The Ground of Openness and Trust

Statement of the Mandala Governing Council

The Mandala Governing Council, meeting in Boston from 4 to 7 December 2004, wishes formally to affirm that the continuing emergence of Shambhala Society must be based on the profound realisation of unconditional openness and trust in basic goodness that are the heart of our Kagyü, Nyingma, and Shambhala lineages.

We affirm deep respect for our spiritual and cultural heritage, the primacy in our mandala of the lineage of Sakyongs, and our appreciation for the forms they have developed. At the same time, we wish to acknowledge that we are a living tradition that allows for new forms and new teachings that enable people to have access to the wisdom, compassion and power of our Shambhala world.

In this spirit, we urge our community at all levels to reflect on the ways in which we can create containers for sane society within our mandala. Thus we can work compassionately with our differences and conflicts, so that there is respect for each other’s commitment to different streams of teachings and practice. No one should face derision, exclusion, rejection, or retribution for holding or expressing their views or for dissenting from the views held by others, including the policies and practices of the leadership of the mandala.

We need to explore further the ways in which we can all work with the balance of feminine and masculine energies in ourselves and throughout our mandala, developing heartfelt and powerful communication with each other.

The governance of our mandala needs to embody the principles of openness, transparency and accountability, so that communication, participation, dialogue and debate can be included in the unfolding of natural hierarchy.

The process of community reflection and renewal in which we are now engaged must be conducted in such a way that it includes all generations, embracing elders, emerging leaders, the second and third generations, as well as those who feel they have been marginalized in our community over the years.

The Mandala Governing Council attempted to manifest this approach to governance in its meeting by devoting time to a talking circle on one of the issues of deepest concern to many members of our community:

“As Shambhalians, our trust for the Sakyong varies widely from individual to individual. At one end of the continuum, a number of devoted students are deeply concerned that the Sakyong is systematically dismantling the Vidyadhara’s vision. At the other end of the continuum, equally devoted students feel the Sakyong is completely and brilliantly manifesting the Vidyadhara’s vision.”

The talking circle gave everyone the opportunity to speak about this from their hearts. This was a moving experience of opening to each other, of deep listening and unconditional appreciation.

We invite others throughout our mandala to engage fearlessly and compassionately in similar explorations, not only of this issue, but of the many others that abound throughout our mandala and are often associated with intense emotions. These include, but are not limited to:

• The need to respect the diversity of transmissions and different allegiances that people hold within Shambhala;
  
  
• The fault lines resulting from differences of individual loyalties and devotion to different lineages and teachers;
  
  
• The importance of working with different points of view resulting from the new Shambhala ngondro, the emergence of the Rigden as a central image for our shrine rooms, and the introduction of a new shrine in Shambhala Centres;
  
  
• The need to address fears that Shambhala could be seen to be cutting itself off from the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages, and that practitioners of those lineages could feel themselves excluded from the Shambhala community;
  
  
• The changing reality that we are now a mandala with one Sakyong and many teachers/root gurus;
  
  
• The need to address concerns that the new path associated with the Shambhala ngöndro could exclude people who are not Buddhists from the highest teachings of the Shambhala tradition and entry into the Kalapa Shambhala Society
  
  
• The concern about confusion over the use of the term Shambhala Buddhism;
  
  
• The need to understand and come to terms with the differing views regarding the Vajra Regent;
  
  
• The importance of communicating properly and giving genuine feedback to the Kalapa Court;
  
  
• The difficulties many people experience as we go through transitions in leadership (such as the changes in Dorje Kasung and board leadership), generations, forms and practices;
  
  
• The importance of dealing with divisions in ways that avoid polarization, do not force people to choose between “one side” or “the other” or lead people to fear exclusion;
  
  
• The feelings people have that they are not represented in the consultative and decision-making processes of the mandala;
  
  
• The need for clarity about the role of Nova Scotia as the centre of the mandala;
  
  
• The concern that discussions around diversity must be based on real commitment and not be a matter of lip service.

Our aspiration as the body entrusted with the governance of the mandala up to Shambhala Day 2005 is that our community will use the wisdom and practices of our lineage, as well as helpful upayas from other traditions, such as talking circles and other forms, to enable these and other concerns to surface freely and fearlessly within our community. We intend to bring the power of our collective wisdom and warriorship to bear and use these as the ground for the practice of enlightened society.

Adopted by the Mandala Governing Council of Shambhala

Boston, 7 December 2004

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Updated 2005/01/09