Out of balance

58 Responses to “Out of balance”

1. Michael Dorfman on November 27th, 2009 5:28 am
   

   A very interesting and thought-provoking article. Thanks, Barbara.

   One question, regarding the Sakyong’s sources of income: are the royalties from book sales too insignificant to mention?
2. Barbara Blouin on November 27th, 2009 8:23 am
   

   Michael, Thanks for that question. I left royalties off the list of the Sakyong’s income sources because at this point royalty income is negligible.

   Barbara
3. Jim Wilton on November 27th, 2009 10:25 am
   

   Thanks Barbara. This is a good summary.

   It is not accurate to say that fund raising for one purpose takes away funds available for other purposes in a one to one correspondence. Obviously, at some point, an individual reaches the limits of what can be given in one year — so it is not as if there is no relationship between one fund raising campaign and another.

   However, as anyone involved in fund raising will tell you — the psychology of giving is a very dynamic process. In a real and long term sense, giving more creates a connection that inspires further giving. It is much too simplistic to assume that someone will give $1,000 to SI related activities regardless of the purpose for the gift and to assume that, therefore, a gift directed to one purpose takes away from other potential gifts.

   To my mind, the best approach is to create multiple opportunities for giving — so that there is the greatest potential for donors to make connections with the lineage and the teacher. Some of these should include specific targeted giving — so that donors who have no connection or desire to support the Sakyong still can give for activities that they support.

   In his book, Vajra Heart, Tulku Urgen was asked why he established his monastery at Nagi Gompa. His answer really blew my mind. He did not say “to propagate the dharma” or “to support my monks”. He said [my paraphrase] that he built Nagi Gompa because whenever four monks gather together to practice it creates an auspicious opportunity for donors to make gifts. Then he went on to explain that it doesn’t matter in these degenerate times if the monks practice or not or if they misappropriate the gifts — if they do, that is their problem. What is important is that donors have the opportunity to generate merit and strengthen their connection with the lineage by making gifts.

   I don’t say this to disagree in any way with your concerns about use of funds. It is just helpful to me to keep in mind how powerful gifts are. That — as much as concern about budgets meeting requirements for debt service — is why I think building dharma centers with borrowed money (except in very limited situations) is a bad idea. A center built with debt financing just does not have the same power as a center built with donations of time and labor.
4. rita ashworth on November 27th, 2009 12:42 pm
   

   A very well thought out article on finance of SI.

   I was wondering besides the Ratna Talks did Trungpa publish anything more on the practicalities of financing an organisation or did he link that with discussion on politics.

   Re Jims comment about Tulku Urgyen ……..I thought Trungpa made another comment about the religious organisation of Tibet and its ceremonies in that one of the ‘reasons’ why it fell was because they -the monks and the laity were not practicing properly they were just attending endless ceremonies and religious fesitivals ie making money. Did he say this in connection with the sadhana of mahamudra?

   Re my take on religion and money generally the whole thing can go overboard and mad. I remember my mother saying about her mother that she would always give to the priests before giving to her own family – Liverpool a very Catholic city in those days! Yes you have to be very careful to keep religion and money-making on an even keel…….its a minefield ….like any other financial arena you need checks and balances and accountability.

   Best

   Rita Ashworth
   Stockport UK
5. Edward on November 27th, 2009 1:18 pm
   

   Jim Wilton writes:
   it doesn’t matter in these degenerate times if the monks practice or not or if they misappropriate the gifts — if they do, that is their problem. What is important is that donors have the opportunity to generate merit and strengthen their connection with the lineage by making gifts.

   This could be a very instructive statement for a Tibetan teacher to make to Westerners. It stops the mind for a minute and keeps one from being too attached to results, to stay focused on minding one’s own business rather than contemplating the limitations of others.

   On the other hand…

   My old teacher recommended a book called “Dana: The Practice of Giving” by a chap named Bhikku Bodhi. As I recall, the book surveys many traditional Buddhist ideas about giving donations and receiving merit and so forth.

   One point that I recall being made in the booklet was the concept that you get less merit for, say, giving cocaine to a drug addict, and you get more merit for giving food to a hungry person. You might get the most merit from giving donations to someone who is fully enlightened.

   According to this theory, you would get less merit if you knowingly donated money to corrupt monks or corrupt monasteries, and more merit if you knowingly donated money to purposes associated with real practice.

   Of course I think the point is not to get attached to ideas of “merit”, but to learn to be intelligent in how we use our energy and resources.

   But I found these concepts to be very interesting in the context of a survey of Buddhist ideas about donating.
6. Dan Meade on November 27th, 2009 5:38 pm
   

   Thanks Barbara,
   Well done.
   The whole thing seems so complicated and yet simple.
   It reminds me of when I used to live in NYC and I would see these guys in a subway station with a card table playing a shell game to sucker people in to gambling. People would drop their money down sure they could beat the odds. They always lost and probably couldn’t pay their employees or buy light bulbs after wards
   The cops would show up and the con men would fold up their table and run with the money and never would get caught.
   The simplest solution is usually the answer
7. John on November 27th, 2009 7:05 pm
   

   Any info on what happened between SI (Gampo Abbey), Vajra Dakini Nunnery in Vermont and Revenue Canada over that questionable charities tax scheme?
8. Ira Z on November 28th, 2009 12:10 am
   

   I think the old saying goes that between money and sex in a relationship, often the first will be the more contentious.

   I’ve not closely been following the ball on all of this. I had sort of thought in a general sort of way that all the marathons that had been run were part of an effort, by some accounting, to bring the mandala from being in the red to being in the black.

   There was at least some representation about this being the case, wasn’t there?

   With much appreciation for everyone’s best effort at coming forward with their genuine heart…
9. Chris Keyser on November 28th, 2009 1:40 am
   

   Thank you Barbara. Your stamina, patience, and perseverance are truly amazing. It must have been quite a task wading through all that financial accounting, and lack thereof. BTW, who is S.I.’s comptroller these days?

   The San Francisco Dzong is well underway and slated to go live within a month or two. The monthly rent will be something like $6,000, quite a hike from the current $2400 monthly rent the S.F. Shambhala Center has been struggling to pay all these years. But the S.F. sangha appears unfazed by the ongoing fundraising that will be necessitated by this new upscale venture.
   The Dzong will be located just south of Market Street and the S.F. Civic Center. It includes a second floor Tenno room that will double as a tantra shrineroom. The donations for the Tenno room/tantra shrineroom were raised predominantly from aging sangha members, yours truly excluded in my current financial peril.
   Sadly, less-abled sangha members are already lamenting the lack of an elevator to provide access to the second floor shrineroom.
   The good news is that the Dzong will be located on solid ground instead of landfill subject to liquefaction and collapse during an earthquake, a likely event out here on the seismically-vulnerable western edge of the Rim of Fire.
   I’m remembering the Vidyadhara’s advice to the sangha during many of his teaching visits out here: You should leave California before the Earthquake! The wise ones heeded his advice. The foolhardy risk-takers like myself are still here.
10. Marc Matheson on November 28th, 2009 8:05 am
    

    This is an interesting article, Barbara, rich in detail. I hope that answers to your questions will be forthcoming, and that a healthy discussion ensues, one that clarifies further the overall financial status of the mandala, particularly with regard to what appears to be our largest financial burden, Shambhala Mountain Center.

