Shambhala Warriorship was first introduced in the West by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in the late 1970s. It represents his desire to teach the basic principles of meditation within a secular training program. These same principles are carried forward today within Shambhala Buddhism. Learn more about the Shambhala Path here. This post acts as a statement of the Shambhala Warrior’s aspirations.
The Warrior’s Aspirations
In the knowledge of our essential goodness – that tree of life growing freely in the garden of the warrior’s heart – we walk bravely, with courage, trusting our situation and all that it offers. We join meditative insight with a powerful vision of achieving a good human life that supports and sustains this earth, our home.
Lifting up the world under our wings, we trust in our new found ability to walk softly and respond carefully, fully caring for this life and each other. In this we see that the spiritual and the temporal are unified as one.
Mindfully aware each and every moment, we take as our armaments compassion and wisdom, knowing this is the true warrior’s way. What more worthy vocation can there be than this? To remind humanity of its goodness.
We live contemplatively in order to create a good human life. We recognize and acknowledge our inherent goodness and trust our ability to awaken each other to this sacred truth.
We honor and encourage innate goodness as we cultivate the wisdom of all cultures and traditions, learning from each other respectfully and with curiosity.
In this way, we never give up. We believe in humanity. We believe in each other. This is our bravery, the essential ingredient of a good human life.
In this we are bound by these unifying principles: that life is good, that we are good, that together we can establish a wholesome society for the benefit of all.
Kimberly Holman