“The buddha family, or families, associated with a person describes his or her fundamental style, that person’s intrinsic perspective or stance in perceiving the world and working with it. Each family is associated with both a neurotic and an enlightened style. The neurotic expression of any buddha family can be transmuted into its wisdom or enlightened aspect. As well as describing people’s styles, the buddha families are also associated with colors, elements, landscapes, directions, seasons—with any aspect of the phenomenal world.”
- Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche -

Saturday, March 21, 2009 [7 - 9 PM]
Appreciating the Five Wisdom Energies

This year’s Shambhala Arts Festival will feature work that embodies and exemplifies each of the five wisdom energies, or Buddha families. On Saturday, March 21, 2009, the Shambhala Meditation Center of San Antonio will host an exhibition of Miksang photography, a contemplative art form based on the Dharma Art teachings of Shambhala founder Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, illustrating the flavor of each Buddha family. There will also be a live performance of a new musical piece composed of five movements, each of which will provide an immersion into one of the five families through the sense of sound. This original musical interpretation of the wisdom energies will be performed by composers Phil Castillo and Travis Dierolf. The evening will begin at 7:00 pm with a brief talk about the five wisdom energies, and a celebratory reception of hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be offered.

Sunday, March 22, 2009 [9:30 - 1 PM]
Celebrating Sangha Through Sound

On Sunday morning, we will commence our public meditation practice at 9:30 am, followed by a continuation of our celebration of sound by enjoying the “Bamboo Spirit Shakuhachi Concert” at 10:00 am. The shakuhachi is a wooden flute which was traditionally played by Japanese Buddhist monks as part of their path of practice. At 11:00 am everyone will be invited to participate in a form of sonic meditation, which involves using sound to experience the vibrant sanity of our lives. A potluck lunch will follow at noon.

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.