    I find, however, your concluding two paragraphs to be somewhat disturbing and misleading. For a number of years now – six? – the governance structure of Shambhala has been clarified and expanded to include more and more decision-makers and participation. (Quite a lot of information about this has been provided through Shambhala News Service and The Dot, and is posted online in the public pages of the Shambhala website at http://www.shambhala.org/community/governance.php)

    The President, Richard Reoch, and the Chagdzo Kyi Khyap (Bursar General), Connie Brock, as your article states, have regularly informed us of the difficult financial circumstances faced by our community. His Majesty the Sakyong, Shambhala’s current lineage holder, has responded to the challenging social and economic conditions of the world in several practical ways. To lay the blame for what you seem to imply is financial mismanagement at the feet of the Shambhala throne holder is, to my mind, not only unfair and inaccurate but inconsistent with known facts of our governance model.

    I would hope that through a lively and positive discussion of these matters a sense of confidence in our shared responsibilities will increase, and that this increase – a further commitment to the path, as we have been taught again and again – will bring benefit to ourselves, our kingdom, and the world at large.

    Shambhala has been known for more than three decades as the premier Western sangha of the teachings of Tibet, not only within the buddhist world but the larger societies of both Asia and the West. This is no accident and it is not a charade. In a world full of chaos, change and uncertainty, Shambhala continues to provide many, many people with a clear vision and pragmatic methods for living in the challenges. With the full participation of all students of Shambhala, we could easily and fearlessly continue to be that lamp of reason and kindness for the world. We could, through the active participation of all who have benefited from our teachers, past and present, provide an example of healthy and enlightened community.

    Thank you again, Barbara.
11. rita ashworth on November 28th, 2009 8:46 am
    

    many thanks edward for that book reference – I have suggested for my library to get it -any one else got any suggestions on reading stuff about dana? that would be good.

    I was thinking about the money thing again over nite as I might be dealing with the money thing more myself in the future. It seems to me basically that if you are a genuine person re practicing whatever religion that the money will come and that you dont need to force that. You just need to deal with the practicalities of money.

    Walking round towns in the Uk both in the south and the north there are so many religious churches flourishing -people are meeting in the religious domain everywhere and they are giving to these institutions. I just think we do not need to be so extravagant -its more a question of western elegance which Trungpa emphasised you can have anywhere. Sometimes in the UK -that could be in the most plainest of settings witness nature poetry in the UK.

    So basically I am saying that you dont need to worry about the financial thing too much…….the practice comes first ……..I think thats the way to look at it ……so the emphasis always has to be on the practitioner and at SMC that should have been the staff – I agree with Ms Blouin here.

    Hope to hear some more comments on the money thing generally.

    best

    Rita Ashworth
    stockport uk
12. Petra Mudie on November 28th, 2009 8:49 am
    

    Thank you, Barbara, for all this information that is for the most part, free of judgement. I certainly share a huge concern about the seemingly remote chance of raising $15M for a Kalapa Center, even if there was a substantial contribution from the Halifax municipality (which currently is running a huge deficit and can’t fix its sewer system) or from the province of Nova Scotia which is likewise deeply in debt and often unable to provide adequate medical care. However, you have written a lot of words, covering a lot of projects, and it would be helpful to know more simply what you think is the solution to the SI financial problems. In other words, can you tell us how you recommend running the Shambhala show for the greatest benefit to all beings?
13. rita ashworth on November 28th, 2009 9:17 am
    

    ….petra sorry to step in here pre-empting Ms Blouins reply but I do have some knowledge of Halifax after living there for four years.

    I suppose the patronage thingie is still happening—–yuck-yuck —-you could protest against that in some form and of course make sure that SI doesnt get sucked in to that whole messeroo……that calls for greater democracy generally in NS society and people willing to stand up for issues even at the cost of your own sanity which I did some times lose in Halifax!

    So talk more -engage more with people in Halifax that are committed to change -talk to everyone and publicise those talks as much as you can -same goes for SI -dont be a wimp in either area of life. Make choices and go through with them even at the cost of being ostracised -all the usual bumpf that people say you should do in a responsible and sane society.

    Yeh Halifax …….got me to the point that I almost believed in original sin! Dont go that far…….just look at the history and nastiness of the place and try to understand the people and if you remain in SI get the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo off their thrones and supporting the people who make change in Halifax publicly like Lady Diana did in the UK with her support of over three hundred charities…….get them out in the streets with the provinces people.

    Best to you in the snow maybe!

    Rita Ashworth
14. Suzanne T on November 28th, 2009 9:56 am
    

    To Rita who is wondering besides the Ratna Talks did Trungpa publish anything more on the practicalities of financing an organisation… I recall one quote that there is no yun in anything until you paid for it fully, not on credit.

    To Chris K who remembers CTR’s advice to leave California before the earthquake – when I was there, I remember him telling an audience to stop worrying about it, it would never happen in our lifetime!!!!
15. Petra Mudie on November 28th, 2009 10:49 am
    

    To Rita Ashworth, thanks for your comments and idea about talking up local people to get money. Sorry to hear you had such an unpleasant time in Halifax. I have lived here 30 years and enjoyed almost every minute of that….snow and all. The collapse of NS fisheries and forest industries, however, have taken their toll on the provincial economy – and the not-yet enlightened government, like most others in North America, is struggling to cope with this and the aging population of pensioners and unemployed. There simply is no spare cash around to ask Nova Scotian people for donations that might come anywhere near $15M: that’s all I was trying to say. On the other hand, immigrants have been able to raise $5M to build a mosque – that amount of money for a Buddhist temple might be do-able.
16. Errol Korn on November 28th, 2009 11:50 am
    

    Hi Barbara,

    Thanks for your work.
    A couple of comments:

    I remember during the Vidyadhara’s life time that whenever the finances started to get stable, he would get a glint in his eye and start pushing another “unattainable” project.

    My perception is that the amount of money to keep the accounts balanced in Shambhala is not that large – in the “real world sense. One of the issues is that a larger percentage of people are not on auto-withdrawal but give when they feel financially comfortable and/or are in accord with the money’s use. I hate to say this but that is not workable – in the Jewish fund-raising word (which I am a bit familiar with) people just gave, I believe that is also more or less true in the Catholic world (pedophilia situation exempted). It would be interesting to know the figure to get the Mandala in financial balance and how much per member..

