Improving concentration and increasing attention span. Reducing anxiety and stress. Eliminating judgmental thoughts as they arise. Bettering our relationships with others, and deepening our connection with ourselves.
These are among the many benefits of meditation, as reported by regular practitioners – but Judith Broadus doesn’t want you to take her word for it. The longtime member and proponent of the Shambhala Meditation Center of Lexington would much rather you find out for yourself.
“‘Find out for yourself’ is one of my favorite teachings,” said Broadus, a Lexington psychotherapist who has been practicing meditation for more than three decades. “I believe in [meditation] – but it’s easy for me to proselytize, and I don’t want to do that.”
With the Shambhala Center having reopened last month in a brand new, custom-designed facility, it’s an opportune time for local folks interested in meditation to explore the center’s offerings and “find out for themselves.” A good place to start, Broadus said, is with one of the organization’s weekly meditation sessions, which take place on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings and are free and open to the public.
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Pictured here, the primary meditation room (also called the “shrine room”) at the Lexington Shambhala Center’s new facility. The center offers free guided meditation sessions, for beginners and longtime practitioners alike. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Pictured here, the primary meditation room (also called the “shrine room”) at the Lexington Shambhala Center’s new facility. The center offers free guided meditation sessions, for beginners and longtime practitioners alike. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Pictured here, the primary meditation room (also called the “shrine room”) at the Lexington Shambhala Center’s new facility. The center offers free guided meditation sessions, for beginners and longtime practitioners alike. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Lexington Shambhala Center offers free guided meditation sessions, for beginners and longtime practitioners alike. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Lexington Shambhala Center offers free guided meditation sessions, for beginners and longtime practitioners alike. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Lexington Shambhala Center offers free guided meditation sessions, for beginners and longtime practitioners alike. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Lexington Shambhala Center offers free guided meditation sessions, for beginners and longtime practitioners alike. Photo by Tiffany Combs
“We’ll hear from people, ‘I’ve tried for years and I can’t meditate,’” said Broadus, who has held a variety of administrative roles with the local organization since its inception in the 1970s. “Well, it’s because they haven’t been trained on how to meditate in a way that’s really conducive to being able to meditate.”
With instructors on hand to help anyone who might need a bit of extra assistance quieting their minds, Shambhala’s group sessions can be particularly helpful for those seeking guidance on the practice. The Saturday sessions, referred to as “Café Shambhala,” are particularly geared toward newcomers, devoting special time for questions and discussion and offering refreshments to reinforce the sense of community and support.
The Lexington Shambhala Center is a branch of the global Shambhala community, a not-for-profit organization that started in the 1970s and now features hundreds of affiliated centers around the world. While Shambhala Centers tend to share certain aspects with some churches – the pursuit of spiritual connection and enlightenment; a strong sense of community – many practitioners would say that it’s more in line with a philosophy or lifestyle than a religion. Shambhala – a Sanskrit word meaning “place of peace and tranquility” – does have roots in Tibetan Buddhism, but its contemporary iteration focuses on a secular vision of enlightenment.
“The idea was originally to be able to create a parasol that encompasses all religions and all faiths – or no religion or faith,” explained Broadus. “It is a big parasol that is very accommodating.”
“It’s not exclusive,” affirmed fellow Shambhala member Vincent Dummer, also a local psychotherapist who has been active in the Shambhala community for more than 30 years. “It’s really about bringing people together who are interested in making this world better.”
Judith Broadus and Vincent Dummer are both local psychotherapists who have been active members and proponents of Lexington Shamhbala Center for more than three decades. Photo by Tiffany Combs
-Click here for a handful of "mindfulness tips" provided by Judith Broadus and Vincent Dummer--
The beginnings of Shambhala’s global community can be traced back to Buddhist meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who is considered the father of the Shambhala movement. After fleeing his politically tumultuous home country of Tibet in 1959, Trungpa eventually ended up in England, where he began seeking ways to make elements of ancient Buddhist teachings more accessible to a secular, Western Culture. Trungpa ultimately founded more than 100 meditation centers, most of which are now known as Shambhala Meditation Centers and that seek to further advance the Shambhala vision crafted by Trungpa.
At its core, the Shambhala vision is rooted in the principle that all humans have an inherent, fundamental goodness – a goodness that can be developed in such a way that it radiates out to friends, family, local communities and society as a whole. Also central to the vision is the idea that it is possible for our culture to meet challenges with kindness and generosity, rather than aggression and greed. These notions, according to the Shambhala vision, point to the potential for a truly “enlightened society” – an ultimate goal often used as a catchphrase when discussing the tenets of Shambhala.
Shambhala holds that meditation – the practice of deepening our connection with ourselves in order to loosen our mind of its natural inclination toward judgment – is the first step and central component to unlocking this potential for enlightened society. But Broadus is quick to point out that the Shambhala vision is not about “sitting in a cave and staring at your navel.” That is to say, it’s not just about meditation or diving inward. Ultimately, Shambhala would have us extend our internal goodness back out to the world.
