This week we’re joined by the President of Shambhala, Richard Reoch. Along with overseeing the Shambhala organization, Richard is also a long time human rights, activist, and environmental leader. With this unique background, we thought it would be particularly relevant to explore the topic of “enlightened society.” Enlightened society was an idea presented by Chogyam Trunpa, but which he said was originally taught by the Buddha. We explore what Trungpa meant by the term, and how it has evolved over the past few decades in the Shambhala community.
We also look at the parallels, between the path of the activist and the contemplative path. With one we are trying to fix ourselves (often), and the other we are trying to fix the world. As Richard says, both are paths where one moves first from a position of arrogance toward one of humility.
Episode Links:
Shambhala ( http://www.shambhala.org )
Kalachakra Tantra ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalachakra )