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Special Edition, September 2001
Dear members of the Shambhala community,
this edition of the SNS is dedicated to the Consecration of the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya. The benefit and significance of that event will last lifetimes and enrich the existence of many. Before beginning our report on the Consecration, it is appropriate to acknowledge our broken hearts over the suffering that has taken place in New York and Washington, D.C. this last week. May the consecration of the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya lead to a world where beings are not tormented by hatred, passion, and ignorance, and may our practice and pure intention help to bring this goal about.
 The stupa consecration was indeed a worldwide phenomenon. It brought together our community--across continents and generations--to honor and celebrate the life and teachings of the Vidyadhara, Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche.
As the consecration unfolded at our centers, it could be seen that the many forms and practices the Vidyadhara cultivated and encouraged have taken root in our hearts. Even the significance of a stupa, with its distinctive rituals-previously inaccessible or unknown to most westerners-is now part of our culture and heritage.
This issue contains accounts of consecration-related teachings and activities submitted by various centers and groups throughout the world, as well as by individuals inspired to write about their experience and devotion. These offerings represent only a small sample, which came to us in a timely fashion. Please forgive any omissions.
Teachings given by Sakyong, Mipham Rinpoche, Penor Rinpoche, and others, during the consecration, will be made available in the near future. I would like to thank everyone who submitted stories, reports, and photographs. I am also grateful to Dominique Le Grand and John Sell, who translated Fabrice Midal's article from French to English. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who helped record and preserve the spirit of this event.
Warm regards,
Wendy Layton-Munro and Jessica Ouvrard, Editorial Staff
info@shambhala.org
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Open My Eyes by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Every Waking Moment: Remarks by Lady Diana Mukpo at the Consecration
Consecration of the Stupa of Dharmakaya at Gampo Abbey - Talk by Ven. Thrangu Rinpoche
The Gift by Cynde Grieve
Two for One: Change Your Mind Day 2001 and The Great Buddha Tour by Acharya David Schneider
Just Another Night on Patrol by Scott Spanbauer
La Consécration de la Stupa by Fabrice Midal
The Ever-Presence of Your Grace by Walter Fordham
Center Celebrations
- Dechen Chöling, France
- Gampo Abbey, Canada
- Valencia, Spain
- Paris, France
- Spain
- Tepoztlan, Mexico
- Santiago, Chile
- Albany, New York, USA
- Copenhagan, Denmark
- Marburg, Germany
Open My Eyes
 The spectrum of reality
Pervades this land known as Kham.
Every bird that circles this place of wisdom
Is known as garuda.
From bliss,
The radiant sun of Chökyi Gyatso performs a vajra dance,
Gathering all the dakinis with each movement.
The turbulent wind of karma provides yak-dung fuel
For this warrior whose smile releases life-force energy.
This drop of bliss rides on the wind.
Love rains on our hands eternally.
As each of us awakens, we are released into the pure domain
Of vajra sky,
Vajra song,
Vajra joy.
This potent confluence is known as dharmakaya.
This mountain is worthy of offerings.
This release from samsara is known as the Great Gathering.
Bodhichitta propels us along, step by step, through the mammoth display of
universal union.
Let the bhumis tie each hair on our head
into a jewellike knot.
Let our eyes radiate [bodhichitta] like the sun and the moon.
The complete state of Samantabhadra is accomplished.
The dreamlike boy who rose from the sacred dirt of eastern Tibet
Came to this powerful land.
When he opened his heart, jewels gushed forth.
Each of his footsteps resounded like a dharma drum.
Precious manifestation, Dombi Heruka,
When you threw your skull cup high
Into the whirlwind of past and present,
Could you have predicted that amrita would land in our hearts?
Take the pregnant tigress,
Gather the reins of virtuous drala,
Be mother and father, brother and sister.
Be heaven and earth.
Do not forget your humor!
Please guide these children to the Great Eastern Sun.
Remain in the Vajra Stupa, emanating and gathering.
This monument is an ever-present reminder of courage.
Sakyong Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche wrote this vajra doja at the request of his student Sönam Gyatso at the mountain abode known as Prajna, on the 28th day of July, 2001, year of the Iron Snake.
Copyright 2001 by Sakyong Mipham. All rights reserved. This poem may not be reproduced in print or posted on the Web or used in any other fashion, in whole or in part.
Every Waking Moment
Remarks by Lady Diana Mukpo at the Consecration
This is from remarks made during the consecration:
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Venerable Penor Rinpoche, Venerable Rinpoches and Roshis, students of the Buddhadharma.
Although there is nothing, which exists in the phenomenal world which would adequately express our gratitude to the Vidyadhara, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, this stupa is the expression of gratitude and devotion from his students. He would have been so moved and so touched by the energy and devotion that has gone into creating the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya.  He would have appreciated so much the devotion because the devotion represents the understanding of the preciousness of the teachings. May the stupa remain here as a representation of the seed of the buddhadharma and Shambhala vision to which he devoted every waking moment of his life. May the buddhadharma and Shambhala vision flourish in North America as long as there are sentient beings who are suffering in samsara and need a path to liberation. May the aspirations of the Guru be fulfilled.
Gampo Abbey August 26, 2001 Consecration of the Stupa of Dharmakaya
Talk by Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche
Thank you all for coming, possibly from a very long distance away to this place. It makes me very very happy to see that people have faith in the Dharma to the extent that they will come to see a monument of the buddhadharma such as this stupa and its consecration. Thank you very much for coming.
 There are three objects of our practice known as the 3 rare and supreme sources of refuge, the three rare and supreme ones, the three jewels. These are the buddha, the dharma, and the sangha. Of these three, the buddha also has three aspects. These are the dharmakaya, the body of ultimate reality; the sambogakaya, the body of enjoyment, and the nirmanakaya, or the body of emanation. These three levels of understanding make up what we call the rare and supreme buddha. All three are the objects of our visualizations and they each have a particular way in which we relate to them. The nirmanakaya aspect of the buddha was the buddha Shakyamuni with whom we are all familiar. The sambogakaya aspect of the buddha is the buddha Vajradhara.
The dharmakaya aspect of the buddha cannot be visualized. It has no form; it is beyond anything we can say about it. It is the ultimate nature of the buddha's mind, which is endowed with three characteristics - omniscience, omnipotence and limitless love. If we could put that inexpressible aspect of the buddha's mind into a form, it would be the form of this stupa. The stupa is a manifestation of the dharmakaya, the aspect of buddhahood that cannot really be described or visualized.
In order for us to realize the dharmakaya we need support for our practice, an object with which we can relate, for our supplications, prayers and so forth. The process of building a monument such as a stupa is extremely important. The process of planning it , building it, the process of consecrating it. Making offerings, circumnambulating it, making supplications and so forth, making a connection to our minds as the dharmakaya in this way is extremely important and is a very profound practice.
There are three more aspects of the Buddha; his body speech and mind. In order to realize these three aspects, enlightened body, enlightened speech and enlightened mind, we have three supports for our practice. Examples of enlightened form are representations of the Buddha's body such as statues, paintings and so forth. Buddha Amitabha, the Medicine Buddha, Sanggye Menla and many others, are different manifestations of the Buddha that we can see and make offerings to and supplications to and try to model ourselves after.
As far as the buddha's speech - we weren't able to actually be present with the buddha Shakyamuni, to hear him teach the 84 thousand collections of Dharma, but it has been recorded in written form and is available down to the present day. These are available in the form of volumes of collected sutras and oral teachings of the buddha (the kanjur), derivative dharma (the tenjur)--the commentaries and shastras on the Buddha dharma; and all of the collected teaching that are authoritative dharma that have come down to the present day. The object of the buddha's speech exists in written form and is taught to us by many qualified masters.
