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By James Schnebly with Jenny Bondurant & Kay Peterson ~~~ Our emotions can lock us in habitual struggle with ourselves and our relationships, yet they are also doorways to our intrinsic wisdom. Out of this understanding, helpful practices have emerged within the tradition of Buddhist tantra. These practices are based on the understanding that emotional energy falls […]
By Andrea Schweitzer, PhD ~~~ This year, summer will officially begin on June 20th at 4:34 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time, which is the summer solstice. This is the day with the most hours of sunlight during the whole year, in the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite will happen in the Southern Hemisphere, which will have the longest […]
I wrote this over the course of a four day train ride across the country — tumbling in the wake of the Pulse event. I’m inspired by, and full of affection for, my LGBTQI friends. May I become an actually awake ally. I heard on NPR: they were dancing at Parliament House the day after […]
Last summer I had the pleasure of participating in SMC’s Contemplative Astronomy program: Big Sky, Big Mind, led by astronomer Andrea Schweitzer, Ph.d , and Jim Tolstrup, Executive Director of the High Plains Environmental Center and former SMC Land Steward. The program was an engaging variety of practical lessons about our universe, (ranging from night sky […]
This morning I had a conversation with my co-workers about some challenging circumstances that I’m in the midst of. With my description, I imagined I painted a storm cloud — complete with rumbling thunder and generally full of doom. And then I added that as dreadful as it feels, in the background is a sense […]
By Rona Wilensky ~~~ I have an unusual job. When people ask what I do, I usually say that I bring mindfulness to education. I almost always get a positive response along with the assumption that I must be teaching mindfulness to students. At that point, I find myself backing up and explaining that as […]
Seane Corn has been a social activist and yogi for more than three decades, and, as much benefit as she has brought through her work, she has also made mistakes and caused some pain and trauma — for herself and others. From this experience, she has an important message for those who become inspired to […]
By Katharine Kaufman Shibata Sensei is so old that it takes two people to prop him upright. Yoshiko holds his left side. She is the daughter of Zen master, Kobun Chino. We are here, at the home-made Zendo, in a small dip in the Santa Cruz mountains, because it’s the 10th anniversary of Kobun’s death. […]
As mindfulness has grown in popularity, it’s questionable whether it’s potential as a tool for enlightenment has been sufficiently acknowledged. Ken Wilber — author, philosopher, and founder of Integral Institute — notes that mindfulness is mostly valued for it’s benefits to health, productivity, and emotional well-being. Enlightenment, he says, is not so much a part of the […]
Sitting before a blank page, waiting to decide on the opening words of this post, I’ve been experiencing a sense of unease, disruption, chaos — in mind and body. And that’s no surprise. It turns out that the space of creativity — and communication in general — is tinged with uncertainty, and that brings with […]
We spent this past snowy May Day morning celebrating an incredible act of generosity that has made a real impact on our community culture here at Shambhala Mountain Center — the sponsorship of the SMC Garden Project by the Aida & Mike Feldman Philanthropic Trust & the Feldman Family. This grant allowed us to build […]
If we pay attention to our lives, we may find that conflict is unavoidable, perhaps even natural. And, if we are like Zen teacher Diane Musho Hamilton, we may go so far as to say that if we learn to get curious about conflict, we can discover great creative potential in the flames of this […]