Located in a residential house, the Shambhala Meditation Center of Asheville is a typical European-American Buddhist center formed in 1995.  They meet for regular practice on Thursday 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. 

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 fifteen members, with another twenty occasional attendees.  Most 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.

Note: a new site visit is necessary since this group's move to Westwood Place.

JW
(last updated 4/2/06)