Editing Shambhala Training (section)

== Teachings ==
In <em>Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior</em>, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche wrote:
{{Cquote|I am honoured and grateful that in the past I have been able to present the wisdom and dignity of human life within the context of the religious teachings of Buddhism. Now it gives me tremendous joy to present the principles of Shambhala warriorship and to show how we can conduct our lives as warriors with fearlessness and rejoicing, without destroying one another... I have been presenting a series of "Shambhala teachings" that use the image of the Shambhala kingdom to represent the ideal of secular enlightenment, that is, the possibility of uplifting our personal existence and that of others without the help of any religious outlook. For although the Shambhala tradition is founded on the sanity and gentleness of the Buddhist tradition, at the same time it has its own independent basis, which is directly cultivating who and what we are as human beings.<ref>Trungpa (1984), pp 25-34</ref>}}

The teachings cover art, society, and politics and the goal of creating an enlightened society. This is thought of not only as a social and political process but a practice requiring individuals to develop an awareness of the basic goodness and inherent dignity of themselves, of others, and of the everyday details of the world around them. This is facilitated by cultivating gentleness and bravery.<ref>Kohn, pp 674</ref>

=== Overview ===
Some key concepts presented in Shambhala Training include:
* [[Basic goodness]]: Our essential nature is good, workable, and worthwhile. This is sometimes contrasted with the idea of [[original sin]], although it is arguable that both notions include the concept of a primordial purity that is stained or covered over.<ref>Manning, pp 9-10</ref>
* Enlightened society: A vision of a culture that expresses basic goodness in its cultural forms, relationships, and traditions.
* Cocoon: Conceptualization can become armor that cuts us off from the vividness of the world around us. We are advised to discard that armor.<ref>Trungpa (1984) pp 60-64</ref>
* [[Spiritual warrior|Warriorship]]: Personal bravery, dignity, decency, and gentleness in working with one's mind and life.
* [[Wind Horse | Windhorse]] (Tib. <em>lungta</em>): Akin to [[Qi]]<ref>Trungpa, (1999), pp 234</ref> or [[Energy (esotericism)|life force]], practitioners cultivate windhorse through a variety of practices and disciplines.<ref>Trungpa, (1999), pp 109-110</ref><ref>Trungpa, (1984) pp 114-115</ref>
* Drala: Akin to [[kami]] or spirit conventionally. This term refers to the use of direct sense perceptions to overcome conceptual mental fixation.<ref>Hayward (1997) pp 17</ref><ref>Trungpa, (1984) pp 103-115</ref>
* The Four Dignities: Meek Tiger, Perky Lion, Outrageous [[Garuda]], and Inscrutable Dragon.
* Heaven, Earth, and Humanity: The role of humanity is to connect the ground of the situation (earth) with the vision of possibility (heaven), so to rule oneself or society is to join heaven, earth, and humanity.<ref>Trungpa, (1999), pp 112-113</ref><ref>Trungpa, (1984) pp 129-130</ref>
* Natural hierarchy: Akin to an arranged [[mandala]] where people are connected, interdependent, and communicate in natural ways.<ref>Prebish and Tanaka, chapter 14, pg 247-249</ref><ref>Trungpa, (1999) pp 101-103</ref>

=== Meditation technique ===
The basic [[meditation]] technique initially presented in Shambhala Training includes sitting with legs loosely crossed, taking good posture, leaving the eyes slightly open, and focusing attention on the out-breath. A feeling of dissolving accompanies the out-breath but no specific attention is prescribed during the in-breath. The hands are placed face down on the thighs. Thoughts may be labeled neutrally as "thinking" before attention is returned to the out breath.<ref>Trungpa, (1984) pg 37-40</ref> Variations on the technique are taught during the first five "Heart of Warriorship" weekends. Meditation is described in Shambala as "a natural state of the human mind—at rest, open, alert."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://shambhala.org/what-is-meditation/ |title=What is Meditation? - Shambhala |website=shambhala.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302032901/http://shambhala.org/what-is-meditation/ |archive-date=2015-03-02}}</ref>

=== Curriculum ===
Though Shambhala Training is a personal, ongoing practice of meditation and engaged activities, the Shambhala Training curriculum is presented in a series of progressive weekend programs, and then longer retreats. "The Heart of Warriorship" curriculum consist of five weekend programs with each weekend followed by a corresponding 'Everyday Life' class.  The latter seven weekends are called "The Sacred Path," as follows:

====The Heart of Warriorship====
* Level I: The Art of Being Human
* Meditation in Everyday Life
* Level II: Birth of the Warrior
* Contentment in Everyday Life
* Level III: Warrior in the World
* Joy in Everyday Life
* Level IV: Awakened Heart
* Fearlessness in Everyday Life
* Level V: Open Sky
* Wisdom in Everyday Life

====The Sacred Path====
* Great Eastern Sun
* Windhorse
* Drala
* Meek
* Perky
* Outrageous and Inscrutable
* Golden Key

====Warrior Assembly====
The Warrior Assembly is a residential program of less than two weeks' duration. These weekends are intended to be completed in order. Windhorse and Drala are sometimes exchanged in the sequence. Students may then continue onto an intensive nine- to fourteen-day-long residential retreat called Warriors Assembly. Practices and root texts are made available as students complete the prerequisite study and practice stages. However, it is claimed by Shambhala adherents that much of their content is found in the book [[Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior]] and others.<ref>Seager, pp 133</ref>

During the Sacred Path weekends and Warriors Assembly, students study Shambhala texts composed by Chögyam Trungpa, as well as practices such as that of the stroke of [[Stroke (Chinese character)|ashé]]. The stroke of ashé was first produced on the night of October 25, 1976, while Trungpa was leading a three-month seminary in Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin.<ref>Mukpo, pp 220-223</ref> It was followed by subsequent texts, some of which were considered to be [[Terma (Buddhism)|terma]], which were received over the next few years.<ref>Midal, (2001), pp 220-232</ref>