Celebrate Weak Moments
Territory means that you would like to have things your way. You think what you are doing is great, but at the same time, there is a faint doubt. Maybe you are not doing everything wholeheartedly and properly. Maybe you cannot make it up to the prescribed level. You can’t be a good meditator, a good sitter, all the time. You can’t constantly keep up your humor all the time. You have your weak moments. Your weak moments show. Of course! Why not? that’s part of the celebration! Otherwise, there’s nothing to celebrate. If you don’t have your weak points, what’s left? Just blank white, without even a dot of ink, on the sheet of your life. You can celebrate because all kinds of things are involved with your life; therefore, it is a source of celebration. There is contrast–this and that, that and this–and things can’t be sorted out properly and put into proper perspective. So let it be that way! That seems to be the source of celebration, in fact!
Goodbye to Karl Usow
On one evening in the autumn of 1970, a somewhat shy, bespectacled, and soft-spoken man, a math professor, stepped out onto the center of a large empty stage at Macky Auditorium in Boulder, Colorado, and addressed...
1978 Seminary: Hinayana/Mahayana Talks
During the coming weeks, we will be posting the hinayana/mahayana talks (19 talks in all) from the 1978 Vajradhatu seminary.
Tributes for Douglas Anderson
May we all please send our best prayers and wishes to Douglas for a journey free of obstacles and blessed by his strong practice and devotion.
Tributes to Douglas
From Now Onward
I was seventeen. July 1973. My brother Neil brought me to hear Rinpoche talk...
Nyinthun: A Profound Treasury Practice Day
Join us for a day of online group practice (also called a nyinthun) on Sunday, June 28, from 10 am-6 pm EDT.
The day will include meditation, a talk by...
A Letter to the Queen of Bhutan on Her 90th Birthday
In 1968, the Queen of Bhutan invited 28 year-old Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to enter into a retreat at Taktsang. It was there that Rinpoche received the Sadhana of Mahamudra.
Vaishaka Day
Commemorating the Buddha's Birth, Enlightenment, and Parinirvana
In the Shadow of the Purkhang
Here is Raging Bear’s marvelous account of Gade Gar.
New from David Chadwick
A message and a new podcast series
CTR Quote of the Week
A New Offering from the Chogyam Trungpa Institute
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Larry Mermelstein Part Two
Larry talks about the idiosyncrasies of Sanskrit pronounciation, researching the Vajrasattva mantra from Sanskrit and Tibetan sources, and more.
Memories of Chögyam Trungpa
He replied, “The path is the goal.”
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...
No Place To Go
Setting: Karme Chöling 1972
Trungpa Rinpoche and I are sitting side by side. There's a long period of silence. Out of the blue, he looks over at me and says:...
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...
As a Parent, All You Can Do Is…
In 1975 I brought my son Ben to an interview with Trungpa Rinpoche. I got him as dressed up as I could manage from Berkeley CA's pathetic department-store...
Meeting the Best Friend That You Will Ever Have
When I was around 13 years old I was very stubborn. One of my first real gestures of rebellion towards my parents was to refuse to go to church...
Guru and Student in the Vajrayana
I have written the following in response to a number of requests, including some from the press, for my take on the present situation in the Rigpa Sangha over Sogyal Rinpoche’s behaviour.
Tsoknyi Rinpoche’s Visit to Halifax, June 2012
The shrine room was packed for the long awaited visit of Tsoknyi Rinpoche to Halifax in June 2012.
Fifty Years Ago
On the anniversary of Trungpa Rinpoche's arrival in India, Carolyn Gimian looks back over the past 50 years.
Remembrance
My first perception of Khyentse Rinpoche was that of a wonderfully loving grandfather.
The Impression Suzuki Roshi Made on 15-Year Old Me
At one of the high points in my life, at the tender age of 15, I met Suzuki Roshi at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in California. My mother, Carol...