Three Types of Generosity
Traditionally, there are three types of generosity. The first one is ordinary generosity, giving material goods or providing comfortable situations for others. The second one is the gift of fearlessness. You reassure others and teach them that they don’t have to feel completely tormented and freaked out about their existence. You help them to see that there is basic goodness and spiritual practice, that there is a way for them to sustain their lives. That is the gift of fearlessness. The third type of generosity is the gift of dharma, the teachings. You show others that there is a path that consists of discipline, meditation, and intellect or knowledge. Through all three types of generosity, you can open other people’s minds. In that way their closedness, wretchedness, and small thinking can be turned into a larger vision.
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...
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
Poetry tributes to Trungpa Rinpoche
No fooling!
Thirty-two years ago today, Rinpoche asked me to help him play an April Fool joke on the sangha.
He thought a while and then asked me to call Vajradhatu...
Burn Self Deception
Burn Self Deception is Jim Lowrey's account of the day Trungpa Rinpoche got the Pygmies, and other community members, to stop smoking marijuana.
More Brilliantly Year After Year
Eido Roshi is a Rinzai Zen master and the abbott of New York Zendo Shobo-Ji and Dai Bosatsu Zendo, both in New York. Over the years, Eido Roshi has...
The Shrine Blessing
About 15 of us were doing the first dathun at the Abbey in January, 1986. The place was abuzz because Rinpoche was coming up to Halifax for the shrine...
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...
On Rinpoche and Roshi
In this episode, Henry Schaeffer and Sam Bercholz cover a lot of ground in 18 minutes, including Rinpoche throwing his mala over a fence in Oakland, Roshi blessing ...
Stories of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa
Stories about 16th Karmapa
Trungpa Rinpoche and Alan Watts
Here is Sam's account of Trungpa Rinpoche's friendship with Alan Watts.
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...
Gentleness and the Genuine Heart of Sadness
Carolyn Gimian gave this talk during the Profound Treasury Spring Nyinthun, which took place on Ocean on April 27, 2021
Letter to the 1980 Seminary
From the all-encompassing vajradhatu,
Indestructible nonthought beyond description,
From the vast dharmadhatu,
The unceasing play of energy and light,
The dharmakaya Vajradhara takes form
As the incomparable root guru, Chokyi Gyatso.
The five poisons and...
A Chögyam Trungpa Exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Immigration
Entitled, Great Eastern Sun, the Shambhala Community in Nova Scotia, the exhibit presents a uniquely Shambhalian esthetic, in a uniquely Canadian setting.
Mindfulness, Compassion, and Daily Life with Judy Lief
Facing Death, Working with Dying, A Fresh Look at Relationships, and Milarepa’s Journey
Milarepa Day Offering
https://soundcloud.com/trungpachronicles/doha-of-sadness-by-chogyam-trungpa
This poem, read by Steve Baker, is one of the Songs of Chögyam Trungpa from Rain of Wisdom.
The Rain of Wisdom was one of the first translation projects that...
Setting Lobsters Free
During the Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche's tour to Vermont an appeal went out for people to donate funds to release lobsters. As I found out, releasing lives is a practice...
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Mahamudra Elixir II: Identifying & Sustaining the Nature of the Dynamic Mindby Elizabeth Callahan
LISTEN TO THE EIGHT RECORDED SESSIONS OF ELIXIR PART I Mahamudra Elixir II Starts October 1 This five-part series will focus on […]
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Buddhist Rebirth III: Modern Takesby Roger Jackson
Rebirth, or reincarnation, was assumed by most premodern Buddhists – and is believed by many modern Buddhists – to be “the […]
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The Key Points of Trekchö with Gerardo Abboudby Gerardo Abboud
In person at the Halifax Shambhala Centre, and here on Ocean We are very pleased to welcome Gerardo Abboud to the Halifax […]
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Samsara, Nirvana, and the Pathby Jakob Leschly
Samsara represents the painful cycle of dysfunction and suffering, whereas nirvana epitomizes the liberation inherent in our true […]
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The Kagyu Lineageby Jonathan Barbieri
Lineage is the unbroken transmission of wisdom and skillful means that is passed down directly from teacher to student – from […]