Shambhala International: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Buddhist Organisations}} |
{{Short description|Buddhist Organisations}} |
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'''Shambhala International''' is the umbrella organization that encompasses many of the distinct institutions of the [[Shambhala Training|Shambhala]] spiritual community, founded by the students of the [[Tibetan_Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] teacher [[Chögyam Trungpa|Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche]]. |
'''Shambhala International''' is the umbrella organization that encompasses many of the distinct institutions of the [[Shambhala Training|Shambhala]] spiritual community, founded by the students of the [[Tibetan_Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] teacher [[Chögyam Trungpa|Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche]]. |
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==History and Leadership== |
==History and Leadership== |
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===Foundation and Leadership by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche=== |
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The organization was founded under the name [[Vajradhatu]] in 1973, by students who had formed around Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's teachings in the United States after his arrival in 1970. |
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In 1970, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche arrived in North America. The first established center of his teachings was "Tail of the Tiger" in [[Barnet, Vermont]] (now [[Karmê Chöling]]). A second branch of the community began to form when Rinpoche began teaching at the [[University of Colorado at Boulder|University of Colorado]]. The Rocky Mountain Dharma Center was established, now known as [[Drala Mountain Center]], near [[Red Feather Lakes, Colorado|Red Feather Lakes]], [[Colorado]]. |
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In the early 1970s, the community grew rapidly and attracted the involvement of notable figures such as [[Allen Ginsberg]] and [[Anne Waldman]]. In 1973, the community was incorporated in Colorado as [[Vajradhatu]]. Vajradhatu hosted visits by the Sixteenth [[Karmapa]] (head of the [[Karma Kagyu]] lineage of [[Tibetan Buddhism]]) in 1974, [[Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche]] (head of the [[Nyingma]] lineage of Tibetan Buddhism) in 1976, and the [[Fourteenth Dalai Lama]] in 1981. |
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In 1974, Naropa Institute was founded, a contemplative studies and liberal arts college, now fully accredited as [[Naropa University]].<ref name="chronicleproject.com">{{cite web |title=11th Trungpa Chronology |url=http://www.chronicleproject.com/chronology.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013212638/http://chronicleproject.com/chronology.html |archive-date=October 13, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> |
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Beginning in 1976, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche presented a series of teachings known as the [[Shambhala_Training|Shambhala teachings]] to the community. These teachings presented the principle of [[basic goodness]], and a secular rather than religious approach to enlightenment.<ref name="Trungpa Gimian 2019 p. ">{{cite book | last=Trungpa | first=Chögyam | last2=Gimian | first2=Carolyn Rose | title=Shambhala : The Sacred Path of the Warrior | publication-place=Boulder, Colorado | date=2019 | isbn=978-1-61180-692-2 | oclc=1105218701 | page=8}}</ref> They were encoded into a [[Shambhala Training]] series offered widely throughout the community. In 1979, Trungpa Rinpoche empowered his eldest son, [[Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo]], as his successor and heir to the Shambhala lineage.<ref name="chronicleproject.com" /> |
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In 1986, Trungpa moved the international headquarters of [[Vajradhatu]] to [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax, Nova Scotia]], where he died the following year. A large number of his students emigrated from the United States to Nova Scotia along with him. |
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===Leadership by Ösel Tendzin=== |
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Trungpa Rinpoche died in 1987, and a senior American student named Thomas Rich, whom Trungpa Rinpoche had given the title Vajra Regent [[Ösel Tendzin]], assumed leadership of the organization. Tendzin acted as spiritual head of Vajradhatu until around 1989. In December 1988, the community learned Tendzin had passed [[HIV]] to a male partner in the Colorado congregation, who in turn unknowingly infected his female partner.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Church's Turmoil |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 26, 1989 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/26/weekinreview/headliners-a-church-s-turmoil.html |access-date=July 15, 2015}}</ref> Tendzin, who was HIV-positive, knowingly had sex with students for three years without disclosing his infection, believing that his spiritual practice protected himself and others from AIDS.<ref>{{cite news |title=Buddhist Sect Alarmed by Reports that Leader Kept His AIDS a Secret |author=John Dart |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=March 3, 1989 |url=http://www.aegis.com/news/lt/1989/LT890302.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990819001619/http://www.aegis.com/news/lt/1989/LT890302.html |archive-date=August 19, 1999}}</ref> It eventually came out that the Vajradhatu board of directors had known of the problem for more than two years and had done nothing about it.<ref>Coleman, James William. ''The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition'' (2001) Oxford University Press. Page 170.</ref> |
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===Leadership by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche=== |
