Living in The Relative World

Shambhala’s direction is becoming being made ever more apparent in The Sakyong’s writings. We are to connect with our basic goodness and be part of creating enlightened society.  The Sakyong’s most recent book, “The Shambhala Principle” is truly inspiring and after my second time through it I’m beginning to believe creating such a society is possible.  It’s easy to get caught up in the meditation practices of emptiness and the ultimate nature of all things being empty. These realizations though are helpful only insofar as they assist us in being of benefit to sentient beings and creating an enlightened society here. . . . in the relative world. We warriors will have to work together to accomplish this goal and in order to do that in our relative world, we need our sangha, the third jewel. “The sangha is the body of the Buddha who speaks the dharma”. We need our Shambhala organization to show us the path. Unfortunately despite the true nature of all things being emptiness, here in the relative world you still have to pay the electric bill. The Shambhala community, our sangha, does not exist without financial support. A financial planner friend of mine once gave me some good advice.  When considering where to place your limited charitable donations it’s always best to give to something you know.  Something you believe in or are even a part of.  That way your giving becomes personal.  With this in mind consider whether a donation to our Shambhala sangha is something that you would find worthwhile. Has Shambhala touched you? Anything is of benefit.  Even the desire to donate by itself is of merit. The world needs Shambhala now, perhaps more than ever before. I personally feel some small sense of urgency in light of the direction our world appears to have taken. If we can create enlightened society, and I believe we can, then keeping our Shambhala organization financially viable is essential, and by comparison should be easy. Follow this link if you feel that helping this, our third jewel is worthwhile.

 I’m ready to help create Enlightened Society