Shambhala Essay

Religion has always been a prominent part of our culture, yet is constantly changing. The stereotypes within these religions are slowly disintegrating, forcing people to become more accepting and open minded. Buddhism, specifically Shambhala, has changed what it means to be religious, focusing less on memorizing and worshipping, and more on finding the meaning to their life and who they are. The Shambhala tradition uses its rituals in order to answer questions about various other aspects of life. These rituals are derived from Buddhists myths, and form the foundation of the religion as a whole. The direct connection between ritual and myth allows Shambhala to be a transformative religion, in which it is redefining itself and our society. Shambhala

At the beginners course at the Shambhala Center, there is a step by step instruction on how to meditate for anyone who is interested. There are distinct steps to doing this, such as sitting cross legged while looking slightly down, sitting up straight, while relaxing every muscle in your body. The vibe of the room as a whole created an environment that let you completely relax and reflect. The goal of meditation is to completely detach yourself from the outside world and its problems, yet answer the questions about these very things. According to Shambhala’s buddhist roots, this meditation is to ultimately reach enlightenment. The english word for enlightenment is awakening, which is what Shambhala’s goal is for the world. This tradition took traditional buddhist teachings of enlightenment and put it into meditation, and related it to our daily lives. In The Shambhala Principle, Sakyong Mipham said “We can hear logics and theories, but ultimately change and growth occur when we are touched at a human level-when we personally feel and experience something”. Sheila, the meditation leader, made it clear that whatever came to mind while meditating meant something, and if you detach yourself from these problems, you can truly meditate. The experience changed my outlook on not only religion as a whole, but my personal view on

I was not finding an essay topic, I was finding my interest in the Buddhist tradition. Shambhala is a mixture of myth and ritual in order to change people’s lives. Without myth, there would be no ritual, and vise-versa. We are moving away from the traditional stereotypes that religion has to be a certain way and believe certain things, and instead opening up to the fact that religion can be whatever we want it to be. It is something we can put our energy into to help explain the meaning to our lives. If that isn 't considered religion, I don 't know what is. Putting less focus on rules, and more on our daily lives, Shambhala creates an environment to practice Buddhism while reflecting on society as a whole. It mixes the past with the present, allowing change to happen in the world, the goal of meditation. This has showed me how although I may not know everything there is to know about Buddhist beliefs, I can still practice it and apply it to my daily life. By taking apart of of the rituals, I want to learn more of the myths, which is how the two are connected, making the entire religion come