Last Sunday the sun shone bright as we opened Shambhala Mountain Center’s doors for our first open house of the season. It started at 10:30a.m. with a long string of visitors slowly making their way down the path from the entrance parking lot towards Sacred Studies Hall to receive Meditation Instruction from the SMC Rusung Zane Edwards.

After sitting practice, SMC’s Executive Director Michael Gayner welcomed us to the Center, and we introduced ourselves and shared our motivation for attending. Many visitors were there for the first time and expressed a curiosity and interest about SMC. As one participant said, “I’ve always wanted to come here; I guess I was just looking for an excuse.”

After the introductions, Jim Tolstrup gave a talk on “Ecology and Sacred Outlook towards Environment,” weaving together current ecological challenges, the fascinating history of the SMC land, and meditation in action. Check the blog next week for our first Podcast of Jim’s talk.

A round of questions followed during which a visitor asked, “what’s the greenest thing you could do if you had to choose just one thing?” Jim replied without pause, “love everything you come into contact with.”

After coming together for lunch, Michael Busby led the group to the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya. Bringing the newcomers to one of America’s most sacred Buddhist sites was a perfect way to end the day. We hope you’ll join us for future open houses, which we are holding the first Sunday of every month.