Our Lineage

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is the head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, a spiritual and family lineage that descends through his family, the Mukpo clan. This tradition emphasizes the basic goodness of all beings and teaches the art of courageous warriorship based on wisdom and compassion.

Rinpoche is the son and heir of the Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. His background embraces both Eastern and Western cultures. Born in India, he received spiritual training from his father and other distinguished lamas and received further education and training in Europe and North America. He now travels extensively teaching worldwide.

"When we talk about enlightened society, we aren't talking about some utopia where everyone's enlightened. We're talking about a culture of human beings who know the awakened nature of basic goodness and invoke its energy in order to courageously extend themselves to others."

Visit mipham.com for more information about Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was one of the most dynamic teachers of Buddhism in the 20th Century. He was a pioneer in bringing the Buddhist teachings of Tibet to the West and is credited with introducing many Buddhist concepts into the English language and psyche in a fresh and new way.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the former supreme abbot of Surmang Monasteries in Tibet, is known as the foremost meditation master and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. In the early 1970s, he founded Naropa University, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America, along with over 100 meditation centers worldwide and authored two dozen books on meditation, poetry, art and the Shambhala path of warriorship.

"The Buddhist tradition teaches the truth of impermanence, or the transitory nature of things. The past is gone and the future has not yet happened, so we work with what is here -- the present situation. This actually helps us not to categorize or theorize. A fresh, living situation is taking place all the time, on the spot. This noncategorical  approach comes from being fully here, rather than trying to reconnect with past events. We don't have to look back to the past in order to see what people are made out of. Human beings speak for themselves, on the spot."

Read Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's biography on the Shambhala International website.

Acharyas (Senior Teachers)

The acharyas of Shambhala are senior teachers appointed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. As the Sakyong's representatives, the acharyas, who are empowered to offer refuge and bodhisattva vows, bring the continuity of the lineage into the living teaching environment of local Shambhala centers. Birmingham has had the good fortune to host several of the acharyas as visiting teachers. Find out more about the Acharyas of Shambhala by visiting the Shambhala International website.

Pema Chödrön

"Welcome the present moment as if you had invited it. It is all we ever have so we might as well work with it rather than struggling against it. We might as well make it our friend and teacher rather than our enemy."

Acharya Pema Chödrön is an American Buddhist nun, resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, and the author of such popular books as The Places That Scare You, When Things Fall Apart  and Start Where You Are. Her life experiences as wife, mother, and school teacher, and her years of study and practice with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche uniquely empower Pema to speak to Westerners, both Buddhists and non-Buddhists.

Birmingham has many of Pema Chodron's books and tapes in our library.

For more information online, visit Pema's website or find information about her books.

Learn more about meditation and buddhism at shambhala.org

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Birmingham Shambhala Center
714 37th Street South, Birmingham,  AL 35222
Tel. 205-595-1688    Email: JanetBronstein@aol.com