Unless otherwise stated, all events, programmes, classes and courses take place at the London Shambhala Meditation Centre in Clapham. Please see Location Map for directions. Evening sessions usually begin with a short session of meditation.
This ongoing practice session and discussion group provides an incredible opportunity to meet other young people from the London area. Anyone who already has a meditation practice in any Buddhist tradition, or would like to start one, is encouraged to attend. Meditation instruction is available, free of charge. The evening includes meditation instruction, sitting, reading and discussion. Tea, cookies, and a possible trip to the local pub afterwards.
This night occurs every other Wednesday night starting from the 17 February 2010. Please note: Youth Nights will not be taking place during July 2010.
For further information please email Kathy at
From 7:30pm to approximately 9:30pm
Free of charge
WEEKEND PROGRAMMES
Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 August
Opening the Good Eye
Miksang Photography
Please note that this programme is organised by Miksang Europe and will not take place at the London Shambhala Meditation Centre but at the Shooting Star, 125-129 Middlesex Street, London E1 7JF (near Liverpool Street).
Miksang is a Tibetan word which translates as ‘Good Eye’, and is based on the Shambhala and Dharma Art teachings of the late meditation master, artist, and scholar Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche.
'Opening the Good Eye' is an introduction to the discipline and delight of direct seeing and perception-based photography. During the three-day course the students will work with visual exercises and explore and dissect the world of form. Confidence will be developed by connecting directly with what is seen and staying fully present with the perception as we fully understand its qualities, and then express this experience precisely with the camera.
The workshop will begin on Thursday Evening at 7.30 pm with an introductory talk and slide show. Friday to Sunday takes place from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm and will include visual exercises, talks, field trips, assignments and image reviews.
HÈLEN VINK studied photography and sculpture at the Utrecht School of Arts in Utrecht, Netherlands. She has been practising meditation and studying Dharma Art and Buddhism since 1997 and has lived and worked in Shambhala Buddhist centres in France and the USA. She has been practising Miksang Photography since 2006 as a student of Michael Wood, the founder of the Miksang Institute of Contemplative Photography, and became a Certified Miksang Instructor in 2008. She is also a meditation instructor.
Programme location: The Shooting Star, 125-129 Middlesex Street, London E1 7JF (near Liverpool Street). See street map.
For further information and registration, please contact Stuart Greenwood:
Thursday 26th from 7:30 pm; Friday to Sunday 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
Cost: £325, including the Miksang sourcebook
Friday 3 to Saturday 4 September
Changling Rinpoche: Crazy Wisdom & the Sadhana of Mahamudra
"Crazy Wisdom" (yeshe chölwa in Tibetan) is one of the main underlying principles of the Sadhana of Mahamudra, a text revealed by the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and practised on the new and full moon days within the Shambhala community, as well as at Shechen Monastery in Nepal, where Changling Rinpoche resides. Based on his own practice of the Sadhana of Mahamudra, as well as his study of the Vidyadhara's teachings on crazy wisdom, Rinpoche will teach on the central deity of the Sadhana, Dorje Tröllo.
At the age of ten, CHANGLING RINPOCHE was recognised as a tulku by His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He is a lineage holder of the Rechung Kagyü, based on the transmission of Milarepa's disciple Rechungpa. He resides at Shechen Monastery in Nepal, founded by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and works closely with Rabjam Rinpoche in directing the monastery. Changling Rinpoche is known for his very direct and engaging teaching style. Rinpoche teaches in English.
All are welcome, but this programme is not primarily intended for those new to Buddhism or meditation.
To pre-register, please send a deposit of £20 payable to: 'The London Shambhala Meditation Centre' C/O London Shambhala Meditation Centre, 27 Belmont Close, London, SW4 6AY.
For further information, please contact Jonathan Shaw at .
The programme begins at 7:00 pm on Friday with a talk, and continues on Saturday from 10:00 am until 6:45 pm.
The fee for the programme is £75; in addition, participants are invited to make the traditional gift of money to the teacher.
TALKS
No talks are available for listing at present.
COURSES
Tuesday 28 September to Tuesday 16 November
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - Eight week course
Please note that this course is being organised by Being Mindful.
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a leading programme for reducing stress and anxiety, and has been widely approved by the international medical community. It teaches greater awareness of our thoughts, feelings and sensations through simple techniques like meditation and gentle movement.
The eight week course is made up of weekly two-hour sessions. In the course you will learn:
• to stay in touch with the present moment and be less caught up in negative thought patterns; • to develop more helpful responses to stress; • to use simple meditation techniques which can transform daily life and help you become more focussed, relaxed and aware, including sitting meditation exercises (eg mindfulness of breathing), body scan and yoga.
The Tuesday evening course will be taught by Debbie Johnson, and held in the Oddfellows Hall at the London Shambhala Meditation Centre. The same course will be taught on Wednesday evenings from 29 September to 17 November by Tessa Watt.
