What is Shambhala Training?

Acknowledging Who We Are

A basic premise of the Shambhala teachings is that we all want to lead sane, dignified and confident lives, and that this is possible. We cannot accomplish this by running away from ourselves, but rather by simply with working with who we are. Shambhala Training offers a path of working with ourselves.

In Shambhala Training, we cultivate unconditional confidence and sanity through learning to be who we are, fearlessly and without hesitation. By discovering our own awakened nature through the practice of meditation, we can uplift our state of mind and then extend our gentleness and wisdom to the world around us.

Working with Meditation

The core of the Shambhala Training programs is working with the practice of meditation. The practice of Mindfulness-Awareness meditation taught in Shambhala Training programs enables us to look precisely at our state of mind without trying to alter it. This practice cultivates openness toward ourselves and our environment, moment by moment. When we practice openness our lives can become a journey of wakeful and genuine existence. The Shambhala teachings recognize that the truth of innate human wisdom and basic goodness does not belong to any one religion or doctrine. We can appreciate all genuine contemplative paths, whether they stem from the great religions, the arts or from native spirituality. The Shambhala teachings recognize, however, that this wisdom arises only when the grasping and confusion of ego is stilled through continuous commitment to a contemplative discipline such as meditation.

Regular Weekend Programs

Shambhala Training is presented initially in a series of five weekend programs that bring about progressive understanding of who we are. Each weekend consists of talks by a senior student, individual meetings with a meditation instructor, group discussions, and periods of sitting meditation practice. In addition, a participant may select a practice instructor to meet with on an ongoing basis between weekends if he or she participant wishes

The meditation practice has a potential for infinite depth. However, many people become frustrated after beginning a meditation practice, and perhaps abandon it because they cannot find their way to the next step. Shambhala Training, through its series of weekend workshops and through the individual's meditation practice between workshops, provides a structure to support and guide people further as they progress along their spiritual path.

Bringing Meditation into Our Lives

We find a deeper experience of meditation when we have the opportunity to practice for extended periods. While many people are not able to accomplish this on their own, the supportive environment of Shambhala Training weekend workshops provides a context that makes extended periods of meditation possible for the beginner.

Over the course of these weekends, and through the ongoing discipline of meditation, we can learn to synchronize mind and body, and overcome habitual behaviours, increasingly relaxing within discipline, facing the world with openness and fearlessness, and finding the sacred dimension of everyday life.

A Secular Path

Although Shambhala Training is not a religion, it leads us to appreciate the depth and vitality of life as well as whatever religion one might practice. It is a spiritual path grounded in the sitting practice of meditation, suitable for people of any religion, as well as for those who profess no religious affiliation at all.

For a detailed description of the Shambhala Training weekend programmes, click here.