The Buddha's mind as said before cannot be described or conceptualized, but it is represented in the form of this stupa. So this is a tangible representation of the Buddha's jewel-like mind. It is the dharmakaya itself, if we could make form of it. It is a representation of the buddha's omniscience, omnipotence, and limitless love.
In order to realize the 3 aspects of the Buddha's body, speech and mind, it is important to supplicate them, to try to make a connection to them, with reverence and devotion. So this stupa, and stupas in general are consecrated with mantras and with prayers and aspirations and so forth. It is imbued as far as possible with the dharmakaya. It is a tangible object of what cannot really be related to. Making supplications to the Buddha's mind is the most important of the three aspects. The main point of practice is to connect and try to realize the ultimate nature of mind.
This stupa has been very well built and the construction has been accomplished in a very complete and beautiful manner. But still this is just the physical aspect of it. At this point it needs to be consecrated for it to be an actual physical representation of the Buddha's mind.
The consecration process has three parts to it. The first is known as clearing away obstructions, the gek jangwa, which is a process that is ongoing in each session of the ceremonies. It is part of the ritual. The problem is that there are many beings around us who are hostile and who are very angry and jealous and have harmful attitudes. These may not be human beings; they simply exist in this place. They are the owners of this ground, the ground that's not owned by anybody else. They are what you might call the local deities or the landlords and so forth that inhabit this place. So it is first necessary to make friends with them and to ask their permission for the construction of something of this importance. So it is very important to pacify them. They are offered torma, which is an offering of food that is visualized as something very desirable. This is given to an otherwise hostile being in order to transform its harmful attitudes and jealousy and anger into peace and loving-kindness and compassion. The local deities who might cause harm are offered the torma and are then asked to leave the pace and not cause any problems. So this is the first part, pacifying all obstacles and difficulties in the place and creating a peaceful and compassionate environment where the consecration of the stupa can take place.
The second of the three parts is known as the tru or the purification or washing ritual, which you have witnessed. Generally speaking there are inner faults that need to be purified and outer faults that need to be purified. The inner faults are things that occur in the minds of people who are building the stupa. I am sure that everybody did their best to construct this stupa with the purest possible motivation, a desire to be altruistic, to benefit other sentient beings and with nothing but the finest state of mind. This I know was the case, but because we are human beings, things arise in our minds all the time. We are constantly having small blips of jealousy or pride or other negative emotions that arise without our intention. The purification part of the ceremony purifies any lingering residue of such incidental, internal faults.
Outer faults are such things as impurities in the material that the stupa is constructed with. Maybe some sort of impurity in the concrete, maybe a problem with small faults in the shape or small mistakes made in any aspect of the construction and also faults in the offerings that are arranged. All these various things can crop up, errors and omissions that occur inevitably in the course of a complicated, construction project like this.
The form of the stupa in its completed state is reflected in a mirror and then the reflection, which is purer, being apparent but not substantial, being nothing you can cling to, is washed by the blessed nectar; the water from the vase which is consecrated with mantra. This completely purifies any residual stains and defilements that might still be present, either on an inner level or an outer level. This is a profound method of the vajrayana; to purify obscurations and defilements of any kind, even the subtlest ones.
 The third part of the process is known as the consecration or rapna. This is the final act. Once the stupa has been constructed and has been made as perfect as possible physically, there are various sacred substances, blessings of various kinds that are placed inside the stupa so that it is imbued with whatever physical blessings it is possible to collect. Then there is the process of invoking the actual yeshepas or deities of pristine awareness to come from the dharmakaya and dissolve into the stupa. We visualize them dissolving into the stupa and actually inhabiting it. Ordinarily we have some sort of dualistic clinging in our minds. That is just our natural state of confusion, thinking that these primordial awareness beings exist somewhere else and that they have to come from somewhere and dissolve into this monument that we've built. If we think like that, then the consecration can't happen because there are always impurities in our visualization and in the substance and this doesn't mix with the actual enlightened beings. So the consecration cannot happen in that dualistic state of mind. So what we need to do is develop a state of incomparable reverence and devotion in our minds, and a completely pure vision so that our minds are merged with the enlightened mind of the buddhas, who is the embodiment of omniscience, omnipotence and limitless love. Then the consecration can really happen.
The fact that this stupa has been constructed in this place is really the result of Trungpa Rinpoche coming here and establishing the Dharma in this place, here on Cape Breton Island in the first place. This stupa is a wonderful occurrence and an extremely beautiful monument to Trungpa Rinpoche's dharma activity. But it took the hard work of many people to bring it about. On the outer level, the beautiful form and siting and all of the incredibly skilled work that went into creating this stupa was the result of an architect and engineers and skilled stonemasons and skilled concrete workers and very devoted and generous patrons. I am grateful for the extraordinarily beautiful accomplishment of the form of this stupa and I offer my thanks to everyone who was involved with it. It's an absolutely outstanding piece of work.
For the inner accomplishment of the stupa, there were many blessing substances that had to be collected and arranged properly. The inner construction is equally as important as the outer form in order for it to be an object of supplication. This was primarily the work of lama Karma Phuntsok and lama Tashi, who came here and worked very hard. They are lamas endowed with extraordinary qualities and they accomplished this absolutely impeccably. So for their hard work on the inner aspects of the stupa, I am also very grateful and would like to express my thanks.
This stupa will be a great support for us in the future as an object that we can use
as a focus for our reverence and devotion . We can accumulate merit by our connection with it. So I thank you very much for your faith and devotion in coming to this consecration, and I hope that in the future we can make use of the opportunity to use this stupa as an object for our aspirations, as a place to come to meditate, a place to do circumambulation practice. This is a profound practice in buddhism,--to regard this monument as the physical embodiment of the buddha's mind we can regard it as the mind of Shakyamuni Buddha, the mind of buddhas in general, the mind of our own root teacher in particular. This would be extremely beneficial. If we can do that, walk around it and think that we are really circumnambulating and revering our own root teacher, the buddha's mind itself, our own mind will continually improve. Not like taking drugs and drinking, where our mind just gets worse and worse and worse. With this kind of practice our mind gets better and better and better. Our compassion and our wisdom grow more and more and our mind becomes more like the absolute essence of enlightenment. So this is a very profound practice, which we should do. So thank you and Tashi Deleg
The Gift
by Cynde Grieve
Entering the Mandala
 For me it began with the bus ride. Passing "The Forks Café" on the dirt road in, seeing again after fifteen years' absence, the wonderful rock formations, the sage and Ponderosa pine, I felt I was entering the Guru's heart. The phenomenal world continued its display throughout the retreat. The Vidyadhara, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was a great fan of the weather, however it manifested. Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center never disappoints in that regard. We were served up blazing sun, sudden rain showers, thunder and lightning, a double rainbow and several fierce hailstorms, the most memorable pelting down right before His Holiness Penor Rinpoche arrived at the Great Tent. We thought it was firecrackers at first.
On the Cushion
And there was practice, lots of it and varied. Whatever your preference, it was available to take part in. Sitting in the Great Tent with about 1000 others, breathing away, is very potent. The chipmunks stuffing their cheeks on the blessing rice were some cute too.
