Education and Youth

Contact:

Sarah Whitehorn khq@shambhala.org

HEAVEN: We wish our children to have the following qualities:

Confidence
Fearlessness
Decency
Openness
Honesty
Maitri - toward themselves and others

We wish ourselves, as parents, to be educated in the teachings of Shambhala, so that we practice:

Patience
Generosity
Compassion

in raising our children.

EARTH: To be engaged in our complex society today, our children will be in contact with the following qualities:

Lack of Ethics
Speed
Materialism - spiritual & otherwise
Disrespect
Violence
Racism

HUMAN: Following are some ways in which we can work with this challenging situation:

Practice Warriorship at home and work with each other through cooperative parenting and chat groups;
Develop a detailed curriculum to explain Shambhala principles to children for use at home and/or a centres;
Rites of Passage - for teenagers (as well as for 8 yr. olds) and Rites of Warriorship - for 16 year olds;
Create a reference bank of mythologies with supporting environment;
Teach children Shambhala Arts;
Promote and encourage the Deleg system;
Develop and expand the existing "Children in Shambhala" manual, to lay out ways of accomplishing all of the above.

Recommendation

In order to make the children part and parcel of the Shambhala society; to increase communications among International Shambhala Centres regarding issues of educating our children about Shambhala principles; to support the development of programs for children at individual centres; and to develop and maintain resources available to parents, we request Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and the International Board of Directors, create a Ministry of Children and Youth.