Going Beyond Fear
True fearlessness is not the reduction of fear, but going beyond fear. Unfortunately, in the English language, we don’t have one word that means that. Fearlessness is the closest term, but by fearless we don’t mean “less fear,” but “beyond fear.” Going beyond fear begins when we examine our fear: our anxiety, nervousness, concern, and restlessness. If we look into our fear, if we look beneath its veneer, the first thing we find is sadness, beneath the nervousness. Nervousness is cranking up, vibrating, all the time. When we slow down, when we relax with our fear, we find sadness, which is calm and gentle. Sadness hits you in your heart, and your body produces a tear. Before you cry, there is a feeling in your chest and then, after that, you produce tears in your eyes. You are about to produce rain or a waterfall in your eyes, and you feel sad and lonely, and perhaps romantic at the same time. That is the first tip of fearlessness and the first sign of real warriorship. You might think that, when you experience fearlessness, you will hear the opening to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony or see a great explosion in the sky, but it doesn’t happen that way. In the Shambhala tradition, discovering fearlessness comes from working with the softness of the human heart.
This is the final talk of the Tibetan Buddhist Path, a 14-talk seminar from 1974
Chögyam Trungpa’s Vast Ocean of Teachings
Barry Boyce surveys Chogyam Trungpa's vast body of teachings and their lasting impact on how Buddhism is understood and practiced
Trungpa Rinpoche in Scotland, 1966
Plus some very helpful comments from Michael Scott
Such Thunderstorm
Barbara Bash calligraphs these words from the Vidyadhara's will
Introduction to The Art of Calligraphy: Part I
Venerating the past in itself will not solve the world's problems. We need to find the link between our traditions and our present experience of life.
Introduction to The Art of Calligraphy: Part II
...at the beginning you just learn to make straight lines on your paper -CTR
Introduction to The Art of Calligraphy: Part III
Gently, but with great conviction, the brush would descend to the paper and make its first dot. Often Rinpoche would pause the brush on this first mark, as if waiting for the calligraphy to be born from its seed.
Father Thomas Keating and Trungpa Rinpoche Talk About Egolessness
This conversation took place during Naropa’s 1983 Christian Buddhist Conference
On Meeting Thomas Merton
"The first genuine person I met from the West" -Trungpa Rinpoche
When Gerald Red Elk Met Chögyam Trungpa
After I made the introductions, Gerald Red Elk presented some gifts to Chögyam Trungpa, who was seated. He unfolded some gems: a turquoise stone, which he said represented the nature of the universe; a red stone, which he said represented the nature of the gods; a green stone, representing earth; and a purple stone, representing medicine.
1981 Seminary at Chateau Lake Louise
Photos by Marvin Moore
Video Presentation by Robert Zimmerman
Video Presentation by Robert Zimmerman
Mitchell Levy
Mitchell Levy talks about the Kalapa Council, loyalty, the Ripa lineage, and his relationship with Chogyam Trungpa, and Sakyong Mipham.
A Kiss Is But A Kiss
In the summer of 1975 I went to Karme Chöling in Vermont for a seminar with Trungpa Rinpoche on “Meditation and Prayer in the Buddhadharma.” Someone suggested that I...
Nothing Else
Sometime in the early 80's, I was helping Trungpa Rinpoche with names for the Vajrayogini abhisheka. I think it was my first time doing that, so it was likely...
Lying To My Guru
"Did you understand anything?"
The Mala
At the 1973 Seminary in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Rinpoche had to fly out to California for a few days for the release of "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism." Since the...
Stories of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa
Stories about 16th Karmapa
Remembering Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
Report from the Cremation Ceremony
More than 15,000 devotees gathered near Paro, Bhutan on March 3, 2012, to attend the last rites of Thinley Norbu Rinpoche. The ceremony began at...
The Three Bodies of the Buddha
A Report on Trungpa Rinpoche's Class at CU Boulder, Winter 1971
In the fall of 1970 Bob Lester, then Chairman of the Religious Studies Department at the University of Colorado,...
Some Moments in Vancouver
In his humble way, he listed the many wonderful qualities of the previous Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche while declaring he himself had none of those qualities.
What We Learned from Yönten
Part One: A Costly Delay at yak Monastery
May 26, 2013
In the late winter of 1959, after discovering that Surmang had been overrun by Chinese troops, Trungpa Rinpoche visited Khamtrül...
Shunryu Suzuki Roshi Connections
On the anniversary of his passing
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...
-
Sadhana of Mahamudra Resource Groupby Ocean Staff
For those of you new to this practice, some training is required before you can practice this text or purchase a copy of the […]