The Weather Man

Come join us for movie viewing from a Shambhala perspective (with popcorn and discussion!)

Nicholas Cage is a TV weatherman who feels he can’t measure up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning father (Michael Caine), or get anything right with his ex-wife (Hope Davis) and teenage kids. A funny and tender study of one man’s struggle to find meaning and appreciation in a fast food world.

Stay tuned here to find out more details. You can pre-order now on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Running-Mind-Meditation-Lessons-Training/dp/0307888169

Our next movie night at the Center features “The Hours” with Meryl Streep, Juliana Moore, Nicole Kidman and Ed Harris, score by Philip Glass, followed as always by an interesting informal discussion. $5.00 Contribution requested. The Hours is a fascinating and unusually structured film that focuses on three women in three different decades and contemplates identity, suicide, AIDS, sexuality, and creativity.

Join us for Open House this Sunday:

10am – 11am Meditation instruction and sitting
11am – 12pm Talk and discussion
12 pm – Refreshments and socializing

This month’s topic: Uncertainty

Our lives generally appear to have a sense of certainty. Things go along in a predictable way. We get up in the morning, expecting the usual events to happen: go to work, school, or, whatever we do. We think, “This is normal, events going in this way.” In truth, however, the world is unpredictable. Our partner could say, “I don’t want to be with you any more.” Our employer might say “There’s not enough work; you’re laid off.” Our program may be defunded; there could be a tsunami, or a flat tire. Anything could happen. The world is unpredictable. We could ask, “Is there anything that is certain?” The teachings of Shambhala state that there is a basic confidence in being able to stay with anything that comes up in life. We call this inherent confidence. It is not dependent on anything at all. This view is encouraged by the practice of meditation. We learn to hold our seat, touch, and explore our experience, encouraging a posture that is open and stable, appreciating the world around us. We find that, in fact, we could ride uncertainty.

The Fisher King
Dir Terry Gilliam w/ Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams.

Guilt, redemption, courage, compassion, homelessness, faith, trauma, loneliness, and dancing nude in the Sheep Meadow in Central Park in the moonlight.

“In order to understand the phenomenon of tantra, or tantric consciousness, we should be quite clear that we are not talking about tantra as a vague spiritual process. Tantra, or vajrayana Buddhism, is extremely precise, and it is unique. We can not afford to jumble the vajrayana into a spiritual or philosophical stew. Instead, we should discuss tantra technically, spiritually and personally—in a very exact sense—and we should discuss what the uniqueness of the tantric tradition has to offer to sentient beings.” Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Journey Without Goal

Qualified students, please join us for “Journey Without Goal,” starting Thursday, September 29th, 7pm. Register at http://pioneervalley.shambhala.org

“One great question underlies our experience, whether we think about it or not: what is the purpose of life? From the moment of birth every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affects this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness”

- His Holiness Dalai Lama XIV Tendzin Gyatso

Join us for “Soft Heart, Strong Back: Contentment in Everyday Life,” Tuesdays 6:30 – 8:30pm starting Sep 27. Register at http://pioneervalley.shambhala.org

Soft Heart, Strong Back: Contentment in Everyday Life, Five Tuesdays starting September 27, 6:30 – 8:30pm
We can open to our soft heart — the inherent goodness and qualities of contentment: gentleness, appreciation and steadiness — through the practice of meditation. To do this, we must cultivate our strong back to see through the conditions and emotions that keep us tied to habitual responses to the world.

Journey Without Goal, Five Thursdays plus one-day intensive, starting September 29, 7:00 – 8:30pm
The capstone course in the Way of Shambhala II curriculum, Journey Without Goal outlines the depth and profundity of the Vajrayana path. This program is open to students who have completed the Way of Shambhala I curriculum and the Shambhala Sacred Path program.

Register at pioneervalley.shambhala.org