Shambhala Day

I am a bit late in updating my journal again, I had midterms and lots of issues popped up at work where I basically collapsed when I got home before rising for school the next morning. 

March 5th this year was Shambala Day. Shambhala day is held on the Tibetan New Year. This year is the year of the Iron Rabbit. Tibetan year astrology adds in elemental elements on top of what most people know of the Chinese New Year.

I arrived a little bit late and missed the opening of the day. But I arrived in time to take part of a cleansing practice where we used water and later gave offerings at the Shrine. We also did a lot of short meditation contemplations. I can't really remember what they were, I was a little jittery coming in late and jumping right in when I had no idea what was going on. I also ended up with a lady that was.... very serious about the whole thing. Not to the point of rudeness but adding onto my nervousness. But after the practice we all stood and one by one took grapes as part of the offering and passed Juniper smoke over up from a bowl on the alter.  After this we had a brake for a small bit of time while the Shrine Room was rearranged. We had to bring a chair up front and arrange cosions for the teachers and members of the council. A few were stepping down their positions and others were being sworn in or renewing their vows. I helped out and snapped some photos.

A chair for the director, a table with bowel with charcoal and Juniper grass used for purification. When someone give something, even just a paper with a vow or a gift it is passed through the juniper smoke. Also calendars, Lasung gifts, and membership pins were brought in for the ceremony.

So for most of the ceremony I was an observe, as usual, but then when it came for new memberships I went to receive my vows. It was more of statement that I feel part of the sanga and officially joining membership. Because I didn't know of the order of which things were happening, nor did I know I was receive official status that day I wasn't able to give my camera to anyone to get my photo when I receive  my membership pin from the director. After this everyone was given a calendar to use to track when they practiced what meditations and a lasung gift, which is used to purify your house after a spring cleaning, and we walked under a prayer flag.

The prayer flag belong to Doria, she and her husband were the Directors of the Shambhala Mountain Center in Colorado when the Sakyong married a few years ago. The brides family ordered three thousand of these prayer flags from Nepal to line the streets of the procession for the wedding. After the wedding Doria and her husband were given with one of the flags as a gift.

After this we set up for the international Shambhala Day broadcast set up through webcams. I will say there were hiccups, but it was fun none the less. This Shambhala Day was special because it was the first time the community had seen the Sakyong in about a year, he had gone on a year retreat and only briefly broken it when his daughter was born.

This post does not do justice to the events on Shambhala Day and I wish I had forced myself to write about it the day afterward. But there are a few things coming up I will strive to do better on. I'm going to Doria's house sometime this week to learn Ikebana for a flower arrangement contest next month and we have a Kyudo ceremony that was suppose to be part of Shambhala Day that has yet to be rescheduled I am looking forward to.