SHAMBHALA CENTER IN MEXICO (TEPOZTLAN-CUERVAVACA

We are very pleased with this proposal from Shambhala International and we thank all of the organizers for including advance consultation with all of the centers. This initiative coincides with a strongly felt need in our group to further consolidate our own community, and at the same time to be able to respond more to the needs of the larger society.

While it is true that the Shambhala teachings stand on their own the energy of the community is also necessary so that they truly have a home. The different sanghas in different places are the dwelling-places of these teachings and each has it’s own particular characteristics. As you are suggesting, this great range of experience within the sangha provide an invaluable source of knowledge that we can all benefit from sharing.

Therefore, it seems that within the structure of the congress it would be useful to organize meetings between centres that are living similar processes. (This could be defined according to the number of members, size of their host cities, the kind of culture they belong to- for example areas that still practice indigenous traditions, - etc.) This would allow these centers to work together on common issues. Perhaps these discussions could fit under the category of  “self-organized workshops” and we would need to figure out what the descriptive categories would be.

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

• How to include children in the mandala from a young age.
• Working with conflict with an open heart.
• Including the Mahayana view in administrative and organizational activities including issues of leadership, decisión making and communication..
• Ways to include the heart of the secular teachings in educational settings, from   primary school through university.

HOW WE SEE OURSELVES WITHIN THE MANDALA

Mexico is a country with it’s own profound and ancient spiritual tradition   Over the centuries it has incorporated and been enriched by the different spiritual expressions that have arrived here.

The Shambhala teachings have come to us thanks to Chogyam Ttungpa’s personal interest in having this happen. Due to his instructions in 1986 the first meditation group started here, several Shambhala levels were held and a larger group was consolidated. From 1993 to 1995 there was more attention given to intensive training in the Buddhist tradition. This year a group of approximately 35 people finished Heart of  Warriorship  and began the Sacred Path Program. We are planning to finish those 6 levels by the beginning of 2004. At the same time we have worked more deeply with the Buddhist teachings through weekly study groups, nynthuns, and Buddhist programs, retreats, and weekthuns taught by Acharya Allyn Lyon. The core group is consists of about 50 people, and in open programs we have had up to 80 people. We have just recently begun a Nalanda Arts program, which we hope to expand in the next years.

At this time our greatest challenge is to find and buy land for a retreat center where we could recieve large groups and offer programs for people from other countries.

KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES THAT WE CAN SHARE WITH THE SANGHA

A sense of hospitality, warmth and joy. An important cultural characteristic of México is the capacity to create heart connection and participate fully in different communities and groups. For the last three years we have had vigils and community get-togethers around a fire pit in our center that we built for this purpose. These are warm, joyful gatherings that include music, dancing, food, storytelling and the opportunity to simply enjoy each other. In this loving, warmhearted atmosphere, we have encountered a deeper understanding of what it means to be a community where the dharma is not only spoken or taught, but lives and breathes within and among us. We believe this means being a community that values openness of heart above all else

We have discovered that this goal involves several aspects…

Cultivating an attitude and atmosphere of openness to and enjoyment of learning, which can be directly experienced and transmitted to others.  Our goal is to enjoy learning so much that this becomes contagious to others.

Coordinating the different administrative areas in pairs rather than individually. This has to do both with cultivating enjoyment of learning from others and with breaking our habitual patterns of being very comfortable with what we already know how to do. This habit tends to isolate people from each other.

The pairs look likes this: There is one person who feels they know how to coordinate a certain area along with another who feels that they don’t know and want to learn about that area.  The one who “knows” learns how to share what they “know”  and sees the other as the student within him. The one who is “learning” sees the other as the teacher within him. Each is a mirror for the other, reflecting both their blind spots and hidden capacities.

Cultivating a sense of humor towards our own and other’s mistakes. We have discovered that this is extremely important at all levels of our organization.  On the one hand the coordinators know they have to learn and grow as they carry out their responsibilities, and in order to do this they must not only make mistakes, but also benefit and learn from them. At the same time, each time someone offers to take on a task or responsibility that is new for them others have the job of trusting and supporting them knowing they will do their best, and their best will include mistakes, because, again, they are learning. Regardless of the material outcome of the person’s efforts we feel it is essential to recognize the gift which each person is offering when they take on a responsibility and   consider that their mistakes come from their heart and can be met with open and compassionate heart. When we can keep our sense of humor alive and remember that our goal is always to be open to learning we can actually celebrate when a mistake is made. In this way we support each other, and help ourselves and each other to continuously open up to new learning.

Cultivating an atmosphere of lightheartedness and enjoyment.  We try to cultivate this sense of openness and kindness towards self and others in all the aspects of our work in the sangha. In this way all of our experiences can be vehicles for joyful learning rather than deadening our interest with and enthusiasm with criticism and heavy handedness.

Remembering the difference between heart and form. This involves cultivating openness and letting go so that we can understand that our goal is not to have things come out “perfectly” but to work with the proper attitude; that is having trust and acceptance for the ideas and personal styles of the different people who are participating with us. There is never one perfect way to do things, so keeping our sense of humor we try to deepen our understanding that there can be great learning from an event that doesn’t turn out well, or is riddled with difficulties. This can be more beneficial for all involved than an event that looks perfectly efficient but was carried out without heart.

 When there is conflict look for what is missing. When conflict arises, instead of blaming someone or something we are learning to look for what is missing; the piece we need in order for things to function better. When we discover what it is we need this is also a cause for celebration because it brings us greater clarity.

Barriers to learning. Staying with what we already know because it is comfortable for us.Needing to hide what we don’t know and closing ourselves off to thee possibility of learning from others. Being blind to what we don’t know. Not being able to ask for help: considering that needing help is a sign of some kind of personal problem, or thinking that one has to resolve all problems alone, or only being willing to accept the kind of help that one has already decided is appropriate. Lack of confidence in the support of the dralas and the lineage.

Volunteer work. Our organization relies heavily on a broad basis of volunteer work, rather than paid staff. This has both advantages and disadvantages for us. On the one hand no one can dedicate himself or herself fulltime to the drama, but at the same time it allows people to continue to develop themselves in their professions while participating in the center. It also eliminates a greater economic load for us, as from a financial point of view we are barely able to maintain the center and continue to develop programs at this point.

Within the coordinating council (eight people) we try to be respectful and understanding of what is going on in the personal life and professional of each member so that when there is a particularly demanding moment for someone others can be supportive and alternative ways to cover that person’s responsibilities can be found. It also means that many people are participating in the organization of programs, and other aspects of the center and therefore learning about how different areas function. (Of course this provides us all with wonderful opportunities to make a lot of new mistakes all the time!)

The coordinating council has the responsibility of keeping the vision of the center on track and looking for what is missing in order to keep the dharma expanding.

Promises and commitments. There are many areas and many moments where different people can commit themselves to different tasks within the organization. This gives us the opportunity to work with issues of boundaries and clarity in our petitions and our comittments. Every time someone is willing to carry out a task, be it

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