SMC to Host Young Sangha Retreat

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Travis Newbill

By Duncan McNaught

It’s great to take time to sit and reflect in an environment that helps us uplift ourselves; to refresh by connecting with what’s important in our lives – inspiration and heart.

Young sangha members have been meeting for retreat at Shambhala Mountain Center for a number of years now, with generous pricing offered by SMC to assist those of us who often don’t have much money for retreat.

The foundation of this retreat will be to practice meditation in an “intensive” way together and to support each other in this practice. In addition, we’ll include activities such as a visit to the Kami Shrine and the Great Stupa. Depending on the skills and inclination of the attendees, we may also include Kasung drill practice, yoga, and other mindfulness-awareness practices. We’ll be living as a close community for the retreat, and we’ll plan our activities so as to include everyone.

Photo by Karen O’Hern

Here’s a brief outline of what we’ll be doing:

Friday afternoon and evening will be spent settling in. There will be an orientation and greeting after dinner.
Saturday morning we’ll meet to discuss our schedule and aspirations for the retreat.
Sunday evening we will have a celebration to formally close the retreat together.
Monday morning we are welcome to continue to use our shrine room, go up to the Stupa to practice, or hike.

You can stay for two nights (14th & 15th) for $120 or three nights (14-17th) for $180. This price includes dormitory accommodation and all meals.

To register or find out more please contact Duncan McNaught at youngsanghaboulder@gmail.com or 720-240-6575.

Floral Notes and Bardo: Stew in Space, and…How to Rule?

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Travis Newbill

Floral Notes and Bardo: The Creative Chronicles of a Shambhala Mountain Resident is a daily feature on the SMC blog in which a member of our staff/community shares his experience of existing as part of Shambhala Mountain Center.

Clapping muscles. Fangs into popsicle–shock like a bell, breastbone. Dirt in mid air–my dirt, your dirt, our dirt. Tears, mud. How else would we know this stuff but to care enough to tumble together?

~~~

President Reoch leading a fireside chat.

Everything that happens here, happens in a big way. Little things happen in big ways. It can be like throwing a dart at a barn, or being bit by a pterodactyl (rather than a mosquito).

Last weekend, President Reoch lead The Six Ways of Ruling. Amazing teacher, amazing teachings on leadership from the Shambhala tradition. To begin with–leading one’s life. My life is like a stew and I don’t feel like I’m holding the bowl or spoon. I may be the steam rising off the top, or a slice of potato. It’s a rich stew–dharma practice, romance, work, and a legitimate position of leadership within our little society.

I am trying to organize all of this stew-stuff so that it can all reside in the bowl nicely. I want folks to be able to dunk a spoon in and delight in it. What am I talking about?

I’m talking about a super rich and full life and feeling a bit off balance and not in control. It’s all good stuff. But it’s a LOT of good stuff. And I’m afraid that my neighbor’s knee is going to bump the table and hot stew is going to scold my crotch.

“Be grateful to everyone.”

Dharma–saving grace.

If my neighbor does so, I will (try to) blame myself and be thankful for the way the lava-like-stuff of my life becomes impossible to ignore, thus rousing me from my comfortable slumber.

My uncle, The Captain, says “If you ever get your shit together, you’ll then have a big pile
of shit.”

Steamy.

Trungpa Rinpoche says:

“Groundlessness is your protection.”

It’s difficult to keep track of all that is splashing around. Maybe trying to do so is the root of insanity. Stew is chaotic. Stew is good. Stew is nutritious.

I’m feeling bewildered and I trust what is happening. Versions of myself are being gobbled up by gentle breezes which I am referring to as gale force winds.

–February 4, 2014

~~~

Travis Newbill is a curious dude on the path of artistry, meditation, and social engagement who is very glad to be residing at Shambhala Mountain Center. His roles within the organization include Marketing Associate and Head Dekyong–a position of leadership within the community.

