About this Site
Radio Free Shambhala is an open space for all those inspired by the Shambhala Vision and the Buddhadharma Without Credentials of Chögyam Trungpa.
For an introduction to this web site, listen to Podcast #1, Let Dark Matter Self-Illuminate.
Shambhala refers both to Chögyam Trungpa’s vision of an enlightened society, and to the community of people, his students whether old or young, who aspire to realize that vision. In the traditional language of body/speech/mind, this is body.
Radio refers to speech, to voice expressing through written words, audio, and video, in public and in person, whether through the web or in the same room.
Free is the confidence of unfabricated open space – gentle, confident, and gallant. It is the mind aspect, not shrinking from seeing things as they are, and not sucked into reactive modes. It is celebratory, and it is amused.
Radio Free Shambhala is not affiliated with Shambhala International, a Shambhala Buddhist church. It has arisen because many people, both within and outside that organization, are looking for further means to connect to and to fulfill their inspiration, to think bigger. This is true for those whose emphasis is on the Buddhadharma way and lineage of Chogyam Trungpa, and for those, who may or may not be buddhists, who see his Shambhala Vision as a secular/sacred way of meeting this world and society. We hope that the Radio Free Shambhala web site will be one of many vehicles for communicating about this view, its practice, and its action in this world.
The intention of Radio Free Shambhala is simple: to provide an open space for practitioners of Shambhala Vision. We are hosting your voices, but may not necessarily agree with any particular view. We will, however, work with you to protect the genuineness of that open space, through all that we are learning about right speech, decorum, conquering aggression, and action in the world.
We have two guidelines for all the expressions on this site:
- Meet your fear; do not be afraid; be a warrior.
- Be a warrior without anger.
Site Credits
Ed Michalik saw the need for such a site, and suggested the name Radio Free Shambhala in a conversation with Mark Szpakowski at Just Us Café in Halifax in Spring 2008.
Howard Harawitz provided the podcast intro music and technical support for podcasts.
Mark Szpakowski is site administrator.
Barbara Blouin, Andrew Safer, and Mark Szpakowski are site editors.
Juliete (Judith) Ferris is chaos dakini and Chögyam Trungpa representative.
If you would like to contribute to the site, please see the Submissions page.
All content, unless otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.