Submitting a story

Collecting stories about the Vidyadhara is the main focus of this site. We hope that many of the Vidyadhara’s students will be willing to write down what they remember.

We feel that, for most of us, the best way to tell these stories is to write them down. It might be a story that we’ve told many times over the years. Sometimes the story changes a bit in the telling; we might leave things out or add more details depending on the audience. But when we sit down to write, we tend to be more careful and to tell the story as completely and honestly as possible.

Writing about our experience with the Druk Sakyong can be a painful process. We wonder how much to tell. We’re embarrassed to write about ourselves. We’re often confused about what really happened. Nonetheless, glimpses of the Vidyadhara’s enlightened mind and activity can be seen shining through our confused perspectives and imperfect memories. If we tell our stories, these glimpses could inspire generations of practitioners. If we don’t, they will be lost.

If you have already written about your experiences with the Vidyadhara—in the form of letters or journal entries or whatever—please consider contributing these to the Chronicle Project. If you have not yet written down what you remember, please think about doing so.

We plan to publish many of the stories we collect; some will be posted to this site. Other publishing ideas include an in-house book of stories about the Vidyadhara and eventually perhaps a trade publication, (working title: 108 Stories).

There will be some stories for which publication will be inappropriate or premature. Preserving such stories is an important goal of this project as well. All stories submitted to the Chronicle Project will reside in the Shambhala Archives.

If you would like to submit a story, please

• Preface your story with a title – e.g., Dinner with Rinpoche at Flagstaff 1981.
• Save your story in Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, rich text, or hypertext format and email it to submission@chronicleproject.com.
• Print out a copy of the Publication Release Form.
• Complete and sign the form.
• Mail or fax it to:

The Chronicle Project
5162 Duke St, Suite 501
Halifax, NS
B3J 1N7
Fax: 902 492-0013

What kind of stories are we looking for?

We’re looking for any story about the Vidyadhara that you think is valuable. It could be very short, describing a single moment, or it could be quite long, recounting a sequence of events that took place over time.

How personal should your writing be? While we’re not looking for your autobiography, a good story will likely convey a strong sense of the personal environment in which your encounter with the Vidyadhara took place.

Publication rights

Your completion of the Publication Release Form will give Shambhala Archives the right to publish your submission. Since these are non-exclusive rights, you retain the right to use your contribution, to publish it yourself, or to let a third party publish it. You would also retain what are called moral rights, which include a continuing right to object to any misuse of your contribution through misleading editing or presentation.

What is done with the stories you submit?

Once we have your submission and the signed release form, your story will be catalogued and preserved in the Shambhala Archives and you will receive a written acknowledgement. If we do not receive a signed release form within a reasonable amount of time, we will have to return your submission.

Submission safeguards

The project's Supervisory Board will ensure that the material you submit is handled appropriately. All submissions will be reviewed by a representative of the Supervisory Board prior to being published. It is also the Board’s role to determine what restrictions need to be placed on the distribution and publication of sensitive material. Some submissions, for example, might need to be restricted to students who have received a particular transmission.