Shambhala-Related Groups & Sites

This page lists social media groups and sites hosting discussions and providing information about current transformative events in the Shambhala community and organizations.

See also the page on Practice and Study Resources in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa.

Informative Sites

Shambhala Ownership and Control
This shows the various Shambhala non-profit corporations, what they own directly, and how the Sakyong Potrang controls them.

Practice and Study Resources
A page on this site on Practice and Study Resources in the lineage of Chögyam Trungpa, outside of Shambhala International.

Chögyam Trungpa Resources and Subreddit Description
A list of online CTR resources, as part of the Chögyam Trungpa subreddit.

Sleepy Burrito Radio
Timeline of documents and news items.

Facebook Groups

The descriptions below are taken from the groups themselves, with minor edits. Their content and tone may of course vary widely. Some are private (need approval to join) or secret (not publicly listed).

Cooperative Wisdom Society
Wisdom Training, and Structure and Economy of a Cooperative Wisdom Society, as presented by Tomasz Pietrzykowski. Vision; YouTube Channel.

Full Circle Buddhism Group
This group is being collectively created, as best that we can. Our focus is on being beneficial, openhearted and respectful in our listening and responses. We are focusing our conversations around Buddhism, secular Buddhism, Shambhala and other related concepts.

Gaia Delek
A group inspired by Chogyam Trungpa’s Delek system. Principles include taking care of each other, listening, inclusivity, consensus. There are many possibilities, let’s explore them!

Independent Shambhalians
A group for Shambhalians, students of VCTR, and those interested in reforming Shambhala. Active, old members, and those interested in the work of Trungpa Rinpoche are welcome.

Mukpo Old Dog Retirement Community
Formed to develop various models for active communities for aging practitioners of a Buddhist-inspired path, and to support the establishment of such projects. Please join this group if you have an interest in creating such a community. Donations of land, and other philanthropic efforts are welcomed.

Open Shambhala
Open Shambhala is a forum for all Buddhist meditators to discuss Buddhist meditation. It is shambhalian in the sense of individual experience and inspiration of sacred world, rather than what someone told you to think or the current line. It’s open in the sense of not being part of a religious organization and therefore having no orthodoxy. But it is only open to Buddhist meditators and requires civil discourse.

Ronin Zone [from way back in 2007!]
A Ronin was a masterless samurai during the feudal period (1185–1868) of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the ruin or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master’s favor or privilege. If you feel that you are a ronin in the Shambhala mandala, then you may wish to join the “Ronin Zone.” This group is a space for the masterless and drifting warriors of Shambhala to gather together round a bonfire, of sorts. Here, we spin yarns, hatch plans, or just keep quiet; and, most important, we take comfort in each other’s company. Beneath the moonless sky, we gather strength from fellow drifters so as to continue our journey at dawn, alone but open to the world, without malice, envy, or fear.

Shambhala
An admin archived this group on March 9, 2019. You can’t create posts, like, comment, or add more members, but you can still view all posts.

Shambhala Dharma Brats
This is a group for Shambhala Dharma brats only that are processing the changes that are occuring in the sangha. This is for active and not active members of the sangha who grew up in Shambhala households.

Shambhala in Europe
This group is a place for the Shambhala Europe community and anyone that feels connected to the European sangha from Shambhala International.

Shambhala Musicians
Post ideas, questions, photos, audio, and video for musicians.

Shambhala Office of Social Engagement
The Shambhala Office of Social Engagement (SOSE) is an International office that that supports and encourages engagement initiatives in the Shambhala community.

Shambhala Open Discussion
This group is intended to be a safe and open space for Shambhala members and all others to discuss the current situation in our global Sangha as it evolves. The intention here is to hold space for this discussion that is not officially connected to Shambhala International in any way. Please feel free to post updates, discussion points, suggestions for reformation or any other relevant information.

Shambhala: Opening The Flower

• What kind of kingdom would Shambhala be if people of all religions lived in it?
• What kind of kingdom would Shambhala be if it did not limit its higher teachings to Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhists?
• Can the open space, with genuine sadness, suddenly free from fixed mind, that is at the heart of enlightened society, be kept alive by warriors of many practice traditions?

If questions like these concern you, you might like to network at “Shambhala: Opening the Flower.” Everyone is welcome!

Shambhala POC
A place for those in or associated with the Shambhala community and identify as People of Color. A place to share, meet, plan and care for one another.