For more information and booking, please visit the Being Mindful web-site. (Please note it is essential to book ahead for this course)
Time: From 7:30 to 9:45 pm
Cost: £250 (including CDs and hand-outs to work with at home)
RETREATS
Residential weeekend retreats are held from time to time at IvyBank our retreat house in Hampshire. No retreats are available for listing at present
SCHEDULED PRACTICES
Kyudo Practice
The way of the bow
In 1980 the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche invited Onyumishi Kanjuro Shibata XX to come and teach Kyudo to his students. Rinpoche said “Through Kyudo one can learn to live beyond hope and fear, one can learn how to be”. Since then Shibata Sensei has travelled extensively and established Kyudojos throughout North America and Europe and continued to manifest as a true warrior and teach Rinpoche’s students.
In the words of Shibata Sensei “One is not polishing one’s shooting style or technique, but the mind. The dignity of shooting is the important point. This is how Kyudo differs from the common approach to archery. In Kyudo there is no hope. Hope is not the point. The point is that through long and genuine practice your natural dignity as a human being comes out. This natural dignity is already in you, but it is covered up by a lot of obstacles. When they are cleared away, your natural dignity is allowed to shine forth.”
The way of the bow is a living tradition of meditative archery, rooted in the warrior traditions of Japan. It is an art form with no other goal than the highest experience of the present moment beyond the strategies of thought and concept. Through working with the precision of form a natural process gradually unfolds through which direct experience of the essential nature of mind is realised. This is the target.
RICHARD BLECKMAN has been a student of Shibata Sensei since 1992 and was authorised by Sensei as a Kyudo instructor in 1996.
Kyudo practice is generally held at the centre on the Saturday before the nyinthun day (see below: the first Sunday of the calendar month). Next date: 2 October.
Nyinthün
Nyinthün is held on the first Sunday of the calendar month.
Meditation practice is from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm in the main hall.
Newcomers are very welcome. However if you require meditation instruction, please arrange this in advance.
Sitting meditation usually also takes place in the afternoon from 2.30 to 4.30, and sometimes additional afternoon events are organised (please check in advance if you are travelling especially to attend during the afternoon).
First Sunday of the calendar month, from 10.30 am. Forthcoming dates: 1 August, 5 September, 3 October, 7 November, 5 December, 2 January 2011, 6 February 2011, 6 March 2011, 3 April 2011, 1 May 2011, 5 June 2011, 3 July 2011, 7 August 2011, 4 September 2011, 2 October 2011 and 4 December 2011.
Maitri Bhavana
Maitri Bhavana is a meditation on loving kindness which is practised for those who are seriously ill, either physically or mentally. It cultivates our compassion through taking on the sense of suffering of others, provides an opportunity to share our health with them, and acknowledges our deep interconnectedness. A list is pinned up at the centre for any of us to add the names and illnesses of relatives and friends who are seriously ill, so they can be explicitly included in the practice. You should include someone because you feel a personal concern for their suffering, such as a relative dying of cancer or suffering from clinical depression. (It would not be appropriate, for example, to include someone who has a cold or a sprained ankle.)
If you would like more information or would like to add someone to the list for the next practice session, please email . Please include both the name of the individual and the illness. You can submit the same name(s) each month if you wish.
One Wednesday per month, at approximately 8.00 pm. Next date: 18 August.
Sadhana of Mahamudra
The Sadhana of Mahamudra is special practice which takes place once a month during the Wednesday practice evening closest to the full moon.
The practice involves the meditative recitation (in English) of a sadhana (meditation text) written by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1968. The vivid imagery of the sadhana evokes the qualities of enlightened mind as exemplified by Dorje Tröllo, a manifestation of Padmasambhava, and Karma Pakshi, the second Karmapa.
Held on the Wednesday of the month closest to the full moon, at approximately 8.00 pm. Forthcoming dates: 25 August, 22 September, 20 October, 24 November, 22 December, 19 January 2011, 16 February 2011 and 16 March 2011.
London Shambhala Meditation Centre
UK registered charity no 1073977; company no: 3605572; 27 Belmont Close, London SW4 6AY Shambhala, Shambhala Meditation Centre, Shambhala Centre, and Shambhala Training are registered service marks of Shambhala Europe gGmbH. Home
Please note that this programme is organised by 
"Crazy Wisdom" (yeshe chölwa in Tibetan) is one of the main underlying principles of the Sadhana of Mahamudra, a text revealed by the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and practised on the new and full moon days within the Shambhala community, as well as at Shechen Monastery in Nepal, where Changling Rinpoche resides. Based on his own practice of the Sadhana of Mahamudra, as well as his study of the Vidyadhara's teachings on crazy wisdom, Rinpoche will teach on the central deity of the Sadhana, Dorje Tröllo.
Please note that this course is being organised by