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...

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

Jonathan Barbieri on Meeting our Kagyu and Nyingma relatives for the first time

Jonathan Barbieri has taught Buddhist and Shambhala trainings extensively throughout North America for over 40 years. He served as a Shastri, a senior teacher, in the Shambhala lineage for several years. Jon has been engaged in several livelihood pursuits including 10 years in educational non-profits, consulting with cities and counties on workforce development, creating contemplative co-housing...

Tim Olmsted on Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Pema Chödrön and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

These Sons and Daughters of Noble Family lectures showcase the rich dharma heritage of our extended dharma family. They were originally presented live by Karme Choling and hosted by Julia Sagebien & Karme Choling Co-Directors JT Buck & Vegan Aharonian between April and October 2024. The Chronicles is now in the process of making all sixteen of these lectures available permanently here, adding a new episode to this page every few weeks.

It Was the Memory of His Kindness

I read something recently that recalled the evening I heard Chögyam Trungpa speak in Toronto in the autumn of 1971. My memories of that evening come back to me occasionally, and they surfaced again while I was reading Opening a Mountain: Koans of the Zen Masters. The book is a deeply contextualized collection of stories and...

Joni and Rinpoche

Here is Joni Mitchell in conversation with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden after receiving the Gershwin Prize. When asked what themes she might want to explore currently in her songwriting, Joni talked about her connection with Trungpa Rinpoche

Calligraphy Lesson

I loved Trungpa Rinpoche beyond words and admired him more than anyone I had ever met (I was also a little afraid of him).

Father Thomas Keating and Trungpa Rinpoche Talk About Egolessness

This conversation took place during Naropa’s 1983 Christian Buddhist Conference

Stories of Sechen Kongtrül, told by Tulku Urgyen

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's Stories of Shechen Kongtrül, read by Larry Mermelstein.

Myth of Freedom and the Cosmic Joke with Ani Pema Chodron

In this talk, which is presented in three segments, Pema guides us through the beginning chapters of Trungpa Rinpoche's Myth of Freedom.

The Heart of Enlightened Action

Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche teaches on the mahayana at the Berkley Shambhala Center, August 2007. Here are talks One, Two, and Three of the five talk series.

Vajradhatu Seminary Lake Louise

A slideshow of Lake Louise from Charles Marrow

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Cremation Ceremony

Thirty Eight Years Ago in Karme Choling's upper meadow

Why Now?

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

Announcement from the Mukpo Family

The Mukpo family would like to announce that after many years of living with cancer, Lady Diana has taken the decision to stop treatment and begin the dying process. She is currently with her family and friends resting at home and receiving care. We will continue to send updates as her end-of-life phase progresses. In the...

Devotion & Crazy Wisdom! A Sadhana of Mahamudra Book Launch (in-person & online)

In collaboration with Shambhala Publications and the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library

When Ice Clogged the Harbour

About 10 days before Rinpoche's passing on April 4, 1987, Halifax harbour began filling up with ice...

A Staircase to Enlightenment

In one of the sutras, or discourses by the Buddha, he says that those who practice shamatha meditation, or dwelling in peace, are building a staircase towards enlightenment. To construct such a staircase to enlightenment requires precise measurement and carpentry. The boards have to be completely measured and properly built. The steps must be built properly, the angles must be looked at, and then finally we have to choose certain particular nails that can bear the pressure of people walking on them, and then we hammer them in. So when we talk about shamatha practice, the sitting practice of meditation, we are talking about building a staircase very deliberately, according to the instructions of Buddha. We might ask, “A staircase to what? What’s it like at the top of the stairs?” It doesn’t really matter. It’s just a staircase. We are just building a staircase. No promise, no blame. Let us simplify the whole situation. Let us just build this particular staircase, very simply and directly.

— From Talk Two, Meditation: The Way of TheBuddha, Naropa Institute, June 17, 1974. Edited from an unpublished transcript.

Old Dog Wags Its Tail

It was April in Halifax.
It was misty and cold.
There was black ice in the harbour.

Jonathan McKeever

Jonathan table about growing up in the sangha, his memories of early Sun Camps, and how he sees his current role as one of the leaders of Sun Camp.

The Cremation

https://media.s3bubble.com/embed/aprogressive/id/yHky97138

Four Moments of Truth

I was living in Boston at the time of the Vidyadhara's 1986-87 illness, and we in the sangha there had been doing intense practice because of this on and...

Turn it yourself

It was one of the early Level Fives and there were a huge number of participants, mostly from the buddhist community, but there were a lot of new people...

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in Quick Charcoal

I met Rinpoche in 1971, becoming a student of his soon after, and for life. During the course of it, he assigned to me an eclectic array of different tasks and challenges. One of these was to make portrait sketches of him as he ...

Meeting the Best Friend That You Will Ever Have

When I was around 13 years old I was very stubborn. One of my first real gestures of rebellion towards my parents was to refuse to go to church...

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)...

Three Spiritual Icons of the Early 20th Century

I was a student in the Gurdjieff* work in San Francisco and London in the early 1960's. During that time I also attended a number of Krishnamurti** talks in...

The Passing of Chime Palmo

Khenpo Gangshar's consort/wife, and grandmother to the current Gangshar 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."

Call for Book Donation for Three Yanas Retreat

Good morning! Your friends at the Foundation for Enlightened Society are running a book drive of dharma texts to distribute to participants of the Three Yanas Retreat this Summer at Drala...

Update on the Fire at Shambhala Mountain Center

The fire is under control and the Great Stupa has been saved

The Flight from Tuting

Sixtieth Anniversary of the Last Leg of the Vidyadhara’s Escape to India

News of Dudjom Rinpoche’s Passing

Dudjom International Foundation and Dudjom Labrang announced today that His Holiness Dudjom Sangye Pema Shepa Rinpoche, the supreme head of the Dudjom Tersar, passed into parinirvana on 15 February.