Work with the First Glimpse of Suffering
Student: I wanted to ask you how you can relate with suffering without dwelling on it.
Chögyam Trungpa: Work with the first glimpse, and then boycott whatever happens afterwards. We have a first impulse or first insight usually, and then after that we begin to manipulate it and make it into our own ideal concept of some kind or another. So the idea here is to just look at the first flash of pain, which is very fresh and clear, and not to comment on it anymore. Often the contemplative writings of the Buddhist tradition talk about disownership of your experiences. that’s a very popular term. Even if you have a semi-significant experience, still disown it, don’t try to keep it. Disownership plays a very important part.
Karme Choling, 1978. We were all excited that Rinpoche was coming to give a teaching program. I was 22 years old. I’d been on the staff at KCL for a year and had just joined the Kasung. Rinpoche stayed...
What Trungpa Rinpoche Accomplished
Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche reflects on Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's life and teachings
The Enlightenment of the Buddha
These three talks on the enlightenment of the Buddha were given at Karme Choling in December 1975.
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.
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Cremation Ceremony
Thirty years ago today, May 26, 1987, hundreds of the Vidyadhara's students gathered in the upper meadow of Karme Chöling for their teacher's cremation. This slideshow presentation of Ray Ellis's...
The Samadhi of the Guru
This is a 2007 recording of Susan Edwards reading her piece, The Samadhi of the Guru, on KGNU Radio in Boulder with music by Thomas Lenk.
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Trungpa Rinpoche’s Connection with Alan Watts
Here is Sam's account of Trungpa Rinpoche's friendship with Alan Watts.
Greg Smith
In addition to the central figure, the thangka shows Chakrasamvara, Vajradhara and Chemchog Heruka in the sky.
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...
Jackson Hole
In December of 1972 I was traveling east of the Cascades and the Rockies on an adventure. Just looking out the bus window at the endless snow and sporadic...
In The Beginning with Rinpoche
The year was 1971. I had just left NYC with my wife-to-be, after ending up a two-year stay as director of a new age enlightenment and communication center. It...
Planting Terma on Mount Tamalpais
One day in the early 1970s, Trungpa Rinpoche decided to bury treasures on Mount Tamalpais. Here is Sam Bercholz's account of that expedition.
Jump Out the Window
Before I became a Buddhist, I was a mountain climber and nature lover. The Sierra Nevada Mountains of California were my spiritual home. Living in Berkeley in the late...
Dennis Southward: Looking in the same direction
Dennis Southward talks about his time in prison in the 1960s for turning in his draft card, and soon thereafter, connecting with Trungpa Rinpoche.
An Interview with Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche
This interview was recorded at Pema Osel in Vershire, Vermont on August 9, 2010, during Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche's tour of North Americ
Devotion
The images captured in this video convey a glimpse of the profound devotion that is at the heart and root of the practicing lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Ugyen's devotion and service to Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche ...
Memories, Dreams and Reflections of the 16th Karmapa
Black Hat, Black Mountains
I met the 16th Karmapa in 1976 when he was invited to a farmhouse in the Black Mountains of Wales. If there is one event which...
The Pygmy Farm
In the late 1960s a group of friends from various parts of the country met in San Francisco and (when one of them happened to find a cheap farm...
Interview with James George
27 June 2003
Excerpt from recorded interview
If you have the time and the bandwidth, this short (12 minute) recording is worth listening to. It captures a certain quality that is...
On Shambhala and the Samaya Connection
Not long ago I heard someone say that people who disagreed with decisions made by the Sakyong or Shambhala International were people who didn’t practice and therefore, we shouldn’t pay attention to them.