Membership

Becoming a member of the Shambhala Meditation Center is a statement about your personal inspiration, curiosity, and commitment to the path of awakening. It means participating in a community of practitioners who aspire to relate to each other with honesty, warmth, and openness. We inspire one another to deepen our practice of mindfulness, awareness, and compassion. We also provide each other with an opportunity to practice compassion and patience.

We invite anyone interested in our Shambhala Center to consider becoming a member. Becoming a member of our Center simultaneously brings membership in Shambhala, a global community committed to cultivating mindfulness, awareness and compassion―personally and in society.

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Membership is a way to express appreciation for what Shambhala provides and help make it available to others. This involves three areas of engagement and support:

Practicing meditation

Making a connection to mindfulness-awareness meditation or related contemplative practice and integrating this practice into daily life is considered the best way for members to support Shambhala and benefit the world and ourselves.

Volunteering

All of the work of our Center and much of the work of the Shambhala global community is done by volunteers. Giving our time and talents to the work of the community is a vital form of support and viewed as part of members’ practice.

Providing financial support

Your financial contribution helps sustain the activity of Shambhala, allowing us to offer meditation, community events, and courses throughout the year.  Our members have diverse means, so they offer a wide range of monthly dues.  No one is excluded from membership because of money.

Why does membership matter?

Although membership is not required to participate in much of what the Center has to offer, without our community’s financial and volunteer support, we would not be able to offer all the wonderful programs, practice sessions, and events that we do.  It is because of our members that the profound tradition of meditation is able to survive and flourish. Payment of membership dues is the financial backbone of our Shambhala Center.

What are the benefits of membership?

Connection with our community by becoming a member helps support your practice and strengthen your understanding of Shambhala Buddhism in many ways:

• Members receive ongoing meditation instruction with a personal meditation instructor
• Members are invited to community events, programs, and classes, and receive discounts for some programs
• Membership pin
• Borrowing privileges at our Members Lending Library
• Pre-Requisite for Advanced Programs and Teacher Training Programs
• Cleveland Shambhala T-shirt
• Automatic membership in Shambhala’s world-wide network
• Access to member resources at www.shambhala.org that includes a wide range of online programs and classes

Become a Member

Fill out our membership form online and our membership coordinator will be in touch with you.

If you have any questions, please contact our membership coordinator, Kari Bast-Payne, at [email protected].  Also, see our Membership handout.

You can also contact us by mail:
Cleveland Shambhala Meditation Center, or CSMC
P.O. Box 16183
Rocky River, OH 44116-0183

 

Those who are in the sangha are warriors, because they are trying to overcome samsara. Members of the sangha support one another and care for one another. They are not perfect, but they inspire us because they are people who want to deepen their practice of mindfulness, awareness and compassion. The sangha is also a container. When we practice together, the sangha helps our discipline. We realize that there are other people around who are going through the same thing. That gives us a feeling of encouragement.
– Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche