Composer and Shambhala Training Resident Director of San Antonio Philip Castillo has released a new digital EP album on iTunes - Five Energies EP.

This music was inspired by the five wisdom energies and was composed for, and performed at, the 2009 Shambhala Arts Festival in San Antonio. The recording also features Gampo Abbey’s very own Travis Ziji Dierolf on trombone!

All proceeds of the album go towards the purchase of new cushion covers for San Antonio. You can download and purchase the album here.

A promo video can be seen below:

In True Perception: The Path of Dharma Art, Chogyam Trungpa talks about “gaining new sight.” He goes on to explain that this new sight “is being extremely inquisitive to see things in their own nature, not always wanting to change things.” In a recent Miksang Level II class in San Antonio, we continued along the path of synchronizing the mind and the phenomenal world through vision. We were skillfully guided by John McQuade to rely on our visual perception in exploring the phenomenal world - letting the world guide our efforts to see the visual field as it is - without trying to manipulate what is seen. The outcome was magical - that elusive “ordinary magic” found in the sincerity of life. Images from this class will be used in our coming Dharma Art Festival and can also be seen here.

Fearless Lilac Lady
Of boundless generosity
Complete joyous exertion
How we miss you.

Fuchsia lensed wangmo
So often in our thoughts
Big eyes, Big glasses, Big view.

Purple teapots spouting generosity.
Liquid love.

Puffy pink shoes
Fun spiky hair
Curious bright eyes

Teacher- Molding- Practice
My beautiful friend
Be brave and go-
We will carry on.

Spontaneous poem composed with deep love
by a group of dharma brother and sisters
for Kevin Finnegan whose Shambhala name was Divine Lake
soon after her untimely death