Thirty five of us gathered from around the globe to create our own version of enlightened society, and the first ever Shambhala Buddhist Sutrayana Seminary in the Asia Pacific region. We had a Swiss man, a Pole, various North Americans, Brits and even a Haligonian to add to our Australia and New Zealand gang. We gathered at the slightly run-down hostel of the Taumarunui High School in the middle of New Zealand's North Island. Taumarunui is a small town half way between the Wellington and Auckland sangha - the sort of town where Kiwis would generally stop for a coffee, not for three weeks of dharma. But we set up shrine and kitchen and a few tents for extra accommodation and quickly felt at home. This place has hosted four dathuns and a Warrior's Assembly over the past eight years and the locals are perhaps used to the sight of early morning marching across the playing fields! Chogyam Trungpa - the founder of Shambhala in the West developed various military practices as a way of working with discipline and mindfulness.
Acharyas David Hope and Dale Asrael, and senior teacher Jesse Miller made a superb teaching team. In the View class we were led through the rigorous steps of Hinayana, the mind boggling Cittamatra and into the luminosity of clear light. The afternoon heat brought the deep contemplations and heart opening exercises of the Path class. And finally the Shambhala teachings kept us firmly in touch with our senses and basic goodness. Taken together it was powerful medicine and a relentless deconstruction of ego, for which we needed our strong container and the repeated kindness of the sangha.
Of course the excellent food also helped support the process. Master chef Maggie Lewis, ably assisted by Victoria Briggs, turned out culinary delights to fill our oryoki bowls day after day. Often there were muffins of such transendental lightness in the fourth bowl that everyone let go into bliss. We had feta and olive; blue cheese and brocolli; raisin and cinnamon; lemon surprise; chocolate heaven...Our kitchen was praised with producing the best food ever on a program and this gathering was renamed "The Muffin Seminary" by more than a few of us.
In our children's programme - "The Little Tigers" - Mei and Xue supported by Shelley Chapell, designed their own lessons: spontaneous singing; doing some serious marching; inventive bike riding around the quad; offering massage to the participants to raise money for Oxfam; and learning to drive Shelley's car!!
Other delights included the raw beauty of the natural surroundings: the mist over the hills in the morning; the distant glimpse of snowcapped volcanoes from the front gate; the amazing lakes and hot pools we visited on the day off and the cool, green river which flowed below the land.
To see some great photos by my friend Patti visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/patty.108108/SelectedNZPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCK3L7rjQxuHaWQ&feat=email#
