Pictures from Shambhala Day are now up on our new Flickr account! You can view them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lashambhala

If you have pictures that you would like to share on our Flickr account from Shambhala Day or from past events please let us know.

Listen to the Shambhala Day Addresses from Richard Reoch, Khandro Tseyang, and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

http://www.shambhala.org/community/video.php

Yet another opportunity to Eat, Drink & Celebrate!

February 20, 2009

Dear Members & Friends,

Following a cheerful and exciting Shambhala Day morning, plan to join in our traditional potluck meal at the center on Wednesday, February 25th.

What will you be bringing…? Think brunch foods: meat or veggie dish, salad, side dish. Drinks will also be welcome. Please make your plans and offerings known to:

Alicia Vogl Saenz
avoglsaenz@sbcglobal.net
323 236 5543

February 25, 2009
Wednesday, 6:30PM

You are most heartily invited to attend one of two delek (community) parties on Wednesday February 25th - Shambhala Day! In a salute to tradition, after our morning at the Center to hear the Sakyong’s address, we will gather in the evening and celebrate the new Year of the Earth Ox in each other’s excellent company.

Pamela Bothwell will be hosting the delek party at her home south of the Hollywood Hills near Fairfax and Sunset. The other party will be in Eagle Rock at Melanie Klein’s home.

Please RSVP either to Pamela at pbothwel@pacbell.net for the Hollywood locale, or to Debra Dysart at dharmalake@sbcglobal.net for the one in Eagle Rock (directions can be provided). Please let your host know if you can bring one of the following items: dessert, salad or veggie dish, meat, drinks, bread, pasta/potato dish. Plan to arrive around 6:30 pm.

And don’t forget to mark your calendar for the Shambhala Ball on Saturday night February 28th—invitations are in the mail. You surely won’t want to miss the delightful three-course dinner, open bar, LA “phenom” DJ, a waltz or two, and sangha musical offerings….at Spark’s Wood Grill in Beverly Hills. Tickets are $45 per person (such a deal).

Cheerful Shambhala Day!

Joel and Melanie
Co-Directors SMCLA

Dear Sangha Members,

I’d like to introduce myself as your new Volunteer Coordinator, responsible for connecting those of you who would like to participate in the various areas of our mandala - whether for the first time or in a new area of service - with our needs. The opportunities include both ongoing positions and “as needed volunteers.” You will probably be hearing from me by email and phone telling you about various opportunities for service. I am happy to go over all the areas of the mandala to see what might be the right fit for you. Feel free to let me know which areas interest and excite you and where you feel you might be best utilized in the unfolding of our enlightened society.

We have positions across the Mandala that we would like staff as soon as we can to give support to the directors of these programs.

VISITING TEACHER COORDINATOR - coordinates 3 to 4 events per year between the teacher’s secretary and the Center (event coordinator, housing, Kasung, publicity, and Head of Practice); approx. 5-10 hours/week in the month prior to each visit. A great opportunity to meet the teachers!

THURSDAY NIGHT PUBLIC PROGRAM COORDINATOR - staffs teacher, leader and host positions from an established base of volunteers for each of the 4 evening programs per month. Assists as needed with access to DVDs or other materials and, if possible, developing topics for the Intro to Dharma talks. Approx. 4 hours/month.

FINANCE DEPUTY - provides support to the Finance director Patsy in managing the Center’s accounts, e.g. paying invoices, tracking charges, managing Quickbooks, developing budgets, and leading other members of the mini-mandala (team). Opportunity to become next Finance Director, a Council-level position. Approx 3 hours/week.

PROGRAMS REPORTING AND CORRESPONDENCE - receives community enquiries for Finance information and responds or forwards to other mini-mandala mates as required; compiles and reports income and expenditure statements for individual programs. Approx 2 hours/week.

MEMBERSHIP LIAISON - is a member of the Finance mini-mandala who provides financial service support to the Membership Coordinator by arranging for direct deposit of dues, sending out monthly reminders to those not on direct deposit, sending out year-end total contributions for tax purposes, and tracking member dues payments. Approx. 2 hours/week.

