August 16: The Krusinski's

On Tuesday August 19th, August 23rd Shastri Krusinski will be available for office hours.  Tom Krusinski will be leading discussion on Heaven Earth and Man principals, with bamboo poles!

July 26: Rusung of the Dorje Kasung: Brian McCorkle

Brian McCorkle will be joining us to speak about Kasung.

July 19: Shastri Krusinski

On Tuesday July 19th, Shastri Krusinski will be available for office hours and will be leading discussion.

Group Discussion: Lead by Ashley

Last night we had a wonderful discussion lead by Ashley.  While taking her seat Jade led the group in the "name game" exercise.

To start the evening Ashley read the following quote which expresses the groundlessness of presenting the Dharma to a group of people.

Hearing Words of Wisdom

When we listen to a speaker, we are gathered and expectant. We expect an ideal message or certain edifying ideas from the speaker. Because of our need to satisfy our intellect and emotions and to get some security, we want to hear words of wisdom, and we remold the speaker's words to satisfy that need. We shape them and reshape them, manufacturing fixed and definite impressions from the raw materials of the speaker's words. The result is that we constantly have nothing but ourselves bouncing back on ourselves. That is always a problem. It is very difficult to find both an audience who will sit in no-man's-land and a speaker who speaks from no-man's-land. That kind of attitude is very difficult, extremely hard to find.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Ocean of Dharma, 365 Teachings on living life with courage and compassion

While being right there with her anxiety around leading discussion, Ashley beautifully lead the group into a social meditation exercise.  The gist was that we partnered up and, with our eyes closed, got in touch with the "face" we put on for others.  Doing our best to project this quality out to our partner, we opened our eyes and felt was it was to be with another person while steeped in it.  We closed our eyes again and dropped it, opening our eyes again to our partner to be with them without pretense.  


As a group, we debriefed and heard many folks different, and similar experiences with the exercise.  A number of folks expressed the first part to have a gross, or sickly sweet quality.  A number of folks described putting on a fake smile or being particularly exuberant as a way they present themselves.  Some describe a physical tension in their bodies.  Most who spoke up described the second half of the exercise to be a relief.  Especially those who had been participating in the group for some time and had experience with this sort of social meditation, and even longed for the sort of direct connection that occurs here.


Would you like to continue this conversation?  Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Something Profoundly Important

If someone asked a young person today, “Would you like to leave your comfort zone in the bustling, distracting, stimulating city of Boston and head out to the middle of nowhere with a group of other young people you probably don’t know very well to sit around and breathe…in silence?” I honestly don’t think they would jump at the opportunity and would probably raise their eyebrows at the question, but I’m glad a few of us were brave enough to go for it.

I’ve been a familiar face at the Under 30 group at the Boston Shambhala Center for the past year. No matter how mindful I think I have been or how much more significant Shambhala has become for me, nothing could have prepared me for profound exuberance I felt after a two-day meditation retreat with seventeen others from our young Sangha group.

The retreat left me almost overwhelmed with gentleness, courage, sadness, loving kindness, lightness, and a most awesome appreciation for the beautiful people who shared it with me. Unbelievable, right? Most of the time I’m sure we looked like we were pretty bored sitting there doing nothing. But I could sense an unexplainable understanding and appreciation that we were doing something profoundly important for ourselves and each other. Whether we were sitting, practicing yoga, sharing meals or tea, practicing being silent, or having fun and talking, I have no doubt that focusing on our breath and synchronizing our minds and bodies helped us connect more deeply with ourselves as well as each other.

Looking back on our interactions that weekend, I appreciate everyone for having the courage to boldly be who they are as well as kind and authentically present with themselves and others. Seeing that in my new friends helped me find bravery within myself. It was absolutely liberating to feel so close and uninhibited around people I basically only knew through the meditation group, a few whom I only had just met that weekend. It was difficult to return from the retreat, but I have definitely felt that genuine kindness and mindfulness pervading every aspect of my life since.

Although our young Sangha group has been around for some time, it has certainly blossomed over the last few months and the meditation retreat has only enhanced that. I think each person who attended the retreat has given back to the group as a whole by being even more genuine, kind, and open to everyone that walks through the center’s doors. In addition to its fearless leadership, one of the key aspects of Under 30’s success is that everyone plays a role in facilitating the creation of a safe space in which to be mindful and to have an open heart, which can be both challenging and uplifting. We have bravely made it our own. I’m so thankful that it exists and brings so much energy into my life, but I am even more grateful to everyone who has made it what it is today.