Shambhala Parents and Families
This group is for parents to discuss questions and share ideas about how we are integrating Shambhala principles into our child’s lives, or could be questions about parenting in general.

Shambhala Spiritual Friendship
A place to give support and encouragement along the Shambhala path, Tibetan Buddhism and the teachings of Chogyham Trungpa Rinpoche. Real discussion of the teachings, spiritual community, meeting up face to face encouraged.

Shambhala Tantrikas & Sadhakas
This is a group for Shambhala and Vajradhatu Vajrayana students who have attended Vajrayana Assembly, Sacred World, or Vajradhatu Seminary under Trungpa Rinpoche. It is meant to be a safe space to discuss recent revelations from a Vajrayana point of view. It is also a place for SMR’s students and students of Trungpa Rinpoche to discuss samaya.

Shambhala Transformation Members Discussion
This group is intended to be a narrower successor to the previous Shambhala Facebook group. It is intended to minimize the tax on the group admins and moderators by allowing mostly unmoderated exchange of ideas.

Societal Lhasang
This is a group for humans of all gender identities who are committed to the teachings of Shambhala Buddhism to talk about their experiences of being harassed, assaulted, abused or otherwise hurt due to gendered power relations within the sangha. It is also a group within which we hope we can all plan / brainstorm ways to remedy this societal ill.

Touching Earth
This group is created for practical discussion of how to take Shambhala forward. The group slogan is “No Heaven Without Earth”.

Stray Dog Sangha
Like an annotated directory, this group is for students of Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, both old and new, to connect with each other, share activities, meet. Discussions of politics, problems in the Shambhala Buddhist community, cute memes, and other kinds of posts unrelated to Trungpa’s sangha would best be taken elsewhere. This group is for meeting each other like a big community meeting.

We are finally out of Shambhala!
From the “About”: This page is for those who are finally out of shambhala and want to shout it out so that others don’t feel so lonely if they are trying to get out. There is a whole world waiting for them, and by telling the truth you will be a hero to so many! The format is: “I am finally out of Shambhala” then give your dates: 1973 – 1987, etc.

Reddit Sites (subreddits)

r/Chogyam Trungpa
A space to discuss Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s teachings and lineage, as well as those of related teachers of the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. This subreddit is not affiliated with Shambhala International, The Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche or Shambhala-Buddhism. For information or discussion on SMR, SI or SB, including the current controversy surrounding SMR and SI, please visit r/ShambhalaBuddhism.

r/ShambhalaBuddhism
Shambhala is in an active state of crisis and things are changing all around us. In this dark age, may all beings find clarity. This sub is in no way affiliated or associated with Shambhala International.

Instagram

Ocean of True Memeing
Regard all dharmas as memes.

Magazines

Lion’s Roar
Buddhist Wisdom for our Time

Shambhala International SitesS

Shambhala Community Care
Publishes reports by the Interim Board and related organizations about current abuse problems.

Shambhala Network
Includes Sangha Talk and other forums. In order to log in, you need to register as a member, but doing so only entails noting your nearest Shambhala Centre.

Shambhala Times
Community magazine

Notes

Credits: Thanks to Suzanne Townsend for starting this resources page.

Updates: Enter additions, updates and corrections as a comment below. The comment will be deleted after its content has been integrated into this page, or if it is not such an update.

Tribute to Suzanne Duarte

by Clarke Warren

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suzanne Duarte (previously Suzanne Head) died suddenly, on Saturday, Dec. 5, of an apparent heart attack. Suzanne and her husband Jan-Paul Vroom were sharing a relaxed evening together in their home when Suzanne collapsed. She had recently been being treated for cancer, but her sudden death was unexpected, and a deep shock to her husband and her friends.