DONOR UNDERWRITING COORDINATOR - identifies and creates opportunities for underwriting in collaboration with the leaders of the other mini-mandalas (departments) and key volunteers; solicits and acknowledge donors, tracks payments, and provides reporting of underwriting activity to Finance and Development Director. Approx. 5 hours/month

DONOR RELATIONS MANAGER - identifies and secures approval for donor incentives; conceives, coordinates and supports development activities; Approx. 3 hours/month

If you think you can help please email la@shambhala.org and use Shambhala Volunteer in the subject heading.

Yours in the Great Eastern Sun,

Valerie Landsburg

with Eva Wong
March 7 / 9:00 AM - March 8 / 5:30 PM
Price: $200.00 General Public ($150.00 Members, Seniors and Students) ($100.00 Deposit)

Note: this event will be held at Center for the Arts, 2225 Colorado Blvd. Los Angeles (Eagle Rock) 90041

Cultivate strength of body and calmness of mind through the healing Taoist practice of qi gong. Take this rare opportunity to receive instruction in two unique lineages, the Pre-celestial Limitless Gate School (Xiantianwujimen) and the Yiquan School, neither of which have previously been fully transmitted to students in the West.

Xiantianwujimen was founded in the Song dynasty (circa 10th to 12th centuries) by Taoist sage Chen Xiyi, who is recognized as “the father of qigong.” This lineage specializes in using qigong techniques to build the foundation for sitting meditation.

The Yiquan School was founded by Wang Xiangzhai in the early 20th century. Yiquan is most well-known for its standing qigong postures called Zhangzhuan, which are designed to still the mind while simultaneously gathering and circulating internal energy.

In Level 1, students will be in instructed in various techniques of outer and inner qigong. Outer qigong is concerned with strengthening the muscular-skeletal system - joints, muscles, tendons, bones, and spinal column. It includes techniques of tendon changing, marrow washing, self-massage, and calisthenics. Inner qigong is concerned with nourishing the internal organs and cultivating qi, or internal energy. Students will learn Chen Xiyi’s sleeping and walking qigong and Wang Xiangzhai’s standing qigong.

In Level 2, students will learn the Nine Self-Massage Technique and the Twelve Devas Tendon-changing system in their entirety. The Self-Massage Technique focuses on stimulating the meridians and acupuncture points and the Twelve Devas forms focus on recovering flexibility, strength, and softness in the tendons and muscles. In addition, students will continue to learn new forms of Wang Xiangzhai’s standing qigong that are designed to preserve, gather, and circulate internal energy. Level I qigong is required to attend Level II.

Required Reading: Nourishing the Essence of Life: The Outer, Inner, and Secret Teachings of Taoism by Eva Wong. Copies will be available at the program.

There are no prerequisites for this program. However, students are recommended to attend both levels. Students are also expected to understand that they should not teach any form of Xiantianwujimen or Yiquan Qigong without permission from Eva Wong.

Eva Wong is author and translator of 13 books on the Taoist arts of health, meditation and qigong. She is the 19th-generation lineage carrier of Xiantianwujimen Taoism (Pre-celestial Limitless Gate School of Taoism) and 3rd-generation student of Wang Xiangzhai, founder of Yiquan martial arts and Zhangzhuan (standing qigong). Eva is also a lineage holder of the Hsüan-k’ung (Mysterious Subtleties) school of traditional Chinese feng-shui as well as a practitioner of the San-yüan (Three Periods) and San-ho (Three Combinations) schools. She is offering these programs at Shambhala Centers at the request of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

Half price for those repeating the Levels.

Pre-register for both Level 1/2 and Level 3 for $350 ($300 for members). Pre-registration only. When registering online pay the deposit amount and indicate “Both Weekends” in the comment field. You should register for both weekends but only one deposit is necessary.

The mission of the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock is to provide innovative and multicultural arts programming to the communities of North East Los Angeles, and surrounding areas. www.centerartseaglerock.org

Register Here

Acharya Eric Spiegel teaches widely on understanding the transitions of living and dying as a part of life and practice. In 1980, Eric stumbled into what became a 22-year career on Wall Street. At the request of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, to relieve the general lack of insight into wealth that pervades our culture, Acharya Spiegel teaches on relating with the power and energy of wealth from a sane, empowered point of view. He has written this letter in response to challenging times.

