Children and education

From the Buddhist and Shambhala point of view, children are not incomplete beings who need to be educated or transformed in any way to become adult. Rather, for all of us, the process of growing up is a process of becoming more mature, becoming a complete human being. This means actualizing or waking up our own inherent nature. Thus the challenge of growing up, whether we are a child or an adult, is to be courageous and gentle and look into and wake up to our own basic nature.

Growing up as a journey

An analogy of of the Buddhist and Shambhala view of growing up is the notion of taking a journey, a journey with different stages and flavors. This is a journey which does not end. It is also a journey which has to be individually experienced: while there is great value in having a mentor or guide, nevertheless each individual has to make this journey him- or herself.

Shambhala Europe also has a number of programmes geared toward families, children, and youth. For more information, you can contact the Shambhala Europe Families and Youth Coordinator, or visit:

http://family.shambhala.info

http://youth.shambhala.info

Within the international Shambhala community, a number of schools have been founded fashioned along the lines of Buddhist and Shambhala principles - follow these links to find out more:

http://halifax.shambhala.org/ses

http://www.shambhalaschool.org

Rites of passage

Another feature of the Shambhala community's approach to childhood and education is the "Rites of Passage" ceremonies. Based on the view that different stages in the life of a child have very different flavors and lessons, we have designed a number of ceremonies which mark and celebrate our children's transistions to new stages. This is a common practice among many traditional cultures, and in many Shambhala centres we celebrate "rites of passage" with our children as community events.

Dechen Choling also hosts the rites of passage ceremony every other year during Family Camp.