Floral Notes and Bardo: Contemplative Super Bowl Party/Groundhog Day

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Travis Newbill

Brighter still, the glow. In the hallway, we were strangers, now your freckles are almost unbearable.

~~~

Before celebrating friendship via Super Bowl party I celebrated Groundhog Day with Heather. It’s an important holiday for her. We had a nice morning walk around the land, to the Stupa. Maple the prairie dog saw her shadow.

Delicious Colorado beer and all sorts of lovely conversation–dharmic, about being an artist, relationship stuff, society stuff. Friendly talk on all sorts of topics, the game was on in the background. Focusing on the television felt unnatural. It was difficult to do–I’m way out of practice. There were warm bodies in the room, there was no center of attention–especially not the TV. The beer was delicious. The conversation was heartfelt, so enjoyable. Great laughs, and I tried to explain the connection between Phish (my favorite artistic entity) and the Seattle Seahawks, while the Seahawks beat the poo out of our hometown team. I was rooting both for Payton Manning, who was the clear candidate for storybook hero event, but also rooting for Phish. Not so much the Seahawks, but I’m always rooting for Phish.

The Super Bowl party was held at a big house just off the land called Hayagreeva.

Here’s a line that came up in conversation:

“We shit in clean drinking water.”

–February 2

~~~

Floral Notes and Bardo: Love is a BOOM

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Travis Newbill

A thousand things we can’t see, in our tea-cup, and yet our
reflection on the surface–warm, cooling, gone.

Mr. Cushman sent out a homework assignment for Joy class—

Question 1. Contrast “awakened heart” and “love”

On my way up to the Stupa yesterday afternoon to do chores, I let the question bounce around and eventually said to myself:

Love is a more complete exhalation
Awakened heart is a spark, love is a fire
Awakened heart is a pop, love is a BOOM
Awakened heart is a nod, love is surrender

~~~

I have felt myself become a bit slack in my Dekyong duty recently. This weekend I’m participating in a program called The Six Ways of Ruling, which will be lead by Richard Reoch, the President of Shambhala. I had the honor of interviewing him about the teachings recently. The program will present Shambhala teachings on leadership, which were only transmitted in secret until fairly recently. I feel like this may give the Dekyong-Me a needed shot in the arm.

This morning I was photographing a snow-covered tree stump, I sensed and heard a person pass by behind me. I sensed that it was President Reoch. It was. His presence is so warm, inspiring, genuine. I’m really looking forward to the teachings, and the whole weekend.

–January 31

~~~

Floral Notes and Bardo: Things I Like, Yum

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Travis Newbill

Funky rhythm, sweet peaks. I can taste her all the time. Groggy, high, and love-struck lately.

Heather tasting the snow:

In other news:

The other night at dinner…it was Erik’s birthday. We didn’t have a cake or candles for him, so we kept suggesting that he make a wish before blowing our minds. Erik is a mind-blowing sort of guy–super sharp intellect and full of amazing facts and figures. Most importantly, though, he gets a huge kick out of the whole thing. His smile is blinding. He’s fascinated by reality. He wants to know about everything.

He requested that we not sing the traditional birthday song for him, but instead, sing the Shambhala birthday song. He likes that one.

“We wish you a cheerful birthday!
A joyous and cheerful birthday!
To our friend _________
We wish you a long, long, life!”

Unfortunately, none of us at the table could remember the tune on Erik’s birthday–It was a wake up call for us. Now, Heather has initiated a Birthday Committee, which will ensure that people’s birthdays are celebrated in a wonderful way according to their wishes.

Here is a meme featuring Erik:

Yesterday we passed out surveys, asking people how they would like their birthdays to be celebrated. The first section of the survey was:

“What are three things that you like?”

I’m tempted to share some of the odder responses to the prompt, but taken out of the context of this adorable mountain community, they may not be as hilarious or even seem okay. Anyway…

Here are three of my favorite things:

1. Phish
2. Bubbles
3. Mangoes

–January 30

~~~

Floral Notes and Bardo: A Crazy Thing I Made

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Travis Newbill

Ghost-pepper sneeze of truth, came out a like a face-fart aspiring to be a sonnet. If you love me, you’ll understand. If you love me, you must be able to accomodate these types of things. If we’re going to really be friends, you must forgive farts of all sorts and be unafraid to cry if pepper dust from my stupid-sneeze hits you in the eye. I’m sorry. I forgive you. Thank you. I love you. A formula for friendship?

~~~

This is Avajra John posing with a crazy thing I made for him.

The other night an impromptu gathering in Heather’s room–craft jam. I made a crazy thing for Avajra John, Heather made New Year’s cards for her Vietnameese friends, and Dorian worked on a figure drawing. I’ve been up past my bedtime so much recently. I’ve not been singing in the morning the last couple of weeks–I miss that and need to start it back up. I’ve been tired in my days. Yesterday I did a live video-interview with a wonderful mindfulness teacher, Shastri Janet Solyntjes. I was so sleepy that I was concerned that my brain would go numb and our conversation would poo-out. But, it went well. I think that she skillfully transmuted my sleepiness into wakefulness. Good teacher. Later, in lojong class, I didn’t have any questions for teacher–which is a rare thing. Usually I have too many.

