Saturday

Warwicks 50th Anniversary

On June 29th, the Bellingham Shambhala Center celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of Jenny and Paul Warwick, two senior students of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche who’ve played major roles in the Shambhala mandala since they entered the dharma in the 1970s. Acharya Jenny Warwick was the Director of Karme Choling in the challenging years of the late 80s, while Paul was Director of Practice & Study. They both played lead roles in creating the Vancouver Shambhala Center, and more recently the Bellingham Shambhala Center, which would likely not exist had they not moved to our sleepy little town in the early 90s ‘to retire from leading dharma centers.’ Since then, they’ve been guiding teachers in Bellingham, up and down the west coast — and beyond, especially due to Jenny’s appointment as Acharya in 2003.

But beyond their separate roles and accomplishments, the Bellingham sangha thought it excellent to celebrate their collective accomplishment of staying married through five decades of orderly chaos. Vajrayana dharma can sometimes put pressure on marriages. Like thoughts, many rise, dwell and then pass away. The Warwicks very much beat the odds.

The evening was full of toasts, stories, well wishes and celebration. To the Warwicks, the Bellingham sangha is very glad to say, “Jolly good show!”