How Trustworthy is Shambhala?

Summary of Findings

Sailboat on calm ocean at sunset

Historic concerns about trustworthiness and transparency, particularly among leaders, mean that these are core values for Shambhala as we move ahead. More members had a positive view of the trustworthiness of group and centre leaders in 2023, compared to 2022.

More members and more leaders had a positive view of the trustworthiness of the Board in 2023, compared to 2022. About two thirds of the members and more than two thirds of the leaders had confidence in most aspects of implementing the Shambhala Code of Conduct, although fewer leaders were confident that they could explain the details of the Code of Conduct procedures.

Member Survey

(Click here for more information about this survey)

There was more frequent agreement with perceptions of honesty, transparency, truthfulness and openness of both Shambhala group and centre leaders and the Shambhala Board in 2023, compared to 2022. The item “I believe our leaders were selected fairly” was only asked in 2023.

How much do you agree with the following statements regarding the leadership of your Shambhala group or centre?

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding the Shambhala Board?

Because concerns about conduct and conduct violations are a major aspect of perceptions of trustworthiness in Shambhala, we asked members about their familiarity with the Shambhala Code of Conduct and their confidence level in applying the code to conduct concerns. In 2022, about one third of members indicated in the survey that they were confident or very confident that they could apply the Shambhala Code of Conduct. In 2023 almost two-thirds agreed that they knew what conduct was covered in the Code of Conduct, how to find out about the policy and what to do if they were concerned about someone’s conduct in Shambhala.

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding the Shambhala Code of Conduct?

In both survey years, members were asked to indicate how likely it is that they would recommend Shambhala overall to a friend or colleague. They had an opportunity to record their rating on a score from 0 to 10. We grouped these ratings into four categories: Very unlikely (0-3), Neutral (4-6), Likely (7-8) and Very likely (9-10). We also examined these ratings separately for those who considered themselves members, those who are not sure about their membership and those who do not consider themselves members now (see the discussion on the “How Supportive Are We” page. Non-members are much less likely to recommend Shambhala, compared to members. Across all categories, there was a slight increase in the number of respondents likely to recommend Shambhala, and a slight decrease in those who were unlikely to recommend Shambhala in 2023, compared to 2022.

Leaders Survey

(Click here for more information about this survey)

Sound implementation of the Shambhala Code of Conduct policies is an important aspect of trustworthiness for our community. In both 2022 and 2023, leaders were asked about their confidence in implementing various aspects of the Shambhala Code of Conduct framework. The items were different in each year, so the responses are shown separately in these graphs. Confidence levels changed little between 2022 and 2023. In both years, more leaders were fairly confident about being able to apply the code of conduct policies in their groups and centres, while fewer were confident about being able to explain the procedures or resources available to those who file complaints.

How confident are you about taking the following steps to assure that the Shambhala Code of Conduct policies and Procedures are implemented?

Compare to 2022

How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding the leadership of the Shambhala Board?

More leaders were positive about features of the Shambhala Board’s trustworthiness in 2023, compared to 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.