I went to a Shambhala meditation group for the first time today. It seemed like a really good group of folks. The parent organization, I suppose that's what you would call it? Looks good as well. What do folks here know about Shambhala and their meditation practices? Their founder? Do you like it? Thanks! (here's the organization) http://www.shambhala.org/ Peace. :daisy:
That's the son of Chogyam Trungpa right? This is an offshoot cult with its roots in Naropa Institute. I know some (one) kid who grew up in Shambala and he's fine. What I object to is the localizing and indoctrination into a personality as the representation of the ontology. That sort of thinking becomes idol worship and is then tricky to figure. You will at some point want to seperate the teaching from the community and will you be able to? I don't think so. Tibetan Buddhism is very worship heavy. You will be deeply imprinted with these figureheads. I suggest less personality cult, and more spiritual meat.
Yes, that's the founder. The group seems "religious" about him. I'm an atheist and was simply looking for a group meditation, no interest in joining a religion of any sort. The meditation itself seems secular and fairly basic. I'll probably go to the meditation groups and little else. Thanks for the reply! Peace. :daisy:
I know one guy who was a direct disciple of Trungpa, and he said Trungpa usually started people out with a mindfulness meditation with a breath focus. That's what Phil, the disciple, teaches in prisons and such. Maybe that's what you learned. If so, that's just the "training wheels". Tibetan Buddhism is very deity focused, too. Study the different schools of Buddhism and study the Naropa path, too, and see what works. About deities: Even as an atheist, you can think of them as aspects of your higher nature. They definitely have high utility and are very helpful regardless of belief.