I try to be careful but open with my speech. It sucks to say stupid things. Here is a lojong slogan which is helping me handle the psychological aftermath of having said something stupid:

“When the world is filled with evil, Transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi.”

Basically swapping “Oh shit” with “Okay”–viewing the whole thing as a learning process. That’s my interpretation and application, anyway.

~~~

It’s about time to step up my Dekyong game. It’s fallen off a bit recently along with the singing. I’m glad to report that the meditation practice is as consistent as ever. That’s the most crucial thing.

–January 29

~~~

Cupid and the Buddha: Acharya Allyn Lyon Discusses Love

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Brianna Socha

Love it or lump it, it’s February and Valentine’s Day is approaching. Nevermind the consumerism, let’s get to the heart of the holiday—love. In Buddhism, the word love is deeply nuanced and embraces the totality of our experience—both the joy and the tears. In the teachings on loving-kindness, it is unconditional and extended to everyone, including ourselves. We interviewed Acharya Allyn Lyon, a senior teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist tradition, about the complex relationship between loving-kindness and romantic love.

What is loving-kindness?

Loving-kindness is fundamentally letting people be who they are and being interested in who they are. It also includes wishing others well. Wishing that all beings could be happy, that they could be free from suffering and that they realize their basic goodness. You start with a wish and an intention. Then you do what you can to be helpful.

How does romantic love tie in with loving-kindness?

Romantic love is always a challenge because it often begins with infatuation. Infatuation is not seeing others as they are. You leave out a lot. You see the part of them you really like and you can ignore very skillfully the parts that will become irritating to you in the long run. So infatuation is always dangerous and frequently short-lived because you can only ignore things for so long. This doesn’t mean you can’t be touched by people. You can really appreciate them. You can love them. But it’s important to love who’s really there, rather than your edited version of who’s really there.

How can we practice loving-kindness in our relationships?

You start with just appreciating people for being who they are. This is done primarily by learning to listen and using all of your sense perceptions. You let them tell you about themselves, rather than working with our projections on how we think they ought to be. What we think is going on, whether we are right or wrong, is still our projection. So you find out from them what’s happening. Be aware of body language. You then create a lot of space for them to be who they are.

What’s another good way to find out who someone really is?

Be together at a dharma center. (laughs)

[Note: Shambhala Mountain Center is currently accepting job applications]

How do you practice loving-kindness when a relationship ends?

What I discovered was that when every passionate relationship ended–whether it was one way or two way–we were usually still friends. It does not have to end by being angry, disappointed or hurt. You can appreciate the whole process and you can be friends. Or you may discover you really don’t like them. Then you can learn a lesson about how blinding infatuation can be, because the person you fell in love with and the person who is really there had nothing to do with each other.

How can we use relationships in our practice?

You try the romantic thing enough times and you suffer enough disappointment that you begin to appreciate that it isn’t what you think it is. Then you can certainly have a partner. It’s great for Mahayana practice, it really is. But you really have to make friends with the person that you’re with. Really be friends and not have some glowy illusion about how it’s supposed to be.

We have preconditioned attitudes about what relationships are. All of these ideas are culturally conditioned whether it’s by Hollywood, our parents, our schools, or our churches. But rarely are relationships like that. That is actually the process of getting into your conceptual mind and exposing these preconceived ideas about how things should be or how things are and discovering that they’re not. The path gives you the opportunity to do that, but you are bound to not like everything you discover. After awhile it gets funny and it’s not so bad.

What is the best way to experience love?

Be touched by the suffering of others and be touched by the happiness of others without being envious or jealous. It all has to do with allowing yourself to be touched. Joy is part of that, as well as sadness.

Avajra John Presents: The Perfect Rice

Posted on February 3, 2014 by admin

By Travis Newbill

In order to clarify the confusion of all sentient beings attempting to make rice, we present another installment of Avajra John‘s pithy kitchen wisdom.

