Our Lineage

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche is the head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage, a spiritual and family lineage that descends through his family, the Mukpo clan. This tradition emphasizes the basic goodness of all beings and teaches the art of courageous warriorship based on wisdom and compassion.

Rinpoche is the son and heir of the Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. His background embraces both Eastern and Western cultures. Born in India, he received spiritual training from his father and other distinguished lamas and received further education and training in Europe and North America. He now travels extensively teaching worldwide.

"When we talk about enlightened society, we aren't talking about some utopia where everyone's enlightened. We're talking about a culture of human beings who know the awakened nature of basic goodness and invoke its energy in order to courageously extend themselves to others."

Visit mipham.com for more information about Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was one of the most dynamic teachers of Buddhism in the 20th Century. He was a pioneer in bringing the Buddhist teachings of Tibet to the West and is credited with introducing many Buddhist concepts into the English language and psyche in a fresh and new way.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the former supreme abbot of Surmang Monasteries in Tibet, is known as the foremost meditation master and teacher of Tibetan Buddhism in the West. In the early 1970s, he founded Naropa University, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America, along with over 100 meditation centers worldwide and authored two dozen books on meditation, poetry, art and the Shambhala path of warriorship.

"The Buddhist tradition teaches the truth of impermanence, or the transitory
nature of things. The past is gone and the future has not yet happened, so
we work with what is here -- the present situation. This actually helps us
not to categorize or theorize. A fresh, living situation is taking place
all the time, on the spot. This noncategorical  approach comes from being
fully here, rather than trying to reconnect with past events. We don't have
to look back to the past in order to see what people are made out of. Human
beings speak for themselves, on the spot."

Read Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's biography on the Shambhala International website.

Acharyas (Senior Teachers)

The acharyas of Shambhala are senior teachers appointed by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. As the Sakyong's representatives, the acharyas, who are empowered to offer refuge and bodhisattva vows, bring the continuity of the lineage into the living teaching environment of local Shambhala centers. San Antonio has the good fortune to host many of the acharyas as visiting teachers, and we are extremely honored to have a special ongoing relationship with Acharya Moh Hardin who visits at least twice a year.

Moh Hardin

Moh Hardin was born in South Carolina on April 10, 1944. The son of a Methodist minister, Moh grew up in the church. After graduating from Duke University with a B.A. in music, and completing alternative service as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War, Moh dropped out and became a hippie. At the time, Moh considered himself an independent thinker who would never have a teacher. That was before an encounter with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche changed his mind: "His words were true to my experience...and he had nothing in it for himself."

After helping establish the Berkeley Dharmadhatu, Moh served there as education coordinator until he was invited in 1979 to work in the Karme Choling practice and study department. In 1984, Moh and his family moved to Nova Scotia and set up an herb farm. After Moh's wife Judith was diagnosed with cancer, they decided to move into Halifax. The years between '87 and '90 were marked by Judith's journey toward death, a sad journey that was also inspiring because of the warriorship that Judith embodied.

Moh served as Director of the Halifax Shambhala Centre from 1991 to 2001. Currently he serves as Regional Acharya for the Atlantic Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, and the states of Texas and Louisiana. He visits the Shambhala Centers in these regions regularly, teaching and working with students.

In 1996, Moh married Cynde Grieve, and they live quite happily in Halifax with Justin, Cecily, and Cynde's son, Evan. When Moh reflects on his dharma training, he thinks first of his good fortune to be able to attend six Vajradhatu Seminaries, as both student and teacher, where he was able to train directly under the guidance of Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Says Moh, "It doesn't matter whether you are a participant or staff, you still go through the journey."

Find out more about Moh Hardin on the Shambhala International website.

Learn more about meditation and buddhism at shambhala.org

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Shambhala Meditation Center of San Antonio
1114 S St Marys, San Antonio,  TX 78210
Tel. 210 222 9303    Email: sashambhala@mac.com