Vajra Politics: The Political Consciousness of the Warrior

November 18 from 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST

The Buddhadharma is taught to overcome ego and conflicting emotions. 

The Shambhala teachings are taught to show how to manifest enlightened potential. 

Attributed to His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Join Dr. Julia Sagebien for a half-day, mini-practice and study retreat exploring Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s teachings on Vajra Politics. The retreat will also explore the commentaries developed by Karl Springer, Lila Rich, and Robin Kornman, as well as relevant dharma and spiritual teachings by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Thrangu Rinpoche, Mencius and others.

Questions to be Explored Include

• What are the limits of all political systems?
• What is Vajra Politics? 
• Who is a student of politics?
• What is the Ground, Path, and Fruition of Vajra Politics? 
• What did Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche mean by “political consciousness” and how can it be developed?  
• How is mandala principle related to politics? 
• How does the ancient Chinese model of rulership and the Western tradition of humanism exemplify Vajra Politics principles?
• How did the Ancestral Sovereigns rule using Vajra Politics principles?
• What was the College of the Ashe Prince?
• What would a ngeton, or “original mind," school of worldly dharmas be like?
• What can Bodhisattvas do in a time of great chaos and confusion?

“Mandala,” “society,” “group,” “association” implies that 

everything is centered around something.

In tantric mandala, everything is centered around centerless space 

in which there is no watcher or perceiver.

Because there is no watcher or perceiver, the fringe is extremely vivid.

-The Myth of Freedom, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Text

Vajra Politics Sourcebook by Julia Sagebien and Derek Kolleeny

Prerequisites

This course requires a lead on one of the following: Pointing Out Instruction, Nature of Mind Transmission, Sacred World Assembly, Vajradhatu Seminary, or being a Tantrika, and Warrior Assembly or Lungta Practice. 

About the Teacher

Dr. Julia Sagebien became a student of the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in
1973. She subsequently studied with the Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche, as well as other
respected teachers such Dzongsar Khyetnse Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Her
Buddhist training has included both an academic component (M.A Naropa University)
and an extensive religious/contemplative component. Julia has been a Shambhala
Training Director since the inception of the program and has taught at several Vajradhatu
Seminaries. Online, she has been an active contributor to the Chronicles of CTR project
and has more recently hosted several large online programs via Shambhala Online. Julia
also worked closely with Spanish-speaking dharma centers worldwide and helped pioneer
Queer Dharma. As a founding Governor of the Council of Warriors, she assisted with the
preservation of the temporal/secular teachings of the Kingdom of Shambhala.

Dr. Sagebien was born in Cuba and now resides in Halifax, Chicago, and San Juan. She is
a retired university professor and a widely published international scholar. She was
Senior Fellow for the Canadian Foundation of the Americas and her development
projects/conferences have been generously funded by the Ford Foundation and other
international foundations. She completed her doctoral work at the London School of
Economics.