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On Chögyam Trungpa
Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche is the quintessential spiritual guide. His teachings—steeped in ancient tradition and presented with relaxed fluency in western language and culture—are profound, accessible, and fresh. In addition to the buddhadharma, he offered the secular path of Shambhala, cultivating an appreciation of inherent bravery, dignity and goodness beyond cultural and religious bounds. Through his many books, Trungpa Rinpoche continues to be an incomparable source of wisdom and courage in the world. The Chronicles is an ongoing celebration of his profound teachings and life example.
Copyright Diana J. Mukpo. Used here by arrangement with Diana J. Mukpo and Shambhala Publications, Inc.
These teachings by Chögyam Trungpa are selected at random from Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week: the email service that brings Trungpa Rinpoche’s dharma to your inbox several times each week. For more information, or to add your name to the list, visit OceanofDharma.com.
Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week is edited and produced by Carolyn Rose Gimian. Thank you to Lady Diana Mukpo, Mrs. Gimian, and Shambhala Publications for making these teachings available on the Chronicles.
The Future Is Virgin Territory
The preservation of the past in the present is called memory. We have developed all those memories as possible ways of solidifying our existence. Whenever we experience a loss of feeling or a loss of inspiration, we constantly refer back to that habitual pattern, which brings us some kind of outdated information. We then try to adapt that outdated information to the up-to-date situation, which is a manipulation of the anxiety of the present state. That whole process is what’s called “karmic creation.” But this process doesn’t go on into the future at all. The future is a virgin situation, completely unoccupied territory. We can’t manipulate the future because nothing has happened in the future so far–so the future is a completely open situation.
Joshua Zim’s Letter
A few days before his death, Joshua wrote a letter to Rinpoche that was found in the retreat cabin, along with his body.
Work Sex Money: Seminar One
Work, sex and money: these are the main things in our lives that we look to instinctively for satisfaction, and yet, they almost never supply it
Zen and Tantra I
Trungpa Rinpoche gave two seminars on Zen and Tantra, the first in January 1974 at Karme Chöling, and the second in February 1974, at the Harvard Divinity School. These talks have been edited into The Teacup and the Skullcup, with an introduction by Acharya David Schneider.
The Question of Reality
In The Question of Reality, Trungpa Rinpoche examines the parallels between the path portrayed in Carlos Castaneda’s books on Don Juan and the path of Buddhist Tantra.
Self Deception
The original audio recording from 1971
Meditation: The Path of the Buddha
In 1974 during the inaugural session of The Naropa Institute, Chögyam Trungpa presented this course on meditation.