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Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche renamed the organization to Shambhala International in 2000, and led it through a range of organizational forms. Also beginning in 2000, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche moved to enclose the previously secular teachings of Shambhala within the container of a new Buddhist lineage, known as Shambhala Buddhism.<ref>[http://www.shambhala.org/lodge/collaboration/index.htm Kalapa Assembly 2000 Collaborations<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020060432/http://www.shambhala.org/lodge/collaboration/index.htm |date=October 20, 2007 }}</ref><ref>Mipham Rinpoche, Sakyong. (2000) "Shambhala Buddhism". Published letter</ref> |
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In early 2018, allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct and misuse of power by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche toward his students.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2023-02-17|title=Our Story.|url=https://shambhala.org/about/our-story/|date=2 February 2023|website=Shambhala}}</ref> Following a series of reports by an initiative called Buddhist Project Sunshine<ref name="Buddhist Project Sunshine report #2">{{cite web |first1=Andrea M. |last1=Winn |first2=Carol |last2=Merchasin |url=https://andreamwinn.com/project_sunshine/Buddhist_Project_Sunshine_Phase_2_Final_Report.pdf |date=2018-08-23 |title=Buddhist Project Sunshine Phase 2 Final Report |website=andreamwinn.com |access-date=2023-02-17}}</ref> on sexual misconduct within Shambhala International, the sitting board, known as the Kalapa Council, resigned. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche stepped back from his teaching and governance roles,<ref>{{cite news|first1=Andy|last1=Newman|accessdate=2020-06-19|title=The 'King' of Shambhala Buddhism Is Undone by Abuse Report|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/nyregion/shambhala-sexual-misconduct.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 July 2018|issn=0362-4331|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Sarah|last1=Marsh|accessdate=2020-06-19|title=Buddhist group leader steps down over sexual assault claims|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/11/shambhala-buddhist-group-leader-steps-down-over-sexual-assault-claims|newspaper=The Guardian|date=11 July 2018|issn=0261-3077|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> and has not acted in a spiritual or executive leadership role within Shambhala International since that time.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2023-02-17|title=Our Story.|url=https://shambhala.org/about/our-story/|date=2 February 2023|website=Shambhala}}</ref> Shambhala International hired a law firm to investigate the allegations, and in February 2019 the investigator issued a report of its findings, which included finding a pattern of sexual misconduct and at least one credible incident of sexual assault by Sakyong Mipham.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-02-03|title=Shambhala Report Details Findings of Sexual Misconduct Against Buddhist Spiritual Leader with Strong Ties to Colorado|url=https://apnews.com/article/4b743e19212d4764b9684d19fcb625cd|access-date=2022-02-09|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}</ref> |
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===Leadership by Shambhala Board=== |
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In late 2018, a Shambhala Board of community members assumed executive leadership of the organization.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://shambhala.report/r/announcement-of-shambhala-interim-board/ |date=2018-10-11 | title=Announcement of Shambhala Interim Board |website=shambhala.report |access-date=2023-02-17}},</ref> and worked to implement third-party recommendations for addressing community harm, including a community-wide code of conduct.<ref name="Shambhala Community Care and Conduct">{{cite web |url=https://communitycare.shambhala.org/ |title=Shambhala Community Care and Conduct |website=communitycare.shambhala.org |access-date=2023-02-17}}</ref> |
In late 2018, a Shambhala Board of community members assumed executive leadership of the organization.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://shambhala.report/r/announcement-of-shambhala-interim-board/ |date=2018-10-11 | title=Announcement of Shambhala Interim Board |website=shambhala.report |access-date=2023-02-17}},</ref> and worked to implement third-party recommendations for addressing community harm, including a community-wide code of conduct.<ref name="Shambhala Community Care and Conduct">{{cite web |url=https://communitycare.shambhala.org/ |title=Shambhala Community Care and Conduct |website=communitycare.shambhala.org |access-date=2023-02-17}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 02:19, 18 February 2023
Shambhala International is the umbrella organization that encompasses many of the distinct institutions of the Shambhala spiritual community, founded by the students of the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Shambhala International links a worldwide network of urban Buddhist meditation centers and retreat centers, as well as a Western Buddhist monastery and other institutions.
History and Leadership
Foundation and Leadership by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
In 1970, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche arrived in North America. The first established center of his teachings was "Tail of the Tiger" in Barnet, Vermont (now Karmê Chöling). A second branch of the community began to form when Rinpoche began teaching at the University of Colorado. The Rocky Mountain Dharma Center was established, now known as Drala Mountain Center, near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado.
In the early 1970s, the community grew rapidly and attracted the involvement of notable figures such as Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman. In 1973, the community was incorporated in Colorado as Vajradhatu. Vajradhatu hosted visits by the Sixteenth Karmapa (head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism) in 1974, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (head of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism) in 1976, and the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in 1981.
