We are very sad to pass on the news that Richard Macgregor, early student of Trungpa Rinpoche, had a massive heart attack on Friday evening, April 16, 2021. He had been living and working in the San Francisco area. He had gone through COVID and was still dealing with the aftermath of that. His daughter and other family are there in Oakland with him. Richard suffered serious brain damage in the event and was taken off life support on Tuesday April 20. He passed away peacefully at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California on Friday April 23, 2021. He was 73.
An Account of Richard Macgregor’s Life
Richard Macgregor was born in Lingfield, Surrey, England just south of London on October 1, 1947. When he was six, his family moved the United States He spent the rest of his childhood in Darien, Connecticut.
On Friday evening April 16 he had a massive heart attack. He passed away peacefully at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California at 3:40 a.m. on Friday April 23, 2021. He was 73.
When Richard was around 18 years old he returned to England for a time, where he met Trungpa Rinpoche in London, then later lived at Samye Ling meditation center in Eskdalemuir, Scotland. During these early years Richard received frequent one-on-one meditation instruction and teachings from Trungpa Rinpoche.
Richard attended Columbia University during the tumultuous late 1960s when, close to graduation, he was arrested during a Vietnam war protest which somehow sent his life in a new direction. He never went back to Columbia, and never graduated. Instead he moved to the Boston area, where he joined the Boston Dharmadhatu, which was in Cambridge at the time, in a house on a leafy residential street. It had a meditation room on the ground floor, with living quarters for a handful of practitioners above. Richard moved in and quickly became one of the main teachers and meditation instructors there. He taught courses in meditation, buddhadharma, and Buddhist psychology in the style of Trungpa Rinpoche.
After Richard attended the 1976 seminary Rinpoche requested that he serve as Emissary to Atlanta. In those days the dharma centers in major cities were called Dharmadhatus, and the centers’ leaders and representatives of Rinpoche were called Ambassadors and Emissaries. These were weighty positions with considerable responsibility and authority. When he thanked Rinpoche for “the honor” of serving as his representative in Atlanta, Rinpoche responded soberly, ”Not an honor, a responsibility.” That was it. This impressed Richard greatly and he told the story many times. He served in that position for about four years.
He was living at Karme Choling in Vermont when his daughter Maggie was born to him and Leslie Hayes in 1997. Around that time many of Richard’s friends saw a deep caring love, and a new willingness to be responsible grow in him. His life seemed to take on a fuller meaning in his relationship with Maggie. No one had to wonder how much Richard loved Maggie—he spoke of her so often.
In 1996 he completed a three-year meditation retreat in the Karma Kagyu tradition. The retreat was conducted over a six-year period at Sopa Choling retreat center located at Gampo Abbey on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Retreatants were in retreat for six months, out in the world for six months, then back in, etc. About that, he later said somewhat wryly, “We were in constant transition.” Each session of the retreat has a set of complex practices that must be completed. Following one of those six-month sessions, instead of coming out for six months as everyone else in his group did, he stayed in. When asked about that he said simply, “I did all the practices but I was afraid I hadn’t gotten it. So I did them all again.”
For a number of years—from 2000 to about 2015—Richard had a small, home-based business doing custom home renovation. Ever innovative, Richard, with his truck and his tools would head out to job sites around Boulder county in Colorado. He was skilled and he made a good living from it. As he progressed into his 60s it became clear to him that he could no longer do demanding physical labor, especially after two knee replacements. So he—being ever innovative—completed an insurance licensing course, passed the exam, and got a job as an insurance adjuster. Richard made a living in Colorado inspecting homes for a while until he received an offer from a large insurance agency that required him to relocate to the San Francisco Bay area.
In 2017 Richard moved to San Francisco. At first he rented a room in an Airbnb with a constant turnover of tenants, which was less than desirable. He soon wound up buying a boat and living on the marina in San Francisco. He spoke with delight about it. He loved to sail when he wasn’t at work and the boat was set up as a comfortable little home. Richard developed Covid in late February or early March of this year and became quite ill for several weeks. He was recovering from the Covid infection when he had a heart attack.
To summarize someone’s life could be an onerous task. But Richard’s life is a clear example of devotion to the dharma, to teacher, to family, and to sangha. Richard’s circumstances always drove him to create livelihood, and his adaptability and resourcefulness were impressive. As well, he was a good friend to many and he persistently served the intent of his teacher, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in the time he had in this world. Richard was funny, spacey, gentle, and always kind. Though often late, he would show up. We will miss him.
Philip Karl
Boulder County, Colorado
April 24, 2021
