The Tampa/St. Petersburg Shambhala Meditation Group is part of an international community of urban meditation and rural retreat centers founded by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Our center, offers weekly public meditation on Sunday nights, a core curriculum of Buddhist and Shambhala teachings, as well as training in advanced contemplative practices. We invite you to explore our diverse programs designed to help people of all traditions discover their inherent sanity, gentleness and humor.
Now is a great time to join us at Shambhala St. Pete. Our center is growing and we've recently enjoyed many exciting events. Acharya Jeremy Hayward, senior teacher and close student of the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche for seventeen years, joined us to teach a Level V Shambhala Training program to a group of students completing the Heart of Warriorship, June 13-15. On the following Monday Acharya Hayward performed refuge and bodhisattva vow ceremonies for twenty sangha members. On Tuesday, the last day of his visit, Acharya Hayward gave a public talk about The Shambhala Warrior, Enlightened World, and Sacred Earth. The talk was attended by close to forty people who heard Acharya Hayward blend his backgrounds in science and Shambhala Buddhism to offer insights and suggestions for finding sanity in a crazy world and the importance of serving others.
Also this year we've been visited by Jordan Thorn, Head of Practice at the San Francisco Zen Center, we’ve offered Shambhala School of Buddhist Studies classes, such as The Path of the Bodhisattva, participated in live Shambhala Online teachings by the Sakyong and the Dorje Loppon, practiced the Sadhana of Mahamudra at every new and full moon, viewed teaching videos from Pema Chodron and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. We have completed our book study program based on Ani Pema's book Start Where You Are. We enjoyed a great turn-out for this class and it was an excellent commentary on the ancient lojong (mind training) slogans.
This fall Shambhala Online has begun to offer a monthly program called Ask an Acharya. On one Sunday a month an acharya (senior teacher) will offer a live video teaching on a selected topic. The first Ask an Acharya session was led by Acharya Eve Rosenthal on the topic of tonglen. With our newly purchased web-cam participants at our center are able to see and be seen by the Acharya to ask questions on the topic of the day or anything else that is on their mind. Please stay tuned to the calendar and weekly emails as to when these events are taking place. Pre-registration is not required, and a teacher gift of $10 is suggested.
We offer weekly nyinthun (all-day sittings) on Sundays, as well as an Open House each Sunday from 5:30-7:30pm. Please come and practice with us soon, and if you would like to receive our email updates of upcoming events please sign up for our mailing list at the top left of this page.
