by Katie Bourque
Introduction
The Shambhala Mountain Center, located in the Colorado Rockies, was established in 1971 as a contemplative retreat by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan teacher and mediation master. One of the most distinctive features of this center is the presence of the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya. This piece of sacred architecture is incredibly important to the center’s visitors, as it promotes harmony, health, prosperity, peace and freedom. This center seeks to unite people in a community to experience wisdom and kindness. The incredible location includes a six-hundred acre mountain valley, allowing for a peaceful, quiet experience isolated from the distractions of everyday life. They offer a variety of lodging options from cabins and tents to rooms with modern appliances, allowing for visitors to choose exactly what kind of experience they want to have.
The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya
The Shambhala Community
The Shambhala community is a global network of temples, teachers, and visitors that aims to bring people from all different backgrounds together based on mutual desires for exploration of the self and transformative experiences. The name of the community takes its origins from the ancient Shambhala kingdom, known for its emphasis on compassion and wisdom. The legend of Shambhala tells us that the first leader of the kingdom, King Dawa Sangpo, was given a unique set of teachings on enlightened society by the Buddha himself. The Sakyongs, or “earth protectors”, are a lineage of teachers that have preserved and spread the original teachings from Tibet to the United States. The founder of this community, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, was the first modern Sakyong. He was a Tibetan meditation master given the title Rinpoche, meaning “precious one”, for his status as a rare and profound teacher. Before escaping Tibet in 1959, he led a large monastic complex and was a part of several meditative lineages. His focus in the 1970’s in particular was to emphasize respect for human dignity across the world, training his son, Mipham Rinpoche, to continue his legacy as the next Sakyong. During this period, he focused on self-reflection and meditation, realizing how necessary the ancient Shambhala teachings were to the modern world. In 1995, Mipham Rinpoche was enthroned as the next Sakyong and intensively trained on both Eastern and Western traditions, allowing him to provide a unique experience to visitors of the Center.
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Mission and Values
The Shambhala Mountain Center seeks to develop the idea that every person has an inherent nature of goodness through its community. Particularly in a time when it seems that the world is more prone to greed and anger than goodness, Shambhala teachings aim to create an enlightened society full of kind, generous, understanding people that embody confidence without competitiveness or arrogance. The center promotes ten core values to facilitate the creation of a more enlightened society. The first three emphasize recognizing the fundamental good in all people, balancing the challenges in our lives, and celebrating the diversity of everyone in the community. Four through seven deal with the importance of artistic exploration, treating everyone with consideration and decency, the importance of trust through communication and integrity, and respect for the land they reside on. The last three deal with environmental, social, and fiscal sustainability, cooperation and teamwork, and treating each other with kindness and respect
A group of visitors gathered on the terrace outside of the Great Stupa.
Code of Ethics
The code of ethics is meant to be read by all that visit, teach, or volunteer at the center in any capacity. The first part of the code touches on power and how conducting oneself ethically requires an understanding that being in a role of increased power is an opportunity to empower and protect others. These roles require mindfulness to represent Shambhala values well and to not abuse a position of authority in any way. The next part of the code pertains to feedback and accountability. They strive to give productive, respectful feedback and to hold themselves accountable, with an understanding that the purpose is for everyone to better themselves. The next two parts of the code touch on physical harm and sexual misconduct. They commit to protecting the sanctity of life, not acting aggressively towards one another, and not taking advantage of positions of authority. Speech is the next part of the code, emphasizing the importance of speaking truthful and kind words, rather than harmful gossip or misleading words. They also touch briefly on recognizing the importance of taking care of our physical bodies and not consuming excessive intoxicants. The last two parts of the code deal with working with the mind and diversity. They emphasize replacing aggression and attachment with introspection to lead to generosity, kindness, and wisdom. They also emphasize the need for each of us to address social and political oppression and to be aware of cultural differences to cultivate an accepting and loving community.
The six hundred-acre mountain valley that the Shambhala Mountain Center is located in.
The Great Stupa of Dharmakaya
The Great Stupa is one of the most sacred Buddhist structures in North America, symbolizing world peace and compassion. It is called a Lha Bab choten, and celebrates the Buddha descending from Tushita heaven. It sits in between the headland Marpa Point and large cliffs on the opposite side, serving as a balance for the two natural structures. It was first built in 1988, with construction continuing to the present day, funded entirely through donations and constructed by volunteers. Primary construction was completed by August 2001, and the Stupa was consecrated over a period of several days. The Fourteenth Dalai Lama spoke about the importance of Stupas, saying, “It has long been tradition that wherever the teachings of the Buddhas have been revered and practiced, communities of followers have built reliquary monuments known in Sanskrit as stupas and chörtens in Tibetan. And wherever they have been built, they have been regarded as sacred, for like religious images and scriptures, they represent aspects of enlightenment.” This 108-foot structure holds the relics of Chögyam Trungpa, as well as a number of Buddhist statues and works of art. The shape of the Stupa itself imitates the shape of a Buddha seated on a throne. The small, pointed structure at the top is meant to symbolize his crown, the middle section underneath this is meant to symbolize his head, the two sections underneath this represent his body and legs, and the base of the stupa represents his throne. While most stupas do not allow the public access to the inside, the Great Stupa has an assembly hall on the first floor with a golden statue of the Buddha in the center. This statue holds the skull relic of Trungpa Rinpoche inside the center of the heart. The Stupa is surrounded by a terrace on all sides, allowing visitors to walk clockwise around the monument to accrue good karma. One of the most interesting aspects of the Stupa is the sculpture of a standing Buddha located in the portal on the outside of the building. The standing Buddha is meant to symbolize Trungpa Rinpoche’s western style of teaching in which he walked around rather than standing still or sitting.
Programs
The Center offers over one hundred year-round programs to not only educate visitors on Shambhala teachings, but to provide a number of different paths for personal growth, including body awareness practices, contemplative arts, mindful living techniques, and Shambhala traditions. One of the most interesting areas of study they offer is social impact. These programs aim to educate the center’s visitors on areas extremely relevant to bettering the state of society right now, including social healing, race, gender, power, and anti-oppression. In addition to programs focused on the Shambhala training path, they offer creative outlets, such as writing, visual arts, and music workshops. They also focus on teaching meditation and yoga as means to allow visitors to become more in touch with their bodies and more mindful of those around them.
The statue of the Buddha on the first floor of the Great Stupa that contains the relics of Trungpa Rinpoche.
Conclusion
Something that I found quite interesting was the standing statue of the Buddha meant to emulate Trungpa Rinpoche’s western style of teaching. This type of sculpture is unique to the Shambhala mountain center, as sculptures typically portray a sitting Buddha. I really liked the idea of an ambulatory style of teaching because it feels as though there is more interaction between the teacher and the students. I also enjoyed learning that the entire skull relic of Trungpa Rinpoche resides inside the center of the heart of the Buddha statue on the main floor of the stupa. The stupa is meant to symbolize a transformative, motherly presence that can bring change from forms of the past to forms of the future. The fact that the relics sit within the center of this piece of architecture promote the idea of using Trungpa Rinpoche’s views on bettering society with his teachings from the past to create a more compassionate and enlightened world.