In Tibetan, we say people who have good windhorse have the sense they can accomplish what they want to do.
You have people who are good at English but don't have the training in Buddhism or Shambhala, or they have the training but are not good in English. Getting that mixture is really rare.
Shambhala is a tradition where there were rulers, kings, and powerful people who actually were very benevolent and kind. They got things done, and they didn't abandon their tradition.
A lot of times people do spiritual practice just for themselves. I try to turn that a little bit. I try to make spiritual practice more a part of the community. I write about infusing people with compassion.
The nature of our mind may be displayed in many ways, but Ashe is the fundamental basis.
Your regular teachers will get mad at you. If you keep asking something again and again, they will get tired of saying the same thing. A book will not do that. A book always will be there for you. In whatever you want, the book will be there.
You need to become more genuine to who you are. So, people pushing you can help take you to the level where you really understand the principles and enter them into action.
I think we are very environmental people. We need to be supported environmentally. Books very much have that imprint on the mind.
Certain teachers have tremendous amounts of experience. They are articulate, and they give wonderful discourse. But at some point along the road, they themselves learned from and studied a book.
A book very much is the center of the road, so people always can refer back to it.
Ultimately, as individuals we each have to ask ourselves to be courageous and apply certain principles.
Many people think spirituality has nothing to do with success or accomplishing - that it's something you do with removal, with leaving the world.
One of the characteristics of every great teacher I've known is tremendous exertion. It's interesting: You may see them as spiritual people or compassionate people, but the driving force is that incredible exertion - and their ability to sustain it.
If ruling our world stems from developing certainty in our sanity, how do we discover it? The Shambhala teachings instruct us to "put our mind of fearfulness in the cradle of loving-kindnes."
People sometimes don't like organized situations. Sometimes people need to be left alone more. Sometimes people need environmental support.
A lot of people talk about the spirituality of Buddhism, and it is a spiritual discipline. But in Shambhala there also is a notion that you have to be synchronized with both heaven and earth.
The principles of Buddhism and Shambhala can be effective in helping the course of what is happening in the world.
I think Shambhala can be a very strong force as a social example of how you can try to live a life balanced in terms of both the spiritual and the secular.
I would say courage first; then wisdom, which is a sense of knowledge and confidence; and also the wish and desire to uplift. The underlying notion is "How do I help?" That attitude really is a spiritual journey and a path.
There is a tendency sometimes within the Shambhala community to make it just about meditating and, so, less about compassion. Shambhala is based upon compassion, but a lot of people come in and say, "I need to get more meditation. I need to do this for me, me, me." That's fine, but the view here is much more societal.
People can be trained in certain principles, but then they actually have to apply them and try them out.
If you decide to go on a Buddhist path, you have to be careful if you start mixing a lot of different traditions you are not totally familiar with - mixing this kind of meditation with that kind of practice or this kind of visualization with that kind of mantra. Then you really are concocting your own thing, and you have no idea what is going to happen.
Fundamentally, Buddhism is for the awakenment and benefit of beings. So, you can't say, "Oh, you can't have it because you're not ready for it." That goes against the fundamental principle.
Shambhala existed in Tibet and has been continued over the years, and now it is in the West. At its core, it is very much dedicated to the basic theme of benefiting others.
A lot of people dabbling means Buddhism has come into the mainstream, where people begin to use these terms and ideas, and they become less foreign.