Suzanne was an early and very devoted student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, having met Rinpoche in 1972 in San Francisco.. She then joined the Vajradhatu sangha in 1974, attending her first Vajradhatu Seminary in 1976. Her own story of the circumstances leading to her meeting the Vidyadhara is a crescendo of auspicious coincidence and a wonderful account of the dawning of genuine devotion.* She engaged practice, study and community service passionately. She held various administrative and teaching positions at San Francisco Dharmadhatu, Karme-Chöling, Karma Dzong in Boulder, RMDC, and taught at various urban dharmadhatus. Over the years she served with Vajradhatu Recordings as one of the early recorders of the Vidyadhara’s teachings, and with the Vajradhatu Office of External Affairs. She also served as a Kasung for several years. One of Suzanne’s first work projects with Vajradhatu was to set up the household for the fist visit of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa to the Bay Area. She was a skilled and erudite Shambhala Training Director and Buddha Dharma teacher, and a meditation instructor, for over forty years. At one point in time, Suzanne spent half a year working to establish Shambhala Training in Brazil. Suzanne was also with the beginnings of the Vajradhatu Sun, which was to eventually become the Shambhala Sun. She was a prolific writer, and her writings are precise, elegant, and vitally engaged with the interface of Dharma and the world. Her fluency in the art of conversation matched her writing, and engaging with her in a conversation was a rich, educational and rewarding experience. Whether you agreed or disagreed with her, she was there with you, awake, respectful and listening in the interchange; she was a genuine spiritual friend.

Suzanne was a passionately committed environmentalist, ecologist and animal protagonist, having co-edited with Robert Heinzman the book Lessons from the Rain Forests. She established a website dedicated to ecological issues and Dharma, dharmagaians.org.** She taught eco psychology in the Environmental Studies program at Naropa University in past years, and then online from Europe. The welcoming introduction to the Dharmagaians website is as follows:

“How did the world get to the point where we’re facing multiple, intractable, converging, global crises?  Wouldn’t the common good be better served if we  understood what’s happening and prepared for what’s coming? Dharmagaians are people who cherish the Earth, care about future generations, and respect the truth enough to seek it and speak it.

If you honor and seek the truth, cherish the Earth, and care about future generations, you are welcome here…”

Suzanne swam in the currents of interdependence, which she felt as sensitively as her own nervous system. Of late, she would shed copious tears when discussing the predicament of the world and the natural environment. Her being and her deepest concerns were interwoven intimately with the natural world. She said that when she died, she wanted to go to the place where extinct species go. She meant it.

Suzanne did not hesitate to speak with a critical, honest and intelligent voice if she detected hypocrisy or self-serving agendas in the people and organizations she was involved with. Over many years, she was a critic of what she perceived and experienced as a heavy-handed male-oriented predominance of leadership in Vajradhatu, then Shambhala Intl. In her essay “Deception, Corruption and Truth”, first published on Radio Free Shambhala in 2009 but also available in her writings on dharmagaians.org, she begins, “Two dharmic values that Chögyam Trungpa embodied, which were reinforced in me by his example, are consideration and concern for future generations and the importance of being truthful, which are related with each other.  After he died, I began to understand that our personal adherence to the truth – or honesty – in the present is essential for the sanity and wellbeing of future generations, and thus for the continuity of the dharma.”

In more recent years, Suzanne’s attention has been focused the issue of the preservation and continuation of the Vidyadhara’s sangha, teachings and practices, for which she had deep concern. She expressed her insights on the matter eloquently in a 2011 essay titled How to Invoke Magic and Revitalize the Third Jewel, featured on the website Radio Free Shambhala, and available for reading at: http://radiofreeshambhala.org/2011/06/third-jewel-magic/ She and Jan- Paul have been strong participants in Ri-mé Society for the purpose of continuing those very teachings and practices. Just a few days before her death, she had expressed a marked excitement about beginning to teach again, in the context of Ri-mé Society. Her voice would no doubt have been a rich contribution, but that opportunity has now slipped between our fingers like sand. Now she will teach by her enduring example as a genuine human being, an exemplary practitioner, and a dedicated teacher and writer. And as an example of pure, unrelenting devotion to her teacher and teacher’s world. Suzanne demonstrated with her life the crucial and indispensable interrelationship of genuine devotion and critical intelligence.

She and Jan-Paul lived in Colorado for several years, then Amsterdam for twelve years. They returned to Boulder in 2014. They have been living amidst the pristine skies, forests and mountains of Magnolia Road in Boulder County, where their love for the natural world has nourished them continuously and from where she has now left our world. Or else, more likely, she has dissolved and entered into this very world in a much more elemental and effective capacity, in line with her Bodhisattva Vow and her profound connection with the drala principle. She was already headed in that direction.

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* In a 2014 videoed talk entitled “The Path to Becoming a Genuine Human Being” given at A Place to Sit in Boulder, Suzanne presented a vivid and moving account of her journey through her life and her meeting and interactions with the Vidyadhara.

The Ocean web site includes an article on the same topic by Suzanne, Relate to things as they are.

