Board Initiatives for 2024

The Board held a half-day retreat at the end of September, to surface both our strengths and our challenges as a center and a community. At the December board meeting, we selected a short-list of initiatives for 2024, which are:   Communicating Who We Are –  Do we have a shared sense of who we … Continue 

Autumn Board Retreat – by Ann Bruck

Autumn is my favorite time of year. One of the things I enjoy most about the fall season is the color shift in the foliage; all those beautiful colors create a metaphor that allows us to reflect on changes and transitions in our lives and those within our community. Our annual Harvest of Peace celebration … Continue 

Nyinthun Letter from Bill Wooding

After two decades as the lead coordinator for Nyinthün – our weekly Sunday morning meditation group – Bill Wooding is stepping down and passing the torch. His service has provided a place for many hundreds of practitioners over the years. Dedication like this is rare and we are deeply grateful for his service. Bill wrote … Continue 

Supporting the next 50 years

The Shambhala Center has been a presence in the Boston area for just over 50 years. Originally Boston Dharmadhatu, the community has moved around – Charles Street on Beacon Hill, Upland Road in Cambridge, Boylston Street in Copley Square, Centre Street in Newton. We have been in our current home on Brookline Avenue in Brookline … Continue 

Reflections on this moment in Shambhala, by Mary Lang

Reflections on this moment in Shambhala, shared by board chair Mary Lang at the August, 2022 Community Meeting   In November I will have been part of the Shambhala (Vajradhatu) community for 49 years. Needless to say, in those years I have witnessed many changes, many people who have come and gone, many other upheavals … Continue 

I Ching Reading for the Year of the Water Tiger

Continuing our tradition, we consulted the I Ching for guidance in the coming year of the Water Tiger. At our community Shambhala Day celebration, we had 6 people each contemplate the question “What should we keep in mind to be of benefit for the coming year?” before casting the coins. We received hexagram 56, with … Continue 

I Ching Reading for the Year of the Iron Ox

As part of our annual Shambhala Day tradition, we threw the coins to receive our I Ching reading for the year. We received a hexagram with a changing line, so the changing line and the resulting hexagram are shared below as well. 31 – Hsien – “Influence” or “Mutual attraction” Two aspects of movement in … Continue 

Notes from January 30, 2021 antiracism meeting

Community Meeting on Antiracism Boston Shambhala Center 1/30/2021 The group watched and discussed a brief excerpt from a recent Harvard Divinity School Panel discussing the book Black and Buddhist (a link to the full panel discussion is included in the resources from the zoom chat at the end of this document). We then divided into … Continue 

Notes from December 6, 2020 antiracism meeting

During the summer of 2020, two open meetings were held to explore how our community might address issues of systemic racism within our center and as members of the greater Boston community.  We then scheduled a series of sessions to heighten our awareness and understanding through the use of books, podcasts, films, recorded talks and … Continue 

Not getting our emails?

If you aren’t getting our emails, here are a few things you might try: First, please check your spam or promotion folders. Sometimes mail gets filtered out by your email provider. You will usually get emails from the Boston Shambhala Center in one of two ways: through our email lists or through the program database. … Continue