    When you write about the Ladrang situation I hope you have a bit of history as to how and how well they functioned in Tibet. It can be argued that with the current Karmapa mess, Rumtek et. al. could have disappeared or been divided without the Karmapa Ladrang holding legal title.
17. David S. on November 28th, 2009 11:53 am
    

    To Ira Z: Regarding the marathons, it was my understanding that all of those funds were generated for and sent to Surmang Monastery for the building of the Shedra there, and for the other support that the Konchok Foundation provides in eastern Tibet, such as the care and education of the 12th Trungpa, etc. You can check their website for more details.

    But as far as I can remember, there was never any idea of the funds raised by the marathons going toward SI’s debt or the Sakyong personally.
18. Michael Moriarty on November 28th, 2009 1:29 pm
    

    Barbara, thank you for producing such a detailed picture of the mandala’s finances. I have long felt that the Sakyong has a penchant for extravagance. The current situation makes that glaringly obvious, in my opinion. It reminds me of the current financial situation in the US. Those at the top have no care with regard to money, while those at the bottom struggle. There is no shared sacrifice. It all seems terribly out of balance. Still, sheeple seem willing to accept the situation. Whatever happened to common sense? Drowned out by the kool-aid, no doubt.
19. Carl R. Castro on November 28th, 2009 2:37 pm
    

    I wanted to provide clarification on the San Francisco Dzong.
    The relocation of the San Francisco center is a project that has been attempted through various efforts since 19 years ago, when the center was hastily moved to a location far away from the city center and any popular neighborhoods. This location has limited the center’s ability to reach out to the wider populace of San Francisco, among whom there has always been strong interest in or ripeness for Dharma, and to host larger events, such as events with visiting teachers. It’s not near the residences of most sangha members, and is difficult to get to on public transportation. This has made it difficult not only to grow but even just to sustain the sangha and the center. Also, The Vidyadhara Trungpa Rinpoche told the San Francisco Ambassador that he should continue to find a center with “a large hall” for San Francisco.
    The new center is centrally located and adjacent or easily accessible to many of the better and most “happening” neighborhoods of San Francisco, including many neighborhoods with more vibrant and youthful presence. It has a shrine room that will seat 100, offices for Shambhala organizations, and a community room and kitchen. The upstairs tantra shrine room is separate from, but adjacent to, the Tenno Room, which was funded by donations from a variety of sangha members, including some younger and middle-aged ( not just “aging” ). It is a good spot for a sustainable, growable center.
    By San Francisco standards, the rent is a bargain. It is indeed a significant increase from the former $2000 rent, but this rent is not even what one would pay for a decent 2-bedroom apartment in San Francisco nowadays; it reflects the generosity of the landlord but also the remoteness of the former location. In any case, all of the new center’s move-in and initial operating costs have been paid by donations, and there are very good financial and resource plans – including contingency plans – in place (and I say this as a prominent critic of the absence of such plans in past efforts). Pulling together our resources and operating in an effective manner to reach out with Dharma activities and events will be a challenge, but this kind of thing always is, not only for volunteer organizations with a new center, but for any start-up venture – or for any center dealing with economic vicissitudes.
    The Druk Sakyong Trungpa Rinpoche moved forward even to propagate the Dharma even when conditions seemed dire and his advisors expressed concern or cited impossibilities. Naropa is the result of one of these moves. Shambhala Mountain Center is another. Many of the activities noted above, to me, represent the Shambhala Dharma moving forward. While it seems good to inquire in ways that encourage sound financial practices, and appropriate degrees of accountability and transparency in governance, it’s also important to remember that groundedness is not always about having a conventional plan. It’s also important to trust the lineage as our connection to vast, deep groundedness and possibility.
20. damchö on November 28th, 2009 7:44 pm
    

    Marc writes: “Shambhala has been known for more than three decades as the premier Western sangha of the teachings of Tibet, not only within the buddhist world but the larger societies of both Asia and the West…With the full participation of all students of Shambhala, we could easily and fearlessly continue to be that lamp of reason and kindness for the world.”

    Dear Marc, I’m sorry to take issue here. Firstly, I don’t feel we can say that any sangha, whether our own or any other, is “the premier Western sangha of the teachings of Tibet”. Even if there are more members in one group than another, this fact does not in itself raise that group to a position of preeminence. We are all in this together. Perhaps I am making more of your words than you intended. If so, please forgive me.

    Secondly, I’m truly glad your experience of Shambhala has been of a community which exemplifies kindness. My own experience has involved nastiness and inhumanity to a degree I haven’t come across anywhere else in my life. It pains me so much to have to say that, but when I read a phrase like “lamp of kindness,” I hope maybe you can understand why, given that experience, I feel the need to give another perspective.
21. tsondru garma on November 28th, 2009 9:04 pm
    

    Dear All;

    I too give a tremendous thank you to Barbara for her incredible diligence in reporting and courageousness in speaking out what I feel to be true. I strongly feel that the situation is is very unbalanced to the point of tunnel vision. It even seems like a corruption (or perhaps extreme ignoring or ignorance?) of some sort is occurring. I am concerned about the apparent nepotism in both use of funds, and in the Dharma direction the Sangha is being guided. Way off track from where we started 39 years ago.

    It is really sad, and I only wish there were a way to work this out with due respect to the students who are devoted to the current leadership and the leadership itself. Very very sad!!
22. rita ashworth on November 30th, 2009 9:22 am
    

    Dear All

    Thanks for the further information on CTRs thoughts on financing.

    Petra -yes I was somewhat niave in going to NS -I think other people went with greater funds than I -thats why I ran into trouble. But I did learn a lot about politics, writing and Canuckland whilst I was there so it was not all bad.

    However I wanted to make some further points on your post -you are asking and debating political questions re the present topic – I dont think Ms Blouin or several Ms Blouins could answer your queries re NS.

    To me the collapse of the economy in NS has diverse reasons, for example -yes the too much reliance on the fisheries, being a small province in the context of a larger nation thus not having political clout, an aging population, the lack of diversification into newer industries like technology. I am sure you could supply other items to this list.

    Where does SI and rfs and others in the greater mandala come into the relation of NS -basically for the good of many there and in the world we do want an enlightened society to be established there therefore SI will start having to get to grips with politics in greater detail. For example the present centre proposed for Halifax will be a wash-out if it is a culture centre -it has to become a seat of government in my opinion -yes a government and resource in the sense of creating enlightened society for all the diverse groups emerging in CTR’s mandala.

    The present splits re SI and others are nothing if you dont get to grips with the evolution of political values for the present world. All the 500 SIers in NS might as well pack up and go home if you dont do that and to me personally as a kind of shambhala vision kind of person I hope we can have some relation with what is occuring in Halifax even if we disagree with SB on a fundamental basis.

    The poor people of Halifax deserve such explorations of the political process to start occuring now if there is not to be a further collapse of the economy in NS.

    Hope the snowfall is not too bad!

