Tue 25 Sep 2007
My 40th birthday was on Wednesday, so I took the day off from work. I wanted to do something different and I wanted it to be something meaningful and self reflective. Going to a spa just wasn’t going to cut it. My friend Barb had been going up to the Shambhala Mountain Center, where Tibetan Buddhism is taught and practiced, on weekends at the beginning of the summer. Barb worked there on the weekends in return for lodging and meals. All summer I heard how fantastic the Shambhala Mountain center was and how she couldn’t wait to get up there the next weekend. I decided that I would like to experience the Shambhala center myself and it would be a perfect way to spend my 40th birthday. Barb was kind enough to rearrange her schedule and take me up and show me around. Let me just say ‘It was a perfect way to spend the day on my birthday’.
Before I start telling my experience of the Shambhala Mountain Center, let me first give a little background on Shambhala Buddhism and the Mountain Center. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a Tibetan Meditation Master, brought Shambhala Buddhism to Western Civilization from Tibet in the late 1960s. Trungpa founded more that 100 Shambhala Meditation Centers through out the world. He also founded the Naropa Institute, now known as the Naropa University in Boulder Colorado, where he taught the practices of Shambhala Buddhism. Trungpa taught that “there is a natural source of radiance and brilliance in the world, which is the innate wakefulness of human beings. This is the basis, in myth and inspiration, of the Kingdom of Shambhala, an enlightened society of fearlessness, dignity and compassion.” The best aspect, in my opinion of Shambhala Buddhims, is that it is accessible to people of all religions and of no religion. Trungpa taught how to incorporate meditation into everyday life. You don’t have to go to the top of a mountain for three years to find enlightment, you just need to find your own peaceful place where ever you are. Trungpa passed away in 1987, but his teachings continue on today. Trungpa’s son Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is now the head of Shambhala lineage.
The Shambhala Mountain Center is located in Red Feathers Colorado, just outside of Fort Collins. It’s about a two hour drive from Boulder or Denver. At the Mountain Center is ‘The Great Stuppa of Dharmakaya’ , the largest and most elaborate example of Buddhist sacred architecture in North America. The Stuppa alone is reason enough to journey to the Mountain center, it is amazing. There are all kinds of retreats and classes held at the Mountain Center year round.
Back to my Mountain Center experience. Barb and I arrived in the morning around 10:00 on the most perfect end of summer day. The leaves were just beginning to turn. I had no preconceived ideas on what the day would entail. I let Barb be my guide and was content to let the day unfold as it would. First we did a short 15 minute hike up to the Stuppa. There is a nice path that leads all the way up with flags on either side of the path to guide the way. When I first saw the Stuppa it looked completely out of place in the mountains surrounded by pine and aspen trees. It is a giant white very tall and oddly shaped structure with brightly painted embellishments all over it in brilliant greens, blues, yellows, reds and gold. My friend Barb actually helped paint the Stuppa this summer, which is quite on honor. One actually needs to have special qualifications to be able to paint this sacred building. During the summers while she was going to college back in Connecticut Barb painted Victorian houses to earn extra money. So, the head Stuppa painting guy gave her shot. I guess she did really good job, because she got to go back pretty much every weekend after that to help paint the Stuppa. By the way, the painting is really beautiful.
The structure of the Stuppa actually represents the Buddha sitting in his meditation position, hence the odd shape of the structure. The Stuppa is filled with Buddhist symbolism both literally and figuratively. Within the walls of the Stuppa are all kinds of Buddhist paraphernalia, like miniature stupas and Buddhist texts. I guess to give the Stuppa extra magical Buddhist juice. The Stuppa has four levels representing earth, water, fire and wind. The first level is an open area that can be entered by anyone which is very unusual for Stuppas. The other levels can only be entered by certain levels of Buddhists. I am very curious to know what goes on in those other chambers. There are four large gates on each side of the Stuppa. Before going in the Stuppa it is customary to do a walking meditation around the Stuppa. We walked around the Stuppa seven times, this symbolizes something, but I’m not sure what. I was very focused on clearing my mind, so I wasn’t at all thinking about what the inside of the Stuppa would look like. So, I was very surprised when we entered the Stuppa to have a giant, and I mean GIANT, golden Buddha staring down at me. His eyes were so intense I became a bit intimidated. He had such a stern look on his face and I felt a like he was questioning what I was doing there. I went ahead and sat on one of the meditation cushions right in the middle and settled in and went about the business of clearing my mind. Barb is a much more accomplished meditater than I, she can sit still for a very long time. I had to adjust a few times, plus I was very curious about the inside chamber. So after a while I opened my eyes and peered up at the giant Buddha. I started to meditate while looking up at him. The strangest thing happened, his face softened and I swear he smiled. Whoever built this Buddha is such an incredible artist.
Next we did another small hike up to another shrine called the Daitozan Jinja (Great Eastern Mountain Shrine) built for the deity Amaterasu-Omikami Jinja, a Japanese Sun Goddess. Not sure the validity of this story, but what I heard was that Trungpa visited Japan and the Sungoddess spoke to him and said she wanted to return with him. So there was some special ceremony and the deity came back to the states and is now a little ways up from the Stuppa. Anyway, there’s a ritual that one can do on the short hike up to the the shrine. Of course we did it and it was really nice.
Next….lunch. Lunch is served at 12:30 and it is recommended that a $7 dollar donation be given for eating lunch. Well worth it. Tibetan Buddhists are not vegetarians. I was suprised to learn this, but Barb pointed out to me that there’s not that many options for food in Tibet, given it’s high altitude, so if they did not eat meat they would starve. That works for me. So for lunch there was lamb, brown rice, seasoned tofu and a lovely little salad bar. It was delicious.
The last part of my journey was spent at the Shambhala gift shop. Great shop, all kinds of Buddhist goodies. I bought a few trinkets, including some beads, a meditation bell and tiny little green Buddhas for my kids.
Really, what a fantastic way to spend my 40th birthday. For more information here’s a link to the Shambhala Mountain Center - http://www.shambhalamountain.org/.