Home The thirtieth anniversary of Trungpa Rinpoche’s parinirvana

The thirtieth anniversary of Trungpa Rinpoche’s parinirvana

The Thirtieth Anniversary of Trungpa Rinpoche’s Parinirvana

To mark the 30th, we welcome you to the new Chronicles! Learn More

POST A TRIBUTE TO TRUNGPA RINPOCHE

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Quote

Earth Is My Witness

At the dawn of his enlightenment, someone asked the Buddha, “What are your credentials? How do we know that you are enlightened?” He touched his hand to the ground. “This solid earth is my witness. This solid earth, this sane earth, is my witness.” Sane and solid and definite, no imaginings, no concepts, no emotions, no frivolity, but being basically what is: this is the awakened state. And this is the example we follow in our meditation practice.

— From “The Way of the Buddha” in The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation, pages 57 to 58.

Recent Tributes

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

What he has brought …

On Trungpa Rinpoche and The Rain Of Wisdom, Talk One of Four, May/June 2013, Halifax

Joni and Rinpoche

Here is Joni Mitchell in conversation with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden after receiving the Gershwin Prize. When asked what themes she might want to explore currently in her songwriting, Joni talked about her connection with Trungpa Rinpoche

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche 2023 parinirvana commemoration, Surmang, Tibet

Wenchen nuns and Kyere monks participated at Wenchen nunnery, led by Karma Senge Rinpoche, assisted by Damcho Tenphel Rinpoche, who are the nephew and brother of Chogyam Trungpa.

Such Thunderstorm

Barbara Bash calligraphs these words from the Vidyadhara's will

How Do You Toast a Mahasiddha?

A Parinirvana Day toast from Antonio Wood

It Was the Memory of His Kindness

I read something recently that recalled the evening I heard Chögyam Trungpa speak in Toronto in the autumn of 1971. My memories of that evening come back to me...

The Path of Guru Devotion

  We may be a minority, but there are some of us who have the merit, as well as the guts, confidence and courage to take the path of guru...

Tenga Rinpoche on Chogyam Trungpa

Tenga Rinpoche described the contributions of Chogyam Trungpa and the Shambhala community in hosting the Sixteenth Karmapa's tour of the West.

Jakusho Kwong-roshi on Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Jakusho Kwong-roshi on Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Video by Bill Scheffel.

Tribute to Trungpa Rinpoche

Listen to Robin's audio tribute to the Vidyadhara.

Vana Jakic recalls Trungpa Rinpoche

Vana Jakic talks about her interactions with Trungpa Rinpoche in England in the 1960s.

Kunga Dawa on Chögyam Trungpa and Sadhana of Mahamudra

This footage is from a three-hour interview Cathy Hubiak and Bill Scheffel conducted with Kunga Dawa, Richard Arthure, earlier this year.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Cremation Ceremony

On May 26, 1987, hundreds of the Vidyadhara's students gathered in the upper meadow of Karme Chöling for their teacher's cremation. This slideshow presentation of Ray Ellis's photographs, accompanied...

Old Dog Wags Its Tail

It was April in Halifax.
It was misty and cold.
There was black ice in the harbour.

May I never be separated from you

Each and every day I make aspirations—really heartfelt aspirations ...

My Guru Was One Scary Son Of A Bitch

Sung at the Sadhana of Mahamudra feast in Halifax, 4 April 2009

On the 31st Parinirvana

But the weight of your hand has reached through time, touched my heart and made me Mukpo.

Habitual Patterns

A mini-aria composed by Alan Kent Anderson. Text taken from a 1979 Kalapa Assembly talk by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Permission to use text courtesy of Diana Mukpo. ©1998 Alan K....

The Curse of Devotion

The curse of devotion is the ungraspable imprint of an empty heart

4:15 am, Thimphu, Bhutan

May Peace Prevail over all the Earth for All Beings

On Retreat in Charlemont: Silent Footage from 1972

A happy, quiet, soft, and tender time. Early Fall, early melting snow, early days with the guru

On Trungpa Rinpoche’s Unique Brilliance

About Trungpa Rinpoche's "mind-boggling brilliance"

Thrangu Rinpoche Remembers Trungpa Rinpoche

On Trungpa Rinpoche, the influences of Khenpo Gangsar, and some of the extraordinary aspects of the Vidyadhara's teachings

Fearless Compassion

To think of Trungpa Rinpoche it is not just to remember an extraordinary man, but to be drawn into the depth and vastness of his mind, to glimpse a...