    Best

    Rita Ashworth
23. Barbara Blouin on November 30th, 2009 9:45 am
    

    Correction: In the section of the article regarding Shambhala Mountain Center, I reported that, according to the last report I knew of, the total of the various loans amounted to $6.8 million. This debt has been reduced somewhat. Yesterday I was the ONLY person who phoned in to a conference call with Connie Brock, the Treasurer of Shambhala International. (That is worth a comment in itself.) We talked for quite a long time. SMC has been slowly but steadily paying back its loans. The amount of the debt is now around $5.6 million.
24. Suzanne Duarte on November 30th, 2009 12:03 pm
    

    A bow of gratitude to Barbara, first of all. Thank you for your efforts to clarify what has been too unclear for too long.

    For those who are interested in what the Vidyadhara had to say about Shambhala Business and Livelihood Ethics, Bill Sutton has put together slogans from things CTR said in Ratna Society meetings. They provide a clear perspective on community as well as money issues, it seems to me:
    http://www.shambhala.org/members/ethics/AllSlogans.html

    Also relevant: Sixteen Principles of Wholesome Human Conduct, which were originally called the Sixteen Edicts of Wholesome Human Conduct:
    http://www.shambhala.org/members/ethics/Edict.html
25. rita ashworth on November 30th, 2009 12:54 pm
    

    Thanks for that info Suzanne – I cant access it tho cos I am not a member of SI.

    Mark is there any way of putting Mr Suttons comments on this site and the Sixteen Edicts…..that would be useful – I think Mr Suttons comments may be quite relevant to the discussion of financing things in SI and elsewhere -that would be great.

    Perhaps we could also get some comments from Mr Sutton himself re financing aswell?

    Best

    Rita Ashworth
26. Suzanne Duarte on November 30th, 2009 10:52 pm
    

    Hi Rita,

    Here’s how I got to those links:
    First I Googled Sixteen Edicts of Wholesome Human Conduct. It was listed under Shambhala Community Care Resource List http://www.shambhala.org/congress/care/CommunityCareResoures.pdf.
    There is a Shambhala Edict of WHC listed there but no link. So I clicked the one link on that page for Shambhala Livelihood Ethics http://www.shambhala.org/members/ethics/index.html.

    On that page I clicked Main Menu http://www.shambhala.org/members/ethics/MainMenu.html, which took me to a list of categories of slogans. I clicked All Slogans, which took me to
    Shambhala Business and Livelihood Slogans http://www.shambhala.org/members/ethics/AllSlogans.html. I was able to copy the whole page into a Word doc.

    Under Decency, there’s a link to Shambhala Edict of Wholesome Human Conduct. I clicked that and it opened to Sixteen Principles of Wholesome Human Conduct http://www.shambhala.org/members/ethics/Edict.html. These ‘Principles’ (Edicts) are copy-able by copy-pasting all of them together.

    This seems to be a labyrinthine ‘back door’ to the edicts. It might be a good idea to copy these now, in case they get snatched off public access. Good luck.
27. Mark Szpakowski on November 30th, 2009 11:05 pm
    

    Suzanne, this is not a back door – it’s a cookie When you log in to shambhala.org as a member it remembers who you are (by means of a “cookie” it drops into the mouth of your computer). If you try this in another, just-opened browser, or on another computer, you’ll be asked to log in when you hit your step 2 above (as soon as you click anything beginning with http://www.shambhala.org/members/).

    At any rate these things are not particularly secret – Principles of Human Conduct should be available to humans, should they not?
28. Suzanne Duarte on November 30th, 2009 11:12 pm
    

    Thanks, Mark. I didn’t realize I was still registered. And yes, of course, these things *should* be available to all people. I could send you my Word docs to post, but would RFS then run into copyright restrictions? Anyway, I’ll send them to Rita.
29. yeshe tsomo on December 1st, 2009 11:22 am
    

    Hi Suzanne and Mark and Rita,

    Suzanne, would you be willing to send the word docs to me as well? My email address is yeshetsomo03@yahoo.com. I would be grateful for the guidance. All sanghas, certainly my heart sangha (which is Nyingma), seem to struggle with issues of money and power and communication.

    I continue to follow RFS with interest and gratitude. As I have mentioned, though I never met CTR in the flesh, he is my teacher. And though I have never met the Sakyong or joined Shambhala, I have been studying and practicing in CTR’s lineage with Reggie Ray for a year now after practicing Vajrayana with a Tibetan lama. (I continue my relationship with my first teacher, who I love dearly.) I have never felt karmically drawn to SI or SMR. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out how to manifest my connection with CTR, except to read and listen to whatever I could get my hands on.

    But SI (I guess through Lady Diana?) has the copyright and stronghold, if you will, on most (all?) of CTR’s work. I don’t wan’t to take samaya with SMR. Please let me say here that I have never heard Reggie speak ill of SMR. I would never want to speak for Reggie, even though I am his student, as I would never want him to speak for me, as I am my own person. My own sense that the Sakyong was not my gate to CTR was confirmed by other early students of CTR who I know, long before the advent of RFS and none of whom post here on RFS.

    So I guess I join RFS in solidarity, in part, because I think it is wrong for SI to assume that they “own” Trungpa Rinpoche’s teachings, which as Mark, so aptly wrote, “should be available to humans, should they not?” It is not that I don’t understand the need for dharma centers/organizations to generate revenue through membership; it is not that I don’t understand that some teaching and practice materials cannot be available to the general public, as most paths are graduated. But I cannot accept that SMR is CTR’s one and only true lineage holder. From everything I have ever heard or read about CTR, he expected most (if not all) of his early students to teach his dharma, whether formally or “on the spot”.

    And as I have written before, you are my karmic gate to him, as is Reggie. Your conversations are helping me sort through a myriad of issues, pertinent to my relationship to the two sanghas I am a member in and pertinent to my own relationship to the path of awakening.

    With thanks to all of you, particularly, Rita, Edward, Chris (I think there are two Chrises whose posts I have found moving) Suzanne, Mark, Damcho and James Elliott, whose clarity I find both fierce and refreshing.

    Theresa Luttenegger (Yeshe Tsomo)
30. Marguerite Winnington-Ball on December 1st, 2009 12:05 pm
    

    Good morning

    Thanks to Barabara Blouin for her devotion and diligence. How interesting if the current Sakyong would himself respond directly to the content of Barbara’s post knowing that there are many Sangha members who view these postings.

    As Shamatha remains the ground and fruition of our practice I would draw from the basic principle; world comes together and world falls apart over and over again. If the Shambhala mandala falls apart (or self-destructs, depending on one’s point of view), would that be a bad thing, really?
31. rita ashworth on December 1st, 2009 12:58 pm
    

    Yo thanks – the livelihood slogans are on the web – Bill Sutton constructed a site re them.

    Cant find the ethics though on the web.

    Where is Bill Sutton -is he a businessman? I wonder why he did a website on the slogans?

