Shambhala Training was originated by the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche at Boulder, Colorado. After teaching Buddhism in the West for over fifteen years Trungpa Rinpoche began in 1976 to present the Shambhala teachings in a non-sectarian program of study and meditation practice. In the autumn of 1976 the first public programs offering this training, called Weekend Intensive Meditation Programs, were held. However, its acronym WIMP, was considered inappropriate and was renamed Shambhala Intensive Training (SIT). Shortly thereafter it adopted its present name Shambhala Training Program. Trungpa Rinpoche designated his chief student and spiritual successor Osel Tendzin as co-founder of the program which was established on 22 February 1977. Management of the program was placed under the direction of Karl Springer, a member of the board of directors of Nalanda Foundation. In 1978 Trungpa Rinpoche and Osel Tendzin, began to train teachers for the Shambhala Training Program. In March of that same year Trungpa Rinpoche presented the teachings of Shambhala Training for the first time at a public talk at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Also in 1979, a course of advanced training for program directors called Shambhala Education was created. Later some of the material in this program was incorporated into a series of graduate level programs which followed the completion of the first five levels of training. Shambhala training currently offers a three-part program of study and practice. Each program offers meditation instruction and practice talks on the Shambhala teachings group discussions and individual interviews. In 1983 the Shambhala Training Program moved from Boulder, Colorado to Halifax, Nova Scotia. After Trungpa Rinpoche's death in 1987, the program was carried on under the direction of Osel Tendzin until his death in 1990. It is presently under the direction of Trungpa Rinpoche's eldest son the Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.