Fresh Start:

It’s time to take a fresh look at how we present our teachings so that we build a strong community and create an awake society. The world can benefit from our teachings and transmissions if we are generous and skillful enough to share them fully. This retreat will present a simple approach to how we can join our Buddhist and Shambhala paths and make them accessible to anyone who walks into our centers.

In his last seminar at Karmê Chöling in February 1986, Trungpa Rinpoche’s first words were “It is my greatest privilege to announce the inseparability of the Shambhala approach and the buddhadharma approach.” He has also said, “Buddhism is like the sky and Shambhala is like the sun” and has described our tradition as the “three yanas of the Great Eastern Sun.” In our retreat, we will explore how the three Buddhist yanas and the Shambhala path are unique and come together at every step of our path

In these five days, we will practice the mahamudra/ati sitting practice of shamatha-vipashyana, sing the compassion practices of the four limitless ones and tonglen (sending and taking), raise windhorse and connect to the richness of our sensory world. These practices are variations of the one transmission of opening our heart and taking a fresh start. There will be time for silence, talks, discussion, and small breakout groups to share and deepen whatever questions and insights come up in the Global Assembly.

Sample Schedule

• 7:30am qigong exercises
• 8:00am breakfast
• 9:15am morning chants, sitting, talk, discussion
• 12:30pm lunch
• 1:00pm work period and rest
• 3:00pm practice
• 5:00pm tea
• 5:30pm practice
• 6:30pm dinner
• 7:45pm short practice, short singing
• 8:30pm close

Recommended reading: Chögyam Trungpa, Smile at Fear, pp. 3-43, 93-124.

Photo is an actual cloud formation called a fallstreak hole, taken by a member of the Cloud Appreciation Society.