Thursday
Letter from Ani Pema Chödrön
Dear Shambhala Community-
This is a letter that Ani Pema Chödrön sent recently to the Shambhala Board and the Acharyas and now wishes to share it with the community.
Warmest best wishes,
Glenna Olmsted, Executive Assistant to Pema Chödrön
January 14, 2020
Dear Acharyas and Shambhala Board Members:
I send New Year’s greetings and my love to you all.
I’m writing to let you know that I have decided to step down as an acharya. As you know, I haven’t actually served as an acharya for a long time, and I have been considering retiring for a few years. And now, the time has come.
When I read the recent letter from the Sakyong saying that he wished to start teaching again and would do so for all who requested, I was disheartened. I experienced this news as such a disconnect from all that’s occurred in the last year and half. It feels unkind, unskillful and unwise for the Sakyong to just go forward as if nothing had happened without relating compassionately to all of those who have been hurt and without doing some deep inner work on himself.
Then came the letter from the Board informing the Shambhala community that they have invited the Sakyong to give the Rigden Abhisheka in June, and I was dumbfounded. The seemingly very clear message that we are returning to business as usual distresses me deeply. How can we return to business as usual when there is no path forward for the vast majority of the community who are devoted to the vision of Shambhala and are yearning for accountability, a fresh start, and some guidance on how to proceed? I find it discouraging that the bravery of those who had the courage to speak out does not seem to be effecting more significant change in the path forward. Continue…
Entries filed under Opinion Pieces
A Call for Mental Illness Support Group
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Exiting Samsara – HIGHLIGHT
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Living at a Land Centre, and Why it Matters
Posted in Dorje Denma Ling’s kitchen. Photo by Rhonda Newcombe The most beneficial thing I’ve ever done When I ask myself, “what has been helpful in my life” or “when was I really being transformed by the Shambhala teachings”, my mind immediately flashes to my time as a ... continuePosted May 21, 2014 by Nyima
Cultivating Clean Friendship… – HIGHLIGHT
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Creating Enlightened Society on a Lifeless Planet – HIGHLIGHT
Are We Reacting with Urgency to the Climate Crisis? by Irene Lorch-Wauchope, Halifax, Nova Scotia As Buddhists, we understand that we create our reality with our thoughts. Unfortunately, this also applies to how many of us are reacting to the increasing urgency of the climate crisis. No matter ... continuePosted November 24, 2013 by
Even Psychopaths Need Love – HIGHLIGHT
on Buddhism and Guns by Lodro Rinzler Q: How do Buddhists reconcile with the idea that psychopaths (aka sociopaths, like Hitler, Manson, Bundy), may not be born with basic goodness, thereby shattering the tenet that all beings are born with basic goodness? As unpopular as this view may be ... continuePosted October 13, 2013 by
Imperial Culture vs. Cultural Imperialism – HIGHLIGHT
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Finding Out For Myself – HIGHLIGHT
COLUMN: In Everyday Life by Cheri Tiernan, Atlanta Shambhala When you discover that 100 million women are missing from the planet, your heart breaks, and the knowledge it imparts becomes something you can’t ignore. At least that’s what happened to me. Turns out, though, when something is enormous ... continuePosted September 30, 2013 by
Targeting a Change of Heart – HIGHLIGHT
A leadership coach and consultant explores how confidence in Basic Goodness influences his work. by Diederik Prakke, Senior Trainer-Coach, Hanoi, Vietnam edited by Jayne Sutton, Shambhala Times Volunteer Editor Phanlany was a happy girl, her grandfather’s sweetheart. He taught her to play the flute, and she touched hearts when ... continuePosted August 16, 2013 by
Politics Is Internal – HIGHLIGHT
Politics as Practice by Larry Barnett, Shambhala Director of Communications There is a yogic practice in Tibet that takes place in a charnel ground, or what we call a graveyard. Graveyards in Tibet, which is mostly rock, are not the neat and grassy parks we have here in ... continuePosted August 3, 2013 by Larry Barnett
The Plight of Canadian First Nations Children – HIGHLIGHT
NEW COLUMN: In the News article by Linda V. Lewis Of 150, 000 First Nations children in Canada, more than 3,000 died in the residential school system, which ran from the 1870s until the 1990s. These shocking findings are the result of a first systematic search of government ... continuePosted March 31, 2013 by
Does Shambhala Discriminate Against the Disabled?
I was shocked when I went to a retreat at a Shambhala retreat centre recently. A woman arrived in a wheelchair and it was quickly realized that she had no wheelchair access to her dorm room. She also had a hard time navigating between rooms in ... continuePosted February 9, 2013 by
Critical Thought, and Shopping – HIGHLIGHT
a brief essay by guest contributor Amanda Hester It is not ‘Big Business’ with its CEOs, Walmart, outsourcing, or misguided policies that shall ultimately destroy the world, these are all just symptoms of our fear and the ignorance that comes from it. Indeed, all of our ‘demons’ ... continuePosted December 5, 2012 by
Sit Here Now – HIGHLIGHT
by Anne-Marie Keppel, Montpelier, Vermont My ten-year-old daughter is trying to understand how her mind works. She is becoming curious of her frustrations and anxieties and becoming aware of how they sometimes take over and cause stress and unhappy feelings. Slowly and solidly, she is creating a ... continuePosted September 21, 2012 by
Union of Dharma and Art – HIGHLIGHT
photos and article by Dana Marshall In my last year of high school in Boulder, Colorado (1978), at 16 years old I had completed all the required courses so I had the opportunity to focus on what really interested me which was painting, photography, ceramics and mythology. ... continuePosted May 7, 2012 by
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