    Further thoughts on financing…….may be now just the time to go for expenses re courses and just get as many people out there spreading the teachings…..defecits, credits, loans etc etc…….all that financial stuff is beginning to be so ratso fink…….may be just do it as CTR advised and just start talking about stuff everywhere you can imagine—–all this money talkeroo is beginning to detract from people meeting people in open space. Do we need tons of dough to do that?

    Best

    Rita Ashworth
32. Zerme Drimed on December 1st, 2009 8:36 pm
    

    There is so much here that one doesn’t know where to start. But a question that I have had, over years of announcements of financial crises and staff layoffs, is this: where on earth does Shambhala continue to find people willing to take jobs working for them? I would not even consider working for an employer with a track record like Shambhala’s. They use people up like paper towels and then toss them aside.

    I think everybody in the community ought to refuse to work for Shambhala until it cleans up its act in terms of how employees are treated. In what vision of enlightened society are the people living on half-time minimum wage jobs keeping the doors open, the first ones to be thrown over the side when things get difficult? It’s a crying shame, and I try to remember everyone unemployed from Shambhala during tonglen practice. I’ve been laid off from non-sangha jobs over the years and I know how hard it hurts.
33. Susanne Vincent on December 1st, 2009 11:01 pm
    

    Barbara, thank you so much for this piece, although I’m thanking you for information I find tough to read. As I do the Governance Update to the Sakyong’s Council 2009, linked in your post, which tells me pretty much what you are telling me (except it needs a password). And also the early release notes from the 2009 Congress posted by Madeline on Heart in Palm. All very difficult to read. Why are they difficult to read? I think it’s a sense of tragedy.

    Thank you, Suzanne, for leading us to the slogans, I am going to pin them on my office wall. They are so apt. They do the Shambhala job, which is to model enlightened society – enlightened monarchy – to a world where models of accountability, stewardship, beneficent use of power, sustainable community, justice and so forth are so direly deficient.

    Maybe I’m old fashioned, I was brought up (thru the Levels!) to believe that we are all kings and queens, and there is much published evidence from this lineage to attest this dharmic fact. Earth protection is my job too. Recently, though, I confess to wondering if my resistance to living out an incarnation as a Tibetan peasant is merely egoic, because if it’s this guru’s teaching, I’m in trouble. I am so badly equipped! I only know about leadership and governance, and I can’t milk a yak!

    In the spirit of pushing all blames into one point, can one really compare the sense of incredulity and dissent here with the incredulity of the 70’s sangha when the Vidyadhara asked you all to dress up like stiffs, or work 24 x 7 to create some epic? Or get a job? The guru sets a counter-intuitive requirement – so LEAP! Faith on the edge, vs the willingness to let stuff fall apart. Leap! Brilliant situational wisdom at just the right point in the Western social timeline and each student’s life. No, I can’t make this into that.

    I’m so glad though, to see some tiny signs of a culture of deeper democracy and disclosure emerging in a mainstream society that is shocked by the behaviour of hegemonies, their impunity and how rife and corrupt they are. Everywhere are clear signals for the advance architects of Noah’s next ark. Be truthful. Tread lightly on the earth, connect even more deeply with people and the natural world. Learn to live simply in community, rather than singly in consumerism. Make community work because we give a shit about each other, not because it’s on a duty list or we have a concept around it.

    Meanwhile, as we move into the last great thrashings of the dark age, a beacon community with the formula and mandate to liberate humanity reinstitutes the divine right of kings, raises taxes and sequesters all the resources of the Commons, not to protect the villagers but to support the King and Queen and their descendents to live as they wish in perpetuity. Natural heirarchy? Symbolic power? This is a fairy story, surely.

    But in all the old tales, the king gives himself for the kingdom, not the other way around. And in all the new ones, enlightened society manifests through the people, nowhere else.

    Susie
    x x
34. Mark Szpakowski on December 2nd, 2009 1:02 am
    

    Powerfully said, Susie!

    Great summary:

    Meanwhile, as we move into the last great thrashings of the dark age, a beacon community with the formula and mandate to liberate humanity reinstitutes the divine right of kings, raises taxes and sequesters all the resources of the Commons, not to protect the villagers but to support the King and Queen and their descendents to live as they wish in perpetuity. Natural heirarchy? Symbolic power? This is a fairy story, surely.

    Re “But in all the old tales, the king gives himself for the kingdom, not the other way around.” Indeed. At the very last talk of the 10 Bhumis of the Bodhisattva Path seminar (RMDC 1972) the Vidyadhara tells the story of the king who was warned that a rain of madness would fall over his kingdom, and so stocked up on fresh water for himself. However, on noting that eventually all his subjects were mad, and he alone was sane, he too decided to drink of the water of madness.

    Re “And in all the new ones, enlightened society manifests through the people, nowhere else.” What comes to mind is the Vidyadhara’s saying, at a talk in London in 1968, that Maitreya, the buddha of the future, would not be an individual, but a society.

    In the Shambhala vision of such a society, every citizen/subject is a Rigden king or queen, and recognizing that powerhouse of basic goodness in the subjects is ultimately the source of authority of the erstwhile ruler/king/queen of such a society, and what makes it possible for such a society to join heaven and earth.

    - Mark
35. tsering on December 2nd, 2009 2:12 am
    

    suzie,mark ,thank you.
36. rita ashworth on December 2nd, 2009 9:13 am
    

    Re government I just saw a documentary on Harvey Milk a few days ago – the doc not the film. Now there was a man who started something from the grassroots and he had king like qualities in that he worked with ‘all’ the people on the ground and of course he was funny re saying that you could get elected if you said you would be the politician who cleared up the dog poo!

    So yeh enlightened society takes all types and it should include in it the voices of the many not the few – so in some or other form you have to have some semblance of democratic input. Re Halifax and the greater mandala you will also have to have that democracy happening aswell.

    What can one say? We are somewhat more on our own with the questions about the evolution of society and what we want it to be since CTR died.

    We need to delve into these issues of society much more than has happened in the past and that requires people to be more engaged with others generally on all levels

    Best

    Rita Ashworth
37. Petra Mudie on December 2nd, 2009 10:00 am
    

    Susanne Vincent – you have a great way with words and paint poignant word pictures. Thanks for sharing this gift of colourful writing about something that is obviously painful to you.
    In scanning back over all these blogs, however, I am disappointed in the salient lack of effort to come up with any positive alternatives to the “status quo” that is being complained about so bitterly. In my first post , I asked Barbara how she would recommend running the Shambhala show for the benefit of all sentient beings?. There has been no reply to this question and I have not seen this question taken up amongst the gloom and doom comments that have followed Barbara’s initial posting.The closest positive comments comes in Susanne Vincent’s “We need to delve into these issues of society much more than has happened in the past and that requires people to be more engaged with others generally on all levels”. This is a good start. I suggest that we quit complaining now and turn all the brilliant minds exposed here on RFS towards finding alternative solutions for the complaints registered about SI’s un- balance. Is that not how grass-roots systems work?
38. Edward on December 2nd, 2009 11:11 am
    

    My old teacher knew how to spend a lot of money, and lived a bit like a king, at least compared to us.