** One can access the Dharmagaians website at http://dharmagaians.org. The images on the site are not visible right now, but it is still a rich resource on Dharma, Society and Environment. If one scrolls down to the bottom left, one can access “Suzanne’s Writings” The titles of pieces included there are:

Creating Space for Nature: a wilderness solo

My Bush Soul, The Mountain Lion

Conversation with a Mountain Chickadee

Demons in our Midst: Facing the Tyrant Inside and Out

Power and the Collective: Pluto in Leo – We get what we need

Shambhala: The Outer Tradition

Waking Up in a Former Empire at the End of the Industrial Age – Or: Is It ‘Mean’ to Tell Someone Their House is on Fire?

Deception, Corruption and Truth

Holocaust Of The Orangutans – a poem

Realizing The Significance – a poem

Women and the Dharma

 

Prajnaparamita, mother of all the buddhas.

Open Letters

The following are 2 open letters on the current social and institutional state of the sangha of Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche: an initial letter by Tashi Colman to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and a response by Clarke Warren (published here with their approval).

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Open Letter by Tashi Colman

Open Letter to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

31st August, 2014

Dear Sir,

After living and working in Bhutan the last several years, I returned to Nova Scotia this past summer for my first extended (3-month) visit back in five years. After living far from our Shambhala sangha for so long, I was deeply moved and gratified to experience again the extraordinary richness of the support for our dharma practice and study available in our wider Shambhala community.

I want to emphasize here that I personally am profoundly appreciative and grateful to you for all you are doing to teach and explore further the precious Scorpion Seal termas. Indeed, having now completed four Scorpion Seal Assemblies, I remain fully committed to that path. To be blunt, despite my deep commitment to creating Shambhala society, I confess that my Werma practice used to be episodic and pale to say the least, and it has come to life with ever greater vividness as a direct result of the Scorpion Seal practices you have introduced. Thank you so much for that!

I also recognize that the Buddha taught the dharma in 84000 ways, that not every one relates to the Scorpion Seal path, that the Kagyü, Nyingma, kasung, dharma art, and many other practices so kindly given us by the Vidyadhara are all entirely valid and authentic paths that suit particular people, and that the Shambhala umbrella is big enough to incorporate the Vidyadhara’s entire legacy.

For me personally, the Shambhala, Kagyü and Nyingma paths are part of a single fabric and inseparable. As the Vidyadhara said in answering a question after his Windhorse talk at the 1982 Kalapa Assembly:

“…. The drala practice is like the sharp edge of a sword blade which deals with day-to-day life already, automatically. The Vajrayogini practice is like the other edge of the sword blade, which carries the weight so that the sharp edge can cut. It’s like the two sides of a coin.”

But I also realize that the Kagyü, Nyingma, and Shambhala paths are all entire paths in themselves, and that others may not choose to join them.

And so I was deeply disturbed during my visit back this past summer to see how widely accepted and ‘normalized’ the rift in our sangha has become. From afar, of course I was aware of and saddened by that split, but I never had to deal with it on an ongoing basis, and so I never got used to it and find the present divisions entirely unacceptable. Those entirely loyal to you and those entirely alienated remain equally my heartfelt Shambhala brothers and sisters.

On the one hand, we learned long ago that furthering disharmony in the sangha is a serious breach of our vajra commitments. On the other hand, what struck me over and again was how unnecessary and easily resolvable the present divisions are.

And so I am moved to write this open letter to you to plead and supplicate you for very simple actions that can not only heal the present wounds but I feel will also greatly strengthen and broaden your own leadership of the Shambhala Kingdom. Indeed, I really don’t believe we as Shambhalians can be any kind of effective model for the world or for our wider society while we cannot accommodate each other or heal our own fractures.

I want to emphasize here that none of the modest (and perhaps naïve) suggestions that follow would even slightly detract from or prevent your own present teachings, writings, assemblies, and other activities from proceeding apace, nor would they diminish even slightly the number and quality of students following the Scorpion Seal path and the various practices and teachings you are giving. On the contrary, I feel certain that the humble gestures suggested below would strengthen the paths you are propagating by virtue of their unifying influence and their accommodating so many more students under the broad Shambhala umbrella.