The Wild Kingdom
Mule deer with speckled fawns were present, as were little rabbits, squirrels and mice, crows and mocking birds. And the clouds-so large, so billowy. The same night Penor Rinpoche arrived we were serenaded by a chorus of coyotes. Also that night a baby bear was trapped for several hours inside a garbage can while Mama Bear lumbered nearby. It was a noisy night.
The Crew
The container was in place and the cast of characters on cue. Mr. Richard Reoch was our ever cheerful Master of Ceremonies, patiently explaining in his lovely Toronto accent why it might be best to: drink lots of water, carry our ID cards so that we could eat meals, move out of the way because Shibata Sensei was going to let arrows fly. His right hand man Chris Tamdjidi was gentle but firm with a surprisingly dry sense of humour. Jeff Waltcher moved about the land in a deceptively leisurely yet purposeful pace. Joshua Mulder, sculptor extraodinaire was glimpsed briefly here and there but his work in the Stupa was breathtakingly visible. The seated Buddha whose smiling face depicts not only inscrutability but also humour was simply awe-inspiring. As were the works of Greg Smith who directed the paintings of the hundreds of deities on the Kalachakra mandala on the ceiling above the Buddha. Bob and Lindy King were gracious and industrious. The ubiquitous stupa crew identifiable in their maroon T-shirts were cheerful, if fried and never idle. The Gar was its own world of smiling, busy Kasung set up on the Magyal Pomra Encampment grounds.
Thunderstorms
 Markell Keifer and Waylon Lewis produced a masterpiece play entitled, Thunderstorms: The Life and Adventures of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Over 100 children and adults took part. Gesar Mukpo was moving as his former incarnation of Jamgön Kongtrul of Sechen. Joe Maurizio was brilliant as Khenpo Gangshar. The dakinis were colourful and beautiful, the yaks with their horns and antics great fun. We were transported through the various stages of Trungpa Rinpoche's life from his birth, his meetings with his teachers, his escape from Tibet to his final manifestation touchingly portrayed by Neil Greenberg. Many times it made us cry and laugh. Afterwards I felt so encouraged. The legacy continues in our children.
Taj Mahal Move Over!
What to say about the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya Which Liberates Upon Seeing? Had you asked me what my favourite building in the whole world was I would have unhesitatingly said Taj Mahal, until I saw the Great Stupa. But it is far more than a building, inside it are relics from the cremation of Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. In the heart center of the great golden Buddha sits his skull and secreted throughout are other relics, mantras, tsatsas, jewels and masses of tangible devotion. I have never seen anything as beautiful in my life except perhaps for Chögyie's smiling face.
Thus I Have Heard
And see his face we did. Thanks to the inspired efforts of Carolyn Gimian, Gordon Kidd, Cheryl Campbell and many others, Shambhala Centers around the world were able to take part in the celebration of this event. This magnificent video series surpassed what Joining Heaven and Earth began and opened up our world to full flower. Thank you to everyone who contributed. It was a real blessing.
To Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
The number of people to thank is impossible to list. So many people contributed so many things from great to small- sweat, money, skills and tears. But it is obvious that, apart from the Vidyadhara himself to whom our gratitude will always be endless, we owe great gratitude to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. His tireless devotion to his father's vision has been extraordinary. Like his father he has never given up even in the face of bickering and distrust. He has been the proverbial rock. I asked Trungpa Rinpoche once about his son. Trungpa Rinpoche, the Sawang, as he was then known, and I had been having a conversation about a particular teacher who Trungpa Rinpoche felt "talked too much!" Afterwards when the Sawang had left with the task of speaking to that talkative teacher, I said, "Sir, I have heard you complain about this or that person but I have never heard you utter a negative word about the Sawang." He replied in that sweet falsetto voice, "There doesn't seem to be a need." His trust was well placed. Thank you Mipham Rinpoche, you're father would be so proud.
Two for One: Change Your Mind Day & The Great Buddha Tour
by David Schneider
Sitting on a zafu with a microphone in my face, wondering what to say about meditation to a crowd of people scattered in a Central Park meadow, is not my idea of fun. I was, however, led to this uncomfortable seat by an irrepressible desire to talk. Or to write, in this case. I had wanted to chronicle the adventures of a large Buddha statue - a 14-foot standing bronze - during a trek across North America. This was to be the Great Buddha Tour. The statue was to stop in a number of cities during its journey from the Sewell Johnson Foundry in New Jersey to the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, at Rocky Mountain Shambhala Centre, where it would reside about half way up the stupa as the final outer adornment.
 The Great Buddha Tour was cancelled for a number of good reasons, but the first stop - the debut in Central Park for Tricycle magazine's 8th annual "Change Your Mind Day" - was still on the docket. As a kind of vocal accompanist to the bronze, I was also still on the docket. Worse, I learned as I tried to cancel my trip, I was still on the website. This was not to be messed with.
For a while it looked as though nature would take care of it. The day before Change Your Mind Day the skies clouded, New York got sticky and muggy, then it stormed. It rained hard through the night and into the next morning. Drinking coffee early in the morning with Stupa Consecration director Richard Reoch, I remarked that no one with any sense would plan to go to Central Park and sit on the ground. "Not if they were planning at this moment," he agreed.
"Don't be silly," our hostess said, "People ALWAYS go to Central Park."
"New York is certainly a wild place."
"No," she replied. "It's just full of lots of different k"nds of people."
Richard and I piled into the car, and NY Shambhala Center Director Berkeley McKeever drove us toward Central Park through a light and lessening drizzle. It was terribly scary for some reason. I guess all "performers" feel something like the jitters when they come to New York. This is the Big Apple. You either do it here, or don't bother. The pressure was somehow oddly on.
We entered the Park through something called "Strangers Gate," and across the meadow saw the bronze Buddha, commanding open space It actually drew attention away from the speakers' pavilion. Change Your Mind Day would clearly be a two-ring circus at the least. The statue had been brought down from Princeton (a tremendous logistical victory won by Una Morera) and wrestled into place by workmen during the morning storm; it now stood regally atop a set of three risers, beautiful beyond anything I'd imagined. It was simply mind-stopping.
The eyes, the very full lips, the long graceful hands...sculptor Joshua Mulder had given the world another masterpiece. The statue occupied space in a way that was at the same time monumental and delicate. The pattern on the robe, the curl of each of the thousand or so hairs on the head... In circumambulation, it became clear that Mulder had overlooked nothing. Many of the pious were startled to observe that Shakyamuni Buddha had been given an uncommonly shapely derriere as well, one of the unlisted major marks. "Did you see the butt?" is how one senior meditation teacher expressed it to me in hushed, awed tones.
I found the holding tank for the speakers behind the microphone tent. Some Tibetans, some Japanese, lots of attendants. Everyone bowed nicely to everyone else, but no one spoke, so I didn't either. Event coordinator Rande Brown said that the Zen priest who was supposed to speak, or present, right before me was late, so would I take his place? My talk (15 minutes plus a guided meditation, 10 minutes) followed a performance by a mixed-gender local taiko drumming troupe. They bounced around energetically, shouting, throwing their drumsticks to one another and generally working themselves and the crowd up. I had to begin my little bit by noting, classically, that I had a tough act to follow. The theme I chose for the talk part was "Don't Change Your Mind."
After a lunch offsite, I walked 25 blocks back to the meadow, thinking about what to say for a second speech. This one was to be 5 minutes long, and was supposed to wrap up the day, to tell more about the Buddha statue, and to function as a convocation of sorts. I said something, including that anyone who wished to could go over and visit the Buddha; they could bow, make an offering, or simply touch their head to the Buddha's foot, in the traditional way.
