Our History, Challenges and Learnings

Today, Shambhala International is a community-based and community-led organization. Both the wider organisation and we here at the London Shambhala Centre are committed to creating meditation practice spaces, leadership processes, and a culture that are inclusive, kind, contemporary, and available to all. Our aspiration to make the dharma relevant and accessible in a rapidly changing world has deep roots in the teachings of Shambhala and Kagyu and Nyingma Tibetan Buddhism. Our history—and what we have learned from it—is deeply important to us as a community, and to our continued growth and evolution.

Our Shambhala story began with the people who became students of the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche when he moved from India to England in the 1960’s. Originally the head of Surmang monastery in Eastern Tibet, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was a highly respected teacher of Kagyu and Nyingma Buddhism, and presented these teachings in a fresh and unique way so they would connect to the experience of everyday people in contemporary Western society. He inspired many highly skilled and well-trained teachers that went on to offer the dharma widely, both within Shambhala and the wider world, including Pema Chödrön and many other highly-regarded teachers. Trungpa Rinpoche was also a controversial figure and our community members have held many different viewpoints on his behaviour, both then and now.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche died in 1987. In 1990 his son, then known as the Sawang, now known as Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, returned to North America from his studies in India. Between 1995 and 2018, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche served as both the spiritual and organisational leader of the Shambhala community. In this role, he led the development of innovative curricula that combined presentations of the Buddhist and Shambhala dharma, presented commentary and meditation practices based on Trungpa Rinpoche’s Shambhala teachings, and explored the manifestations of enlightened society in retreats, seminars, and practices. During this period our global community grew larger and more complex, transitioning through a range of organisational forms and governance arrangements.

In early 2018, allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct and misuse of power by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche toward his students. He committed to entering a period of self-reflection and listening and in July 2018  sent a letter informing the community he would step back from his administrative and teaching responsibilities in Shambhala and support a third-party investigation. In February 2019, the Shambhala Board released the results of an investigation that included a finding of sexual misconduct and a finding of more than likely sexual and clergy misconduct by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. More revelations followed and senior teachers in Shambhala and other community members asked him to continue to step back from his teaching and leadership responsibilities. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche responded with a letter offering apologies, and a commitment to continue to step back from his administrative and teaching responsibilities for the foreseeable future.

In the wake of these events, a group of Shambhala community members, supported by the new Shambhala Board, worked on new Code of Conduct policies and processes that would apply to everyone. A Code of Conduct Team was recruited to work with concerns and complaints as they arise, and a Code of Conduct Hub website with resources was published. A therapy subsidy and counselling program for community members was established, and “Right use of Power,” “Gender Dynamics,” and “Sexual Harm and Trauma” trainings were developed and offered widely.

During the months that followed the members of the London Shambhala Centre entered into extensive community dialogue, resulting in a decision in 2019 to no longer hold Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche as our spiritual or organisational leader. Whilst this decision does not change the fact that harm had occurred within Shambhala internationally, we hope that it makes the stance of the London centre clear; that no forms of abuse are tolerated and that lessons must be learned.

In February 2022, a legal agreement between Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and the Shambhala Board altered Shambhala’s organising documents so that Shambhala is now self-governing and financially independent of him. He is currently not engaged with the Shambhala organisation and is teaching through his own organisation, the Sakyong Potrang. Today, many members of our community are continuing without being students of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and others continue to study with him. Senior students in the Shambhala community continue to offer teachings and trainings, maintain local meditation and retreat centres, and host eminent Buddhist teachers from the Tibetan Kagyu and Nyingma Buddhist traditions.

Within the Shambhala organisation and the community formed from all parts of our history, there is a recognition both of the problems we have experienced, as well as our rich and unique dharma heritage and the Shambhala vision that we share. We have weathered many challenges as we continue to learn how to be a kinder and more compassionate community. We are now examining systemic issues in our culture that have enabled misconduct to occur, and are working hard to implement new cultural forms to address the roots of much of the harm that occurred. We are continually renewing our commitment to study, practice, and teaching to ensure that our profound dharma heritage remains for future generations.