This group began by discussing the very broad ideas of how to present Shambhala principles to people with no interest in meditation and how to introduce Shambhala principles into the basic fabric of society. We found that there were at least three different sorts of situations in which people attempt to do this sort of work:

1. Times when one wants to bring Shambhala principles into a situation where one is not in a formal leadership position (at work, for example).
2. Creating programs in which one is in a formal leadership position.
3. One's everyday life.

We thought that in all three of these situations, a four dignities approach could be applied:

Relating to the basic ground of the situation, looking to see what structures and what wisdom is already in place

Cultivating skillful means, engaging with the situation

Leaping in, propagating activity with Shambhala view

Understanding the point at which you don't have to do any more.

We looked at two sample cases. First, as an example of situation #1, above: A member of the group had recently bought land on a small island off the coast of Maine, and was working on developing a workable society with the 70 other people who lived there. His experience was that this microcosm was a good ground for looking at potential difficulties of creating sane society and also potential successes.

Second, as an example of situation #2: Another member of the group had created a training program, the Nova Scotia Sea School, which we felt exemplified the potential for creating a program that fully integrates and propagates Shambhala vision without requiring that the people participating in it have a connection with sitting meditation practice. Both cases provided fruitful ground for practical, engaged discussion.

Because the most vibrant part of our discussion was when people shared their accounts of working with introducing Shambhala principles to various situations, the group would like to work toward creating a format for more story-telling. We envision this as (possibly) a web-based sourcebook of accounts and dialogues, and solicit any thoughts or stories you might have to share.