Pioneer Valley Shambhala Center

Shambhala Training Level 1

The Art of Being Human with Mark Seibold & Mariah Freemole

Sept 13 - 15 Fri evening through Sunday afternoon

The practice of mindfulness awakens a powerful transformational potential in our hearts and minds. The Art of Being Human weekend provides both practical instruction for meditation practice and a view of how that practice can manifest in our lives.

The Art of Being Human is the first in a sequence of five weekend retreats that are an integral part of the Way of Shambhala core curriculum offered at all Shambhala Centers. The weekend provides a strong foundation in mindfulness-awareness meditation practice and emphasizes the development of genuine confidence, humor, and personal dignity within the complexity of daily life.

This weekend program includes meditation instruction, meditation practice, one-on-one meetings to clarify questions, talks by experienced teachers, and group discussion. Additionally, it provides an opportunity to meet others looking to develop and deepen the practice of meditation, insight, and compassion.

More information: https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=738153

For our Sangha
We need to make a significant improvement to our monthly deficit (now over $900/month). Our primary focus is on sharing our space with our synergistic individuals/groups. We need your help in spreading the word. If we can’t find a way to make up this shortfall, we will not be able to renew our lease in February. We will have to move. Please help us raise positive energy and connections so that we can stay in our beautiful and vibrant space. Send inquiries to [email protected]

Share our Space!
Beautiful downtown Northampton space to share. Entry area, full kitchen, two bathrooms, skylight, hardwood floors, large rooms, windows. Heat/hot water/wifi included. Rent will be determined based on usage consistency, frequency, and synergy of purpose. We have time available each weekday. Other times (e.g., Monday nights) may be available on a case-by-case basis.

Julia Volkman
Finance Director, Pioneer Valley Shambhala Center

Embodying the Four Immeasurables
Part 2: Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity

September 10 - October 29, 6:30 -8:00pm
8 Tuesday evening sessions, alternating between in-person and online

During this workshop, you are welcome to continue what was started in the spring- or to join anew- in deep study and practice of the Four Immeasurables: loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. The focus this fall is on the remaining two: sympathetic joy and equanimity. In contrast to emotions such as attachment, hate, and jealousy, the four immeasurables derive their transformative, liberative power from their ability to open us up to the world around us, allowing us to touch in to our basic wealth that is always here, right now.

For more info and registration : https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=737461

Starts 8/31/24: “White Awareness Insight Curriculum for Uprooting Privilege (WAIC UP!): White and Awakening in the Dharma” is an 8-class curriculum that invites white participants into deep reflection, meditation practice and community discussion around race and privilege. For more information visit: https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=713155

The New Dawn - An Animated Scribing From Jayce Pei Yu Lee This animation is based on the recent article from Otto Scharmer, you can read it here: http://bit.ly/JustBeforeTheDawn What does the emerging dawn of the ce...

As of Sunday, June 16: Sunday Open Sitting will start at 10:00am and end at 11:30am. Except for the first Sunday of each month when sitting will start at 9:30am, followed by a dharma talk and pot luck community sharing. Come for as much as you like. FREE. See https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org

For more info.

Great talk by Ethan Nichtern. Great company.

In these turbulent and polarizing times, how do we find the confidence to navigate challenges? Is now really the time for meditation, for looking inward?

Meditation teacher Ethan Nichtern examines how the Buddhist concept of the Eight Worldly Winds, the four paired opposites of praise and blame, pleasure and pain, fame and insignificance, and success and failure reveal invaluable insight into our relationships with others (including teachers, friends, leaders, the disgraced, and the adored) and ourselves. Transformative meditation exercises empower us to cultivate and access our innate wisdom. More info at: https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org

“Practicing compassion opens our eyes to the interconnections between us and helps us remember that we’re part of a much larger network of beings, all trying to achieve their own well-being and fulfill their deepest aspirations.” ~ Confidence: Holding Your Seat through Life’s Eight Worldly Winds By Ethan Nichtern

Ethan Nichtern will be in Northampton, Massachusetts on June 19th. Visit https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org for more info.

