I had every intention to return to the Richmond Buddhist temple yesterday morning for meditation instruction and more yummy vegetarian Chinese food. I would have done so had it not been for one very important obstacle.

I had to get up at 7 am.

Now, I understand that this isn’t a very impressive number, but I am not a morning person. If there is something to be done that early in the morning that will not carry serious repercussions if I missed it, then I would rather not face such an abysmal hour.

However, I am rather ashamed of not attending, and I have promised myself that I will attend the next one in June to make it up to myself. Not only that, but today I will be making a series of posts on the various paths of Buddhism, starting with:

Shambhala Buddhism

The ideal end of this form of Tibetan Buddhism is the enlightenment of all people to create a perfect, enlightened society.  In order to achieve this end, one spends time in meditation in order to awaken their true potential and use this potential to better interact with the external world.  Shambhala is the enlightened kingdom that can be created if we can train ourselves toward this end.

This path of Buddhism grew out of the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist monk.  The beliefs and practices are very similar to the Mahayana philosophy of Buddhism, that the goal is to help all individuals achieve enlightenment and Buddhahood.  The practices and training which they offer in order to gain the insights necessary to bring about Shambhala are very secular- open to everyone of every religion and walk of life, regardless of your religious or spiritual beliefs.  It is a very practical school of Buddhism- helping you to gain greater insight to help deal with events in your daily life.

More to come!