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. . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The heart of
Shambhala is a tradition where we work with ourselves. That’s
why we come here. The most powerful way that we can work with the
situation of the human condition is through community, by coming
together, seeing other people that share the same feelings, the
same hopes. The strength of community is incredibly influential. Community
teaches us how to treat each other. Community helps us to share
the message that we want to work with ourselves... more Shambhala's operating debt accumulated over a period of time as income
failed to keep pace with expenditure... more Every donation will not only help clear the debt, but will open up spending on new projects that have been highlighted as priorities at the Shambhala Congresses: strengthening our practice and education services, improving our communication – both to the public and within our mandala — supporting families and young people, and encouraging diversity and accessibility throughout the Shambhala community. At the Shambhala Congresses held in 2003 and 2004, the Shambhala community expressed itself on a range of issues that it wanted to see tackled across the mandala. The new governing structure, introduced on Shambhala Day 2005, took these seriously and has been addressing these concerns through a series of groups that have a seat on the highest governing body, the Sakyong’s Council. These include groups working on: Accessibility Minutes from these meetings are now regularly posted on the Shambhala website and announced on the Shambhala News Service. The budgeting process has changed. This year, for the first time, the new Mandala Council, on which all Shambhala Centres have a seat, reviewed a proposed budget for 2006 and discussed priorities in additional spending for the coming year. Being able to allocate additional funds is somewhat dependent on our success in clearing the operating debt. The additional spending is provisionally allocated to: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . With all the changes that are now underway, we need to strengthen the support given to Practice and Education throughout the mandala. A new curriculum is being developed. We need to support the Acharyas, Office of Practice & Education and Shambhala Centres in developing this and delivering it in the year ahead. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . We need a completely fresh presentation of Shambhala on the web. This is necessary to make vital information much more accessible to our members. It is essential to improve direct communication among Shambhala Centres and members. It is crucial to open a direct portal to Shambhala for the thousands of people who are going on the web each month looking for Shambhala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . The Mandala Council wants to enable every Shambhala Centre to have free access to a Website template so that we don’t have to duplicate our efforts over and over again and so that something that has been tested and works can be easily used by everyone. Shambhala Europe currently provides this free service to all centres in Europe. This initiative has significantly increased web-based advertising and communication for people wanting to attend programs. The goal is to make this available right across the mandala in 2006! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . We need a completely up-to-date system for keeping good records for all our members worldwide. This is an essential basis for improving our communications, letting people know about programming and keeping everyone updated. Shambhala Europe has developed a user-friendly system that can be adapted for use throughout Shambhala. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . A manual and conference are have been proposed for next year by the Families and Children Working Group. The aim to help all centres become much more sensitive to and supportive of the special needs for our Shambhala families and children |
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Website Design by Blue Mandala ©2005 Shambhala International Photos by Peter Seldler | |