Shambhala Meditation Center of Asheville

Information about this center is no longer updated. This data was last updated on 11 October 2009.

Phone: 828-281-1938
Email: ShambhalaAshvl@charter.net
Website: http://www.shambhala.org/centers/asheville/
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Located in the historic Flatiron Building in downtown Asheville, the Shambhala Meditation Group of Asheville is a typical European-American Buddhist center formed in 1995. They meet for regular practice on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, and also offer occasional classes, joint workshops with other Buddhist groups in the area, and participate in the annual pan-sectarian Asheville Wesak celebration.

Activities and Schedule

Sunday mornings begin with ten minutes prayers and chanting of the Heart Sutra, all in English, at 10:00 a.m. Participants perform silent seated meditation until noon, interspersed with two ten-minute walking meditation periods, and a ten-minute period of tonglen (giving and receiving visualization practice). The practice period ends with short prayers, and then the attendees go out for tea and conversation.
Wednesday evenings the group meets from 7:30-8:30 p.m. for meditation, followed by a book discussion or viewing of videotapes of teachers from the Shambhala lineage. Both Sunday and Wednesday gatherings attract approximately eight people.
The Shambhala center has a core group of ten members, with another twenty occasional attendees. All of the core members became involved in Shambhala elsewhere, and joined the Asheville group after moving to the area. Participants are mainly in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, and the group has a larger male than female membership. There are no non-Caucasian members. The group does not have a formal resident teacher, relying instead on the leadership of several members with many years of Buddhist experience and a consensus form of self-government.