    However, it was always done in direct relationship with us his students. There was a “mi casa es su casa” feeling.

    The point of us fixing up a nice home for our teacher was not so he could isolate himself, but so we could have a nice place to visit with him all the time.

    And if things were not being done properly, or if people were violating financial principles that he had established, then he would raise his voice, or he might leave his home and go sit in the dirt and say that he could not accept luxuries from us until we had gotten our act together.

    Getting our act together included being willing to work with one another to solve problems. He put enormous pressure on us to do this, and (to a surprising extent) it worked.

    Some of his financial principles were that the management make regular financial full disclosures to the membership, and that the organizations and land centers never have any debt. There was a lot of resistance to full-disclosure transparency.

    Petra Mudie writes:
    In my first post , I asked Barbara how she would recommend running the Shambhala show

    Are you suggesting that people give the Sakyong management advice? That’s not a bad idea.

    This reminds me of a TV show I saw called “The Tudors”. It depicts a young King Henry VIII. When he first became king, he didn’t really know how to run a kingdom, and he relied on his advisors to make a lot of decisions for him, or at least to tell him what he should do.

    It had to be done skillfully though because people were not allowed to embarrass the king or make him feel too contradicted. His advisors sometimes had to make him think something was his own idea.

    On the other hand his advisors had to be quite strong with him at times, because his foolishness sometimes put the entire kingdom in great peril.

    However once King Henry made up his mind about something, or solidified the space, he could fire advisors that disagreed with him, or an excuse would be made to have them executed. There as a constant threat of petty vengeance at court. Falling out of the king’s favor was likened to death. Meanwhile everyone else was jostling for position, to be in a situation of maximum benefit and security for themselves, and to push their enemies away.

    Fortunately that doesn’t seem to be the model that CTR created for would-be kings and queens or creating enlightened society, so perhaps that has nothing to do with this discussion.
39. Barbara Blouin on December 2nd, 2009 11:46 am
    

    Petra Mudie wrote in a post earlier today: “In scanning back over all these blogs, however, I am disappointed in the salient lack of effort to come up with any positive alternatives to the “status quo” that is being complained about so bitterly. In my first post , I asked Barbara how she would recommend running the Shambhala show for the benefit of all sentient beings?”

    Petra, I’m sorry that neither I nor anyone else has responded to your question. Here’s a short “take”: About a positive alternative to the status quo, I believe that it will have to come from outside the organization. I see no sign whatever that the Sakyong is listening to us, or to others who may not have posted on RFS but have made their conclusions clear by walking away.

    I think it’s up to us. Just us chickens, as they say. We can self-organize. It isn’t easy, and it will take a while, but there have been more and more expressions of interest in this approach, both on this site and elsewhere.
    We have to start from square one, as the Vidyadhara used to say.

    What do YOU think we can do, Petra? And others? ideas?

    Barbara
40. Chris Keyser on December 2nd, 2009 1:55 pm
    

    The Vidyadhara shared his last tsampa with his fellow refugees while starving and near death during their perilous trek during winter over the highest mountains on the planet. His will contained spiritual advice to his disciples, not dispensation of his worldly possessions to his family. He joined heaven and earth while abiding in perfect equanimity.
41. rita ashworth on December 2nd, 2009 2:12 pm
    

    I am doing stuff in the UK re meditation -people still want the teachings…..and all the other stuff that Trungpa offered as well such as poetry, mudra, etc etc…….

    Yeh you could self-organise in the realm of poetry -that would maybe be not so contentious -it would give you time to explore things gently.

    re my last post I quoted Milk because man he got the city of San Fran from his camera shop -he had an open door policy for everyone…….that freedom needs to explored again in any sangha that evolves in the coming years……perhaps even in connection with the politics of Halifax…..the free-flowing kind of salon.

    The square one approach of the 70s was the big tent approach – I have seen pictures -perhaps you could do something on Halifax Common in the summer – I remember when I was in Halifax I helped out on an event there – it was good.

    I dont know if this sangha can stay together -perhaps its time to part -but we could work on things together and have access to the same teachings thats the spirit of ecumenism that the Christian churches have…….on the other hand for me there really has to be more western lineage holders for Trungpas teachings – I believe that would be the way for the teachings to spread more easily but we could get into discussions on this at a future date -perhaps maybe start as I said with poetry – even give the proceeds for the event to a charity.

    Well best for now

    Rita Ashworth
42. Petra Mudie on December 2nd, 2009 3:12 pm
    

    Edward, Barbara and Rita – thank you for your positive comments. For clarification regarding your question, Edward:

    “Are you suggesting that people give the Sakyong management advice?”

    My answer is “I see positive suggestions on how to solve a problem as an offering, not a demand or a dictate or a rebellion.”

    My own offerings relate to the region I live in and understand to some degree: the Halifax-Nova Scotia region. Here I think we need to be realistic about the current financial deficits and to scale plans for future projects according to what the market seems able to acomodate in the way of cultural centres. In my world, small can be both beautiful and powerful. Further, a cheerful outlook draws in helpful dralas of all shapes and sizes. To quote a Shambhala-Buddhist friend of mine ” if you offer warmth and friendship, people will come”. I have found this to be very true.
43. rita ashworth on December 2nd, 2009 3:34 pm
    

    Petra – I often thought of Halifax somewhat like Athens – a city state because most of the population lives in Halifax in NS.

    I often wondered why it had not grown as powerful as cities in the past or perhaps others on the eastern seaboard because its really all there the harbour and minerals and everything and the universities etc, etc, etc….it could be a really great place -it could attract wealth -its in the right position but it doesnt -to me that is a failure of the politicians and somewhat the people.

    There has to be developed in some way something beyond the ’small and gentle’ in some way……not trying to sound aggressive but there needs to be more punch developed to the place.

    CTR said you would have deal with ignorance in Canuckland -you have to deal with that sometimes in a more assertive manner……or in my ‘opinion’ you will have stasis magnifying. All well and good the gentleness of the people I know that…….but there has to be something more.

    best

    Rita Ashworth
44. Petra Mudie on December 2nd, 2009 5:20 pm
    

    Rita Ashworth: Thank you for giving your opinion about what you would like to see in Halifax. As I have said before on this site, I have lived in Halifax happily since 1975 – I greatly appreciate its measured pace of life, its “in-your-face” seasons, and its closeness to the earth, and I am grateful such cities still exist in this world. May you also enjoy the city of your choice: we are so privileged to have choices.
45. Gregg on December 2nd, 2009 6:57 pm
    

    What I find alarming is the trend. As Zerme, the MI formerly known as Jill, pointed out, the track record has a lot to be desired.

    A few years ago, when Richard Reoch went on his listening tour to the provinces, I asked a question in a community meeting about the utility of overbuilding the retreat centers and doing other really high expense activities (like a quarter million dollar wedding).

