Sitting Meditation
9-10am every Sunday morning. The first Sunday of the month has an additional sitting period from 10am to noon. Meditation instruction is available.Attendance is free and open to beginners.

Ordinary Magic
6-7:30 Wednesday evenings.
This open house is a great introduction to the Shambhala Buddhist teachings and an opportunity to connect with other practitioners. It features half an hour meditation practice followed by a talk by one of our senior teachers, a discussion period, and a reception. Meditation instruction is provided. Attendance is free and open to the public. This Wednesday the 22nd the topic is "This Magic Moment" presented by Greg McNally.

"Shambhala Principle" Book Study Group 6:30-8pm five Thursdays May 23 to June 20. ~ details

The vision of Shambhala is that a gentle and dignified life based on meditative understanding is accessible to everyone and can blossom into an enlightened society. Contemplative practices bring to our ordinary lives a natural sense of goodness, fearlessness, and humor.

The St. Johnsbury Shambhala Center is a member of Shambhala International, a worldwide organization of more than one hundred meditation and retreat centers, founded by the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and now under the guidance of his son,  Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.  The Center offers a year-round schedule of traditional Buddhist and Shambhala meditation practice and study and Shambhala arts programs.Shambhala draws on a wide variety of meditative traditions, which are all based on the principle of non-aggression. The core practice of Shambhala is shamatha-vipashyana, or mindfulness-awareness meditation. Shamatha means peace. It is the cultivation of Mindfulness which involves lack of self deception and struggle. Vipashyana is the development of awareness, or insight, which allows one to see things precisely, just as they are. Joining shamatha and vipashyana brings relaxation into nowness and simplicity, as well as insight and connection with the world.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, author of Turning the Mind into an Ally,  teaches around the world to both Western and Asian audiences.  Having grown up in America with a Tibetan influence, he speaks to Westerners as no one can: relating stories and wisdom from American culture and the great Buddhist teachers in idiomatic English.  More about Rinpoche.

If you have a broadband connection to the internet, you can watch videos of these teachers here on this site.

There is no charge required to receive meditation instruction or to participate in scheduled meditation practice at the St. Johnsbury Center.  Instruction is always available during the scheduled meditation periods.  Fees for classes and other events are requested on a “suggested donation” basis.

For more information about Shambhala International, please visit www.shambhala.org.  You may also want to visit our neighboring land center Karmê Chöling where extended, in-depth programs with accommodations are offered.

Shambhala Meditation Center 
17 Eastern Avenue, St. Johnsbury, Vermont
(above the Sunshine Boutique and next door to the Star Theatre)
802-748-4240 ~ visit the contact page for more information.