In 1974, Naropa Institute was founded, a contemplative studies and liberal arts college, now fully accredited as Naropa University.[1]
Beginning in 1976, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche presented a series of teachings known as the Shambhala teachings to the community. These teachings presented the principle of basic goodness, and a secular rather than religious approach to enlightenment.[2] They were encoded into a Shambhala Training series offered widely throughout the community. In 1979, Trungpa Rinpoche empowered his eldest son, Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo, as his successor and heir to the Shambhala lineage.[1]
In 1986, Trungpa moved the international headquarters of Vajradhatu to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he died the following year. A large number of his students emigrated from the United States to Nova Scotia along with him.
Leadership by Ösel Tendzin
Trungpa Rinpoche died in 1987, and a senior American student named Thomas Rich, whom Trungpa Rinpoche had given the title Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin, assumed leadership of the organization. Tendzin acted as spiritual head of Vajradhatu until around 1989. In December 1988, the community learned Tendzin had passed HIV to a male partner in the Colorado congregation, who in turn unknowingly infected his female partner.[3] Tendzin, who was HIV-positive, knowingly had sex with students for three years without disclosing his infection, believing that his spiritual practice protected himself and others from AIDS.[4] It eventually came out that the Vajradhatu board of directors had known of the problem for more than two years and had done nothing about it.[5]
Tendzin died in 1990 from HIV/AIDS, and Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo, now known as Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, assumed spiritual and executive leadership of Vajradhatu.
Leadership by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche renamed the organization to Shambhala International in 2000, and led it through a range of organizational forms. Also beginning in 2000, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche moved to enclose the previously secular teachings of Shambhala within the container of a new Buddhist lineage, known as Shambhala Buddhism.[6][7]
In early 2018, allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct and misuse of power by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche toward his students.[8] Following a series of reports by an initiative called Buddhist Project Sunshine[9] on sexual misconduct within Shambhala International, the sitting board, known as the Kalapa Council, resigned. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche stepped back from his teaching and governance roles,[10][11] and has not acted in a spiritual or executive leadership role within Shambhala International since that time.[12] Shambhala International hired a law firm to investigate the allegations, and in February 2019 the investigator issued a report of its findings, which included finding a pattern of sexual misconduct and at least one credible incident of sexual assault by Sakyong Mipham.[13]
Leadership by Shambhala Board
In late 2018, a Shambhala Board of community members assumed executive leadership of the organization.[14] and worked to implement third-party recommendations for addressing community harm, including a community-wide code of conduct.[15]
Organizations within Shambhala International
Shambhala International supports more than 150 Shambhala Centres and Groups,[16] meditation communities of varying sizes in cities and towns across North and South America, Europe, and Oceania. It also supports several retreat centers and other organizations.
Below is a partial list of organizations affiliated with or managed within Shambhala International.
- Karmê Chöling (retreat center in Barnet, VT, USA)
- Dechen Chöling (retreat center in Limoges, France)
- Drala Mountain Center (retreat center in Red Feather Lakes, CO, USA)
- Casa Werma (retreat center in Pátzcuaro, México)
- Dorje Denma Ling (retreat center in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, Canada)
- Gampo Abbey (Buddhist monastery)
- Nalanda Translation Committee (Buddhist translation committee)
- Shambhala Archives (archival footage, teachings, and materials)
References
- ^ a b "11th Trungpa Chronology". Archived from the original on October 13, 2007.
- ^ Trungpa, Chögyam; Gimian, Carolyn Rose (2019). Shambhala : The Sacred Path of the Warrior. Boulder, Colorado. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-61180-692-2. OCLC 1105218701.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "A Church's Turmoil". The New York Times. February 26, 1989. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
- ^ John Dart (March 3, 1989). "Buddhist Sect Alarmed by Reports that Leader Kept His AIDS a Secret". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 19, 1999.
- ^ Coleman, James William. The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition (2001) Oxford University Press. Page 170.
- ^ Kalapa Assembly 2000 Collaborations Archived October 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Mipham Rinpoche, Sakyong. (2000) "Shambhala Buddhism". Published letter
- ^ "Our Story". Shambhala. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
- ^ Winn, Andrea M.; Merchasin, Carol (2018-08-23). "Buddhist Project Sunshine Phase 2 Final Report" (PDF). andreamwinn.com. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
- ^ Newman, Andy (11 July 2018). "The 'King' of Shambhala Buddhism Is Undone by Abuse Report". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-06-19 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Marsh, Sarah (11 July 2018). "Buddhist group leader steps down over sexual assault claims". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-06-19 – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Our Story". Shambhala. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
- ^ "Shambhala Report Details Findings of Sexual Misconduct Against Buddhist Spiritual Leader with Strong Ties to Colorado". AP NEWS. 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
- ^ "Announcement of Shambhala Interim Board". shambhala.report. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2023-02-17.,
- ^ "Shambhala Community Care and Conduct". communitycare.shambhala.org. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
- ^ "Shambhala Centres and Groups". shambhala.org. Retrieved 2023-02-17.