In 1959 Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche led 300 refugees on a nine-month journey across Tibet to India – a journey now seen to rank among the greatest of history’s great escapes. Among those following him was the Washutsong family and their daughter Palya, aged 15. With music composed and performed by India Gailey and Jeff Reilly, narration by Grant MacLean, Harsh Splendour tells Palya’s story. Through HD satellite images and a flight simulator, we follow the route the refugees took, see the towering mountain terrain they crossed, the fearsome weather they faced. It is a journey to inspire us all.

You Are The Masterpiece

Exploring unconditional sacredness: the display of innate goodness, the worthwhileness of everyday life

21 Years of Tributes from the Mahasangha

Contribute your poems, stories and tributes to this ongoing collection

Four Artists Reflect on CTR’s Visual Dharma Teachings

Photo by George Holmes, used by permission A reminiscence from Jack Niland Here's the story. In 1974 at the start of Naropa, Trungpa told me I had to teach a class..."Just tell them everything I've told you" were his only instructions. The first year I assisted others to learn the ropes. Then, starting in 1975, he had me...

Datun Study Program

Buddhism: View and Path: A 7-month study program from Siddhartha's Intent: January - July 2026. The course is being taught by senior instructors and students of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, along with several excellent guest teachers.

The Passing of Lama Yonten

Lama Yonten passed away in Nepal on February 7. Yonten was Trungpa Rinpoche's attendant during their escape from Tibet, 1959-1960. He also attended Trungpa Rinpoche's root guru, Shechen Kongtrul Rinpoche. Years later in India, he attended Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Here is a recent passage from Rabjam Rinpoche's Facebook page In Loving Memory of Lama Yonten, Personal Assistant to...

50 Years of Dharma at the Philadelphia Shambhala Center

In December of 2020, during the pandemic, the Philadelphia Shambhala Center hosted a virtual gathering with fourteen of the founding members of Shambhala in Philadelphia.  Coming together from coast to coast, some of them had not seen each other for decades.   They talked about the early days of practice, the sangha house in West Philly, the visits...

The Halifax Shambhala Centre: Who’s in Charge? The Mandala Governance System

In 1975, when Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was asked how he saw his lineage continuing in America he replied that “the general plan, seemingly, or general intuitive plan, is that some kind of reign of sanghaship would take place for a while," and "this needs group spirit." The Halifax Shambhala Centre is implementing a new governance model. The...

Journey to Taktsang 57 Years Ago

The Sadhana of Mahamudra was completed at Taktsang in Bhutan on September 6, 1968. Here, in his own words, is the story of traveling to Taktsang and receiving the sadhana.

Lack of Credentials

Excerpted from The Way of Basic Sanity, A Brief Overview of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's Perspective on Sutric Buddhism

Why Now?

Tashi Colman's Review of The Sadhana of Mahamudra, a new title from Shambhala Publications

The Halifax Shambhala Centre Announces the Visit of Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche

The Halifax Shambhala Centre is pleased to announce that Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche—the grandson and spiritual heir of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, one of Trungpa Rinpoche’s principal teachers—will be visiting Halifax during the first week of August 2026.

Lady Diana’s Life Story

I’ve been asked by the family of Lady Diana Mukpo to make some remarks today about her life story: who she was, what she did and what her connection is to all of us! It’s difficult to do this for someone of her stature and also for someone who was such a beloved friend of many...

Ringu Tulku on the Sadhana of Mahamudra & the Four Dharma’s of Gampopa

Thank you to Ringu Tulku and his organization, Bodhicharya, for permission to post this talk.

The Passing of Lady Diana Mukpo

Dear Shambhala Sangha, Our community has experienced an incredible loss. We write with heavy hearts to share that Lady Diana Mukpo - wife and widow of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, mother, grandmother, accomplished equestrian, and steadfast protector of the Shambhala teachings and vision - passed away surrounded by family and close friends at her home in Florida on...

The Genuine Face of the Guru

Why all the fuss over a dead man; why don't you just get over it and move on? Someone asked me that the other day. Good question. A couple...

Sharon Hoagland

Sharon talks about her experience of working in Trungpa Rinpoche's court and the Regent's household, and her continued service to Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

On Trungpa Rinpoche’s Unique Brilliance

About Trungpa Rinpoche's "mind-boggling brilliance"

Lunch is served

I was on staff as a cook in the Vidyadhara's household in Los Angeles in 1979. It was a joint ITS (Intensive Training Seminar) and ATS (Advanced Training Seminar)...

Climbing a Staircase

During the Vidyadhara's last visit to England in 1986 I served many times as a kasung around Rinpoche's activities. As a long time city resident and car owner I...

How I Met Rinpoche

Part One of a Conversation with Ani Pema Chödrön.
Training of an American Buddhist Nun. The following conversation between Pema Chödrön and Walter Fordham took place in Halifax on 10 December 2003.

Absolutely Suicidal

Valentine's Day Edition One day in Boulder, circa 1978, Larry Mermelstein had a very interesting conversation with Trungpa Rinpoche about relationships. Here for Valentine's Day (okay, we're a day late),...

How To Speak the English Language

Elocution lessons with Trungpa Rinpoche Soon after arriving in India in 1960, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche began to study English with the help of Freda Bedi and later John Driver, both...

How Naropa Got Its Name

In the summer of 1973, Trungpa Rinpoche gathered a few of his more academically minded students to discuss the creation of a new college

Finding Your Buffalo

By Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, 1 May 2010 There is a story about a farmer who owns a buffalo. Not knowing that the buffalo is in its stable, the farmer goes...

Karma Senge Rinpoche Wins Our Hearts

  On Sunday, June 24, 2007 at the Shambhala Center in Halifax, more than 125 members of the community came to watch a slide show presented by Karma Senge Rinpoche....

The Boulder Premiere of “Crazy Wisdom”

As Clay Evans, a staff writer for the Boulder Daily Camera who recently reviewed "Crazy Wisdom" aptly put it, Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche "haunts Boulder."

Opening Celebration of Karma Changchub Ling (KCCL)

Auspiciously, KCCL’s opening celebration took place on June 4th, which was Saga Dawa Day, the annual commemoration of the Buddha’s birth, realization, and parinirvana

Suddenly Without Warning

This book is about love and it is about grief. It is about being a parent and it is about losing a child “suddenly and without warning.”

Opening of Thrangu Monastery Canada

Thrangu Monastery in Richmond, British Columbia, hailed as the first traditional Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Canada, officially opened on Sunday, July 25. The centerpiece of the new shrine room...