How I found Shambhala

It all starts in Tokyo, Japan in the summer of July 2009. During my stay in Tokyo a regional Kyudo competition was being held and some of the students from the schools attending were staying my hotel. With help of my group's tour guide I was able to find out where and when it would take place and it happened to be on our free day. So that morning I took the trains and witnessed the ceremonial opening and the blessing of the Shinto priest. After we returned to the US a few days after that event life returned to normal, well as normal as a student's life can be, but Kyudo wasn't far from my mind. In June of 2010 I finally googled to see if there was any Kyudo in the United States, much less within my state or my area. And this was how I found Shambhala. Kyudo is part of Shambhala through Shibata Sensei and Zenko. Shibata Sensei became friends with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche who brought the Shambhala teachings to the west.

In July I attended an open house at the San Antonio Shambhala Meditation Center seeking information on their Kyudo group. I apparently came at just the right time, a group had only been established in San Antonio for three months at that time and if I had looked following my return from my trip to Japan in 2009 the closest group would have been in Austin, almost a 2 hour drive north that meets twice a week. The Kyudo group was waiting for their practice yumis (bows), yas (arrows), and kake (gloves) to come in from Japan, to Boulder to be inspected by Shibata Sensei, and then shipped to the Center. Each item is individually crafted by a master craftsmen of each item and thus it would be several months before they would arrive. Until then I decided to try sitting and walking meditation at the center and that is how it all began.

Since then I have grown to know the people of the center and while sometimes there are personality clashes everyone is kind, gentle, and open. I was drawn by the warmth of my meditation instructor and the people of the Sanga and decided to attend more things than just kyudo once kyudo practice begun in October.