On May 4 an announcement was made that Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche had created the new teaching position of Shastri. Today the Vancouver Shambhala Centre Council is happy to announce that our own sangha member, Susan Chapman, has been invited to take on this new teaching position for the Vancouver Shambhala Centre! We are very happy with her candidacy and feel that Susan has the inspiration and experience to do wonderfully in this role.

As Shastri (literally in Sanskrit, “teacher learned in the texts and commentaries”) Susan will serve as the senior teacher for Vancouver. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche has designed the position of Shastri to especially represent and teach the integrated Shambhala Buddhist curriculum, “The Way of Shambhala.” The Sakyong has initially selected around sixty Shastri candidates from the international mandala to serve terms of three years in these new teaching positions. Near the end of this article you will find a description of the Shastri position as well as a list of the other Shastri candidates chosen by the Sakyong.

Acharya Simmer-Brown notes that while shastris will serve as senior mentors, all of our other skilled and committed centre teachers are encouraged and still greatly needed to continue to teach.

The Shastris’ portfolios will include strengthening and developing our teaching mandala, bringing current understanding of the Shambhala Buddhist curriculum vision to their centres, and mentoring and training other teachers. Shastris will also support the leadership in Shambhala Centres in building community, and strengthening the vision of enlightened society so important in Shambhala.
All shastri candidates are required to attend a special Teachers’ Academy training program, At the end of the training, the new shastris will be ceremonially installed by Rinpoche. They will begin their duties in their centres in late summer or fall of 2010.

Susan’s first function as Shastri will be to lead a one-day teachers’ conference in September 2010 for all the current and future Way of Shambhala teaching staff, including all SSBS teachers, Shambhala Directors and Assistant Directors.

A little history about Susan Chapman:

Susan grew up in Vancouver and from grade one to twelve she attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart, an educational system that is highly regarded in the Shambhala community for it’s uplifted, gentle approach and authentic sense of community. During this time she also spent seven years training in dressage and other equestrian disciplines.
After becoming a student of the Vidyadhara, she spent the summer of 1974 studying with him in Colorado, at Naropa Institute and RMDC (now SMC). She was a member of our Vancouver center from it’s founding until 1979, when she moved to Boulder with her three year old son, Sheehan. For the next nine years she studied and practiced intensively with Rinpoche and became authorized as a dharma teacher, a Shambhala director and a Vajrayana meditation instructor. In 1983 she completed an MA degree in Buddhist and western psychology at Naropa and later became licensed as a marital and family therapist.
In 1988 Susan moved to Juneau, Alaska to work as clinical director for a community counseling center. There she met her husband, Jerry, and began to teach evening classes on Buddhism and Shambhala. In 1990 she founded the Juneau Shambhala Center. Seven years later she and her husband left Juneau to participate in the three year retreat at Sopa Choling, located at Gampo Abbey.
After completing the retreat, she was asked by Pema Chodron to move to the Abbey and assume the role of ‘Druppon’, or retreat leader, for Sopa Choling. She served as Druppon for six years, starting in 2002, with the guidance of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Pema Chodron and Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. In this capacity her main efforts were to cultivate an uplifted and gentle community within the three year retreat, as well as instructing and leading the retreat. During that time she also continued to teach SSBS, Heart of Warriorship and Sacred Path programs and led a Rigden ngondro retreat.
In 2008 she and Jerry returned to the Vancouver area to be closer to her aging parents and family. She was Head of Practice for the 2009 vajrayana seminary at Dechen Choling and led the month long 2010 mahamudra retreat at Karme Choling. She is currently writing a book on Mindful Communication and running a small business that offers workshops on community building.

We are happy for her new position and feel lucky that she is with us in Vancouver.

Congratulations, Susan!

With much gratitude,
The Vancouver Shambhala Centre Council

Practice and Study Pillar:
The Teaching Stream

For some time now, the Sakyong has been strengthening the Pillar of Practice and Education throughout the Shambhala Mandala, along with the pillars of government and the pillar of protection (the Dorje Kasung).

Within the pillar of Practice and Education, the Sakyong has envisioned a hierarchy of appointed teachers, similar to the structure of the Dorje Kasung. Similar to his role as the Makkyi Rabjam, the supreme commander of the Dorje Kasung, the Sakyong is the ultimate leader and mentor of all of the teachers in Shambhala. He has clarified the hierarchy of teachers, including the role of the new senior teachers, the shastris, (literally in Sanskrit, “teacher learned in the texts and commentaries”). The hierarchy of teachers will now flow from the Sakyong to the acharyas, from the acharyas to the shastris, and from the shastris to the local and regional teachers and meditation instructors.

