Cheerful Shambhala Day
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Year of the Fire Pig
 Sakyong Mipham
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Sakyong Mipham's Shambhala Day address to the sangha
18 February 2007
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Thank you to Shambhala Internation for permission to make this audio file available.
Innocence with no changing lines
Following a tradition started by his father in the 1970s, Sakyong Mipham consults the I Ching for the Shambhala Community each year on Shambhala Day. This year's hexagram, thrown early on Shambhala Day morning in India, is number twenty five, Innocence (The unexpected). Later in the day, John Sell, a long-time student of the I Ching, visited our studio to reflect on the reading. Here is what he had to say:
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Dialup access: streaming audio, or download the mp3 file.
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Year of the Water Pig
 Chögyam Trungpa photograph by Michael Wood
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Trungpa Rinpoche's Shambhala Day address to the sangha
13 February 1983
Following are unpublished remarks by Chögyam Trungpa used by permission of Diana J. Mukpo, transcribed from a recording of Chögyam Trungpa's Shambhala Day address on February 13, 1983.
Ed. note: This talk was given at the Vajradhatu seminary at Bedford Springs, Pa. and broadcast via phone lines, to the North American sangha.
Cheerful Shambhala Day. Happy New Year to everybody, not just in this room but everybody in the rest of the continent who is listening to us. Happy New Year to you all who are listening to us. Cheerful Shambhala Day to you all.
Today is an interesting time, in that we are in between two situations. One is the passing away of His Holiness Karmapa, and the other is that we are flourishing here. So there are two situations, and this year we are between the two. Nonetheless, we are continuing to work on our practice and our study. This year seems to be like joining the pipeline coming from Alaska and from the south together. When such joining takes place, then we have a flourishing situation. But we are still joining these pipes at this point, putting them together. The practice here with the students at seminary is extraordinarily good, and remarkably excellent. Hopefully good practice is taking place nationwide and internationally as well. At the same time, we need further understanding and study.
This year is joining the situations of loss and gain together. Loss is that we have lost His Holiness, and gain is that His Holiness will return in the form of an infant. In order to let situations clear, we are practicing according to the Kagyu dharma, Kagyu practice. I think this year should be a year of cheerfulness, like spring. The harsh winter is past, therefore we have a beautiful spring, not quite summer yet, or even autumn for that matter. Let us regard this year as a good spring.
This is what will actually happen this year. There will be nothing to fear, no bad news. And nothing to hope for, no good news either. So we are standing in no-man's land somewhat, but let us continue, nonetheless. My good wishes and blessings to the Vajradhatu sangha in this nation and around the world. My profound affection and love to all of you. Thank you very much. Cheerful Shambhala Day!
© 2007 Diana J. Mukpo and the Shambhala Archives. Used by permission of Mrs. Mukpo and the Archives. We would like to thank the Shambhala Archives and Kalapa Recordings for preserving this recording and making it available.
All the best of the Fire Pig!
 Fire pig design by Marguerite Sands, Marguerite Sands Design
-from the Chronicles of CTR
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For Shambhala Day 2007
by Madeline Schreiber
Good Morning Shambhala
A new year is dawning . . .
So let's remember who we are
Our heritage , our potency
Our graciousness , our space
And let's remember our bewildered world
Where frightened beings cower sadly
Forgetting about their joyful windhorse
And how easy it is to leap and ride
The wild and crazy people have a lot of fun
Their hair blows freely in the wind day and night
Their raucous laughter bounces off the walls
Their shadows dance madly down the halls
They sing songs with no real words
And they are petrified by the light
The spies of discursive thoughts
Don't know how to cover their tracks
But if we follow, they will only lead us
To their various masters who hunker around
The thousands of raging ice cold bonfires
Which are their only setting sun light
In the east the enemy is a deceiver
Even though it may seem kind
So look in the mirror of great perfect wisdom
And try to let him see it too
In the south the enemy is very rich
It can draw us in with the lure of wealth
So quickly fill up with good windhorse power
So this enemy cannot bribe or con us
In the west the enemy is so attractive
Inviting us to endless satisfaction
To decode this charletan's razzle dazzle
Use marvelous observing wisdom
In the north the enemy is skilled in logic
Be careful, it can obscure our confidence
Just free it and ourself at once
Perfecting of all actions wisdom
All these people need a feast
Let's set the table Shambhala style
Come all beings from countless worlds
The celebration is coming soon
Come to the Feast of the Great Eastern Sun
Cheerful Shambhala Day
February 18 , 2007
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