Programs and Enrollment

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There are many ways in which people participate in Shambhala, however, we can’t easily measure all of them. The most significant ones we can gauge in the Shambhala Database (SDB) are program offerings and program enrollments.

Offerings are an indication of the level of effort that members, educators, and leaders are making to offer programs for members, friends, and the public. Some offerings require people to register and others do not.
Enrollments are an indication of the level of involvement in practice or study events that require an individual registration.

Changes over the last six years

We are a smaller community than we were in terms of programs or events offered as well as program enrollment.

While Shambhala continued to offer recurring activities and programs between 2017 and 2022, both scheduled events requiring registration and registrations declined by more than half between 2018 and 2022.
Enrollment by non-members and by more recent entrants to Shambhala (i.e. those entering between 2007 and 2018), and enrollments in introductory programs and offerings in the Way of Shambhala (Shambhala Training Levels I-V, In Everyday Life and Basic Goodness) course series, declined dramatically in this period.

Program Offerings Profile

Shambhala center offerings can be classified into “single” and “recurring” events or programs.

Programs that are classified as singles typically require separate registration, whether they occur just once or at multiple times, such as five Wednesdays. These include individually scheduled classes, community meetings, celebrations, etc., and they can occur in city centers, land centers such as Karmê Chöling, or on Shambhala Online.
Recurring events repeat regularly. A daily or weekly meditation session is an example of the most frequent offering at an urban centre (as opposed to retreat centre).

The decline in program offerings requiring registration occurred both in city and in land centers. Over this time period, however, the number of programs offered in Shambhala Online remained steady.

Location of Shambhala Offerings

	Venue	'17	'18	'19	'20	'21	'22
Program Offerings by Year and Venue
Singles
	Cities	7,445	7,446	6,179	5,928	3,955	3,444
	Land Centers	338	312	223	190	121	141
	Sh Online	106	132	105	124	201	116
Recurring
	Cities	14,033	13,748	12,835	15,273	11,152	11,391
	Land Centers	7	0	0	55	22	0
total	—	21,929	21,638	19,342	21,570	15,451	15,092
Data as of December 31, 2022

Program Enrollments Profile

To represent the level of participation in Shambhala, we count program enrollments not participants. A person is counted multiple times if they enroll for multiple events during a year.

Enrollments overall

Overall Enrollments have Decreased

Annual program enrollment in Shambhala reached a high of almost 55,000 in 2017, but fell to a total of about 23,000 in 2022. Enrollment declines occurred in both city and land centers. Shambhala Online enrollments are now 85% higher than in 2017, but are half of what they were during the height of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

	Venue	'17	'18	'19	'20	'21	'22
Total Enrollments by Year and Type of Venue
	Cities	45,497	38,857	27,662	30,104	21,901	16,524
	Land Centers	5,404	4,409	2,208	1,116	1,335	1,049
	Sh Online	3,993	3,235	3,569	12,182	8,436	5,543
total	—	54,894	46,501	33,439	43,402	31,672	23,116
Data as of December 31, 2022

Enrollment by membership status

Just as we can see how the challenges and changes of recent years affected the different locations where programs are offered, we can use the characteristics of the individuals who registered for a program to see trends in the behaviors and interests of people in Shambhala. At this point, it is important to remember that the categorizations used in the following charts and graphs reflect people’s status today, not necessarily what it was in earlier years. Some caution in interpretation is called for.

Enrollment proportion by membership status

Shambhala now enrolls a greater proportion of members, relative to other categories (or it may be that people who enrolled in programs some years ago are now no longer Members). In this graph people are classified by their membership status at the end of 2022, not their status in previous years (e.g., when they actually enrolled in a program). Although we believe that Non-member and Friend of Shambhala categories did not change much over the six years, the other two categories probably did.

Program enrollment by Non-members and Ex-members of Shambhala declined from about one-half in 2017 to about one-third of all program registrations in 2022.

	Status	'17	'18	'19	'20	'21	'22
Total Yearly Enrollments
By membership status at the end of 2021
	Ex-member	8,014	5,583	2,755	2,967	1,778	1,041
	Friend of Shambhala	3,340	2,977	1,382	1,880	1,223	701
	Member	19,810	17,836	15,469	24,875	18,005	11,781
	Non-member	23,559	19,898	13,640	13,441	10,599	9,593
total	—	54,723	46,294	33,246	43,163	31,605	23,116
Data as of December 31, 2022

Enrollment by type of practitioner

Shambhala Societal Mirror data derived from the SDB uses a different criterion for designating a person as a Vajrayana practitioners than the self-report that is used in the Societal Mirror survey. Here we classify people depending on whether they have attended a program where Vajrayana practices were authorized or practiced. Most people who enroll in Shambhala programs are not Vajrayana practitioners.