Teaching Stream:

The Sakyong
The Acharyas
The Shastris
Local Teachers, Meditation Instructors, Assistant Directors
Shambhala Guides

The Sakyong’s leadership in the areas of curriculum and pedagogy, as well as the mentorship of teachers and meditation instructors, is most frequently communicated through the acharyas, and in particular through the Kalapa Acharya, Adam Lobel, the Dean of the Teacher Academy, Judith Simmer-Brown, and the Ashe Acharya, John Rockwell. The acharyas will continue in their broader roles as senior teachers of Shambhala. They will also mentor the shastris who will teach and provide mentorship to teachers on more local and regional levels.

Shastri functions.

• Communicating the Shambhala Buddhist path. The shastri’s role is to bring the current understanding of the Shambhala Buddhist vision and teachings to their centres, to be a reference point for questions about the path, and in particular to help establish The Way of Shambhala curriculum as the core path.

• Teaching. The shastri position is a teaching position, empowered to present the Way of Shambhala and to guide others in offering these teachings.

• Mentoring and strengthening the local teaching mandala. A major role of the shastri is to personally bring along other teachers and meditation instructors in the local centre, as appropriate. This role includes:

o Peer support and review.
o Training and updating local teachers on teachings methods and skills.
o Drawing on the expertise of local senior teachers to help the Shastri provide mentorship to local teachers and meditation instructors in their areas of strength.
o Considering and providing continuing education opportunities to teachers and meditation instructors at all levels.

• Providing path guidance to students of all levels.

• Providing feedback to the Office of Practice and Education on the Way of Shambhala curriculum, based on the local teaching team’s experience of teaching it.

• Collaborating with the local leadership.

o Choice of teachers. The shastri will participate in semi-annual meetings with the local Director of Practice and Education at the centre(s) they work with to discuss the best usage and mentorship of individual teachers. The shastri’s role is to exchange insight with the practice and education director about how best to mentor the students and local teachers, rather than to choose teachers for each course. The Director of Practice and Education then invites teachers and meditation instructors based on these discussions and on the authorizations from the Shambhala Office of Practice and Education. Should the shastri seriously disagree with the choice of a teacher for a particular program, the shastri’s view would predominate.

o Scheduling. Shastris will be invited to centre scheduling meetings to contribute to the development of the centre calendar.

o Teacher authorizations and suspension of authorizations. The Shastri would be a key person to work with local authorization questions in consultation with the local director of Practice and Education and the Shambhala Office of Practice and Education. The Shambhala Office of Practice and Education has the sole authority to authorize a teacher or meditation instructor, or to suspend their authorizations.

o Helping to create personalized paths and practices for students who miss Levels or courses or need additional support for various reasons.

o When appropriate, working together with committees on Health and Well-Being, or the Desung Arm, on the psychological health of students and teachers.

The relation of the shastris to the leadership of the local Shambhala Centre.
The shastri, together with the Director of Practice and Education, represent the Pillar of Practice and Education at the local Shambhala Centre. The shastri holds the teaching seat of the pillar, whereas the Director of Practice and Education is responsible for all executive functions in the areas of Practice and Education. The functions of the Director of Practice and Education are spelled out in the Role Description for that office. If there is an irreconcilable difference of opinion between the shastri and the Director of Practice and Education that cannot be resolved by the Director of the Shambhala Centre, the matter may be referred for higher-level resolution to the Director of Practice and Education of Shambhala and the Kalapa Acharya.

Shambhala International Shastris May 2010

1. Canada

Halifax
Benoit Cote
Mary Campbell
David Sable

Montreal
Ani Lodro

New Brunswick (Fredericton, Moncton, and St. John)
Veit Weber

Ontario
Henry Chapin (includes Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston, Mississauga, etc.)

Smaller centres and groups in Nova Scotia (Saint Margaret’s Bay, Mahone Bay, Yarmouth, Dartmouth, Annapolis, Wolfville, Truro, Antigonish, Cape Breton)
Christine Sloan
Alice Haspray

Vancouver
Susan Chapman

Victoria, BC
Becky Hazell

2. Europe
Austria
Otto Pichlhöfer

France
Cathérine Eveillard
Dominique Malardier
Chris de Block

Germany
Marburg
Jutta Alberti

Hamburg
Friedrich Spengelin
Beate Kirchhof-Schlage

Cologne
Sabine Rolf
Arnd Riester

Munich
Petra Drummer

Southern Germany
Dorothea Gaedecke
Netherlands
Marianne Bots
Hans Zwart
Cor Laven

