By Travis Newbill
Floral Notes and Bardo: The Creative Chronicles of a Shambhala Mountain Resident is a regular feature on the SMC blog in which a member of our staff/community shares his experience of existing as part of Shambhala Mountain Center.
I am thankful for Shambhala Mountain Center because:
It provides me with a home, and the means for exploring a good way to live in the world. I’m grateful for the opportunity to live here, so closely with the natural world. I know the deer and the way that the foliage, and all else, shifts with the seasons. I’m grateful for the tremendous rock formations — they are characters, ever-present. I’m grateful to live in this community. The people are kind, beautiful, well-intentioned, tender, trying, transparent. The people — we are doing this together. We live 8,000 feet up in the mountains together. We eat such good food here — three times a day. My friends cook meals. They put themselves into it. They are delicious.
I am grateful to have arrived here, in this profound world of dharma. This is a place of learning and exploration. The energies here can erupt, turn me inside out, and hold me through death and birth, every day. This is a special place. It has been created by good people with hammers and nails, practices and prayers, photographs and flowers. It is in a continuous state of creation. We are creating it now.
We create Shambhala Mountain Center moment by moment, through our speech — our tone of voice, choice of words, and choice of no-words. We create it through each action, in each space — the shrine room, the office, the dance party. Every moment is consequential. We are never not-here.
I’m learning a lot about cause and effect, creation, surrender, forgiveness, and love. I’m grateful.
— November 5, 2014
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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 Shambhala Guide — a preliminary teaching position. Follow Travis on twitter: @travisnewbill