Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston — Attraction in Brookline

I would not recommend this place. My girlfriend signed us up for a weekend session to learn about mediation. But we apparently signed up for a more advanced course: the refuge vow. We went to the opening Friday session last Friday 3/15/15. We were ushered into the upstairs sanctuary, where we sat for 20 min and then had to bow down in front of two Shambhala teacher's pictures, while our teacher processed into the room. During the whole session I felt intimidated. Our teacher was a white guy from Jersey working in finance. He had a weird energy around him. His lecture was vague and used rather pretentious language. After a brief Q&A they asked us chant some atheist chants and then to volunteer for work during the weekend. Some of their instructions included "please pick up your trash after yourself" even though everyone in that room acted very respectfully. On top of that they asked us to give a monetary "gift" to the finance guy in addition to the fee everyone already paid, which I though was insulting. We respectfully asked the secretary to remove us from the remaining session during the weekend, and reimburse us for the next two days that we were not planning to attend. One thing we learned that night was that one of the five precepts of Buddhism is not to take what is not yours. Ironically, we are still waiting...

I just left 5 stars without comment before, but now I’m coming back because I finally have the time/energy to write a review, and I really want to emphasize how wonderful this place and the community here is. The Shambhala Center was my home away from home for a few months while I was going through a particularly rough time, and the weekly reprieve of dharma Wednesdays was always such an eagerly anticipated event in my calendar. The meditation and friendly discussion with the sangha here has meant so much to me. This is one of the places I miss the most (with some of the people I miss the most!) now that I’ve moved away from Boston. Sending you all my love from Florida, and you can be sure I’ll visit the next time I’m...

This is an amazing place of wonderful people committed to living in a society based on compassion, generosity and kindness. If we are going to make the world a better place for future generations this is the place to do it! Outstanding instruction in meditation practice, excellent coursework in mindfulness, and a strong Buddhist community that welcomes all...