Shambhala Day Community Update

Dear Shambhala Boston Community,

It was wonderful to see many of you who came to celebrate Shambhala Day, either last Monday or this past Sunday. For those who missed it, I am sharing with you all some updates to keep everyone fully in the loop. Water-Snake-136x300

Speaking to the global Shambhala community in this year’s Shambhala Day address, the Sakyong announced the forthcoming publication of his new book, The Shambhala Principle, and said: “This year I would like to highlight the 50th anniversary of the arrival in the west of the Vidyadhara, the venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who brought these teachings to the West. We are the legacy and the aspiration of this one human being who wished to help the world.” He went on to say that last year was tremendous, and that he feels that this year will be marked by being victorious. For the full broadcast, and the Year-in-Review video, you can click here.

I feel that this past year in Boston has indeed been tremendous, and that we are now poised for victoriousness. Some of our key community updates included:

  • We have established the Policy Governance model as the working model for our Shambhala Boston Council, the senior governing body of our center. The Council’s focus is on the center’s vision and values. We also have a dynamic executive team in place under the leadership of Ashley Goodwin and Caitlin Cianflone. The Shambhala Boston Executive works to creatively implement the policies of the Council and leads the center’s on-the-ground operations forward on a daily basis.

 

  • In the Year of the Water Snake, we will move forward with our expansion process, beginning with renting space at Karma Yoga’s new 338 Newbury Street location and continuing with a search for an auxiliary space in Boston to help us grow, expand, and put is in the position to move within four to five years.

 

  • Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche’s new book, The Shambhala Principle, will be released on May 7. The vision is that this book can spark a global conversation about basic goodness and this principle can be worked with in the context of key global issues. This is something we can all be a part of!

 

  • In the Year of the Water Snake, we will be continuing our emphasis on creating enriching program opportunities for a wider audience. Programs like Fearless at Work, Qi Gong, Embodied Listening, The Five Wisdom Energies, Ruling Your World and our new Enlightened Society Dialogues series are all fantastic opportunities for people to experience the essential heart of our teachings in a particular context relevant to their lives. We have visits scheduled this spring with Acharya Mitchell Levy, Acharya Richard John, and Acharya Eric Spiegel, and in the fall we are working on scheduling visits with the Dorje Loppon Lodro Dorje, Acharya Emily Bower, and rescheduling the Radical Responsibility program with Acharya Fleet Maull which was postponed due to the blizzard. We will also continue to strengthen and develop our ongoing gateway and community programs, as well as our core path offerings.

 

  • This year has been identified as a period of deepening for teachers, Meditation Instructors, Assistant Directors and Shambhala Guides throughout the Shambhala community. It will be a period in which there will be no “new” authorization trainings held but opportunities for current instructors to strengthen their connection to the lineage and build upon the foundation we have already laid.

 

  • Ashley Goodwin and Elizabeth Latchis continue to move forward with design plans for the community room after our successful (thank you!) Operation Uplift campaign. We will be clearing the scheduled to do a two-week period of renovations in June.

 

  • Stay tuned for an exciting announcement about a generous offering from community member and professional landscaper Jim Egan!

 

THANK YOU!

The following dedicated community members stepped down from a leadership position in since Harvest of Peace in the fall:
Jennifer Lacy – Head of Children and Families
John Clancy and Laura Greer – Resident Directors of Shambhala Training
Joe Snowdon – Head of Membership
Hazel Bercholz and Charlie Trageser – Open House teachers

The following dedicated community members recently stepped into a leadership position:
Esther Seibold – Director of Practice and Education
Caitlin Cianflone – Program Manager
Mary Coonan – Co-Director of Societal Health and Well-Being
Jade Weston – Service as Path Coordinator
Ria Ferich – Head of Children and Families
Seth Wonner – Head of Membership
Tom Ericsson – Council Secretary
Kris Talluto – Council Assistant Chair
Heather Cousineau and Greg Smith – Torii Squad Khenchungs (Ms. Cousineau – NCO)
Vicente Sanabria, Renee Bochman, and Cindy Caros – Program Staffing Coordinators
Bryan Mendiola – Diversity Committee Chair
Mary Lang – Care for the Aging Representative
Fred Guterriez – Head of Facilities

Ongoing appreciation for their diligent work to support the Shambhala Center:
Shastris Diana Evans, Carolyn Krusinski and Frank Ryan; Rusung Brian McCorkle; Ashley Goodwin – Head of Communications and Center Operations; Caitlin Cianflone – Head of Finance and Program Manager; Charles Styron – Chagdzö; Elizabeth Latchis – Representative of the Office of Culture and Decorum; Martina Bouey – Co-Director of Societal Health and Well-Being; Kathy Vieweg – Head of Development; Anthony Miller and John Ranco – Expansion Working Group Co-Chairs; Ree Katrak – MI Coordinator; Timaree Bierle-Dodds – Head Shrinekeeper & Squad Desung; Joe Inskeep – Governance Advisor; Andrea Sparks – Visiting Teacher Hospitality Coordinator; Esther Seibold and Ilona Anderson – Feasts; Jennifer O’Keeffe – Ikebana Coordinator; Patricia Schmieg – Housekeeping & Diversity; Charles Zimmermann – Construction and Facilities project support; Michael Fagan – Bookstore; Nadia Shifrin – Ordering Coordinator & Environment; Daisy Diaz & Cindy Caros – Social Media; Liz Corley – Intern

Thank you to everyone who gives to the center regularly as a member, to everyone who gave to our Operation Uplift campaign and Year End Scholarship campaign, to everyone who has served as a Director, Assistant Director, Coordinator, or Staff for a program this year, to the core staff of all of our ongoing center gatherings: Open House, Under 30, Nyinthün, Learn to Meditate, LGBT, and Heart of Recovery, to the Dorje Kasung for your valiant protection and service, to everyone who has practiced Ikebana, and to everyone who has helped clean and keep the center beautiful.

Sincerely yours,
Dan