Scorpion Seal Assembly 2

The prerequisite for this programme is Scorpion Seal Assembly Year 1 and the practice requirements specified for it.

This Scorpion Seal Assembly 2  retreat will focus on intensive practice of the Werma Sadhana and the other practices that were received at Scorpion Seal Assembly 1. Other key reading transmissions essential to the continuation of the Scorpion Seal path will be given.

Note: participants are asked to please not attend more than one Scorpion Seal Assembly per year.

It is not necessary to apply to the Shambhala Office of Practice and Education in order to attend a second year Scorpion Seal assembly. The practice centre will verify that you have attended Scorpion Seal Assembly Year 1 when you register.

The standard price displayed below now includes the late registration fee of €100 € (registrations made after the 7th of July).

In case of important variation on the exchange rate between dollar and euro, the Sakyong’s honorarium included in the global price might be adapted.

If you have financial difficulties but would love to attend a program, please contact [email protected] to discuss an arrangement (scholarship, installments etc.).

If you are interested in taking a staffing role in this assembly, please contact the coordinator Jez Taylor [email protected]

Practical

This program is taught in English. Translation into French or other languages are available at no extra costs. Please give us notice of your request as early as possible, so that we can provide translation service

Arrival day (September 7):Orientation talk at 8 pm. You’re invited to come from 2 pm in order to register and settle in your room. Dinner is served at 6.45 pm.

End of program (September 17):Closing circle and Banquet in the evening.

Departure day (September 18):You may leave anytime (no program). You’re welcome to stay for lunch.

Teacher

David Schneider

Acharya David Schneider was born in 1951 in Louisville, Kentucky, and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. He began to practice Zen meditation with a local group at Reed College, in Portland, OR and attended sesshins with Joshu Sasaki Roshi in 1970 and 71. In 1985 David was formally accepted by Trungpa Rinpoche as a student. He attended Vajradhatu Seminary in 1986 and staffed Seminary again in 1988.

David wrote Street Zen,  a biography of Issan Dorsey, published in 1993 by Shambhala Publications, and again in 2000 by Marlowe. Street Zen won several prizes, included “Best Buddhist Book of the Year” in 1993. In 1994 he co-edited with Kazuaki Tanahashi a collection of zen stories, titled Essential Zen.

In 1995, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche appointed David Director of Shambhala Europe, a position he held until 2003. David now works for Vajradhatu Publications Europe; he continues as well to pursue writing projects – currently, a biography of Beat poet and zen master Zenshin Philip Whalen – as well as calligraphy exhibitions. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche appointed David to the post of acharya in 1996.

Marianne Bots

Acharya Marianne Bots resides in the Netherlands where she joined the Shambhala community in 1977. She is a psychologist and psychotherapist who has worked more than 30 years in a clinic for young adolescents as a therapist and Head of Treatment. Recently she and her partner and colleague Lisette van Ardenne have begun offering Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Focusing and Coaching-Therapy within the context of a culture of Basic Goodness at a private institute for “Fundamental Health”.

She attended Vajrayana Seminary in 1982 and served as a Dorje Kasung for twelve years. She has been active in the leadership of the Arnhem Shambhala Centre and the European Council. She teaches throughout Europe.