The rain now began to come down again, first slowly then quite hard, but many of the crowd - 200 at least - climbed the wooden risers in a dignified single line, and put their foreheads to the toe of the bronze. Offerings were left. One woman scrounged in her purse for the right denomination, and not finding it, removed a diamond-and-sapphire ring from her finger, and set it before the Buddha. This was all very moving.
 Through heavy scattered showers, many faithful stayed at the end of the day to witness the statue being hoisted from his platform onto a flat-bed truck for transportation. The process was shocking and hard to watch. Capelli Master Erectors used an large crane mounted on a second flatbed truck, and hauled the Buddha up with a hook. First, they covered his head with something like a sheet, to protect the patina. Then they wound a thick flat strap several times around his neck. It looked like a hanging. But when he was finally lifted and floating through air, the head covering slipped from half of his face. He appeared still beautiful and not at all ruffled as he spun slightly, gold and shining against the green trees of the park.
He was set down gently onto the second flatbed truck, and put into place with a good deal of fuss. The leader of the erector crew, Michael Leonard, consulted often with Joshua Muldar, who scampered around on the truck, arranging padding and wiping the bronze dry. "Tell you what, Josh. I don't like this. I'm afraid the butt's going to slip off here, and the nimbus up at that end is going to take the weight. We're going to have to do it again."
He motioned to his crew, "We're going to be doing it again boys..." and for the next five minutes brawny men in t-shirts, baseball caps, and boots shouted to one another about the robe fringe and the shoulder placement and the nimbus. It seemed a labor of love. Finally the Buddha was lain in an acceptable place, covered, and strapped down securely.
Watching all this, I felt relieved the Buddha Tour would not happen (this year.) The physicality of it, which had interested me in the first place, seemed overwhelmingly difficult, and possibly dangerous to the statue. As I mused quietly, Richard Reoch said, "Watching all this, I am more convinced than ever how completely workable the tour would be. This makes me see that we could really do it. This is not a problem." I looked at him, astonished, and felt very glad he was the Director of the Stupa Consecration. The world is indeed full of lots of different kinds of people.
Just Another Night on Patrol
by Scott Spanbauer
One thing that made Dradül Gar different from standard encampments was that we were responsible not just for our own security, but also for the security of the Stupa and all of RMSC. That meant that one of the three platoons always had to cover the torii, Prajna, KHQ overnight, and roving
patrol posts. One evening toward the end of the Gar when this security duty fell to our platoon, I joined the intrepid Anna Boyce on the 1 am to 4 am patrol shift. An hour or two into our shift we decided to motor up to Vajra bathhouse in our golf cart (using dim flashlights as headlamps) to see if anything might be afoot.
 We pulled into the Vajra parking lot, let the motor die, switched off the flashlights, and sat motionless, listening. No moon, no wind, just silence. Then from across the valley came the very clear and distinct sound of what appeared to be an adult male, possibly with a severe groin injury, experiencing the most intense bad acid trip of his life. Clearly, the man was out of his mind, and rampaging somewhere near downtown.
We headed back down the hill, rounded the bend, passed the turn-off to Prajna, and approached lake Sunyata. We stopped again to listen. We were definitely closer now to the madman, who appeared to be stationary. We putt-putted ahead a few more yards then listened again. The sound was coming from near the shop, and the screaming seemed to be punctuated by metallic scraping. At that point I realized: There's a bear in the dumpster!
Creeping closer, flashlights out, we approached the shop. Just next to it stood a huge green roll-off dumpster--the kind that could hold the entire contents of your house and the house too. It was about ten feet deep, with a ladder built into the side. From within, a creature emitting fiendish moans appeared to be unable to climb out of the empty dumpster. Outside, a standard, weighs-600-pounds, decapitates-you-with-one-swipe-of-the-paw adult black bear - mama bear, presumably--paced frantically. It was all becoming clearer.
Anna Boyce remained incredibly calm through all this. After a few minutes observing mama bear circle the dumpster, climb in and out, and generally get more nervous, we decided to leave the scene and ponder our options at KHQ. The Kasung on duty, including York Stillman at the KHQ desk, were stumped. I called the Colorado State Police, who take calls for the Colorado Department of Wildlife in the middle of the night. The State Police dispatcher couldn't think of anything to do, but promised that someone from the DOW would call back soon.
This was quite a puzzle. Another trip to the scene suggested that the dumpster had a door on the back, but I had no idea how to open it with a frantic mother bear hovering several feet away. Maybe I could throw something in as a ladder?
I returned to KHQ and enlisted Mr. Stillman for another foray, this time in a safer ride-the minivan being used as the emergency vehicle. Boldly (windows up,) we whizzed past the dumpster at close range. Yes, it had a door, but appeared to be chained shut. There was a metal desk we could
throw into the dumpster to give baby bear a leg up. But how to do it safely? We tried grabbing some tire chains to see if they could be draped into the dumpster as an escape route, but gave up right away-it was impossible to orchestrate this from inside the van.
It was almost four am and time to get the now-exhausted Anna back up to the Gar. I picked up her replacement, Rusung Julia Sable, and filled her in. By this time I was starting to worry that people would be waking soon, passing by the dumpster, and putting themselves in danger. I was also worried the imprisoned cub might be in danger too.
While pondering this, I spotted a long-handled floor squeegee in the KHQ restroom and grabbed it on the way out. Miss Sable and I headed back down to the dumpster. I tried driving around and around the dumpster, while Miss Sable observed mama bear's reactions. The bear would generally run to the opposite side of the dumpster, just out of sight--a dangerous situation. I could just imagine a massive black bear crashing suddenly onto our windshield from out of the night. Every once in a while, though, mama bear would climb a pine tree about twenty feet from the dumpster. More good
news: it looked like the dumpster wasn't locked, but merely latched shut and secured with a safety pin on a chain.
I drove off about a hundred feet up the road to get the squeegee out of the back of the van and up into the driver's compartment. Wheeling back around the dumpster, we circled once or twice until mama bear treed herself. I rolled down the window and started prying up the safety pin with the pole
while Miss Sable kept her eye on the bear. For whatever reason, mama bear decided to be more afraid of us than we were of her. I got the pin out, but realized that the pole was useless for opening the latch. Miss Sable reported that mama bear was climbing higher up the tree. I opened the door, got out, pushed the latch, and the dumpster's door swung slightly open. Jumping back in the van, I rolled up the window quickly as I could, and Miss Sable saw a flash of black fur shoot out of the dumpster and behind the van. Both bears were gone in a flash. The sun was just starting to come
up. Both of us just laughed at the improbability of the whole thing.
La Consécration de la Stupa
par Fabrice Midal
Je n'aime pas voyager et dormir dans une tente, avoir froid la nuit, prendre ma douche avec dix autres personnes. Aussi me rendre à Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center est une épreuve. Mais j'en suis, d'une certaine manière, heureux. Comment ne pas honorer la mémoire de Chögyam Trungpa qui a, à un tel point, changé ma vie ? Faire cet effort me réjouit, il me force à lâcher prise un peu de mon souci de confort. Garder présent dans mon coeur Chögyam Trungpa c'est laisser le souffle d'une vision sans limite, qu'il nommait la vision du Soleil du Grand Est, dévaster mes soucis trop mesquins.
