The Shambhala Meditation Center of Atlanta is foremost a community where people of all traditions can come together to practice meditation, study the dharma, and support each others life journey. We aspire to create an enlightened society based on goodness, dignity, wisdom, and compassion.

We are part of an international network of more than 170 urban meditation centers and rural retreat centers founded in 1973, by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and now led by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

Begun in 1976, our Center grows and prospers through the volunteer and financial support of members and friends. As a result, each year we increase the services we offer. The Center offers free meditation instruction and group practice sessions, a curriculum of Buddhist and Shambhala teachings, and training in contemplative culture and arts.

We invite you to explore our Center and learn about its programs. For a print version of our current schedule of group meditation practice, classes, and events in PDF format click here (Adobe Reader for PDF required, get it here).

Our lineage draws on the wisdom of the Kagyu and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism as inherited by founder of Shambhala, Chogyam Trungpa, and his son and spiritual heir, Sakyong Mipham. In the mid-1970s Chogyam Trungpa began to introduce teachings on Shambhala vision, based on his encounter with the Western world, and on the specific wisdom imparted from the Buddha to King Dawa Sangpo, the first sovereign of the legendary kingdom of Shambhala. This tradition teaches how to live in the secular world with courage and compassion.

Buddhism offers methods to clarify our mind, open our heart, and face the realities of human life. Shambhala teachings offer practices for rousing our life force and connecting with the natural power and energy of the phenomenal world. The combination of these wisdom traditions offers a contemporary, effective spiritual path. Following it, we can reclaim our natural birthright of wisdom and compassion, and work with others to bring about the best in human society.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is the head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, a spiritual and family lineage that descends through his family, the Mukpo clan of eastern Tibet. 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 Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche. His background embraces both Eastern and Western cultures. Born in India in 1962, he received spiritual training from his father and from many of the greatest Tibetan Buddhist masters of our time. Rinpoche is renowned for his straightforward, practical approach teaching style and his skill at making even the most esoteric Buddhist teachings meaningful and relevant to an American audience. His bestselling book, Turning the Mind into an Ally, is a perfect handbook for starting a personal meditation practice. His latest book, Ruling Your World: Ancient Strategies for Modern Life offers Sakyong offers inspirational vision and practical guidelines for enormously enriching our lives in a way that benefits society as well. To Learn more about Rinpoche, please visit: www.mipham.com.

Chogyam 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.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche the former supreme abbot of Surmang Monasteries in Tibet, is known as the foremost meditation master and teacher of 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. Rinpoche encouraged his students to join their experience of meditation with such disciplines as Japanese archery, calligraphy, flower arranging, tea ceremony, health care, dance, poetry, photography, theater, education, business and psychotherapy. Rinpoche authored two dozen books on meditation, poetry, art and founded the Shambhala path of warriorship. To learn more, please visit: www.shambhala.org.

The acharyas (Sanskrit, "senior teacher") of Shambhala are deeply experienced teachers appointed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. The acharyas are empowered to offer Buddhist refuge and bodhisattva vows and to bring the continuity of our spiritual lineage into the living teaching environment of local Shambhala centers. The Atlanta Shambhala Center is pleased to host many Shambhala acharyas. To can read more about acharyas in with Shambhala mandala, click here.

The Atlanta Center hosts teachers from other Buddhist schools and lineages, as well as other enlightened traditions to teach at our Center. Their teachings illuminate our path of study and enrich our culture.

Please see our program listings for upcoming programs by visiting teachers, as well other other programs and classes.

Visit our book and gift shop where you will find many items that support meditation practice and study. The shop is in our community room and open whenever the Center is open for meditation or other events.

A sample of items for sale include: Dharma Books Malas (prayer beads) Jewelry from Nepal Ritual items Incense Prayer flags

The Shambhala Meditation Center of Atlanta offers short-term rentals of our facilities to like-minded organizations and individuals. We have a 1500 square foot meditation hall with an uplifting, open space for meditation practice, yoga, tai chi, related contemplative disciplines, and weddings. We also have a large social hall and smaller meeting spaces available.

Please call or email for more information about rentals for weddings, celebrations, workshops, retreats, and conferences. Space is available for hourly or daily rental.

To make a reservation or get more information, call 404-370-9650 or e-mail info@atlantashambhalacenter.org.

The Shambhala Meditation Center of Atlanta is a 501(c3) non-profit organization and relies on program fees, donations and monthly member dues to support all Center activities. If you would like to support the activities of the Center either through a one time donation, we invite you to make your offering online here via Paypal online services.

We also apprectiate the time and skills people give at the Center. A wide variety of skill and labor positions are filled by volunteers, both members and non-members. If you would like to help by volunteering your time and energy please call us at 404-370-9650.

Being a member of the Shambhala Meditation Center of Atlanta is a commitment to the path of awakening and participation in a community of practioners who aspire to relate to each other with openness, warmth, and genuiness. To find out more about membership, click here.

Telephone
404.370.9650

Center Director
Valerie Morvan: valerie@atlantashambhalacenter.org

Administration
Kathy Tate: kathy@atlantashambhalacenter.org

Office of Practice and Study
Jackie Muse: practiceandeducation@atlantashambhalacenter.org

Shambhala Training
Heart of Warriorship
(Levels I through V)
Bill Solomon: shambhala@atlantashambhalacenter.org
Sacred Path (Graduate Levels)
Betsy Berman: baberman@mindspring.com

Dorje Kasung
Rusung: Ann Studley: anne_studley@hotmail.com

Board of Directors:
Center Director: Valerie Morvan: valerie@atlantashambhalacenter.org
Chairperson of the Board: Jane Horton: outbreak@bellsouth.net
Secretary: Anyana Banerjee: anyanab@gmail.com
Martha McGinnis
Keith Muse
Collette Frix

Webmaster
Bill Solomon: webmaster@atlantashambhalacenter.org

Learn more about meditation and buddhism at shambhala.org

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Shambhala Meditation Center of Atlanta
1447 Church Street, Decatur,  GA 30030
Tel. (404) 370 9650    Email: info@atlantashambhalacenter.org