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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.
Square Zero
Everybody has their own square one, and they get back to it. That seems to be a universal thing….We want to be something, right? Even if we are back to square one, we are there, we are something. We don’t want to be nothing, and we constantly avoid that. That is the problem. So the only alternative–not even alternative, but only choice, so to speak–is to be zero.
So square one is the basic ground from which we function, and square zero seems to be beyond even our functioning: Isness, without any definitions. It is not so much branching out, but branching in….You achieved your identity at square one, and that seems to be the problem. So ultimately one has to return to zero. Then you begin to feel that you can move around. You can do a lot of things, not be numbered. You’re not subject to your own numbers, and you are not confined to a pigeonhole. So your situation could be improved if you know you have nothing but zero, which is nothing. There’s no reference point anymore, just zero. Try it. It is an expression of immense generosity and immense enlightenment.
May I never be separated from you
Each and every day I make aspirations—really heartfelt aspirations ...
Auspicious Coincidence
These three talks were given at Karme Choling in 1980 during the tenth anniversary celebration of Trungpa Rinpoche's arrival in North America
Year of the Earth Sheep: Shambahala Day 1979
In this address, Rinpoche talks very movingly about our individual responsibility to benefit everyone and anyone with whom we are connected.
The Star of Bethlehem
You begin to experience the dawn or glimmer of light, which in Western language is called the Star of Bethlehem
Cynicism and Warmth
Chogyam Trungpa rendered in charcoal by William Gilkerson
Colorado University Talks, 1971
These are recordings of Trungpa Rinpoche's classes at Colorado University in Boulder in January/February 1971.