 Après deux jours sur place, un sentiment de profonde tristesse me saisit. Chögyam Trungpa me semble absent. J'étais venu pour garder mémoire d'un homme et d'une oeuvre sans commune mesure dans notre temps. Mais, à l'exception des vidéos - qui sont faites avec une intelligence inouïe - , aucun autre événement n'est là pour célébrer un tel homme. Comme si tout rapport à Chögyam Trungpa était gelé dans la glace d'une certaine hésitation.
Évidemment, il faudrait tout réinventer, réinventer notre rapport à lui, se mettre à nu. Je me demande pourquoi je suis venu. Parlant au téléphone avec Thibault Sentenac qui coordonne la retraite à Paris, je sens une inspiration pour la présence de Chögyam Trungpa beaucoup plus vive là-bas.
Le Sakyong explique que nous sommes dans une retraite. Essayant de prendre à coeur sa remarque, je décide d'aller pratiquer Chakrasamvara dans le Stupa. J'y vais à trois heures et par chance, je peux y rester jusqu'à minuit. Pratiquer ici, dans le Stupa, tous ensemble, avec tant de visages aimés est une très vive expérience. Quelque chose se passe dans cette célébration. Chögyam Trungpa est Chakrasamvara. Il est le présent vivant dans sa liberté la plus entière, avec une chaleur qui rayonne jusqu'aux cieux et revient dans notre coeur pour mieux s'irradier vers tous les êtres. Chögyam Trungpa est tellement vivant.
Je comprends alors, que la présence de Chögyam Trungpa ne sera pas ici manifeste, à découvert, au sein de notre communauté, mais qu'elle est au coeur même de notre pratique.
 Au fond, ma découverte est celle du jardin d'enfant, celle du jour où l'on s'est assis pour la première fois : c'est ici et maintenant, dans le présent vivant, dans la simplicité de la liberté naturelle de l'esprit, dans l'abandon de tous points de référence, dans la nudité du coeur authentique de la tristesse que se trouve l'échelle de Jacob, la piste d'atterrissage des dralas, Ithaque, le Royaume de Shambhala.
Le reste de la retraite, je perds et je retrouve sans cesse cette présence de Chögyam Trungpa, la présence elle-même.
De retour à Paris, je sens une certaine confiance en moi. Il est possible de le faire, il est possible de suivre le chemin, de prendre comme point de repère non plus ma confusion mais l'ouvert lui-même.
Depuis que je suis rentré, je ne cesse plus d'écrire ce qui s'est passé pour moi là-bas, je ne cesse de le penser : qu'est-ce que célébrer la mémoire d'un homme, qu'est-ce que donner à voir les vidéos, qu'est-ce qu'un stupa, comment se relier à lui, la présence de Lady Diana, le Régent, le Sakyong, deux merveilleux moments avec John Smythe, faire le festin de Sun of Wisdom, célébrer Jamgon Kongtrül et voir à nouveau - avec un tel bonheur - Gésar Mukpo!
Cela fera sans doute un livre.
Au fond, je me demande qu'est-ce qu'être bouddhiste ? Est-ce que le bouddhisme peut être occidental, fonder sa propre culture pour célébrer le présent vivant [nowness] comme l'affirme de manière si profonde le Sakyong proclamant que nous sommes une lignée singulière, une lignée unique, Shambhala-bouddhisme?
Alors que je décris un peu ce que j'ai déjà écrit à Chris Tamdjidi, il me dit : tu es amoureux. Je suis surpris, mais c'est cela, je suis amoureux, amoureux fou de Chögyam Trungpa. Comment dire l'amour fou ? Comment rester amoureux fou - amoureux fou de l'Éveil ?
The Stupa Consecration
by Fabrice Midal
I do not enjoy sleeping in a tent when I am travelling, being cold at night, taking a shower with ten other people. So for me, travelling to Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center is an ordeal. In some strange way, however, this makes me happy. How could I not honour Chögyam Trungpa's life, when he brought such profound change to my own? So making this effort gives me joy. It forces me to let go a little bit of my preoccupation with comfort. To keep Chögyam Trungpa in my heart means allowing the blast of a boundless vision - which he called the Great Eastern Sun - to destroy my petty concerns.
After two days here, a deep feeling of sadness grips me. I feel as though Chögyam Trungpa is not here. I had come here in order to remember a man whose life and accomplishments are beyond anything we have known in our time. But aside from the videos - which were made with an astonishing intelligence - there is nothing else to celebrate such a man. It's as if everything regarding Chögyam Trungpa were frozen in the ice of some kind of hesitation.
Obviously, we need to reinvent everything. Reinvent our relationship to him. Expose ourselves. I ask myself why I came. On the phone with Thibault Sentenac, who is coordinating the practice intensive in Paris, it feels as though they are experiencing a much stronger sense of Chögyam Trungpa's presence over there.
The Sakyong tells us we are on retreat. Taking this to heart, I decide to go practice Chakrasamvara in the Stupa. I begin at three, and it so happens that I can stay until midnight. Practicing here, in the Stupa, all together, with so many dear friends, turns out to be a very vivid experience. Something happens during this celebration. Chögyam Trungpa is Chakrasamvara. He is nowness, completely unfettered, with a warmth that radiates into the sky, and comes back into our heart, the better to radiate out to all sentient beings. Chögyam Trungpa is so alive.
I understand at that moment that Chögyam Trungpa's presence will not be manifest, for all to see, within our community. Rather, this presence is at the very heart of our practice. Actually, what I have just discovered is Kindergarten level, the discovery you make when you sit for the first time: it is here and now, in nowness, in the simplicity of the mind's natural freedom, in letting go of all reference points, in the nakedness of the genuine heart of sadness, that you find Jacob's Ladder, the dralas's landing pad, Ithaca, the Kingdom of Shambhala.
 The rest of the retreat, I keep losing and again finding Chögyam Trungpa's presence, the presence itself. Back in Paris, I feel a certain confidence. It is possible to do it, it is possible to follow the path, to stop using my confusion as a reference point, but, instead, use openness itself.
Since my return, I can't stop writing about what happened for me there, I can't stop thinking about it: what is it to celebrate the memory of a man, what is it to present the videos, what is a stupa, how do you connect to him, the presence of Lady Diana, the Regent, the Sakyong, two wonderful moments with John Smythe, attending the Sun of Wisdom Feast, celebrating Jamgon Kongtrul and meeting again - so happily - Gesar Mukpo... This will probably become a book.
Basically, I wonder what is it to be a Buddhist? Can Buddhism be Western? Can it found its own culture that celebrates nowness, as the Sakyong asserts in such a profound way when he proclaims that we are a remarkable lineage, a unique lineage, Shambhala Buddhism? As I describe some of what I have just written to Chris Tamdjidi, he tells me: you are in love. I am surprised, but that's it, I'm in love, I'm madly in love with Chögyam Trungpa. How can you express being madly in love? How can you stay madly in love, madly in love with Enlightenment?
Dechen Chöling Celebrates the Consecration
by Theo Van Heukelom
The Stupa Consecration Retreat at Dechen Chöling ran simultaneously with a Shambhala dathün. This created an interesting mix of activities and practices--dathün participants maintaining days of silence, and drilling in Tibetan calistenics, and stupa-retreatants engaging in a variety of practices. People gathered around campfires during the evenings, as the nights were unusually cold.
Videos were shown during the evenings for the stupa program, and in the afternoons for the dathün participants. For many students of meditation this was the first time they saw the Vidyadhara. These videos provoked many different kinds of reactions and questions, providing an interesting challenge for the few so-called older students among us. Most of the senior Dechen Chöling staff were at RMSC during this time.
