Tuesday
Warrior in World
Sacred Path of the Warrior Presented at Youth Conference
Rev. Alexander Garbera, a member of the Pioneer Valley Shambhala Meditation Center, presented concepts from Chögyam Trungpa’s Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior at True Colors SOGIEcon (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression) last March.
The workshop was crafted to help build attendees’ resilience to weather the onslaught of anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric, policies, and actions leaving youth and parents bewildered, afraid, and frustrated by introducing Trungpa’s concepts of bravery, courage, and fearlessness — as well as using Windhorse and the vision of the Great Eastern Sun to fortify resilience. Meditation was presented as a way of uncovering the source of bravery and courage while engaging with the world with compassion to create a more enlightened society. Each attendant received a free copy of the book.
The workshop was applauded by attendees who resonated with the need for more wisdom, love, compassion, and understanding in what seems to be increasingly dark times.
The unsolicited feedback of one attendee captured many of the comments after the short meditation: “I have often found this subject to be a little out of reach, and [it was] presented in a way that felt more approachable. One of the big takeaways for me was the idea that meditation is not intended to be a form of escape or detachment, but rather to be better connected. I like that it’s not about fixing something that’s broken, it’s just a kind of tool that can help people. I am going to just give it a try and start small, because even just doing a few deep breaths feels like a big change.”
Rev. Garbera feels that the Shambhala dharma is sorely needed now and encourages all of our members and friends to revisit and share the profound gifts we have received.
Held on the campus of the University of Connecticut, it is the largest LGBTQIA+ youth conference in the USA. The conference brings together LGBTQIA+ youth, their peers, allies, family members, educators, social workers, clinicians, clergy, and community members to educate themselves, promote connection, and support the next generation of LGBTQIA+ leaders. With over 200 workshops, performances, and activities organized around specific groups and audiences, there were about 1,850 attendees. A PDF of the PowerPoint can be found at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aRgcFeuWaups2MYLAbOGS-5mrnlUK5Pf/view?usp=drivesdk.
Entries filed under Featured Stories
TWENTY YEARS OF RULING AND TEACHING: Part One – Succession – HIGHLIGHT
By Shastri Benoît Côté On August 26, 1990, a young man of 28 years old was brought back from Nepal, where he was studying with his teacher H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, to Karmê Chöling, Vermont, where at the request of the Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin, head of ... continuePosted February 26, 2011 by BenoitCote
Jetsun Drukmo Turns Six Months Old – HIGHLIGHT
The Sakyong Wangmo celebrates a half-year of life for our princess by sharing a message and photos. Dear Shambhalians, How time flies! Jetsun Drukmo turns six months old today. The last six months have been very joyful. Each day I see her doing new things and am ... continuePosted February 12, 2011 by
Surmang Shedra Swamped with Children – HIGHLIGHT
By Lyndon Comstock The newly-opened Surmang shedra has been swamped with children wanting to come to school. In an unexpected wave, hundreds of families have started bringing their children every day. The plan was to initially provide facilities for 100 children. At the moment, 350 children ... continuePosted February 5, 2011 by
Visualizing Sopa Choling – HIGHLIGHT
This is the fifth and final article in a series on Sopa Choling and the three-year retreat experience. In this photographic essay, Laura Kaufman has selected images that celebrate Sopa Choling and highlight the place, with its changing moods throughout the seasons, and some of the ... continuePosted February 1, 2011 by
Life, Death & Three-year Retreat – HIGHLIGHT
This is the fourth article in a series on Sopa Choling and the three-year retreat experience. Sharon Keegan shares how personal experiences of impermanence led her into a three-year retreat, and guided her activity in the world when she emerged. Be sure to read the ... continuePosted January 30, 2011 by
Discovering Enlightened Society at Sopa Choling – HIGHLIGHT
This is the third article in a series on Sopa Choling and the three-year retreat experience. Shastri Chuck Whetsell describes his experience of discovering enlightened society, slogan by slogan, during his three-year retreat at Sopa Choling. Be sure to read the fourth article and click ... continuePosted January 28, 2011 by
Following a Path of Practice – HIGHLIGHT
This is the second article in a series on Sopa Choling and the three-year retreat experience. As Lelia Calder discovered, on the path of practice a three-year retreat may be the next step, however surprising or daunting it may seem. She shares how she arrived at the ... continuePosted January 26, 2011 by
A Three-year Retreat for Our Mandala – HIGHLIGHT
This is the first article in a series on Sopa Choling and the three-year retreat experience. On July 15, 2010, Acharya Larry Mermelstein presided at the gate-opening ceremony celebrating the completion of a full retreat cycle at Sopa Choling, the three-year retreat center located at ... continuePosted January 24, 2011 by
Finding Chogyam Trungpa’s Escape Route – HIGHLIGHT
Join us in celebrating the premiere of Touch and Go by Grant MacLean. This documentary traces the escape route over Himalaya that Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche used in 1959 to lead hundreds of Tibetans to safety in India. The first two parts of Touch and Go can ... continuePosted January 16, 2011 by
Ground for Fresh Starts in the Mandala – HIGHLIGHT
As 2010 comes to a close and the Shambhala Times reviews its biggest articles of the year, it is clear that the ground has been set for a year of fresh starts and new beginnings in 2011. With the Sakyong in retreat, it seems we all ... continuePosted December 28, 2010 by
Of Books and Blankets – A Better Future for the Surmang Region – HIGHLIGHT
In this update from the Konchok Foundation, Lyndon Comstock describes Surmang Monastery’s continued support to victims of the April 2010 earthquake in Jyekundo and the Konchok Foundations’s ongoing efforts to educate local children by completing the shedra (or school) at Surmang Dutsi-til. By Lyndon Comstock Surmang Dutsi Til ... continuePosted December 10, 2010 by
IN MEMORIAM: Kyoko Kita Sensei – HIGHLIGHT
Kalapa Ikebana Boulder respectfully acknowledges the end of the 49 days following the sudden death of our cherished Ikebana teacher, Kyoko Kita, Sensei, on September 10th, 2010 from a heart attack. To all the people who had the great treasure of entering the path of flowers ... continuePosted October 28, 2010 by
Beverley Webster, A Magnificent Lioness of Shambhala – HIGHLIGHT
By Marty Janowitz Beverley Beattie Webster, named Lady Beattie (Pema Nyima, Lotus Sun), Lady to the Kalapa Court by the Druk Sakyong, Chogyam Trungpa Mukpo, died suddenly on October 11, 2010, just shy of her 69th birthday, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was a magnificent lioness of ... continuePosted October 21, 2010 by
Ashes of Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky interred near the Great Stupa – HIGHLIGHT
Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky Interment of Ashes SMC August 29, 2010 By Peter Hale, Reed Bye, Anne Waldman On Sunday August 29, under warm sun and blue sky at Shambhala Mountain Center near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, a group of friends of Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky gathered ... continuePosted October 1, 2010 by
Shambhala Brasil Inaugurates New Center in São Paulo – HIGHLIGHT
Inauguração do Centro Shambhala de Meditação Em agosto de 2010 Shambhala Brasil inaugurou o novo Centro Shambhala de São Paulo com a ajuda de Membros do Centro, membros da comunidade, amigos e convidados especiais. Foi uma noite especial, marcada por encontros e reencontros, oferendas e presentes auspiciosos, ... continuePosted September 9, 2010 by
RSS feed for the Featured Stories category
View all posts from authors in Featured Stories: jillian_johnson