Thursday
Human Drala
Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash
By Russell Rodgers
Sometimes one encounters people or places that cut through one’s habitual chain of thoughts. The Tibetan word for that is “drala”, which means “above the enemy”. In this case the enemy is our cocoon of gossipy thoughts that keeps us separated from the beauty of the world. Practitioners who are familiar with the term drala often associate it with places that have power for us: they provoke a sense of primal vastness and spaciousness. Perhaps they provoke awe, or a sense of beauty. Size is not the issue here—it could be a mountain top, a mossy forest, or a drop of dew. Whatever it is, one feels that it is basically good.
Do you have human dralas in your life? Did they melt your discursiveness? Did they transmit basic goodness in their being? Perhaps this transmission took the form of warmth and compassion. Or perhaps it was wakeful awareness, a sense of big mind. Maybe it took the form of active intelligence, curiosity and engagement with the world. How did you recognize that transmission? How did you sense that it was important? What did it awaken in you? Continue…
Entries filed under Community Articles
Aging in Enlightened Society – HIGHLIGHT
Introducing a NEW MONTHLY COLUMN in the Shambhala Times: AGING IN ENLIGHTENED SOCIETY We are all getting older. Moment by moment, day by day, year by year, decade by decade we experience the unfolding of the aging process. This column, initiated by the Shambhala Working Group on Aging, ... continuePosted November 22, 2011 by
Happy Places – HIGHLIGHT
by Margo Shean Looking at my mom’s fridge, which happens to be one of my happy places, I notice the Boulder Shambhala Meditation Center brochure. The brochure is full of exciting things sure to fill any dharma bum’s dreams. After a few months of readjusting to the world ... continuePosted November 19, 2011 by
Basic Goodness Behind Bars – HIGHLIGHT
by Skylar Rickabaugh and Ted Fremd who both help Trime Persinger, the Buddhist Chaplain in the Snake River Correctional Institution in Eastern Oregon. This story is about Sunday morning of the Lineage Festival weekend and the experience of the vow ceremony occurring totally within a prison ... continuePosted November 10, 2011 by
Learn to Meditate Here – HIGHLIGHT
by Kate Summers, member and Head of Outreach at the Shambhala Meditation Center of Los Angeles, California During the 20th to 23rd of October, sixteen members of the Shambhala Meditation Center of Los Angeles participated in the CareNow LA health clinic at the LA Sports Arena, which ... continuePosted November 8, 2011 by
Answering a Call of Our Time – HIGHLIGHT
Irene Woodard, member of the Shambhala Meditation Center of New York City, has been named a GreenFaith Fellow and will join the class of 2012 in the GreenFaith Fellowship Program. The Fellowship Program is the only comprehensive education and training program in the United States to ... continuePosted October 28, 2011 by
Transformative Journeys at Dathun – HIGHLIGHT
The Shambhala Times would like to thank the community for its wonderful response to our request for personal tales about their experience of dathun, a month-long group meditation retreat. Below is a wonderful sampling of what we received… From Michael Mallett: Trying to explain dathun to anyone who ... continuePosted October 24, 2011 by
Letter from a Surmang Shedra Volunteer – HIGHLIGHT
Hello. This is Martin, a Shambhala member from Bern, Switzerland, writing to you. As I travel through China on my way home after staying this summer in Surmang, I’d like to give you just a small idea about my impressions and experiences of this beautiful spot ... continuePosted October 16, 2011 by
Refuge Vows – HIGHLIGHT
by Heather Grimes I recently discovered an essay from my Refuge Vow Ceremony while looking through some old writings; the following is an excerpt. This particular vow occurred at the end of a dathun at Shambhala Mountain Center, of which I attended one week, in January 2006. The American ... continuePosted October 2, 2011 by heather_campbell_grimes
Live from the Lineage Festival at Karme Choling – HIGHLIGHT
Incorporating the new Basic Goodness chant (look for it), this article is brought to you directly from Karme Choling’s Shambhala Lineage Festival. Composed by your Shambhala Times content manager and editor, Sarah Lipton. The scene: Harvest season in rural, hilly Vermont. May all have the opportunity to ... continuePosted September 25, 2011 by Sarah
Demystifying the Experience of Retreat – HIGHLIGHT
by Matthew Bryan of Seattle Greetings fellow warriors, I write to you having completed a week of dathun. The retreat took place in December at a secluded camp north of Victoria, BC. The camp is seated on the shores of beautiful Lake Shawnigan and our practice consisted ... continuePosted September 12, 2011 by matthew_bryan
Wonderful Perfect: Interview with Gesar Fund’s Nyima Kunga – HIGHLIGHT
by Maarten Regtien, editor of the dutch Drala Magazine Nyima Kunga, from Chindu, Tibet, is a board member of the Gesar Fund. Each year in the summer he, his wife and son travel to Tibet, not only to reunite with family, but also to check on whether ... continuePosted September 4, 2011 by
Drala Kids – HIGHLIGHT
by Heather Grimes “The attitude of sacredness toward your environment will bring drala.” ~ Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, from Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior. Weeks ago, Opal spotted a butterfly wing on our front lawn where the maple tree’s roots push up from ... continuePosted August 31, 2011 by
Summer 2011: 25th Anniversary of the Parinirvana of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
In 2012, we will be observing the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Vidyadhara’s Parinirvana. This will be an important moment in the life of our community. It will be an opportunity to appreciate our great good fortune to have been influenced by the Vidyadhara and his teachings, ... continuePosted August 30, 2011 by Richard_Reoch
Shambhala Household in the Wild West – HIGHLIGHT
by Zane Edwards The Sakyong teaches us that Shambhala households consist of diverse shapes and sizes. This is most certainly true for ours! Our household consists of my brother and I, along with our clients. Our clients have developmental disabilities that were acquired when they were young, ... continuePosted August 27, 2011 by Zane Edwards
Being Brave in Halifax – HIGHLIGHT
The Chronicles of CTR covers the recent Sangha Retreat in Halifax, titled Being Brave: Transforming Our World, which took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia, August 5-10. Here’s an excerpt from Bonnie Rabin’s account of the Sakyong’s teaching at this retreat: Sakyong Mipham, embodying the themes of basic ... continuePosted August 23, 2011 by
RSS feed for the Community Articles category
View all posts from authors in Community Articles: John_Smith alexvangils Travis_May AnnicaCrouse fredvanwelsem Kathryn_Rile Jennifer_Holder Claire_Crevey Sueschubel Thacher richxyz Luz_Rodriguez Ashley_Dinges Chris_Morel Dennis_Pack Alexandra_Kalinine PauletteMGraf Mark_Whaley Dia_Ballou
Sites with content in this category: https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalaarchives.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/ https://shambhalaarchives.org/ https://shambhalatimes.org/
