Reflections on the Ziji Collective Global Leadership Summit
It’s been almost two months since I got back from a week of programs in the Bay Area. One of the programs I attended some of you all were at, the Being Brave weekend with the Sakyong and Ani Pema. But prior to that, I attended another three day program with a few fellow young members of our center, one that left a mark on me and has filled me with optimism for
the future of Shambhala.
I will admit that I had no idea what “Ziji Collective” was when I signed up to go to this program, and still didn’t as I was making the drive down for it. I just knew it was some sort of young sangha leadership retreat that someone else at the center had turned me on to. I sat with the mystery as it were, and went into the first night of the program not quite sure what to expect. The first talk, by the founder of Ziji Collective (and new SF Center Director) Alex Van Gils, gave me a glimpse of an understanding. “Ziji” roughly translates to “Radiating confidence;” the Ziji Collective is basically a group where young people can try things- social activism, meditation in action (and dance parties)- experiment, and sometimes fail, and learn from the experience, without needing to get the stamp of approval from our local centers. And it just so happens that the Sakyong caught wind of it, and gave it his stamp of approval. And there were Ziji Collectives all over the country, and around the world.
Walking back to the BART that evening was when that last part really hit me. I was just having conversations with some of the new people I had just met, and I realized I was with young sangha leaders who really were from all over the world- people from Mexico City (Hello Bruno and Pamela!), Brazil (Charles!), Austria (Christoph!), Rotterdam and Amsterdam (Arno and Jelmer!), as well as Boston and Colorado and Texas and all over the country. And this was just our little group walking to the train! It’s one thing to hear that Shambhala is an international organization, but it’s another to see it in front of you.
Over the next couple of days were filled with great activities, punctuated by a few talks- including one by Shastri Holly Gayley and another by Acharya Melissa Moore. However, my personal highlight was our great fortune to have the Sakyong come and address us. This was the first time I had seen the Sakyong in person; we waited outside in the sunny afternoon for him to arrive, and seeing him for the first time was kind of like getting shocked by lightning- here is this person whose teachings I love and respect so much, in the flesh.
His address was incredibly touching, and left me feeling very tender and open hearted. He implored us as young leaders of Shambhala to begin to act now, not to wait until we felt like we had gotten all the training we could need. To paraphrase him “We go to Shambhala centers to gain strength to go into society, not to escape it.” I was very moved by the feeling of warmness that surrounded him- I felt like he appreciated and was moved by our gathering as much as we were. His call to action was an expression of an incredible amount of trust- that he trusted us to go out and make mistakes. “You can be the spark that begins the shift in our society, and I can say that I was here to see it,” he said with a smile.
I left the retreat feeling awestruck by the incredible wealth we have in our organization. All of these young leaders, across the globe, filled with energy and ideas, and now empowered by the Sakyong to go out and act. Reflecting back to my question of
what Ziji Collective was, I realized that it was something that I was a part of all along. These teachings weren’t something entirely new or different than anything I had been involved with before, they were simply an empowerment to do act on them, and a connection with a lot of people who wanted to do the same. To end with a phrase from the Sakyong’s address, we were ready to “Make Shambhala something [we] can be proud of.”
Ziji Collective has a website, if you’re interested in checking it out, it is available here.