There are quite a few different approaches to making rice. Each of the different approaches works well. This can be confusing. There are some 40,000 varieties of rice from around the world. Short-grain and long-grain brown rice, basmati rice, jasmine rice, Arborio, and Koshihikari from Japan are some commonly available varieties. In each of these different rice cultures around the world, there are recipes for making perfect rice that is considered a high art within that culture. So let’s simplify this and start at square one:

Cook the rice on the stove top or in the oven.
Use a pot or pan with a good, tight-fitting cover.
Use the proportion of one cup of rice to one and a half cups of water.
Use cold water.
Put the rice and the water together in the pot or pan and cover tightly.
Bring the rice and water to a boil.
Then turn down the heat to medium low.
The white rice varieties will take 25 to 35 minutes to cook. The brown rice varieties will take longer usually 45 or 50 minutes.
Try to keep the cover on the rice for the whole cooking duration (check it if you must, but keep this to a minimum).
After cooking, let the rice rest with the cover on.
Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.

Floral Notes and Bardo: Sunday Stuff, Nice

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Travis Newbill

What is there to devour? My expectations?

Soft snow falling out the window. It’s going to pile up. We’re going to make snow beasts. We talked about it yesterday and wished for the materials. Snow, snow, snow…

Some stuff on a Sunday:

Morning meditation, wrote a bit and then my dishwashing shift, contemplating lojong slogans while scrubbing pots and pans. Afterwards, kernels klanging against a metal pot, fun music–friendly cooks helped me make popcorn. I dusted it with nooch (nutritional yeast, yum). Plans to watch a movie later.

Heather and I had lunch together, called our moms on the phone… During a lull in conversation with my mom, I heard her ask her mom:

“Have you smelled anything interesting recently?”

We did laundry and cleaned our rooms. Laundry was adventurous–I won’t say why. I will say that it was fun watching our clothes tumble around.

After our chores were completed we sat on a bench. The sky became pastel magic. We got up and walked around, stopped in the middle of a snowy meadow, layed down and watched the rest of the sunset. Then, hiked up a hill and snuggled into a rock-boulder-sofa-nook together and gazed out over the valley. Heavy purple clouds. The occasional voice-echo from somewhere. Mostly…stillness. Gently swaying pine tree beside us. Clumps of pine trees scattered. Rock formations all around. The Stupa to the south. Stillness. How did we get here?

Before it got too dark we climbed back down the rocks, held mitten hands walking back across the meadow, across the land. Just in time for dinner–Amazing restaurant quality Italian meal, warm bread, fancy olives and all. We sat at a corner table. It felt like a booth.

She said: “Some standards can be observed even on top of a mountain”

After dinner we grabbed the popcorn and some other goodies which I had stashed and walked across the icey land again to the little Elkhorn House–which is our community hangout space. It has a big screen TV, games, a piano, a great sound system, and sofas. This stuff was generously donated as gifts to the staff.

We made pepermint tea, cuddled up on a sofa beneath a tie-dye blanket and watched a bizarre movie. We didn’t budge when the film ended and so the DVD looped and the movie started again. We peeled ourselves up about half way through, bundled in our coats and boots, and stepped outside. Snow. We walked across the land again–her flashlight pointed down at the ground and mine up, illuminating the snow flurries (warp speed, star-travel). Finally arriving to our clean, cozy lodge rooms. Goodnight.

It’s still snowing. This morning I hit her with a snowball. She picked it up and threw it back at me. Then we looked at the pretty snowflakes landing on the sleeves of our jackets.

–January 27

~~~

Floral Notes and Bardo: Thank You, Catfish

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Travis Newbill

They’ll gallop beyond their bodies…
Bones in a meadow, scattered,
vultures have eaten well.

The above picture was drawn by Catfish, who was visiting for the weekend. He also gave me a 200 year old Japanese tea pot. It spent about 100 years in the mud by a river, I’m told. Wow…

~~~

A refreshingly warm morning, walk to the Stupa, pausing, gazing at a big sky, all was so quiet.

“Open your territory completely, let go of everything.” —CTR

Contemplating the suffering in the world and giving away all delight–the glow deepened. Everything so rich, cool, fresh. A long, beautiful practice session in the Stupa.

Afternoon spent in conversation. Too much talking. Another hour on the cushion before dinner, then Joni Mitchell in the headphones for a while, and then some time with Heather. She was at a restaurant earlier and brought me a picture that she colored. She asked me to add some words.

We were talking a bit about Shambhala, and about being a lil’ pair of adventurous art-flowers, spreading seeds. I say: May wild-art blossom all over the place.

I’ve borrowed this phrase from one of my key teachers:

“Occupy Shambhala”

~~~