to the West and is credited with introducing many Buddhist concepts into the English language and psyche in a fresh and new way.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the former supreme abbot of Surmang Monasteries in Tibet, was known as the foremost meditation master and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. In the early 1970s, he founded Naropa University, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America, along with over 100 meditation centers worldwide. He authored two dozen books on meditation, poetry, art, and the Shambhala path of warriorship.

“The Buddhist tradition teaches the truth of impermanence, or the transitory nature of things. The past is gone and the future has not yet happened, so we work with what is here — the present situation. This actually helps us not to categorize or theorize. A fresh, living situation is taking place all the time, on the spot. This non-categorical  approach comes from being fully here, rather than trying to reconnect with past events. We don’t have to look back to the past in order to see what people are made out of. Human beings speak for themselves, on the spot.”

Read Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s biography on the Shambhala International website.