I have discussed the following specific suggestions in some detail with your secretary, David Brown, during a meeting in Halifax last month:

• At Gampo Abbey, just restoring the Seven-Line Supplication to Padmakara and the Supplication to the Takpo Kagyü to the morning liturgy would do wonders to heal present wounds. Abbey folk have plenty of time, and the extra 2 minutes in the morning would be greatly welcomed in the Shambhala practice centre with the deepest commitment (e.g. 3-year retreat) to preserving our Kagyü and Nyingma inheritance. As well, the Shambhala aspiration could be alternated in the evening liturgy with the aspiration to fulfil the wishes of the Vidyadhara written by the Abbey’s own abbot, Ven. Thrangu Rinpoche.
• At Karme Choling, the Vajrayogini shrine room has become the community room and the ngondro shrine room has become the exercise and music room. If Karme Choling is to continue to be a ‘deep training facility’, then restoring dedicated shrine rooms for the Kagyü and Nyingma practices would be ever so accommodating and greatly appreciated by many dedicated practitioners.
• I am sure you agree that the three-volume Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma is a true tour de force for our Shambhala sangha, a magnum opus that systematically brings together the Vidyadhara’s core teachings on the entire Buddhist path like never before. What could be more central to our Shambhala sangha than thirteen years of the Vidyadhara’s Seminary transcripts, beautifully compiled, arranged, and organized by one of our most gifted, practised, and genuine senior teachers in 25 years of dedicated effort? This is a reference work that will be studied for generations to come.
• And yet the annual Profound Treasury retreats taught by Judy Lief are held in Maine, outside our Shambhala practice centres. Why not simply invite the Profound Treasury organizers to have the annual retreats at Karme Choling? I can think of no program that more definitively belongs in the very heart of our Shambhala community and practice mandala.
• If just once a year, Sir, you were to give a Vajrayogini tri, and if you would allow entering vajrayana students (new tantrikas) the option to pursue the path of Kagyü ngöndro in addition to the Primordial Rigden ngöndro, this would again be greatly appreciated by so many genuine students and practitioners. My understanding is that all the acharyas have the authority to give the necessary permissions for these Kagyü practices within the folds of our broad Shambhala sangha. Without that, we are in danger of losing a vital and precious component of our inheritance – “the other edge of the sword blade” to use the Vidyadhara’s words cited above.

There are many other similar and very simple gestures that would work wonders in healing present rifts and accommodating all our Shambhala sangha in the broadest sense without in the slightest detracting from your present path, teachings, and trajectory. It is perfectly understandable, Sir, to make a distinction between your role as teacher (focussing on the Shambhala and Scorpion Seal paths) and your broader organizational role as leader of the Shambhala sangha (which can embrace a much wider range of skillful means and students committed to other authentic components of the Vidyadhara’s legacy).

I felt this past summer that, at bottom, all us Shambhalians – those most loyal and those most alienated – are one sangha deeply sharing a vision and an inheritance that are precious beyond imagination. The present painful rift is truly unacceptable and it would take so little to bring us together again in full harmony. From the bottom of my heart, Sir, I supplicate you to take the simple actions needed to make that happen. Thank you again for your kindness, skill, and generosity in teaching the Scorpion Seal terma, and for considering this heartfelt plea.

Yours in the dharma,
Tashi Colman

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Response by Clarke Warren

I have read and contemplated the letter that Tashi Colman has recently courageously submitted to the Sakyong. It didn’t take long, however, to see the cracks in this proposal, as robustly honest and good hearted as it is. In short order, they are nice thoughts and aspirations. But a bit presumptuous that there is or ever was “one sangha”. Or that it would ever be a good idea. The very idea of “one unified sangha” attacks creativity, stifles initiative, broadcasts a dictate of uniformity, and attempts to curtail the very brilliance that the Vidyadhara lived, in all his highly unique style and outrageousness. By the Vidyadhara’s description, sangha is not a unified conglomerate group, but individuals standing on their own, lonely yet together, inter-dependent but not co-dependent. As it is up to individuals to ignite the transmission of the Vidyadhara, so it is natural that an attempt to reduce individuals to a corporate identity is itself a contradiction and violation of the meaning of “sangha”. And for those who do not naively submit to an agenda of defined and enforced “harmony”, the road is far more unencumbered to actually enact the vision of the Vidyadhara in myriad ways.

It was, however, neither a coercive mandate of conformity nor a counter, subversive influence, that has “split” the more unified strains of the past, but the very force of the Vidyadhara’s and the lineage’s transmission and teaching. The community talk Flowers and Lids (in Collected Community Talks) spoken by the Vidyadhara himself, speaks eloquently to this forceful phenomena. The very branching of the “four great and eight lesser lineages”, is testimony to this, as are the 84,000 dharmas, or the 6,400,000 tantras of the Nyingma.