The night preceding the final consecration day, a huge bonfire was lit, as we practiced in the fire-puja barn until the early morning hours. At 3.00 in the morning we enjoyed a feast of sausages, beer and wine.
On the final consecration day the Dathün and the Stupa program gathered together for a Mahamudra Feast in the main shrine tent. For those who were still awake at 2.00 a.m. the international phone broadcast was heard. With a speaker in the window of the office, and a big picture of the Vidyadhara next to it, we were able to hear the whole address so we could visualise the mandala set round the stupa. We completed our festivities by eating a big multi-layered cake with a beautiful Buddha made with sugar on the top.
The Stupa Consecration Retreat in Paris
by Thibaut Sentenac
Organizing a retreat in Paris during the month of August is not so easy. Most people are away on holiday. I felt very connected to the Stupa, having attended the 2000 Vajradhatu Seminary at RMSC, and having had the opportunity to see and contemplate its significance. I therefore decided to take responsibility for organizing and coordinating the retreat in Paris for the Consecration of the Great Stupa.
Our Paris Shambhala Center was open daily from 10 am to 10 pm. Although I expected very few sangha members to participate, between 10 and 20 people came every day to practice and celebrate the Vidyadhara's life and teachings--which I thought was quite amazing. Strangely, participants were mainly sangha members living in the countryside, newcomers, and people from others centers. They brought freshness to the retreat.
Every night we practiced the Sadhana of Mahamudra , and watched and held discussions about the "Thus I Have Heard " videotapes (thanks again to Carolyn Gimian and her team for their work.) We also spent time reading about the significance and symbolism of the Stupa. We concluded the evenings with a nice buffet. Almost every day I communicated the latest news from RMSC, through the Stupa field dispatches on the web.
Everyone felt joyous and connected to the Vidyadhara's mind and to the stupa.
As for me, I felt so empowered by the retreat, and very delighted that all of us could practice and experience such blessings and teachings. I received very positive feedback from all the participants, who felt that all of us had been enriched through attending this retreat.
Now, thanks to this event, the Paris Shambhala Community is known to a wider circle of people. I learned more about coordinating programs, and about talking and manifesting Chögyam Trungpa's vision in front of many people, something I have always felt timid about.
The Ever-Presence of Your Grace
by Walter Fordham
We didn't know that we had forgotten. Seeing you in the Thus I Have Heard video series over the past days has reminded us how much we love you and why we love you.
Incomparable
unequalled guide
Great teacher
Great joy
Great wild man
Only friend
Great being
Great heart
Mahasiddha
You are the ice cube of bodhi
floating cool and spacious
in our glass of neurosis.
You are the great blue pancake on our heads
open and claustrophobic as the sky.
You are the terrifying first thought
more terrible and more terrific than Naropa's old hag.
As always, your words confound us
inspire us
make us sit up
confuse us
make us laugh and tremble
and vibrate with your brilliance.
It is impossible to imagine that there was ever a human being who was more powerful,
more skillful, more outrageous, more dangerous and kind, more awake, more frustrating, more capable of invoking fear, commanding loyalty, touching the heart, popping neurosis, and exposing false views.
But all we have to go by is our own experience.
Maybe there was a teacher who was greater than you.
Was Khenpo Gangshar more outrageous?
Was Dorje Trolö more wrathful?
Was Mikyo Dorje more skillful?
Was Milarepa a better singer?
Marpa more earthy?
Padmasambhava more influential?
Was the Buddha more enlightened?
But we have met the lineage through you.
You are the Buddha.
You are Padmasambhava
bringing the dharma to savage tribes.
You are Marpa
plowing our hard soil.
You are Milarepa with a falsetto voice
singing first-thought songs of joy.
You are Khenpo Gangshar
offering the feast we cannot refuse.
You are the Kagyü and Nyingma fathers.
You are the lineage
from ancient root
to tender limb.
***
You are the young monk --
the accomplished teenage prince --
who is soaked in dharma and driven from Tibet
by the madness of communist aggression.
You are the embodiment of 2500 years of enlightened energy
thrust suddenly into the turmoil of the west --
a gift to the world from Chairman Mao.
You absorb our language and culture
with full appreciation of western mind.
and look for an opening-
a way to present dharma
Then comes the crash: sudden shock.
You unmask.
Undress.
Stand naked and raw before us and speak the simple truth.
With your rolling walk --
laboring to the teacher's chair --
you are the plowman behind the ox.
In your hands, we are cultivated
with untiring exertion
and seemingly without effort
into people who can hear
into a community that can nurture
into leaders, teachers, directors, soldiers, courtiers, gardeners, servants,
ministers, flower arrangers, lords and ladies of dharma.
Your activity is felt in all directions.
You create the Maitri program so our untamed energy can meet itself and relax.
As Dorje Dradül you enlist us in the kasung
giving us discipline and dignity along with a gentle heart
and a mission to overcome aggression.
As translator, you turn English into the language of dharma.
As vajra guru you invite us to the sacred mandala
and make the introductions.
As trickster you expose our attempts to gain territory
with sudden jolts of ordinary mind.
As heavenly appointed earth protector
you receive the hidden treasure of Shambhala,
plant the primordial blade in our hearts,
and proclaim the vision of
"not small, not west, not moon, not setting."*
As artist, playwright, songwriter, poet, flower arranger,
calligrapher, photographer
you join dharma and art together
and point the way to a new understanding of culture.
As householder, you invite us into your family.
You comfort, scold, and encourage.
You never give up on anybody.
As the ultimate importer
you take the exotic and make it ordinary
so that now buddhadharma resides at home
in our language
in our culture
in our children
in our bloodstream
in our bones.
When we invoke the blessings of the Rigdens
When we invite the dralas into our homes
we do not summon the gods of a foreign tribe
but rather, we call upon a rich tradition that is now our own --
the fabric of our lives.
As far as anyone we can see, you never have a day off. Your discipline is continuous, never pausing, never hesitating. There is truly nothing in your life but teaching and working with others.
***
What is left for us --
we who are your students,
whether we knew you or we did not know you -
in the never ending presence of your absence?
Your leaving has been the heartbreak that never ends
Your leaving is the teaching that never ends
Once we had our duty -- we could say "I am on duty " or "I am off duty"
Now there is just our lives -- each moment.
When we cook, we cook for you
When we clean our homes, we clean your Court
When we care for our children, we emulate your care for us.
When we sit, we are your throne cushion
When we stand, we stand in your presence
When we walk, we are your walking stick
When we drive, we are your driver
When we wait in line, we wait for you
When we tend our garden, we tend your garden
When we open the door, we greet you.
The procession is underway
The inner court incense is burning
You are forevermore entering
taking your seat
clearing your throat
proclaiming the dharma.
May we wake up in the middle of our lives and carry on your work
May we make love with your passion
eat with your appetite
clean our homes with your attention to details
wake up in the morning with your awakened heart
go to sleep with your empty abandon
sing with your piercing first-thought confidence
teach with your skillful means
die with your wisdom.
May we sit always at your feet
May we feel your presence in the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya
under Colorado mountain sun.
May we find you in the spring floods at Kalapa Valley
on the parade ground of Magyal Pomra
in the skirmish at Sun Camp
in the cool mist of Nova Scotia
in the homes of practitioners
in the faces of strangers
in the songs on the radio
in the heart of depression
in the moment of ecstasy
in the eyes of our children
in the ever-presence of your grace.
In short, may each action
each trial
each success and disappointment
be carried out in your service.
