Christie Cashman

A "strange instinct" compelled Christie Cashman to kiss the Great Buddha of Kamakura three times during a childhood trip to Japan: "That would definitely be the moment the I became a Buddhist, " she says. It was years later when Christie learned to meditate, starting a daily practice of zazen with Suzuki Roshi in 1968. But after reading Meditation in Action , and hearing of Trungpa Rinpoche's "resonant and outrageous" lifestyle, Christie dropped her life in Haight Ashbury and moved to Colorado to study with Rinpoche.

Over the next 16 years, Christie worked for Vajradhatu and Nalanda and served as Boulder's first Resident Director. She worked closely with Trungpa Rinpoche on curriculum design and implementation, and taught at several Seminaries and summers at Naropa Institute. Since moving "home" to Halifax, Christie has continued to combine retreat practice with study and teaching. Christie's ongoing passion is the activity of applying the Shambhala teachings to a variety of social challenges and the root text, The Golden Sun of the Great East, is a particular inspiration in her work in the field of restorative justice and dispute resolution. In her current post as executive director of Shambhala Training International, she teaches and develops curriculums for Shambhala Centers on topics that address the practicalities of family life, communication skills, leadership, creativity and money. Christie lives in a wooded area of Nova Scotia, and gardening remains one of the great loves of her life.