Nalanda
Often the spiritual path is viewed as a path of asceticism, or of attaining a higher heavenly realm. But in our tradition, a spiritual path is about working more deeply with our mind and our world, opening up to our experiences and other people. While a deep connection to meditation practice is important for this, we can also work with other disciplines and forms. Working with Western Arts In particular many of us have a lot of experience and training in western forms of art. Rather than rejecting them we can actually work with them on the path. The basis of working with these contemplative arts is that we can use them as a way of connecting to reality, to the phenomenal world, rather than as an escape. Thus rather than seeing art or photography or dressage as a way to set ourselves apart from other people, to glorify ourselves or make stars out of ourselves, we use our art forms to come more closely into contact with our world . Based on having some connection to our awakened state of mind, often discovered through the practice of Mindfulness/Awareness meditation, we can begin to see things as they are, appreciate them, and find a way to express that in our art without any struggle or desire to achieve. This is the practice of "Dharma art". Thus a work of dharma, or contemplative, arts brings out the goodness and dignity of the situation it reflects. This dignity comes from the artist's or practitioner's interest in the details of life and a their sense of appreciation of experience. Developing craftmanship Practicing contemplative art properly, is not just a matter of meditating and then engaging in the art form. Rather we need to study our craft, whether it is photography or teaching, archery or sculpting, we need to develop skills and absorb the existing knowledge and wisdom passed down by the traditions of our own art forms. It is not a matter of inventing them ourselves. There is a tremendous amount of craftmanship in our western art forms, and part of the journey of contemplative arts is discovering this and deepening our understanding of our own tradition. Based on our experience with these contemplative disciplines, seeing the beauty and dignity in every situation, and actually being able to bring it out, heighten it, we can also extend these principles to every day life. We start to learn how any activity can provide an opportunity to relax and open ourselves to the phenomenal world. Practice in Shambhala Centers In Shambhala centres many community members practice contemplative arts. This is not a substitute for our path of meditation, but rather an ornament of our discipline. Any genuine art form or tradition which contains some wisdom can be a contemplative art – we must just be willing to dive into it genuinely and without using it as a vehicle to express our own sense of self, our personal conceptional view of the world. For more information about specific contemplative arts and disciplines offered in Shambhala centres and groups in Europe, click here.Within the Shambhala Community, the numerous different contemplative disciplines are grouped under the heading of Nalanda. Nalanda takes its name from an eleventh-century Indian university that welcomed teachings and disciplines from many different traditions. In this same spirit, many groups and activities have developed within the Nalanda family. The activities of Nalanda may be roughly grouped into four major categories: the arts, health, education, and business. The following are some of the disciplines or pathways included within Nalanda.
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