The Center was one of only 6 meditation centers mentioned in a recent Mindful Metropolis article:
http://digital.mindfulmetropolis.com/publication/?i=34722&p=22

The Governing Council is pleased to announce that Tom Adducci has been selected and appointed as the new Center Director of the Shambhala Meditation Center of Chicago. This appointment is the fruition of our Lion’s Leap Campaign to hire a full-time Center Director. Read the rest of this entry »

by Ira Abrams, Rusung, Shambhala Meditation Center of Chicago

“The success of our community, and its future, is going to depend heavily on the visible and ‘feelable’ kindness that is in our mandala,” said the Sakyong, Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche, at the concluding session of the Fourth Shambhala Congress. “We can be doing a lot of things right when it comes to programs, but if there is not a feeling of kindness, nothing is really going to stick. As a community based on basic goodness, if somehow we do not exude kindness to other beings, all the posters will be in vain.”

I had my first taste of Kasung practice at Shambhala Mountain Center in 2003, during my 5-week Sutrayana Seminary. I sat on the outskirts of a few talks for “protector practice;” I drilled every second morning instead of doing lujong exercises, and I ended the summer with a mess and banquet that went on into the early hours of the morning and overhauled all my notions of decency, fellowship, and moderation. I took the one year oath when it was all over, and within a year I had taken my oath to serve in the Dorje Kasung for life. But the most important thing that this encounter taught me was that I had been very wrong about what it means to be kind to oneself and others. Read the rest of this entry »

Chicago member Renee Una has a blog post at Chicago Artist’s Resource about the intersection of these three areas of endeavor and their integration.

Are you a Chicago member with entries in the blogosphere? Drop the center a line!

In Shambhala, the biannual Congresses have developed as a forum available to all members for information-sharing on Shambhala activities, and priority development for the mandala. Halifax is considered the capital of Shambhala, where the international headquarters is located. Some very capable members in Halifax are working on a project to build the Kalapa Capital Center, to manifest the presence and confidence of the Shambhala community. This impressive structure will house the Halifax Shambhala Center, as well as the offices of other Halifax Shambhala groups, such as Shambhala Online, Shambhala Media, and possibly host other groups as well. Read the rest of this entry »

On October 23rd – 25th, four members of the Chicago Sangha attended Milwaukee’s Shambhala Training Assistant Director program and were authorized: Ira Abrams, Gina Caruso, Zane Edwards and Ann Tyndall.

Congratulations to all of these dedicated Warriors!

Robert Wallace and Nancy Toncy are delighted to announce the birth of their son Sayge Toncy Wallace.

He was born on Wednesday, October 28th 2009 at 11:02 PM. Sayge is 20″ long and weighs 7lbs 3ozs. All are well, happy and healthy and resting at home.

Enjoy this picture of Sayge attached. We appreciate your love, blessings and support and look forward to connecting with you as soon as we are able.

With love and blessings,
Robert, Nancy & Sayge

It’s not humans who are subject to the impermanence of birth, old age and death.
Left to entropy, buildings will exhibit this same pattern!
Fortunately, with a little elbow grease – and the judicious application of a few dollars – this can be reversed, at least for buildings.

This fall has seen a number of nontrivial, unbudgeted repairs on our center. They include:

• A new furnace for the ground floor ( there’s a second furnace for upstairs )
• Removal of roots which were causing a plumbing backup in the basement
• Rebuilding bits the drainage system – as you may have noticed while negotiating the construction in the parking lot. There should be no further overflows via the basement floor drains!
• Repairs to the Alarm system.

There are two more item on our short-term list, both of which are in process:
replacing the ballasts so that the lights in the parking lot will work, and signage for the front window and doors.

These should be completed soon, and we will be all caught up until something else happens!

September 2009

Council meetings are open to members of the Center.
Over the summer Council meetings were held on August 4th and September 1st.
Fall meetings will be September 22nd, October 27th, and November 24th.
Please let Alice Dan know ahead of time if you wish to speak on a particular topic during the meeting. The meetings are from 7 to 9 pm, generally in the Main Shrine Room. Members are requested to observe quietly and not to wander in and out.

Harvest of Peace Community Gathering
September 20th saw the Harvest of Peace Celebration with an update to our community on the Vision to Action Project. A report will be posted on our Chicago Shambhala Blog, online at http://chicago.shambhalatimes.org. Thanks to Erin Haley and Aarthi Tejuja for coordinating a wonderful celebration! Former Center Warrior Jim Duetsch lit the juniper for a lhasang and Co-Director David Stone led the chanting of the Sadhana of Mahamudra.

Meditation Instructors and Shambhala Guides held a half-day retreat on Saturday September 19th. David Stone led those gathered in Mudra Space Awareness exercises, and the group listened to a 1974 recording on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.

A successful Ice Cream Social was offered to the neighborhood on Sunday afternoon, September 6th. Coordinated by Barbara Wolkowitz, it attracted about 40 curious newcomers, who enjoyed Homer’s ice cream and toured the center. Many also received meditation instruction from Nancy Newton or Blessie Selvig. Thanks to all who contributed time and effort!

Member Appreciation Event!
August 30th was the first event sponsored by the Membership Committee of the Center to honor and appreciate our wonderful members. New and seasoned members attended a delicious lunch, and received handsome reproductions of pithy quotes from the Vidyadhara. The Membership Committee plans to make this a twice-yearly event.

Practice news
We now have newly compiled chant books in sufficient numbers to serve our shrine room, thanks to Jeff Stone, Erin Haley and Michael Duerr.
Wednesday nights are Senior Practice evenings, when those who have received the necessary transmissions will practice Ashe or Werma. For more information, contact Catherine Harding or Jeff Stone.

Administration
A new computer use policy was approved by the Council and is posted in the second floor office. Our web broadcast capability should be improved by the new wiring contributed by Michael Duerr and Gerhard Barth.

Building
Our catch-basin is being repaired to provide proper drainage for the kitchen sink. In addition, a new furnace is needed before winter sets in. Additional lighting for the kitchen is being installed. Sayre Vickers has helped with rearranging and repainting the kitchen. We are looking for help to coordinate a Community Work Day to uplift our premises in a variety of ways. Painting, cleaning, repairs and other help will be needed.

To submit material for our center blog, email it to the Blog editors. At the moment those are Alice Dan, Michael Duerr, Jon Feller, Alisa Roadcup and Coman Poon.

You can reach our editing team via email: blog at chicagoshambhala dot org