In 1959 Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche led 300 refugees on a nine-month journey across Tibet to India – a journey now seen to rank among the greatest of history’s great escapes. Among those following him was the Washutsong family and their daughter Palya, aged 15. With music composed and performed by India Gailey and Jeff Reilly, narration by Grant MacLean, Harsh Splendour tells Palya’s story. Through HD satellite images and a flight simulator, we follow the route the refugees took, see the towering mountain terrain they crossed, the fearsome weather they faced. It is a journey to inspire us all.
You Are The Masterpiece
Exploring unconditional sacredness: the display of innate goodness, the worthwhileness of everyday life
21 Years of Tributes from the Mahasangha
Contribute your poems, stories and tributes to this ongoing collection
Four Artists Reflect on CTR’s Visual Dharma Teachings
Photo by George Holmes, used by permission
A reminiscence from Jack Niland
Here's the story. In 1974 at the start of Naropa, Trungpa told me I had to teach a class..."Just tell them everything I've told you" were his only instructions. The first year I assisted others to learn the ropes. Then, starting in 1975, he had me...
Datun Study Program
Buddhism: View and Path: A 7-month study program from Siddhartha's Intent: January - July 2026. The course is being taught by senior instructors and students of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, along with several excellent guest teachers.
The Passing of Lama Yonten
Lama Yonten passed away in Nepal on February 7. Yonten was Trungpa Rinpoche's attendant during their escape from Tibet, 1959-1960. He also attended Trungpa Rinpoche's root guru, Shechen Kongtrul Rinpoche. Years later in India, he attended Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
Here is a recent passage from Rabjam Rinpoche's Facebook page
In Loving Memory of Lama Yonten, Personal Assistant to...
50 Years of Dharma at the Philadelphia Shambhala Center
In December of 2020, during the pandemic, the Philadelphia Shambhala Center hosted a virtual gathering with fourteen of the founding members of Shambhala in Philadelphia. Coming together from coast to coast, some of them had not seen each other for decades.
They talked about the early days of practice, the sangha house in West Philly, the visits...
The Halifax Shambhala Centre: Who’s in Charge? The Mandala Governance System
In 1975, when Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was asked how he saw his lineage continuing in America he replied that “the general plan, seemingly, or general intuitive plan, is that some kind of reign of sanghaship would take place for a while," and "this needs group spirit."
The Halifax Shambhala Centre is implementing a new governance model. The...
Journey to Taktsang 57 Years Ago
The Sadhana of Mahamudra was completed at Taktsang in Bhutan on September 6, 1968. Here, in his own words, is the story of traveling to Taktsang and receiving the sadhana.
Lack of Credentials
Excerpted from The Way of Basic Sanity, A Brief Overview of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's Perspective on Sutric Buddhism
Why Now?
Tashi Colman's Review of The Sadhana of Mahamudra, a new title from Shambhala Publications
The Halifax Shambhala Centre Announces the Visit of Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche
The Halifax Shambhala Centre is pleased to announce that Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche—the grandson and spiritual heir of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, one of Trungpa Rinpoche’s principal teachers—will be visiting Halifax during the first week of August 2026.
Lady Diana’s Life Story
I’ve been asked by the family of Lady Diana Mukpo to make some remarks today about her life story: who she was, what she did and what her connection is to all of us! It’s difficult to do this for someone of her stature and also for someone who was such a beloved friend of many...
Ringu Tulku on the Sadhana of Mahamudra & the Four Dharma’s of Gampopa
Thank you to Ringu Tulku and his organization, Bodhicharya, for permission to post this talk.
The Passing of Lady Diana Mukpo
Dear Shambhala Sangha,
Our community has experienced an incredible loss. We write with heavy hearts to share that Lady Diana Mukpo - wife and widow of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, mother, grandmother, accomplished equestrian, and steadfast protector of the Shambhala teachings and vision - passed away surrounded by family and close friends at her home in Florida on...
Planting Terma on Mount Tamalpais
One day in the early 1970s, Trungpa Rinpoche decided to bury treasures on Mount Tamalpais
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Following the Chinese take-over of Tibet in 1959 and the flight of many Tibetans into exile, Tibetan Lamas began to be invited to visit other parts of the world....
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...
The Court
Then, seemingly out of the blue and certainly not to my liking, Rinpoche announced on Christmas Day that he would like to invite my mother to dinner ...
A Lover Not a Fighter
It was 1976 and I was attending a public seminar at Karme Choling conducted by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. A close friend and I first met Rinpoche in 1971 and my...
My First Buddhist Event
I was dating a girl in western Massachusetts. She was a practicing Buddhist. She invited me to go to Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's funeral in Vermont. Being a person versed...
The Do-Gooders
I lived at Tail of the Tiger from November 1971 until the spring of 1972 when Rinpoche asked me, along with Ken and Helen Green and their small son Mithra,...
On the Porch at Charlemont
Jean Claude's recollections of Trungpa Rinpoche
Charlemont is a town in northwestern Massachusetts. Rinpoche spent a lot of time in a farmhouse near Charlemont, mostly during a long retreat in...
Khandro Rinpoche Addresses the Ocean Community
During Ocean's Parinirvana Day feast practice on April 4, 2022, Her Eminence Khandro Rinpoche appeared among us. She arrived at the perfect moment and said what we needed to hear.
1980 Seminary Slideshow from Allan Novick
Thank you to Allan Novick for sending in these images from the 1980 Seminary
Call for Book Donation for Three Yanas Retreat
Good morning!
Your friends at the Foundation for Enlightened Society are running a book drive of dharma texts to distribute to participants of the Three Yanas Retreat this Summer at Drala...
A Chögyam Trungpa Exhibit at the Canadian Museum of Immigration
Entitled, Great Eastern Sun, the Shambhala Community in Nova Scotia, the exhibit presents a uniquely Shambhalian esthetic, in a uniquely Canadian setting.
Love in the Time of Chaos
Training in Tenderness, by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Shambhala Publications, 2018
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.
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Buddhist Rebirth III: Modern Takesby Roger Jackson
Rebirth, or reincarnation, was assumed by most premodern Buddhists – and is believed by many modern Buddhists – to be “the […]
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The Key Points of Trekchö with Gerardo Abboudby Gerardo Abboud
In person at the Halifax Shambhala Centre, and here on Ocean We are very pleased to welcome Gerardo Abboud to the Halifax […]
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Samsara, Nirvana, and the Pathby Jakob Leschly
Samsara represents the painful cycle of dysfunction and suffering, whereas nirvana epitomizes the liberation inherent in our true […]
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The Kagyu Lineageby Jonathan Barbieri
Lineage is the unbroken transmission of wisdom and skillful means that is passed down directly from teacher to student – from […]
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The Interconnectedness of The Mandalas of Taktsang and of the Sadhana of Mahamudraby Lodro Sangpo
In the first class we will present a slideshow and videos of the walk up to the temple complex, as well as the other important […]