Ongoing Offerings
Our center offers a rich array of weekly ongoing offerings free to the public, many of which are open to everyone. Please check the program listing for details.
Find how to get to our Shambhala Center here.
Public Meditation Schedule
Wednesday:
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
If you are already familiar with meditation, join us for sitting meditation practice. Free.
The session will also include walking meditation. The evening may include a brief reading from the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche or Pema Chodron. You do not need to present for the entire session and are welcome to come for as much of the session as your schedule allows. The center provides a variety of cushions and meditation benches as well as chairs.
If you are not familiar with sitting meditation practice, or need a refresher, please come to our monthly Learn to Meditate program, held the first Wednesday each month at 7 PM or one of the other introductory courses or programs. Shambhala Meditation Center of Albany is wheelchair accessible.
Heart of Recovery
Open to all—Buddhist practitioners from all traditions, Twelve Step practitioners from all programs and/or anyone struggling with addiction. Meeting format includes sitting practice, a topic offering in the form of brief comments or a reading by the night’s facilitator, discussion and exploration by group members, sharing our personal experience, strength and hope and dedication of merit. Meetings are anonymous and confidential.
Sobriety is finding a new way of living that involves engagement where there was withdrawal; generosity where there was self-centeredness; community where there was isolation; joy where there was bitterness; trust where there was cynicism.
Sunday Healing Service – The Awakened Essence (online)
This program will begin promptly at 10 am. Please arrive a few minutes early to make sure that you get in.
What do we do when bad things happen to decent people – to family, friends, co-workers, pets? When illness, accident, break-ups, getting old and so on, mess up the lives of those we care for? What do we do when we have no real control over others’ situations?
And regarding the bigger picture – crime, war, shootings, pandemics, climate change … political polarization that turns friends and family against each other. How can we fix things when everything seems so big and complicated, so far beyond our reach?
The Buddhist answer for the past 2600 years has been, start with your own mind. We may not be able to fix the world but we can work with our own minds and emotions so as to not worsen the mess, create more problems because of our pain. We can touch into the innate wisdom, wholeness and caring that is who we truly are and allow that to heal us. Having done so, we can then extend that innate warmth and goodness to others.
On Sunday mornings we come together (in Zoom) for an hour of guided meditations aimed at connecting with the wholeness and healing present in our hearts. We do a bit of Buddhist chanting to add some power to the mix. And as a final step we work with sending-and- taking practice to send healing out to those who are suffering from illness, accident or personal tragedies; or due to war, oppression and hatred. When we change our minds we change our world.
After the first hour, for those who choose to stay, we have a discussion (about half-an-hour) on whatever came up earlier. Please join us. When we change our hearts, we change our world. Use the following link to enter our Zoom session on Sunday morning: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82660310463
The healing service is led by Ryu Yoshida, meditation instructor and long time student of Buddhism and Buddhist practice.