Pioneer Valley Shambhala Meditation Center Pioneer Valley Shambhala Meditation Center offers free meditation instruction, community, dialog, Buddhist and Shambhala teachings, bringing mindfulness awareness training to the Western Massachusetts region. Learn to meditate. Practice Meditation.

“When we tap into the aspects of the confidence that exists innately in all humans, we can start to hold our seats more fully, whichever way the wind blows.” ~ Confidence: Holding Your Seat through Life’s Eight Worldly Winds By Ethan Nichtern

Ethan Nichtern will be at the Pioneer Valley Shambhala Meditation Center on June 19th. Come listen, purchase a book, get it signed: More info and registration here:

https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org

Ethan Nichtern’s new book “Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life’s Eight Worldly Winds” dropped May 23rd. Ethan will be at the Pioneer Valley Shambhala Meditation Center on June 19th. Come listen, purchase a book, get it signed: More info and registration here:

https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=718559

Looking forward to Ethan’s talk and book signing at Pioneer Valley Shambhala Meditation Center on June 19th.

https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=718559

How to work with inner (and outer) criticism. From Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life’s Eight Worldly Winds. Now out in paperback, audiobook and ebook by from .

Ethan Nichtern’s new book “Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life’s Eight Worldly Winds” drops May 23rd. Ethan will be at the Pioneer Valley Shambhala Meditation Center on June 19th. More info and registration here:

https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=718559

A very kind endorsement of the my book CONFIDENCE from an author I really admire. People are apparently already receiving their pre-ordered copies! Official release date is Tuesday. Audio book release date is 6/4. Online release party 5/23. NYC release party is 5/30. Events in June in Massachusetts, Chicago, Nashville, Portland and Los Angeles.

*Still Time to Register!!*
Contemplating Reality: An Introduction to the Stages of the View in Buddhism (Hybrid) with Mark Seibold

TO LEARN MORE AND TO REGISTER, CLICK BELOW:
https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=670706
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As many have experienced, even by itself meditation is beneficial and an essential part of the Buddhist path that helps to calm the mind. And yet, the goal of the Buddhist path is not simply a calm mind - it is to transform ourselves into what we have always been, to awaken fully into our basic goodness. To get the most from our meditation it is essential to study the teachings.

This is for registering for the first 6 week session in which we'll be exploring the earlier courser views of the teaching. There will be an opportunity at the end to register for the second 6 week session as well, which will examine the teachings of the Middle Way school, which presents the most subtle, final view of the tradition.

TO LEARN MORE AND TO REGISTER, CLICK BELOW:
https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=670706

The course will be led by Mark Seibold, who has been studying and practicing in the Shambhala community since 1981. He is also on the faculty of the Nitartha Institute, where he teaches the Foundational Curriculum and leads a Tibetan translation class that focuses on reading Tibetan Buddhist texts.

*Open Registration*
Shambhala Training Weekend 2: The Birth of the Warrior
With Elizabeth Peterson and Jeff Fennell
June 30th—July 2nd
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https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=637914
As we deepen our practice of meditation, noticing and learning to work with our habitual patterns, we begin to discover fearlessness - the birth of warriorship. In this retreat, Birth of the Warrior, we explore what blocks us from awakening to our full potential. The emphasis in this retreat is a gentle examination of how we use our habits to mask our fear. Through our meditation practice we gradually begin to appreciate that there is no fundamental obstacle to experiencing basic goodness.

This in-person retreat weekend provides a strong foundation in mindfulness-awareness meditation practice, with an emphasis on the development of genuine confidence, humor, and personal dignity within the complexity of daily life.