Program enrollments by the participant’s type of practice

Enrollments by people who were not Vajrayana practitioners fell by more than half between 2017 and 2022. Enrollments by Vajrayana practitioners fell but not by as much.

	Status	'17	'18	'19	'20	'21	'22
Total Yearly Enrollments
By Current type of Practice
	Non-Vajrayana	41,798	35,048	23,179	25,995	19,397	15,590
	Vajrayana	12,356	10,281	9,493	15,867	11,980	7,172
total	—	54,154	45,329	32,672	41,862	31,377	22,762
Data as of December 31, 2022

Enrollment by date of first contact

In producing enrollment statistics from the SDB, we grouped members and friends of Shambhala into five cohorts based on the date of their estimated first contact with Shambhala. These time periods correspond to those self-reported in the survey.

Comparing enrollment patterns of different generations

The largest drop in program enrollments has been in the two cohorts that first came into contact with Shambhala between 2007 and 2018. Earlier cohorts have not changed their participation nearly as much and those who first connected with Shambhala since 2018 have declined slightly more than 10% since the peak in 2020.

	Venue	'17	'18	'19	'20	'21	'22
Total Yearly Enrollments by Cohort and Venue
Before Jun '99
	Cities	3,725	3,375	3,346	4,870	3,608	2,179
	Land Centers	1,121	971	614	285	341	247
	Sh Online	941	796	1,092	3,515	2,757	1,663
'99 to Jun '07
	Cities	4,113	3,461	2,988	3,885	2,811	1,799
	Land Centers	862	708	433	212	250	164
	Sh Online	800	646	753	2,683	1,831	1,133
'07 to Jun '12
	Cities	8,305	6,559	4,414	5,017	3,196	2,078
	Land Centers	1,299	973	417	219	287	213
	Sh Online	1,047	877	932	2,852	1,806	1,098
'12 to Jun '18
	Cities	29,094	21,934	8,507	7,641	4,600	3,194
	Land Centers	2,093	1,549	486	244	317	250
	Sh Online	1,173	860	615	2,205	1,300	913
Since Jun '18
	Cities	39	3,332	8,243	8,499	7,642	7,252
	Land Centers	0	179	247	153	138	174
	Sh Online	1	31	159	848	722	731
total	—	54,613	46,251	33,246	43,128	31,606	23,088
Data as of December 31, 2022

Enrollment by type of program

Programs listed in the SDB have been grouped into ten categories based on their content.

Enrollments change over time by type of program

There were dramatic declines between 2017 and 2022 in enrollments in several categories.

Way of Shambhala was most concerning, with 2022 enrollments about one-eighth of the level seen in 2017
Teacher (and guide) training programs had almost stopped by 2022
Enrollments in Vajrayana programs in 2022 were about 22% of the level seen in 2017

Introductory, Practice, and Societal program enrollments were encouraging.

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	Program Type	'17	'18	'19	'20	'21	'22
Total Yearly Registrations by Type of Program
	Buddhist	3,417	2,920	4,251	4,279	3,683	1,954
	Introductory	3,923	3,436	1,910	1,836	1,756	3,022
	Other	8,874	7,022	6,417	12,472	7,363	4,285
	Practice	3,171	3,166	2,845	3,565	3,578	2,981
	Sacred Path	2,125	1,541	534	559	471	561
	Shambhala Arts	3,568	3,153	3,221	1,290	1,101	1,215
	Societal	4,267	4,820	4,452	10,564	7,675	5,070
	Teacher Training	1,748	1,237	453	297	260	154
	Vajrayana	4,567	3,723	2,751	2,566	1,700	996
	Way of Shambhala	17,058	13,268	5,431	3,533	3,114	2,163
total	—	52,718	44,286	32,265	40,961	30,701	22,401
Data as of December 31, 2022

Please send your questions and suggestions to Societal Mirror Team or join the conversation on the Societal Mirror Group on the Shambhala Network (password required) forum.