Dear Noble Sangha,

Over recent months the world has been in economic turmoil. There continues to be a sense of not knowing what will calm things or how to make them “right” again. It is likely that a fair number of people in the sangha have lost their jobs and almost everyone is uncertain about their future, both due to the employment picture, rising prices, and the decreasing values of our homes and savings.

Whenever things change, it is helpful to engage the teachings on death, which offer a core contemplation of change and impermanence in our tradition. Death means that the relative reference points that you are familiar with have changed. It could mean that “you”, your body and the entity you think of as “myself” is no longer alive. Or it could mean that your marriage, your job, or the economic system — which assigns generally agreed upon values on “things” — is no longer functioning as it once did.

Obviously, the most logical thing to do in the case of any of these “deaths” is to get very nervous, maybe even panic… or at the least, dread.

The dharma instruction is that when confronted with the dissolution of our relative reference points, the best thing to do is remain open – abide in the present rather than freaking out about the past being gone or the unknowable future. If our body dies and we cling to the life we identify with, the result of that clinging will be fear. If our financial system collapses and we cling to the forms we knew and the job we believed was secure, the result will once again be fear itself. The practice of shamatha is the main way that we train in the stability of the present moment, but having a view that looks out from that stability is also important.

If we as Shambhalians and dharma practitioners can remain in stable and open, unfearful mind, then whatever possibilities are yet to arise from the dissolving of decaying structures will be available to us. This doesn’t mean you’ll get a great job. It means you can rest and then, perhaps, see where the auspiciousness abides. From that resting you can generate an attitude of bodhicitta rather than fear and grasping. Through holding your awareness in this simple way you manifest as a Warrior and Leader.

Currently the pundits are fond of saying that there is no “confidence” in the system. The confidence they are talking about is the confidence that if you pay $100 for something today, someone else will think it’s worth at least that much a few weeks later. This is not the same confidence that we talk about in the Shambhala dharma.

Our confidence is Ziji – radiance that comes from being both grounded to earth and reality and also open to heaven and possibility. This is not tied to the relative reference of outer things but the inner reference point of our own wisdom: a mind which knows itself, compassion and prajna.

Regardless of political perspective, people everywhere have been awestruck by the apparent stability of President Obama – he doesn’t seem to be confused by circumstances. He remains grounded and in touch with his vision, despite the powerful energies of world events, including his own election, that swirl around him. This is a wonderful Warrior image – that we can stay grounded in the movement of societal change. And if we can do this, individually and as a community, we could be leaders of our communities because in times of crisis, people need guides who know themselves well and have a view not based on fear and self-protection.

One thing which seems hard to imagine but is also true is that, just as economic expansion was subject to impermanence, so too is economic collapse. How we each practice and manifest in the midst of difficulty will be the seed of how we are able to flourish when things begin to expand again.

With trust and devotion in the vision of Basic Goodness and Wisdom,

Acharya Drukdra Thaye
Eric Spiegel

February 25, 2009
Wednesday, 7:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Suggested donation: $10/individual or $15/family

Shambhala Day marks the beginning of the New Year, and represents one of the most important traditions of Shambhala Buddhism. It is a time for us to express the wealth and richness of our spiritual and cultural heritage through feasting, conviviality, elegance and pomp. Make arrangements now to take the morning off from work—or, better yet, the entire day!

The day begins with the Elixir of Life Sadhana at 7:30 a.m. It is an inspiring practice, open to everyone and definitely worth an early rising.

At 8:00 a.m., via a telephone hook-up, we participate in a roll call acknowledging all of our centers around the world. Following this, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche addresses us with an inspiring message for the new year. You definitely will not want to miss this!

A potluck brunch immediately follows the morning program; then everyone is invited to re-gather in the shrine room to practice the Sadhana of Mahamudra.

It helps our planning if you would let us know you are coming.

Click Here to Register