Shambhala Touching the Earth Collective

Year of the Wood Snake Goals

In these uncertain times, we are fortunate to have a community built on trusted relationships, the 300 or so in the Collective, and the broader Shambhala Community. We are now included in the visual graphic of the Shambhala Mandala. As earth protectors, warriors without aggression, the Collective has begun to infiltrate into the organism, the Shambhala Organization.

 

The three aspects listed as our purpose in the Mandala Graphic:

1. Initiatives and Projects that Protect the Sacred Earth
2. Developing a Culture of Shambhala Ecodharma
3. Encouraging Individual and Collective Action

On prepared ground of being six years in existence, we are planting seedlings, repotting others, and trying certain seeds for the first time in the Year of the Wood Snake…

1. Initiatives and Projects that Protect the Sacred Earth

1A. STEC has been invited to two Land Centers, Karme Choling and Drala Mountain Center, to gather as Hiveminds. Following the successful format of the Hivemind at Karme Choling in November 2024, we look forward to showing up in person (without flying if possible), whilst offering a hybrid component to these gatherings. We did one last year, and this year two are being planned, one in the fall of 2025 and one in the spring of 2026. We want to make the two gatherings available and affordable to more members of the Collective. In the category of Hivemind we are also holding online “Hiveminds,” reconnecting to further explore the discussions from the previous Hivemind.  

1B. We are eager to make the web site more user-friendly. Now that there is a larger sangha coming to the site, we need it to be more user-friendly, as it holds more content and variety. We are gleeful that Seth Levinson, the previous art director of Buddhadharma and Lion’s Roar, has joined our team. Seth also prepares our Newsletter each month. His eye is inventive and trusted. We are in the process of building the fresh look with him.

1C. We have been encouraged (during the Hivemind) to prepare Education of the Warrior as Earth Protector.  And we are planning to involve three senior teachers in developing the Shambhala Levels 1-5 as a fresh method to present the levels. 

1D. We continue to be asked to present at other large land center gatherings and programs, like when STEC presented at the three Warrior Assemblies in 2023. We have been asked to present, at Karme Choling, Inseparable Union: the Feminine and Masculine Principles, in May 2025, and at Dorje Denma Ling for the Kalapa Conference in October 2025.

2. Developing a Culture of Shambhala Ecodharma

2A. “The guidelines of the Honorable Harvest are not usually written down, they are reinforced in small acts of daily life.” The Serviceberry by Robin Wall-Kimmerer

We see this aspect of a culture of protecting the earth as essential work of the Collective . This is not necessarily studied but becomes “the way” things are done.

As a living community, the Shambhala community now over 50 years old has the opportunity to be that culture of earth protection. We see this as one of the main goals of the Collective, to naturally infiltrate the culture of Shambhala with earth care.

2B. Following the Hivemind in 2024 we are directing energies towards the making the rituals of the Shambhala Community, the lhasangs, drala walks, all the activities of being outdoors, as daily activities, not actions only done occasionally, or on special holidays. And we have a special interest in incorporating Gesar, ancestral warrior, into our activities, both on and off the cushion.

2C. In 2024, STEC was given a gift of $5000. We chose to offer it to Karme Choling in order to show encouragement in hiring a new head gardener for their magnificent vegetable and flower garden. It worked! They have recently found the right person! We look forward to sharing resources into places and people in our mandala that need a small boost. We hope to do more of this in the Wood Snake year!

3. Encouraging Individual and Collective Action

3A. This has been part of the STEC mission from the beginning. And we do this in valuing and appreciating everyone. This aspect of encouragement is seen most clearly in the Google Group, where everyone is invited to speak up and share what is happening in their locals. It is our most up-to-the-minute tool. We will continue to use it for anyone to share, and for us to announce last-minute initiatives.

3B. STEC will continue to offer our core programs and resources, including monthly Earth Salons (now hosted by Shambhala Online), Walking Through the Fire Climate Cafes, Planet A Book Clubs, our regular Newsletter, and occasional book reviews on Shambhala Times.

3C. Our EcoDharma Doula – a laureate position within the Collective – will offer a series of essays and other resources encouraging ways to live in right relation with our living world.

And Lastly…

Roshi Joan Halifax has an expression about the present moment, “relate with reality, not the itinerary.” This sentiment of relating to the present moment, whatever it is, is the core of the Buddhist teachings. Specifically, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche spoke of nowness. The climate and ecological crises we are living in beg us to acknowledge this nowness and our Buddhist practices prepare us. We of the Collective vow to relate with reality.

We will continue to expand by sharing wisdom. In The Serviceberry, Robin Wall Kimmerer describes two mechanisms of system change, “incremental change, the slow, steady replacement of that which does not serve ecological flourishing with new communities. But it also relies on disturbance, on disruption of the status quo in order to let new species emerge and flower.” 

Now that STEC is a trusted entity in Shambhala the likelihood of our being a change agent both incrementally and as a disturber has excellent possibilities. 

We look forward to this year as one of investing our passion for protecting the Earth into the culture of Shambhala and the world…