“The point of Shambhala Training is to get out of the cocoon, which is the shyness and aggression in which we have wrapped ourselves… A Shambhala warrior is someone who is brave enough not to give in to the aggression and contradictions that exist in society…who is able to step out of the cocoon--that very comfortable cocoon that he or she is trying to sleep in.” - Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Program Details

*New Class Offering*
Battle of Ego (Hybrid)
with Dr. Jonathan Michaels

https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=639212
In his early teachings introducing North Americans to the Buddhist tradition, the teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche cautioned that there could be a danger that people might “respond to Buddhism as if it were a new cult which might save them. Which might enable them to deal with the world in the manner of picking flowers in a beautiful garden. But if we wish to pick flowers from a tree, we must first cultivate the roots and trunk, which means that we must work with our fears, frustrations, disappointment and irritations, the painful aspects of life".

In this five week class, we’ll investigate how we relate to the world and to ourselves, exploring our habitual patterns that we believe will bring us happiness, and the processes which underpin them. In becoming suspicious of how effective these ancient habits are, we may well find another path available, discovering the flowers on the tree. Perhaps there is a genuine, tender, clear, and sane way to live.

https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=639212

Pioneer Valley Shambhala Center Pioneer Valley Shambhala Center offers meditation, study, and community to engender awake and good hu

https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=496837

"To live fully means to be in touch with the impermanence of living in the service of greater compassion and equanimity, like a steady bamboo reed on a windy day." ~ Anthony Tshering

"In the deepest forms of insight, we see that things change so quickly that we can’t hold onto anything, and eventually the mind lets go of clinging. Letting go brings equanimity; the greater the letting go, the deeper the equanimity." ~ Sayadaw U Pandita

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man’s-land. To experience each moment as completely new and fresh.” ~ Pema Chodron

Have a look at our new course offering:

The First Noble Truth: Meeting Suffering with Maitri
with Susan Chapman, Acharya Fleet Maull, Elizabeth Peterson, Jeff Fennell
July 13th—August 17th

This is the first in a series of five online courses exploring the profundity of the Hinayana teachings of the Buddha The course consists of pre-recorded lectures offered through Shambhala Online and live zoom gatherings for more in depth discussion and practice facilitated by Pioneer Valley Shambhala Center teachers Elizabeth Peterson and Jeff Fennell. For more information visit our website;

https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=482889

The First Noble Truth: Meeting Suffering with Maitri with Susan Chapman, Acharya Fleet Maull, Elizabeth Peterson, Jeff Fennell The suffering of samsaric existence is the blameless First Noble Truth. Such suffering is changing and impermanent, and arises from infinite causes and conditions. It feels intensely personal (mine), and, in fact, is one of the bases we use to craft our identity (me and my problems), which is called...

Please join us for a summer book club with Pema Chödrön's latest book Welcoming the Unwelcome. This gathering will be hosted in one teacher's lovely backyard in Northampton. We'll share in discussion and practices that help us open to and welcome the fullness of our experience.
Feel free to bring a snack to enjoy as well!
https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/program-details/?id=481786

(In Person) Summertime Book Group! with Janice Ragland & Mariah Freemole Please join us for a summer book club with Pema Chodron's latest book Welcoming the Unwelcome.  We will be gathering together in Janice's lovely backyard in Northampton to share in discussion and practices that help us open to and welcome the fullness of our experience.  

Community Gathering / Open House, March 7th

Join us for our monthly Open House. At 10am, we begin with sitting meditation. There will be a short meditation instruction at the beginning for those new to meditation. All are welcome!

Mariah Freemole will give the talk: Embodied Wisdom - Exploring the First Foundation of Mindfulness

Visit our website for more information:
https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/

Pioneer Valley Shambhala Meditation Center Pioneer Valley Shambhala Center offers meditation, community, dialog, and Buddhist teachings, and mindfulness training to the Western Massachusetts region.

Shambhala Training Level 2: Birth of the Warrior
March 20th—March 21st
Building on our experience and practice in Shambhala Training Level 1, The Art of Being Human, in the second Shambhala Training retreat, Birth of a Warrior, we explore what blocks us from awakening to our full potential.

Visit our website for more information.
https://pioneervalley.shambhala.org/