    I cited the anecdote that Dzongsar Khysentse Rinpoche once shared about when he opened his institute in Himachal Pradesh. The Dalai Lama visited and gave him a public talking to about the lavishness of the decor and how those were funds that could go to educate and feed people. It was part of Rinpoche’s description of the Khyentse Foundation’s mission to invest in people.

    Mr. Reoch came back with that it was important to have places that people will want to go to. I was disappointed in the answer. Since it was a festive occasion, I didn’t pursue the point.

    My confidence in an organization whose business is one of mindfulness is fairly undermined given this chronic out-to-lunchness, we’re broke yet again, c’mon and feel the team spirit.

    Reaching beyond one’s grasp to implement a grand vision is great. I’ve tried doing it myself and it’s hard and it’s worthwhile. But this kind of trend and the need for millions to get to zero is a real problem.

    Gregg
46. rita ashworth on December 3rd, 2009 12:57 pm
    

    Dear All and Petra

    I wanted to say a little bit more about why I posted re Halifax – it seemed to me that Petra opened with her comments a door to discuss the city and the concept of enlightened society and of course our own ‘opinions’ on that.

    Re me and Halifax – whilst I was there 1991-1995 I must have interviewed about 500 people for articles…..some of what I heard and wrote was mindblowing especially in relation to the bad treatment of homeless people. But enough said on that I also wrote on the Arts there and I had friends in the arts sector there aswell -so I do have rounded picture of the place-I know the good and bad points of the city.

    Why do I mention this history…….well because it is relevant to the discussion of an enlightened society both there and around the world. It seems to me you can not have an enlightened society without caring for the populace in your city-thats what cities are for they are there to provide a better standard of life for their citizens. This standard of life must be ensured by good governance which every citizen must have a hand in from whatever walk of life.

    Now how is this relevant to the SI organisation and the divisions now errupting – well I think the standards you employ within a city context should also be within the organisation that is purportedly trying to create a vision for a wholesome society – the two are somewhat tied together.

    Enlightened -its a loaded word in Europe with connotations of the social contract with the people and governance. Heres another suggestion for something to do aka creating new ways of constructing an enlightened society -have a debate at Dalhouise or elsewhere on the concept itself
    ‘An Enlightened Society-What do you think?’ -has this been tried in Halifax.

    In the UK and especially my neck of the woods Manchester the concept of the enlightenment was debated endlessly thats why this city was the birthplace for feminism, trade unionism to a large extent, and even Zionism.

    We need to have more debates on the this and really go into the ideas of constructing such a society.

    Best

    Rita Ashworth
    Stockport UK
47. cheryl Harawitz on December 3rd, 2009 5:29 pm
    

    Wow! What an amazing article and piece of research. This is a real contribution. Personally, I am dismayed at the human cost , the laying off of people and what that means to them, their families, communities and centres. Are not our human resources the life blood of the Mandala? Shouldn’t we protect monies to support the people needed to keep us alive?
48. John Tischer on December 3rd, 2009 10:11 pm
    

    Alive! Now there’s a concept…..any takers?
49. tsering on December 3rd, 2009 10:40 pm
    

    please listen to the interview with Khandro Rinpoche @ Chroniclleproject.com esp. @min.17 addressing leaders/sanghas/openness/loyalty
50. Edward on December 4th, 2009 12:27 am
    

    Maybe SI does not spend enough money feeding the poor?

    I read a lot of ideas on this site, a lot of good discussion. But as I pointed out in another thread, the discussion-only format of this website might convey the impression that there are no common concerns or proposals that any one group of people all agree on.

    In a good discussion, of course, you don’t repeat what someone else said just because you agree with it. You offer a slightly different way of looking at it, or you might stay silent and just listen and let someone else speak who sees things differently. A great discussion might appear to have absolutely zero agreement! It could be very beautiful and educational.

    However….

    If I was a ruler and I was told that a bunch of citizens were having discussions, and venting their concerns, and sharing their opinions with each other and nitpicking about how money is spent or who knows what, I might say, “OK. Well… let me know if they come to any conclusions. Otherwise, how am I supposed to relate to endless discussions and random opinions from this or that individual? You can help some people some of the time, but you can’t please everybody all the time– that’s the first thing I learned in Ruler 101 class!”

    People like to complain; the less you listen, the better, perhaps.

    However… It would be interesting if this website could implement something like online polling… to add an additional interactive component to these discussions.

    People have suggested that rather than having endless complaints and negative talk, that there be positive suggestions made, solutions proposed. Well, one way to do that could be through polls.

    If one person criticizes using land centers as collateral for huge loans, maybe he is a crank, you know, a trouble-maker. Take the mike away from him and do us all a favor.

    But if other people shared his concern, and if that was expressed in a simple visual way, that might be interesting, perhaps.

    Or perhaps that’s way too complicated.

    I do think that to a large extent the medium IS the message, whether we’re talking about rituals or group meditation or online communications media.
51. Edward on December 4th, 2009 12:39 am
    

    On the other hand, I’m not much of a fan of polls, or of democracy either for that matter.

    You know, we don’t actually live in democratic countries, we live in republics. A democracy means majority rules. When a mob lynches someone, that’s a majority rule situation– a unanimous vote save one, in fact.

    I’m not a fan of mob-rule situations. But polls are pretty simple and harmless, I suppose, if used properly. Just another means at our disposal, like corporate structures and automobiles and flower arrangements.

    All depends on what you want to achieve, I guess– what heaven you want to join with what earth.
52. Gregg on December 4th, 2009 3:13 am
    

    Since the subiect of how else could we go about doing things came up, I have a few thoughts. I tried advancing a couple of them along the way but it eventually became more trouble than it was worth and I pursued my own projects. Sangha admin is very difficult work. I’d recommend looking up a except from an admin audience that Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche:

    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7248965622078417393#

    I will leave the discussion how Trungpa Rinpoche and the Sakyong teach to others.

    Underlying most talk about “creating enlightened society” is the notion of having some cultural relevance and outreach and partnerships with key others in the world. I’m not addressing the kind of enlightened society where everyone uses the same esoteric catch phrases, drinks lukewarm sake because the founder did, manifest other forms of group think, and generally don’t get many results outside the tribe. There are a few specific ways that can be pursued on local levels and supported regionally, i.e. they generally don’t require central approval.

    A policy that can be implemented tomorrow at the local level is to extend a minimum of a 50% scholarship to K-12 school teachers going through Shambhala Training.

    With no evangelical agenda, having more grounded teachers is only going to have a beneficial cascading effect in the local culture. If Shambhala Training weren’t explicitly Buddhist, relationships and alliances could be formed with school administrators so outside organizations can become feeder mechanisms to ST sequences. With explicit religious affiliations, it’s not likely to happen. That’s just a practical observation.