“It’s about paying attention to relationships – relationships among people, your relation to yourself and relation to the world,” Dummer added. “The meditation is about your relation to yourself. It’s how you become familiar with your mind, what’s going on there and how it affects you.”
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Located on the corner of Maxwell and Mill streets, the new Lexington Shambhala Center was built and designed by Lexington architect Craig Rushing. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Located on the corner of Maxwell and Mill streets, the new Lexington Shambhala Center was built and designed by Lexington architect Craig Rushing. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Located on the corner of Maxwell and Mill streets, the new Lexington Shambhala Center was built and designed by Lexington architect Craig Rushing. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Located on the corner of Maxwell and Mill streets, the new Lexington Shambhala Center was built and designed by Lexington architect Craig Rushing. Photo by Tiffany Combs
A New Home
Like the international Shambhala community, Lexington’s Shambhala community has been around since the 1970s, operating out of various homes and makeshift studios for decades until 1995, when its members pooled funds to purchase the converted Maxwell Street house that became the organization’s first permanent facility. While that house – located next door to the current facility – had become like a second home to many members, its closed-off rooms, “house-like” proportions and limited open gathering spaces had made it increasingly unconducive to the needs of the organization, which boasts more than 80 active members and a number of guests on any given week.
When the building next door went on the market in 2015, the organization decided to seize the opportunity and purchase it.
The new facility featured nearly twice the square footage of the house, and with an open, box-shaped form as its bones, it allowed the team to work with architect and builder Craig Rushing to custom-design the space for their specifications. The new facility features primary and secondary meditation rooms (also known as “shrine rooms”), in addition to a full kitchen and several smaller multi-purpose spaces that can be used for workshops, gallery space or community gatherings.
In addition to advancing the core practice of meditation, Shambhala Centers often also offer an advanced curriculum of classes, primarily focusing on teachings related to Buddhist principles. Other offerings central to the Shambhala teachings include “kindness retreats” and regular sessions focusing on recovery from addiction or grief. (Lexington’s Shambhala Center hosts a “Heart of Recovery” program on Wednesday evenings, geared toward those who are interested in recovery from addiction of other similar problems.)
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Shambhala art coordinator Karl Lindstrom is thrilled about the opportunities the in-house gallery space provides. Photo by Tiffany Combs
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Brooke Pohl leads a workshop on the Japanese art of flower arranging, Ikebana, during Shambhala’s grand reopening celebration in January. Photo by Tiffany Combs
Advancing the “contemplative arts” is another big component of Shambhala, and to that end the center features an in-house art gallery, formally referred to as the Mill and Max Contemplative Gallery at the Lexington Shambhala Center. The gallery’s opening show in its new location, a solo exhibit by Lexington encaustic artist Michelle Hayden called “Beyond,” is on display through Feb. 14, and features a stunning display of nature-inspired sculptures and other works that utilize the encaustic process, a process of layering hot wax with pigment and other materials.
For gallery coordinator Karl Lindstrom, the opportunity to uplift the community through arts is an extension of Boddhi, or enlightenment. He carefully selects artists to exhibit whose work is layered with meaning.
“We focus on artists, and we focus on artists who might not be highly established and who can bring a story,“ he said. “It’s a very human connection to the arts.”
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Encaustic artist Michelle Hayden’s “Beyond” exhibit displayed in the Shambhala Meditation Center of Lexington's in-house art gallery. Photo by Michelle Hayden
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Encaustic artist Michelle Hayden’s “Beyond” exhibit displayed in the Shambhala Meditation Center of Lexington's in-house art gallery. Photo by Michelle Hayden
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Encaustic artist Michelle Hayden’s “Beyond” exhibit displayed in the Shambhala Meditation Center of Lexington's in-house art gallery. Photo by Michelle Hayden
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Encaustic artist Michelle Hayden’s “Beyond” exhibit displayed in the Shambhala Meditation Center of Lexington's in-house art gallery. Photo by Michelle Hayden
The Lexington Shambhala Center is located at 305 W. Maxwell St. Open meditation sittings are offered on Tuesdays (7 p.m.) and Saturdays (10 a.m.). For a full listing of events and more information, visit www.lexington.shambhala.org.
Editor’s note: The Shambhala community is not without its share of troubles and controversies – the head of the international Shambhala lineage – Saykong Mipham, the son of Shambhala founder Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who was also a controversial figure – stepped down last summer amidst allegations of sexual misconduct, shaking the core of many local Shambhala communities around the world. Lexington’s Shambhala community held a series of community conversations last summer to help its community grapple with the revelation, and many Shambhala communities have reported taking added steps to ensure their communities remain a “safe place” for members and guests.