Your smile lingers over the world
cooling anger
terrifying extreme beliefs
illuminating shadows of doubt
exposing corruption
and teasing life out of our grumpy bones.
***
Lords and ladies, ladies and gentlemen of the Druk Sakyong's world, please rise.
I give you for today and for as long as his teachings unfold,
for as long as beings live in the slime and muck of the dark age:
The Vidyadhara
The Dorje Dradül
The Dragon King
His Majesty
The Profound Brilliant Just Powerful All Victorious Sakyong.
Born a monk.
Died a king.
The thunderstorm
which was his life rolls on
with a continual downpour of blessings.
May we enjoy the kingdom that he built
in the middle of our ordinary and troubled world.
May we work as tirelessly as he for the well-being of all.
Offered by True Command, Walter Fordham, at the Halifax Shambhala Centre on the occasion of the consecration of the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya. 18 August 2001
The Dharmakaya Comes to Cape Breton
by Jigme Sheldrön
Yesterday, August 23rd. I knew something was up when I found myself in the dining room at ten o'clock at night making flower garlands. Past my bedtime here, and flower garlands? We had a stupa to consecrate, and no one to do it for us, so we were going to have to do it all. 70 feet of flower garlands says the lama--so we made them. 100 bowls for saffron water offerings--we scrounged for them from the three-year retreat house. 100 candles in holders too please--but of course!
Today, August 24th--day one dawns with an invasion of wasps in the kitchen. I swear they were swarming out of a light fixture, but maybe someone left the door open. In any case a couple of us swiftly and silently helped them back out the door while the cook worked in the dining room. Auspicious, we tell ourselves.
9:00 a.m.-- time for the ceremonies to begin, and it has begun to rain. The hundred hastily yet patiently lit candles succumb in short order. Various types of scrambling occur as attempts are made to keep the throne dry. Just as nerves are getting ever so slightly touchy, the skies open up for real and it begins to pour! What can we do but laugh and get soaking-wet, and postpone until the afternoon. Apparently rain is auspicious too. Lucky us.
Back at the "house" some dear soul has provided warm zucchini bread, enough for all, and then some. People sit where they can, as we do when there are more of us than will fit in the dining room. And there is plenty of food. Thank goodness our cooks and their various helpers from parts near and far make sure of that.
 2:00 pm-back to the stupa. The relit candles refuse to stay lit in the stiff breeze the rain has left in its wake. It won't be until the next morning that the lamas will have their windproof "butter lamps," but then they will burn without interruption.
And so the consecration begins, the very venerable and wonderfully smiling Thrangu Rinpoche presiding from the miraculously dried and reassembled throne. Four lamas sit to his right, playing jahlings, kanglings, sillnyen and drum. Chanting accompanies the several different rhythms, which will become familiar over the next couple of days. All in Tibetan, so most of us have no idea what they are saying. But it sounds beautiful and when the lamas make offerings, their hands create mudras that are so supple and gentle one cannot imagine them ever making a fist. And then there is lama Tashi, tapping his dorje on the handle of his bell. This sound will forever mean consecration to me. The sight of Rinpoche creating a physical connection between his mind/heart centre and the stupa is moving and inspiring.
Day two dawns bright and sunny. This will be the cause further adventures, as we try to keep the sun from baking Thrangu Rinpoche. One stalwart monk did his best Mary Poppins, holding a small umbrella up for a good half hour, before someone came up with a huge one behind which the whole of Rinpoche disappeared.
 The chanting continues, indistinguishable from the day before. More people arrive with each passing hour. Lunch is outside today, a picnic on the front lawn. Kids are running about, people eating rolled up sandwiches and potato chips--can this be the abbey?
A new kind of circumambulation is introduced to us by Rinpoche's chöpön. Patiently he lines up the small contingent of abbey monastics. Then the unthinkable happens. A friend and I walk once around the stupa in a total false start, leaving the poor patient monk shaking his head. Once he has us lined up we managed to walk about with some dignity, trying to keep track, and stop after three times around. That afternoon, Rinpoche gave a talk on what the stupa represents, what the consecration is about, and what we can use the stupa for once it is consecrated. The dharmakaya has come to a hillside at the end of the world.
The assembled crowd swells to over 100 for the final day-- local people who are curious to see the new addition to their neighbourhood, community members who live near-by, Haligonians, and people from much further away. All are drawn here by this white and gold manifestation of something that happened 2500 years ago and is still happening today.
I can close my eyes now, hear the tap of dorje on bell, see the string leading from the offerings on the stupa to the middle of Thrangu Rinpoche's chest, and I can almost understand what we all did on those three days in August.
Consecration of the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya Retreat in Valencia, Spain
By Fernando Ayllòn
The Spanish sangha celebrated the Consecration of the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya by hosting two retreats-a large retreat held in Soria, led by Julia Sagebien and Alfonso Taboada, and a smaller retreat in Valencia.
Valencia has a small Shambhala Meditation Group that is growing every day. Fernando Ayllon attended each day, greeting the many people who came to visit and receive meditation instruction. Activities included readings from "The Sacred Path of the Warrior," watching the "Thus I Have Heard" videos, and time to socialize.
Although the retreat was a small one, there was plenty of warmth and inspiration. It was particularly interesting and wonderful to practice the Sadhana of Mahamudra.
Reflecting on this event, I believe that this retreat was very important for Valencia because it helped energize the group, allowed us to experience magic-opened our hearts further, and will help build our community here in Spain, little by little. This experience is something we that maybe we could call "ordinary magic."
At the same time in Valencia, where one small Shambhala Meditation Group is growing day by day with energy and inspiration, one really small group -just Fernando was there everyday but several people was passing by the center to practice with him- were performing his retreat. Was different in many ways but at the same time so interesting and inspiring. Every day new people was coming to get meditation instruction and practice as well as for having some social time hear readings from "The Sacred Path" and watching the videos.
Was one "small size" retreat but plenty of human and warm hearts and inspiration. Practicing together the Sadhana of Mahamudra was one really interesting and inspiring experience too. And we can say in resume that this retreat was really needed in Valencia because it was a big source of energy, inspiration and magic for the center and for the future development of teachings and practice here. From that retreat on the group of habitual practitioners is already established and growing, and it can be felt the open and human ambient where we are building community and spreading the Shambhala-Buddhist teachings personally one by one, little by little, here in Spain. Always is so difficult to resume the experiences but maybe we can just say: ordinary magic.
Consecration of the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya retreat in Spain
by Julia Sagebien
In my 30 years as a teacher and participant in programs and retreats - this one stands out as one of the most special gatherings. The analogy the staff used for the Spanish Retreat was that if we had good discipline and humor - the retreat would be like a giant satellite dish picking up the blessings of the Consecration. Well - it happened. I was amazed at the natural discipline of the Spaniards as well as their ability to live gracefully within chaos.
The retreat was held in Santa Maria de Huerta, at a former boarding school for girls. Sacred Heart nuns ran the facility, providing food and housekeeping. There were 41 participants over the 10-day period. They ranged from 3-year retreatants to pre-level 1 Shambhala Training students. Some of the participants were buddhist students of other Kagyü and Nyingma teachers.
The main objective of the Spanish retreat was to deepen our understanding of practice - especially shamatha meditation. Training was provided in the Shambhala and Buddhist forms - such as oryoki, chanting, drumming, umdze procedures, shrines and protocols, etc. Most importantly, the retreat environment provided an opportunity for participants to understand the mind of the Vidyadhara, in addition to enhancing our appreciation of community.
