Meditation as a Process of Evolution
When we talk about stages on the path, in relationship to our meditation practice, we have a problem with the terminology. We tend to think of a staircase: You take the first step, and then you take the next step and the step after that. We think meditation practice is like being in an elevator. As things become defined or clarified on the path, we go up in the elevator, and the numbers of each floor appear as we rise from one stage to the next. The problem is that meditation is not like progressing through stage after stage after stage. Rather, meditation is more like the process of growing up and ageing. Although you may celebrate your birthday on a particular day, that doesn’t mean that, when you blow your candle out at your party, you suddenly go from being two years old to being three. In growing up, there is a process of evolution, a process of development. That is precisely the issue as far as meditation practice is concerned. Meditation is not based on stages, but it is a process that takes place in you. Such a process takes place in accordance with your life situation.
Contribute your poems, stories and tributes to this ongoing collection
The Passing of John Odenthal
John Odenthal, a long-time student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and a dear friend to many passed away in Halifax on February 25. Please hold him, and his daughter, Brighid, in your thoughts and prayers.
Surmang shedra completed and in use as a shedra
Starting in 2010, while work on the shrine room furnishings continued, the shedra building complex has been used for various children's programs, for shedra-type study programs for monks, as the temporary monastery lhakang (shrine hall) when the monastery's lhakang was being rebuilt, and as a temporary residence for nuns while the Kyelaka nunnery associated with Surmang Dutsi Til was under construction.
The Passing of Ricky Assaly
A sukhavati will be held on Friday January 26 at 2:00 p.m. in the Boulder Shambhala Center Main Shrine Room.
Father Thomas Keating and Trungpa Rinpoche Talk About Egolessness
This conversation took place during Naropa’s 1983 Christian Buddhist Conference
Mother’s Milk
When you take a leap into the phenomenal world, you may think it is a very bold and heroic thing to do. However, you might awake, as if from a dream, and find yourself in the mouth of a crocodile.
The Passing of Tania Leontov
We stand both in great sadness for the passing of Tania Leontov as well as a reverence and immense appreciation we feel toward a spiritual sister who has been such a pivotal person in the legacy of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the genuine Dharma coming our way!
The Passing of Tulku Thondup Rinpoche
Loving-kindness is the thought of wishing total happiness for others and putting that wish into practice. It is the thought of unconditioned, pure, and universal love towards all beings without attachment, self-centeredness, or expectation of rewards.
— Tulku Thondup
Saraha and Sahaja
In this lecture, Roger Jackson talks about Saraha's songs, with a special focus on his teachings on sahaja – a vital tantric term variously translated as "the coemergent," "the connate," or "the simultaneously arisen."
Dön Season Retreat on Ocean
During the final days of the Year of the Water Rabbit, we will focus our
evening practice on Vajrakilya and Pacifying the Turmoil of the Mamos.
The Star of Bethlehem
You begin to experience the dawn or glimmer of light, which in Western language is called the Star of Bethlehem
The Cremation of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche Notes from Nepal, November, 2023
Many years back, at the time of the first visit of Thrangu Rinpoche to Boulder, Colorado at the invitation of Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Trungpa Rinpoche was asked what code word we could use for Thrangu Rinpoche when communicating the logistics of his transportation, arrival at events, etc.
Vajrayogini Abhisheka Announcement
Dear Vajra Sangha,
Under the Open Umbrella initiative of the Druk Sakyong Wangmo, Diana Mukpo, we are delighted to announce that with the blessing of His Holiness Karmapa XVII, the Venerable Ringu Tulku Rinpoche has consented to confer a Vajrayogini empowerment to our group of suitably prepared students. This request was initiated by the Kagyu ngöndro working group under...
Conversation with Ringu Tulku
An Interview from 2013
Remembering Thrangu Rinpoche
An account of Rinpoche's final days from Thrangu Tashi Chöling Monastery
To all those around the world who have a connection, direct or indirect, with the Lord of Refuge, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche:
With great regret, we would like to share some sad news with you.
On May 5, 2023, the fifteenth day of the third Tibetan month of the...
In appreciation of Thrangu Rinpoche
In August 2011, Thrangu Rinpoche visited Halifax where he taught on Khenpo Gangshar's text: Naturally Liberating Whatever You Meet. The weekend was attended by members of the Shambhala community, and by a number of Thrangu Rinpoche's students from Maine and elsewhere. The three-day program was a testament to Thrangu Rinpoche's generosity and tireless energy. He explicated...
Two thoughts About Devotion from Acharya Richard John
I was contemplating anecdotes of my personal experiences with the Vidyadhara, most being in the context of serving him as a kusung, and I realized that what I most...
A conversation with Kanjuro Shibata Sensei XX
Twentieth in a line of bowmakers and kyudo (Japanese archery) masters, Sensei served for many years as the official bowmaker to the Emperor.
At Suzuki Roshi’s Funeral
In this seven minute audio clip, Sam Bercholz describes the events surrounding Roshi's funeral, including Rinpoche's comments about appointing a dharma heir, and ...
Chogyam Trungpa in Mousehole
Chogyam Trungpa in Mousehole
The west Cornish potter and teacher Bill Picard, died aged 92 in 2007. He was a cultured and charismatic buddhist. In the early 1960s, having been...
Where Were You When You Heard the News?
I think it must have been a Saturday, that sunny day, April 4, 1987, because both Alice Yang and Dominique LeGrand were with me working at the store. Alice...
Every Expression a Teaching
Today when I was meditating, I remembered a small incident with the Vidyadhara.
Road Trip to Crestone
BOULDER, early summer afternoon, 1982 - The reception for the Vajradhatu and Nalanda staff in the back garden of Kalapa Court is a familiar scene: uniformed servers offer heavy...
The Usual
During 1985 and 1986 I attended Rinpoche weekly. Upon entering his room, there was often a vast sense of space. This particular day, not unlike other days, he wanted...
His Holiness’ Visit to Karma Thegsum Choling
Shamong is located in a beautiful rural part of New Jersey (yes that does exist), in the Pine Barrens, and the KTC there is located in a very modern...
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...
A Letter to the Queen of Bhutan on Her 90th Birthday
In 1968, the Queen of Bhutan invited 28 year-old Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to enter into a retreat at Taktsang. It was there that Rinpoche received the Sadhana of Mahamudra.
Excerpts from: Taming Untameable Beings
We should keep all these stories of the beginning of Buddhadharma in America. I personally feel very grateful for the existence of the Pygmies. Without them, there was no...
The Karmapa’s Golden Handprints
If the Vajradhara of Dorje Dzong is the living embodiment of the primordial buddha, it has watched and listened ...
Story Of The Buddha’s Life
A BBC Documentary
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Prajna and Upayaby Martin Evans
Three Tuesdays at 7:00 pm Eastern starting September 19. We will listen to Rinpoche’s three talks together and, as always, […]
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Outer, Inner and Secret Levels of Mindfulness Practiceby Lodro Sangpo
Please note: Participants in this course may also be interested in Lodro Sangpo’s course on Abhidharma in the Context of […]
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Kitchen Sink Series: The Path is the Goalby David Nudell
This five-week course will use Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s text, THE PATH IS THE GOAL. Taken from two seminars in 1974, one held […]
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Mind, Symbol, and Word: The Three Levels of Vajrayana Transmissionby Judy Lief
According to the Vidyadhara, our understanding of the three lineages begins with our relationship with the teacher. It begins […]
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Mahamudra Aspiration of Rangjung Dorjeby Gerardo Abboud
Rangjung Dorje’s Mahamudra Aspiration is an extraordinarily pithy and comprehensive text. Not only does the text elucidate the […]