Even if the Sakyong were to adopt the suggested measures, it would be viewed by many, I believe, as highly suspicious and self-serving. But , even if he did (highly improbable), I doubt very much whether it would “unify” a diversified sangha that has already broadcasted to a much larger world, unencumbered by organizational self-interests, than could ever have transpired otherwise. The organization is already outdated, despite its grasp on infrastructure, its regimented prescriptions, and its increasingly vivid indications of the pitfalls of organized religion. The influence of the Vidyadhara, on the other hand, has been released to the world in a myriad of expressions and potent practicalities, like the exploding seeds of a dandelion in a gale wind. Not likely to be “reigned in”. [sic]

In that regard the so-called lack of unity, itself, could already be the good news, the blessings of the lineage. The Vidyadhara’s influence has far outflanked the organizational ambitions of more fundamentalist strains. This is how Mahayana outflanked the earlier, highly conservative social constraints of the Buddhist tradition. Narrow views and prerogatives, which define themselves as universals, tend unerringly toward the climes of irrelevance, or in more aggressive cases, infamy. The Vajrayana, on the other hand, even more so than doctrinal Mahayana, in essence, style, and influence, represents the explosion of unconstrained Dharma to the world. And that explosion is the actual momentum of Shambhala vision.

But, more dismally probable is that Tashi’s letter, even if it does (doubtfully) make it before Sakyong’s eyes, will be ignored. It is this very arrogant disregard that has led to things as they stand now. What an utter contrast to the uncanny openness of the Vidyadhara! That was the openness and utter absence of territoriality that actually did bind us together! On the other hand, though, the absence of that has ironically propelled the Vidyadhara’s display of genius and compassion to a much broader spectrum of humanity precisely because the more creative and courageous of the Vidyadhara’s students have bolted from any suggestion of sangha as a constraining orthodox corral.

I, like Tashi, returned to North America after years of living in Asia, to find a highly disseminated world of the Vidyadhara’s students and legacy, an atmosphere, on the organizational side, dismissive of criticism, and dismissive even of the place of discriminating intelligence as an essential element of bodhicitta/awakened heart. And the retirement of many of the practices and teachings of the Vidyadhara, so lovingly, powerfully and skillfully planted in the rich soil of the West. Ironically, the world I encountered resembled everything the Vidyadhara warned of. It was an eclipse of everything I had appreciated, an umbra of the Vidyadhara’s brilliance. But in the process, I have witnessed many highly inspiring sun flare endeavors of unleashed disciples! Let the eclipse pass rather than feed it, and the sun will burst forth even more brilliantly. And the unconstrained constellations of lineage will be there to nurture us and cheer us on, as they are this very moment.

Regards,

Clarke Warren

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Response by Tashi Colman

Dear Clarke,

Thank you for your letter. Of course I fully agree with you that the last thing we would ever want is one conformist sangha that stifles creativity and initiative in the name of enforced uniformity. And of course the only possible ‘harmony’ is through diversity.

For that very reason, the operative word in my letter to the Sakyong is “accommodate” (said 4 times), reinforced over and again by phrases like: “…recognize that the Buddha taught the dharma in 84000 ways, that not every one relates to the Scorpion Seal path, that the Kagyü, Nyingma, kasung, dharma art, and many other practices so kindly given us by the Vidyadhara are all entirely valid and authentic paths that suit particular people, and that the Shambhala umbrella is big enough to incorporate the Vidyadhara’s entire legacy.” Etc. etc.

So I was just a bit surprised that you read my argument for accommodating the diverse paths given us by the Vidyadhara as implying a “unified conglomerate” sangha, when the intent and language of the letter were precisely the opposite….

Warmest wishes, Tashi

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Clarke Warren responds in the Comments below

Mark Szpakowski Illuminates Dark Matter

In this first podcast, Ed Michalik interviews Mark Szpakowski, who talks about allowing the Dark Matter in the greater Shambhala sangha to self-illuminate.

This is an introduction to Radio Free Shambhala.

Click the Play button above to listen to the podcast.

Right-click (control-click on Mac) to download high-speed version (36’48”).

Right-click (control-click on Mac) to download low-speed (dialup) version (36’48”).