Square Zero
Everybody has their own square one, and they get back to it. That seems to be a universal thing….We want to be something, right? Even if we are back to square one, we are there, we are something. We don’t want to be nothing, and we constantly avoid that. That is the problem. So the only alternative–not even alternative, but only choice, so to speak–is to be zero.
So square one is the basic ground from which we function, and square zero seems to be beyond even our functioning: Isness, without any definitions. It is not so much branching out, but branching in….You achieved your identity at square one, and that seems to be the problem. So ultimately one has to return to zero. Then you begin to feel that you can move around. You can do a lot of things, not be numbered. You’re not subject to your own numbers, and you are not confined to a pigeonhole. So your situation could be improved if you know you have nothing but zero, which is nothing. There’s no reference point anymore, just zero. Try it. It is an expression of immense generosity and immense enlightenment.
Training in Tenderness, by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Shambhala Publications, 2018
Glimpses of Yarne
Gampo Abbey is a Buddhist Monastery on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia. At the time of filming, it was celebrating thirty years since its founding by Chögyam Trungpa...
Chögyam the Translator
"...he used to amazing effect the fact that no one expected him to speak syntactically perfect English. Subtle, complex, and mind-opening ambiguities, as well as multiple shades and layers of meaning emerged easily from his often slippery sentence structures."
Vana Jakic recalls Trungpa Rinpoche
Vana Jakic talks about her interactions with Trungpa Rinpoche in England in the 1960s.
Rainy Season Dathün at Deer Park
In India, sites sacred to the Buddha are scattered all over the land, but in the Buddha’s homeland there are very few Indian practitioners who follow the Buddha’s teachings.
Historical Comments on The Sadhana of Mahamudra
There was tremendous corruption, confusion, lack of faith, and lack of practice in Tibet.
Kunga Dawa on Chögyam Trungpa and Sadhana of Mahamudra
This footage is from a three-hour interview Cathy Hubiak and Bill Scheffel conducted with Kunga Dawa, Richard Arthure, earlier this year.
Journey to Taktsang
In this slideshow, Chögyam Trungpa talks about receiving the Sadhana of Mahamudra at Taktsang in 1968. Commentary and readings by Carolyn Rose Gimian.
In 1968, Trungpa Rinpoche left the United Kingdom...
Vancouver Meditation Seminar: 1975
Three talks on meditation practice from February 1975
Living with Awareness and Integrity
Book Review: EIGHT STEPS TO AN AUTHENTIC LIFE, Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times by Patricia Ullman
Tribute to Bill Scheffel
Our dear friend Bill Scheffel took his life on July 8, in Boulder, Colorado. This is such sad and disturbing news. Bill was a devoted student of the Vidyadhara, a wonderful poet and documentary filmmaker. He will be sorely missed.
Terry Mason (Zanto, Zonto)
Terry died on July 6, 2018 of complications related to lung cancer.
Tenga Rinpoche on Chogyam Trungpa
Tenga Rinpoche described the contributions of Chogyam Trungpa and the Shambhala community in hosting the Sixteenth Karmapa's tour of the West.
Cynthia Moku
Cynthia talks about meeting her teacher, Kalu Rinpoche, how she began to study with SMR, the origins of the Rigden thangka, and the ongoing iconographic work that she has undertaken.
You Knocked Over the Musician!
The 16th Karmapa's second visit to the San Francisco Bay Area occurred during the Chinese and (that year) Tibetan new year's celebrations. On the big day the Karmapa hosted...
At Waterways Duck Farm
Trungpa stayed with a spiritualist healer called Robert Copley on his duck farm in ST Ives Huntingdon, U.K. in, or around 1962, where I met him. He described his...
A Dowsing Lesson
You just had to tune your mind to the object of desire
The Day I Shook Hands with my Guru
Note: This story takes place in Boston in March of 1982. The talk mentioned is the same one that was videotaped and titled "Creating Enlightened Society."
It was a beautiful...
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)...
When Chögyam Trungpa met Jules Chender
Yuli Shenderoff was born in Russia in 1920 at a time of pogroms against the Jews. As a very small boy, he learned to lie when strangers came to...
Necessary Angel
An interview with Henry Schaeffer, by Bill Scheffel
Henry Schaeffer studied with Suzuki Roshi before meeting Chögyam Trungpa and becoming the latter teacher's student in 1970. In this video, Henry...
Story Of The Buddha’s Life
A BBC Documentary
GLIMPSES OF ALAYA
A Discussion with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the NTC
The Nalanda Translation Committee,
Kalapa Court in Boulder, Colorado,
Circa 1980.
Left to right: Nelson Dudley, Scott Wellenbach, Lodro Dorje, Chögyam Trungpa, Larry Mermelstein,...
Elocution Lessons with Chögyam Trungpa, Part One: Recognizing the Power of Speech
Part One: Recognizing the Power of Speech
The Transmission of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye’s Treasury of Pith Instructions
In December 2012, Steve Cline had the opportunity to speak with Lama Sonam Phuntsho about the transmission of the Dam Ngak Dzo. Here is their conversation.