September 2006: Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche will welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama for his first visit to Shambhala Mountain Center on September 17, 2006. Details on this momentous occasion can be found here.

February 2006: Work continues inside The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya shown here under a fresh cover of Rocky Mountain powder. The “Stupa Crew” is working hard under the guidance of Joshua Mulder to prepare the Stupa for our busy summer and fall seasons. See more here.

August 2005: Karen Wilding (far left) and Richard Reoch (far right) join (l. to r.) Jeff Waltcher, Doria Cross and Allan Cross after the three took oaths for their new leadership positions at the Center during the Rigden Abhisheka program. Marpa Point stands in the background.

Where is all this warmth coming from? 1. Talk by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche A Very Good Year 2. Letter from Karen Wilding Statement of Financial Activities 3. 2005 & 2006 Curageous Women, Fearless Living 4. Cancer Retreat Appreciation, Balance and Service 5. Letter from Allan & Doria Cross Development Initiatives 6. Scholarships, The Great Stupa, Resident Community, Environmental Stewardship, and the Rigden Lodge What's in a Building 7. Letter from Jeff Waltcher Friends of Shambhala Mountain 8. Thank you to our 2005 donors Acknowledgements 9. Staff, Presenters & Volunteers Download PDF

“Where is all this warmth coming from?”

WE ARE MOVING FORWARD with the rapid expansion of Shambhala Mountain Center. We have accomplished a great deal already, but we need to keep the momentum going.

I expressed this view to the board of directors of Shambhala Mountain Center and to the new executive director in a meeting I had with them during the winter dathün retreat. So much is happening at Shambhala Mountain Center, I realized that we need to let our broader constituency know about this.

The continuing development, including completion of the Rigden Lodge, more staff housing and then the new dining hall, are essential to actualizing our vision. This requires tremendous effort, but we are working at the leading edge of our community. The transformation we are accomplishing at Shambhala Mountain Center is fulfilling Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s vision of planting the Shambhala meditation tradition in the West. It is one of the barometers for our community’s health and raises our windhorse.

During the dathün (monthlong meditation retreat), just seeing these projects taking shape inspired me. There has also been a further evolution in the energy at Shambhala Mountain Center: the atmosphere of compassion at the Center keeps growing.

What we have is so special, we must continue to reinvigorate our windhorse and communicate that outward. During my meeting with the board and executive director, I was asked how to deal with the fear of failure, especially when we are taking such a leap to accomplish our vision. My reply was that we must know who we are and what we are doing. For me personally, I know what I have to do. This is what I would like to encourage everyone in Shambhala to do: put our heart into our work. This is much more than just a question of financial resources. What we are doing is so personal, it is a practice for all of us. We are working for the dharma, to reduce suffering and to increase the world’s dignity. To fail at this is a thousand times better than doing nothing at all. It is not easy to be a bodhisattva in the world. We need to raise our windhorse continuously, have courage and not be afraid of death.

The visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya in September this year is a significant event for our entire community, and I am looking forward to welcoming him. We should try to get people at all levels involved in preparing for this. In the Tibetan tradition, we should offer as many opportunities as possible for people to engage with this visit. It is an opportunity to include others and leaders from society as a whole.

So much depends on our attitude. We must not slow down. People need what we have to offer. People are searching for what we have. We must integrate our principles into everything we do and establish a firm base of sane experience. We need to realize the extent of our vision and how much more powerful this place can become. As we invite others in, they will naturally ask, “Where is all this warmth coming from?”