Meditation

Mindfulness-awareness meditation is the basis of all Shambhala activity. Originating from Shakyamuni Buddha over 2,500 years ago, this practice is the art of resting the mind, opening the heart and appreciating what it is to be fully human.

Meditation is looking at our own backyard, you could say, looking at what we really have and discovering the richness that already exists.

—Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

For more about meditation, including multimedia teachings, go to shambhala.org/meditation.

 MEDITATION INSTRUCTION

Perhaps the Kootenay Shambhala Centre's most valuable offering, meditation instruction is available to anyone, free of charge. We offer introductory instruction to newcomers and follow-up instruction to other practitioners on Monday evenings, as part of our Open House program, and at other times by appointment. Anyone interested in looking closely at his/her "own backyard" is encouraged to work regularly with a meditation instructor.

Depending on a student's interest and experience, meditation instruction might include:

• Introducing the practice of meditation. Introductory meditation instruction presents the basic meditation practice taught in the Shambhala community. This practice combines a simple three-part technique and a particular view or attitude.

• Clarifying the view of meditation. In our tradition, meditation instruction involves more than the communication of a technique; it is, at heart, about the transmission of the revolutionary view that unconditional wisdom and compassion are the very ground of our being, and that by learning to relax more and more fully, we allow this fundamental nature to flower.

• Instruction on working with obstacles to meditation. Common obstacles to meditation include disheartenment, resistance, procrastination, discursiveness and spacing out. The obstacles are well documented in the Shambhala Buddhist teachings—and so are their antidotes.

• Guidance on the path of practice and study. The Shambhala community presents many opportunities for students to deepen their practice and study—public meditation sessions, evening classes, weekend programs, retreats and seminaries, to name a few. A meditation instructor can help one decide what to do next and when to do it.

• Guidance on joining meditation and daily life. The workaday world is where the rubber meets the road. Getting the tools to meet life's ups and downs with a strong and pliable mind and an open heart is another potential benefit of working with a meditation instructor.

 MEDITATION INSTRUCTORS

Shambhala meditation instructors are senior Shambhala Buddhist practitioners specially trained and authorized to help people deepen and expand their conceptual and experiential understanding of meditation. We encourage anyone interested in this journey to establish a working relationship with the meditation instructor of her/his choice and keep working with the instructor for as long as doing so feels beneficial.

Kootenay Shambhala Centre meditation instructors currently available include:

• Sally Albert
• Tim Albert
• Ojan Cromie
• Lynn Dragone
• Brian McEwen
• Jim Northcote
• Russell Rodgers
• Deryk Wenaus

For help making an initial connection with an instructor, please contact our Meditation Instruction Coordinator, Lynn Dragone, at 250-352-1964 or info@nelsonbuddha.com.

Learn more about meditation and buddhism at shambhala.org

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Kootenay Shambhala Meditation Centre
3rd Floor - 444 Baker Street, PO Box 136, Nelson,  BC V1L 5P7
Tel. 250-352-5560    Email: info@nelsonbuddha.com