Click here for first photo of the baby. This is a moment students of the Sakyong, Mipham Rinpoche have thought about for decades, quite literally. Including yours truly. My heart is overful, spilling with good cheer. ~ ed.

Princess born to king and queen of Shambhala at

IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia

[galleria]

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (Shambhala International) August 11, 2010  — The king and queen of Shambhala, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and Khandro Tseyang, today gave birth to their first child, a princess. The baby girl was delivered today at 10:24 AM Atlantic Daylight Time, in the birth unit of the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The couple were married in Halifax in 2006.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and his queen, the Sakyong Wangmo Khandro Tseyang, are holders of the hereditary Shambhala Buddhist lineage. The royal line dates back over a thousand years to the Tibetan king, Gesar of Ling, whose epic story is told in song and dance throughout Asia.

The new princess has been given the name Drukmo Yeshe Sarasvati Ziji Mukpo [Lady Dragon Wisdom]. Traditional Tibetan rituals will be performed privately at the family’s home in Halifax.

“The birth was cheerful, uplifted and free of complications. Both mother and child are healthy and resting well,” said Dr Mitchell Levy, personal physician to the royal family. Dr Levy is Professor of Medicine at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

The couple decided to have the birth in Halifax because it is their adopted home and the spiritual capital of the worldwide Shambhala community. The Shambhala Buddhist tradition has thousands of members in some 50 countries throughout the world. It takes its name from the Himalayan kingdom of Shambhala renowned for its wisdom and compassion.

The Shambhala tradition was brought to the west by the Tibetan meditation master, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. After his escape from Tibet in 1959, he taught widely throughout North America and Europe in the years from 1963 to 1987 and became an internationally established author. His best known and most widely translated books include “Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism” and “Shambhala: the Sacred Path of the Warrior.”

In 1986, he moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, along with hundreds of his students, and established the international headquarters of Shambhala in Halifax. By the time of his passing in 1987, he had laid the foundation for a global network of meditation centres that today has an annual attendance of some 250,000 people at its worldwide programs.

“The Shambhala teachings are founded on the premise that there is basic human wisdom that can help to solve the world’s problems,” Trungpa Rinpoche declared. “Shambhala vision teaches that, in the face of the world’s problems, we can be heroic and kind at the same time.”

The Shambhala tradition continues today under the leadership of Trungpa Rinpoche’s heir, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. The title, Sakyong, literally means “earth protector”.

The Shambhala teachings, offered in a series of public weekend programs, aim to nurture people’s fundamental intelligence, offer support in the midst of conflict and confusion, and open the door to the compassionate care of others. Shambhala Centres also offer classes in contemplative arts as a way of cultivating creativity and bringing students’ everyday awareness to a higher level.

The Shambhala community in Nova Scotia numbers more than 600 people, with its main centre at 1084 Tower Road, Halifax. Throughout Atlantic Canada there are over a dozen Shambhala meditation centres and groups, as well as two retreat centres, Gampo Abbey, and the main offices of Shambhala-inspired enterprises such as the Shambhala Sun magazine, and the Shambhala Summer Institute (ALIA) which brings social activists and thinkers from all over the world to innovative leadership programs.