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.

What Trungpa Rinpoche Accomplished

Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche reflects on Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's life and teachings

Beyond Comprehension

Book Review: From Lion’s Jaws, Chögyam Trungpa’s Epic Journey to the West
by Grant MacLean

Recollections of Trungpa Rinpoche

Rabjam Rinpoche traveled to the United States twice with his grandfather, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, where they visited Trungpa Rinpoche and his community of students. Here are a few of his memories from those visits.

Glimpses of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Life and Legacy in Tibet

Many thanks to Lyndon Comstock and Jon Ransohoff and everyone at the Konchok Foundation for making this wonderful documentary available. It is such a delight to see where Rinpoche...

I Urge and I Request

More and more, I think it is just so unfortunate that Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche died so young. If he were alive ...

On Trungpa Rinpoche

Trungpa Rinpoche, whose teachings are as fresh and relevant today as they were when first taught, brought dharma to the west at an important historical moment. He was able...

2009 Parinirvana Day Offering

https://youtu.be/Fjat42qEcjk Dear friends, I am a little late as usual, in terms of the parinirvana of both my late father and the Vidyadhara. I just want to let you know that...

Poetry tributes to Trungpa Rinpoche

No fooling! Thirty-two years ago today, Rinpoche asked me to help him play an April Fool joke on the sangha. He thought a while and then asked me to call Vajradhatu...

Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche on Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche: His Lineage and Legacy

In fact all the great lamas consider Trungpa Rinpoche as a real vidyadhara. He is very special. He is a very authentic master and great scholar. What he wrote is mind-boggling.

Salutations to the General

"Salutations from private DJKN to the general to mark his day"* *Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche's message on the anniversary of Trungpa Rinpoche's parinirvana, April 4, 2016. "DJKN" stands for Dzongsar Jamyang...

Video Tribute to Chögyam Trungpa from Gesar Mukpo

Gesar writes: I put this tribute slideshow to my father together. Check it out and spread the link to anyone who may like to watch it. I feel very fortunate to have had such an amazing father and am honored that he touched so many lives. Happy Parinirvana day all and jolly "good luck!"

Reflections on the Life and Teachings of Trungpa Rinpoche

This 52-minute audio file is excerpted from a series of talks on the life and teachings of Trungpa Rinpoche, offered in the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya in August 2004, during the Crazy Wisdom Seminar at Shambhala Mountain Center.

Contemplating the Parinirvana of the Vidyadhara

April 4th approaches. On this day in 1987 Chögyam Trungpa passed into nirvana. (For those not familiar with this expression, it is the day he died.) It is a...

Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche

Listen to this tribute from Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche [5 minutes].

Jetsun Kushok: Tribute to CTR

This year, 2007, marks the 20th anniversary of the passing away of an important Tibetan Buddhist Master, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987). Rinpoche's contribution in Buddhadharma for the benefit of many...

Light of Blessings: Supplication to the Eleventh Trungpa Chökyi Gyatso

At the request of Lady Könchok Paldrön (Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche's mother), Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche composed the following supplication to Trungpa Rinpoche.   Light of Blessings: Supplication to the Eleventh Trungpa Chökyi Gyatso View...

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

I would like to talk a little bit about Trungpa Rinpoche. Even when he was very young, he was extremely knowledgeable. He gave the Rinchen Terdzö empowerment when he...

I Trust My Students

"The point is," he said to me, "I trust my students." There is, for me, no greater single statement of the unique quality of Rinpoche's profound teaching than these four words....

Denault Blouin

"Fuck you." "Did he say, 'Fuck you'?" "Yeah. He just said it again." To whomever—was it Ginsberg?—on that long ten-tape "Tibetan Buddhism and American Karma" seminar (November, 1971) we were listening to...