    For extra credit, extend a similar pricing policy to all registered nurses going through Shambhala Training then promote it so there’s an influx of RN’s continuing their education. Having more grounded caregivers can only be a good thing. Making it much easier for nurses to access the ST teachings is one small but real way to promote service and we’d help people that very directly help people in the most difficult of circumstances.

    The other significant program that can be run on small scale, certainly smaller expense lines than the Shambhala Hiltons, are dathuns. This is the majorly transformational program in the Shambhala mandala. There is a discernible before and after in the lives of dathun alumni; they change for the better.

    For dathuns, there are underused Scout and Church camps where big programs could be conducted and priced for break even. The Pacific Northwest dathun is an example. Localizing dathuns make them more accessible to people when the travel costs and time are reduced.

    In particular, if this were to be done in the American South and Texas, what is called “contemplative Christianity” can become a real partner. Father Thomas Keating and Thomas Merton before him were exponents and examples of contemplative Christianity: meditation is part of their spiritual lives.

    see next
53. Gregg on December 4th, 2009 3:15 am
    

    Supporting contemplative Christianity through having palatable, robust and accessible supports would be good. Helping moderate Christianity to blossom in the US is comparable to helping moderate Islam blossom in the Middle East. The overall pool for rigid fundamentalist thinking would decrease. If there were an extra thousand dathun alumni in Texas and in Georgia in X years, I have no idea what would come of it but I think it would be positive. The same goes for Israel. It would help renew and grow the sangha with a very practiced core group.

    As the MIs love to say, sowhaddyouthink?

    Gregg
54. Edward on December 4th, 2009 9:59 pm
    

    Another interesting thing about Henry VIII: he came to power as a young *political* ruler…. but he ended up creating a new religion and appointing himself as its head. Why not? Anyone at court or in the administration who didn’t like it was simply replaced.

    Then, by having his servants take over many of the revenues and possessions that used to belong to the old religion, the king’s annual revenue literally doubled (according to season 3, episode 1 of the “Tudors” which I’m now watching).

    It was a bad time for practitioners of the old religion, many of whom eventually lost their retreat spaces, but the king’s treasury swelled to new proportions.

    I don’t know if this relates to Barbara Blouin’s article, but it’s an interesting tv show.
55. Jim Hartz on December 5th, 2009 9:41 pm
    

    A couple brief comments on this important post and the responses it has elicited.

    1. I believe Barbara Blouin touched on the heart of the matter (both for our community and the world) toward the end of her article, the part about the “build up on one side,” that is, on the side of “Heaven” over against that of “Earth.” We should be able to detect there the functioning of “center” and “fringe,” usually referred to in social science as “center-periphery polarization,” especially by World-System Theorists like Immanuel Wallerstein, and especially Samir Amin. And Cosmic Mirror as beyond any imposition of “this” and “that,” and associated with drala.

    2. According to Amin, the primary mark of “capitalism” is “center-periphery polarization.” In so many words, the primary mark of “egoism” is, likewise, “center-periphery polarization”–same thing as “dualistic fixation.” What if we connected the dots–which are flashing bright red–between the “micro” and the “macro” levels? Realized that “egoism” and “capitalism” are born at precisely the same instant, the moment of “dualistic fixation,” and are not in a sequential relationship, but a simultaneous one? That if you look closely, that sand grain that sticks its neck up in the “Development of Ego” has on a little red t-shirt. On the front it’s got “Maximize Profit, Minimize Loss,” and on the back, “Accumulate or Die”?

    3. Another angle: on dana. We need look no further than the Vidyadhara’s definition: “Giving without expecting anything in return.” So we’ve got that straight, I think, on the individual level, the psychological level, the micro level, in the “spiritual” sphere–the level of what we usually think of as “ego.” But what happens when we cross the un-pointed out boundary between the “psychological” and “political economic,” between the “spiritual” and “temporal,” between “egoism” and “capitalism,” “psyche” and “society”? We see that “capitalism”–especially as a global system–is the virtual antithesis of dana, or generosity: there, you don’t give out anything unless you expect to get more back in return. Isn’t that what Swami Milton Friedman taught us: that “getting more back,” “making a profit,” is the essence of democracy? Wasn’t that logic behind the 1973 Chilean coup?

    4. So, it seems we have the “key” to the global crisis, the so-called “economic meltdown,” if we would make these simple connections, and apply them. If we were to do that (rather than the current myopia, bolstered by ideologies of pragmatism and practicality and realistic philosophy of science “problem solving”), if we were to extend out with that “key,” our financial problems would be over: we would have gone to the heart of the “global crisis,” which reflects our own, and made a major contribution to the reduction of suffering in the world.

    5. But we aren’t likely to do that, are we? We’re basically good boys and good girls. Good boys and girls aren’t too critical of (so-called) “capitalism,” are they, Americans or Tibetans? Maybe it could be a bit “kinder & gentler”? Is this an argument for “socialism”? No. It’s an argument for Enlightened Global Society.
56. John Tischer on December 17th, 2009 2:29 pm
    

    Who said SMR isn’t making these decisions? Certainly the build-out at SMC was his idea….that is well known
57. Kristine on December 19th, 2009 6:38 pm
    

    Hi all,
    Nice discussion – Here are the guides for conduct re-posted again. I also have these on my fridge. It is amazing how often they ‘catch’ me in regards to spending my own (or others) money.
    I have heard two things about this list
    1 – it is from a Chinese text?
    2 – it is from Tsong Kapa? [sp?]

    Maybe it is from both?
    Petra – my offering to the employees and countless volunteers of Shambhala, International and local, would be to contemplate these slogans in conjunction with any undertaking.
    As a volunteer in the Shambhala sangha and in running my own household I try to do that and always find it challenging in some way…. there is always one of the slogans i am tripping blindly past.
    I think the list is put together skillfully to help us find out where we are kidding ourselves (oh those tricky Buddhist lists )

    here is the list
    cheers – Kristine, Halifax

    Arouse faith and respect for the three jewels.
    Seek out and practice the divine holy dharma.
    Respect your parents and repay their kindness.
    Revere those who have accomplished great learning.
    Honor and pay heed to noble elders.
    Be decent and trustworthy with friends and relatives.
    Exert yourself for the welfare of neighbors and countrymen.
    Be law-abiding, humble and act with decorum.
    Continuously emulate those who are excellent.
    Possess only as much food and wealth as needed.
    Never disappoint those who have been kind to you in the past.
    Do not waver in repaying your debts on time.
    Be generous to all without bias.
    Refrain from slander and maintain your dignity.
    Speak gently and restrain idle chatter.
    Expand your mind in the vision of mahayana.
58. Martin Fritter on January 14th, 2010 3:40 pm
    

    New to this thread. Things are as they appear, I suppose, but I would like to point out that the Vidyadhara took the financial stability of Varjadhatu and Nalanda very seriously and was very concerned about proper accounting and management. He was obviously not risk-adverse, but was also saw himself, and us, as building for the long term. “Crazy wisdom” may be crazy, but it’s also wise.

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