This is an eleven-class course on the essential teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche led by Peter Volz, Clarke Warren, Sherab Chodzin, and Robert Spellman.
When Ice Clogged the Harbour
About 10 days before Rinpoche's passing on April 4, 1987, Halifax harbour began filling up with ice from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The ice flowed southwest along the coast...
Historical Comments on The Sadhana of Mahamudra
There was tremendous corruption, confusion, lack of faith, and lack of practice in Tibet.
Old Dog Wags Its Tail
It was April in Halifax.
It was misty and cold.
There was black ice in the harbour.
It was misty and cold.
There was black ice in the harbour.
May I never be separated from you
Each and every day I make aspirations—really heartfelt aspirations ...
My Guru Was One Scary Son Of A Bitch
Sung at the Sadhana of Mahamudra feast in Halifax, 4 April 2009
Non-Violence
If anyone gets too near the wall that ego has built, it feels insecure, thinks that it is being attacked and then thinks that the only way to defend itself is to ward off the threat by showing an aggressive attitude. However, when one experiences a threat–whether it is illness, undesirable characteristics, or literal opponents–the only way to develop a balanced state of being is, not to try to get rid of those things, but to understand them and make use of them. Thus, the development of egolessness–the opposite of ego’s game–leads one to the concept of ahimsa or non-violence. Ahimsa is a non-violent way of dealing with a situation.
A Conversation about the Vajra Regent with Kenneth Green
This three part discussion with Ken Green on the early years of the Vajra Regent's path is offered in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Regent's passing. To introduce this conversation, Ken writes:
Denault Blouin
"Fuck you."
"Did he say, 'Fuck you'?"
"Yeah. He just said it again."
To whomever—was it Ginsberg?—on that long ten-tape "Tibetan Buddhism and American Karma" seminar (November, 1971) we were listening to...
Grandmother’s Audience
As told by Sarah Cox to Elizabeth Richardson
Born in 1890, Sarah Louise Buffington, was an unusually self determined woman for her generation. With the onset of the First World...
The Big Thud
I'm unsure what year this was, probably the late summer or early fall of 1986, but it was the last time Rinpoche was to be in the States, and...
Turn it yourself
It was one of the early Level Fives and there were a huge number of participants, mostly from the buddhist community, but there were a lot of new people...
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...
Banana Leaves, Butlers, and a Miracle on Mapleton Avenue
The household was a whirlwind of activity, packed at all hours of the day and night with family, guests, Kasung, and household staff. It was chaos wrapped in a pervasive atmosphere of precision, joy and humor ...
Lying To My Guru
"Did you understand anything?"
An Interview with Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche is the grandson and spiritual heir of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. He was born in 1967 and raised by his renowed grandfather. Since Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's passing in 1991...
Elocution Lessons with Chögyam Trungpa, Part Two: Form as Practice
If you are paying attention to how you speak and how others communicate, you will find that you are paying attention altogether to the environment, to how you sit or stand, to how you hold your hands, to how you look at people — all those things.
Lineage and Devotion
As our devotion increased in these early years, we came to regard Trungpa Rinpoche as the only and the everything. It seemed that he came out of nowhere, like a bolt of lightning. But there was a larger context...
Rechungpa’s Repentance
While Rechungpa was gone, he became entranced by the beautiful wild asses in the region—and Milarepa took the opportunity to burn all the books Rechungpa had brought back with him from India. When Rechungpa realized what was happening ...
Father Thomas Keating and Trungpa Rinpoche Talk About Egolessness
Father Thomas Keating and Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in dialogue at the Naropa Christian Buddhist Conference, 1983
Devotional Songs of Chögyam Trungpa
Reading by David Rome