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."

If you would like to hear a recording of a recently broadcast talk by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, please go here.

To see the Sakyong's 2008 Shambhala Day address please click here.

  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. Boston has the good fortune to not only host many of the acharyas as visiting teachers, but we are extremely honored to have Acharya Emily Bower and Acharya Adam Lobel live locally.

Acharya Emily Bower

Emily Bower has studied closely with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche since 1991. She served as his editor for several years, helping with his book Turning the Mind into an Ally along with many poems and practice texts.

She is a professional book editor, currently working at Shambhala Publications.

Acharya Adam Lobel

Adam Lobel has lived and studied Buddhism in monasteries in Tibet, Nepal and India. A close student of the Sakyong, he traveled with Rinpoche on his 2001 trip to Tibet. Acharya Lobel was one of the co-editors of Turning the Mind into an Ally and has been responsible for creating meditation programs based on this book. He is a recent father and lives with his family in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Acharya Lobel is currently pursuing graduate studies in Buddhism at the Harvard Divinity School. Acharya Lobel is a regular teacher at our Wednesday Night Dharma Talks.

To hear a talk by Acharya Adam Lobel given at a Wednesday Night Open House on September 19, 2007, click here.

To hear a talk by Acharya Adam Lobel given at a Wednesday Night Open House on December 18, 2007, click here.

Learn more about meditation and buddhism at shambhala.org

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Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston
646 Brookline Avenue, Brookline,  MA 02445
Tel. 617-734-1498    Email: info@shambhalaboston.org