 Our course of study included videos from the "Thus I Have Heard" series, "The Lion's Roar" video, portraying His Holiness Karmapa's visit to the west, and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's videos. Julia Sagebien and Alfonso To Boada translated simultaniously. The staff presented talks on maitri, shamatha, compassion, Shambhala vision, as well as an ikebana/kado demonstration. Julia and Alfonso also presented three talks on the Sadhana of Mahamudra.
It was our good fortune that Tashi Lamo, a Spanish student of Khenpo Tsültrim Gyatso, led a retreat for 40 students in the same facility. They watched VCTR videos and witnessed an oryoki demonstration.
Four HHDKR treasure vases were distributed at the retreat - one was sunk at the "Black Lagoon" (Laguna Negra) by Tashi Lamo's community and a few of the Shambhala retreat participants on August 19th at end of retreat.
Many lineages were represented at this retreat, including true contemplative and live Catholic traditions. It was the feast of the Assumption - the patron Saint of the Santa Maria de Huerta Cistercience Monastery (founded by the "3 rebel monks" - no joke) and the feast of Saint Bernard, the patron saint of the town. We attended chants at the Monastery on the day of the Assumption and survived loud music until 5 AM for the 3 days of Saint Bernard festivities! The rapprochement with the Christian roots of Spain was similar to the Vidyadhara's encouragement of North Americans to make friends with their own heritage.
Making friends with other Spanish-speaking meditation groups gave a larger sense of community and a new appreciation of how much we really have to work with in Shambhala. I think that this outward-oriented spirit will inspire Spaniards to venture out to Dechen Chöling and other parts of the Shambhala mandala in Europe to obtain teachings and to bring home the richness of the lineage.
The foundations for individual practice and for a larger harmonious community were established. They now have all the practices they need to run local retreats. They are also more confident in what they know and in what they have experienced.
In many ways, this was a Shambhala Buddhist retreat, not only because both "topics" were addressed, but because the wisdom of both traditions seemed to shine. For example, a Shambhala training student who just returned from Warrior's Assembly remarked that he had discovered non-aggression - the heart of Buddhism. One of the Nyingma Buddhist participants remarked right afterwards that she had discovered community - the heart of Shambhala teachings.
Stupa Celebration in Chile
by Olaya Perez
Our consecration event lasted nine days, with sitting practice, watching videos, and feasting--from 7pm to 9pm every week day, and from 10am to 5pm on weekends. I was there most of the time, helping to translate the videos from English to Spanish, and I must say, it was a very touching experience. Although not a lot of sangha attended during the weekdays, at least five people were present on any given day, ranging from very new practitioners, to the older tantrikas.
It was very moving to watch the Vidyadhara--to see him when he first arrived in the USA, to follow him through his years teachings, until his last Shambhala Day talk, when he says good bye and that "He'll always be with us." This made us cry and really yearn for him. We had a chance to discuss his teachings every day. I helped provide a context for the newer students.
The last day of the consecration, many more people joined in. We danced as we sang the Shambhala songs, and celebrated with food and drink. Our hearts were very tender and full of joy.
Now we are scheduling an evening a week at our center to show all the videos again, so that every one can see the ones they missed. I am grateful to the Vidyadhara and to all the people who did the selection and editing, and gave us the opportunity to touch his teachings--live from his mouth--once again.
Centers
Tepoztlan, Mexico
The transformative process for those of us who participated in the Stupa Consecration was unique, and only time will tell of its significance and impact.
The magic of the Vidyadhara, Trungpa Rinpoche, and the devotion of "the workers of the Stupa" made it possible for his energy to become vibrantly manifest in our hearts.
And that is what the stupa is.
Albany Consecration
by Ellen Rook
The Albany Shambhala Meditation Group celebrated the Consecration with a daily schedule of sitting meditation practice and viewing the "Thus Have I Heard" videos through the 9 day pre-consecration period. The daily sessions were held at our center and also at the homes of members. On the final Consecration Day, community members as well as guests from Vermont and other parts of New York State met at the home of the Rooks at 4 pm.
We began our final celebration with an outdoor lhasang. Each person offered white cedar, our local variety of juniper. A sprig from the same plant was sent to RMSC with Suzanne Duquette to be added to the consecration lhasang. We then held a brief sitting meditation period followed by viewing the final video in the nine-part series.
Because drill practice was a favorite of the Vidyadhara's, following the video, we proceeded to the backyard and were led in drill by Tara Rook, who had recently returned from Sun Camp. David Rook readied the grill for a BBQ while nine adults discovered that they really did not know their left from their right!
We then enjoyed a potluck dinner and BBQ and finished in time to tune into the Consecration phone transmission. Following the transmission we enjoyed each other's company. It truly was a celebration and appreciation of the life and teachings of the Vidyadhara and the community he created.
Consecration Day in Copenhagan
by Lars Ole Bonnevie
The celebration in Copenhagen began with a big brunch held outside on the sunny lawn of our Shambhala Center. Afterwards we went inside and sat for a little while. After some difficulties with our TV set we saw one of the videos with the Vidyadhara, after which we sat again for half an hour.
Following the videos, there were a few people who wanted to chant some of the basic Buddhist Shambhala prayers together, and hence our group made two teams--a lunch team and a chant team. The reason for this is that most of our group has exclusively done Shambhala Training programs and therefore the chants did not have any meaning to them. Anyway, the chant team did their thing and the lunch team did the other, and so everybody was content.
During the afternoon we sat, saw videos and so forth until six, whereupon
most of us departed for home. A few of us, however, went to a cafe nearby to have little "icecubes of bodhi" put into the hot waters of passion. All in all a basically good day.
A Long Day of Celebration on Consecration Day in Marburg
by Joost Willems
In Marburg, the Stupa Practice week was well attended. On the first weekend
there was practice all day long. During the weekdays there were sessions held every morning from 8.00am till 11.00am, and from 5.00pm till 11.00 pm.--people engaged in various practices. Remarkable to us was the amount of "new" shamatha people participating.
Every night the videos about the Vidyadhara were shown. Due to the material presented in some of these videos, there was a need for additional explanation to those who had never met him. People were also astonished by the different, visual appearances of the Vidhyadhara throughout his life.
The practice week reached its high point on Saturday, August 18. Since there is a big time difference between central European and American continental time (8 hours), this day on would prove to be a long one for us. First, there was practice from 5.00 pm Friday through 2.00 pm that Saturday, with only a one hour gap. Sangha members gathered at the center to begin preparing for the celebration.
 At 4:00 pm on this hot and sunny day the festivities began in the large garden of our Shambhala center with a lhasang--60 people plus children attending. An English Tea followed this--chicken sandwiches, cream muffins, and lots of tea. People needed a little nourishment, since a long evening was still to come.
During the feast preparations which included tasty food like fried salmon, the first drinks were offered. South-American cocktails were offered, which heightened the festive atmosphere. After the cocktail party, we practiced the Sadhana of Mahamudra (with the Sun of Wisdom feast section) in a packed shrineroom at around 10.15 p.m. During the feast, the last video about the Vidyadhara was shown--"I'll Always Be With You." Presentations, and sometimes emotional storytelling about Rinpoche followed followed by the broadcast from RMSC. Since the sound did not work so well (except the address by the Sakyong) the practice ended around 2:15.
But people were not in the mood to go home quite yet. The cocktail party in the garden continued until a phone call by people from the adjacent building reminded us that there is a time to stop. That actually was at 3.30 in the morning.
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