Spain
Alfonso Taboada

Switzerland and Italy
Daniele Bollini

United Kingdom
Peter Conradi
Jim O’Neill
Orhun Cercel

Ukraine
Jane Hope

3. Latin America

Chile
Magali Meneses
Jaime Sepulveda

Mexico
Lourdes Alvarez

4. New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific
Marian Bond

5. United States of America

Austin
Larry Higgins
George Hasty (recently deceased, awarded posthumously)

Baltimore
Andrew Sacamano
Linda Catling

Bay Area:
Charlene Leung
Melissa Moore
Alan Schwartz

Birmingham and Atlanta
Chuck Whetsell

Boston
Frank Ryan
Carolyn Krusinski
Diana Evans

Boulder
Holly Gayley
Samten Kobelt

Chicago
Marita McLaughlin (and Minneapolis)
David Stone

Denver
Jeffrey Stevens

Florida
Gayle Van Gils

Karme Choling and Region
Bill Brauer

Lexington
Shelley Heinz

Los Angeles:
Pam Bothwell

Milwaukee
Alan Anderson

New York City
Ethan Nichtern

Philadelphia
Alexander deVaron

San Antonio
Betsy Pond
Linda Mockeridge (and Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana)

Seattle and Portland
Ben Hines
Matthew Lyon

Shambhala Mountain Centre
Dan Hessey (and regional)

Washington, DC
Jerry Webster

There has been a surge of interest lately concerning membership! This is great news.

Recently, the current Membership Coordinator (Lisa Steckler - your correspondent) was invited to the the Monday night Pema Chodron class to say a few words to the participants about membership. That visit was met with a lot of interest; people also had the opportunity to express their interest in various volunteer possibilities. This is so helpful as we try to get more clarity, energy and organization in order to magnetize more people interested in helping spread the Shambhala vision.

Here are are some of our newest Vancouver Shambhala Members!
please give them a warm welcome:

• Anne Thompson
  
• Christian Monks
  
• Donna Lee
  
• Edmond Butler
  
• Genny Lau
  
• Hillary Davies
  
• Olin Quam
  
• Sean Matvenko
  
• Sue Barlow

If you or someone you know would like to receive more information about Membership or volunteering, please contact Lisa at membership@vancouvershambhala.org.

IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING EFT PAYMENTS: If you are currently paying your membership dues with EFT’s (electronic fund transfers) please note that the bank has requested that new paperwork be filled out by everyone. We are working on this so please stay tuned for more info and what you can do to help fill out these forms.  And so, ahead of time, we “Thank You” for your patience!

Entering The Desung Path
October 2nd - 4th, 2009
Vancouver Shambhala Centre

Free Friday Evening Talk at 7:30
Weekend Program $60*

“So what we are actually doing is trying to protect people’s access to basic goodness, people’s access to primordial harmony or primordial bliss. We do that by creating environments in which people are able to experience their own inherent basic goodness. It’s been our experience that, in order to create such an environment we need to experience, or rest in, our own basic goodness.”

- David Whitehorn, Rupon
David Whitehorn, Rupon, Education Officer for the Desung Arm of the Dorje Kasung, will lead this weekend training along with Kenchen Dan Peterson, Garuda Region Desung Commander. Desung means “Bliss or Harmony Protector”. Desung support individuals with physical and emotional challenges, promote community health and well-being, and assist when there is conflict in the Shambhala community. Desung are active liaisons with Center administrators, Shambhala Buddhist teachers, meditation instructors and others who have an active interest in health and well-being, so this program especially welcomes both Kasung and non-Kasung to participate together in exploring the Desung Path. This is a great opportunity to explore ways we can bring our practice of basic goodness to the path of creating enlightened society. Members of the Dorje Kasung who complete this weekend are eligible to apply for membership in the Desung Arm.

Billeting for individuals who travel to Vancouver will be available, however please contact Anatta Harding via e-mail at rusung.vancouver@gmail.com as soon as possible. Questions about this program can go to Dan Peterson at peterhana@comcast.net.

* Efforts have been made to keep the program cost low to encourage greater participation, however if the program fee is a barrier and you would like to assist during the weekend and also be a participant, please contact Anatta Harding to make alternate financial arrangements.

Entering the Desung Path - Vancouver Flyer

Welcome to Ordinary News, the web blog of Vancouver Shambhalas. We’ve only just begun here (though the Vancouver Center has been active since 1974). “Ordinary News” was for many years the name of our “dead tree” newsletter. Stay tuned for announcements, offerings, teachings, reports and everything from the kitchen sink aspects of dharma to the vast blue sky.