Chogyam Trungpa Institute

Chogyam Trungpa Institute The Institute serves those inspired by the work of Chögyam Trungpa, the path of meditation, and the Buddhist tradition.

Home to the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library, working to preserve & make accessible every recorded talk CTR gave in North America.

New in the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library! Recordings of three seminars on abhidharma, Buddhist teachings on the philos...
09/08/2026

New in the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library! Recordings of three seminars on abhidharma, Buddhist teachings on the philosophy and inner workings of the human mind. Follow the link to explore the release, hear a clip, and access the full playlist of talks: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/glimpses-of-abhidharma/

Abhidharma is studied in all schools of Buddhism, and includes foundational frameworks such as the five skandhas (aggregates), the twelve nidanas (chain links of dependent origination), the eight levels of consciousness, and more. In his teachings on abhidharma, Chögyam Trungpa takes an experiential approach, emphasizing the importance of bringing together study and practice, intellect and intuition. His book on the subject, Glimpses of Abhidharma (1975), was edited from a single seminar titled Abhidharma that he gave at Karmê Chöling, Vermont, in 1971. As part of this Digital Library release, all nine talks from the seminar appear in one of our “book-to-talks” playlists, which maps each chapter of the book to the talk upon which it is based.

This collection also features two seminars on abhidharma not included in the book: the previously unpublished Psychology of Samsara and Nirvana (Boulder, CO, 1972), which discusses the nidanas, the three kaya principle, and the five buddha families; and a five-talk seminar called Discovery of Egolessness (NYC, 1976), focused primarily on the skandhas.

An article by Chögyam Trungpa introduces and contextualizes this collection of recordings, excerpted from his introduction to the book Glimpses of Abhidharma. The introduction was edited from the transcript of “Talk One: Introduction” from the 1971 Abhidharma seminar featured in this release, so you have the opportunity to hear the original talk after reading the article!

Explore the release here!: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/glimpses-of-abhidharma/

Image: The original cover of the first edition of the book that was later titled Glimpses of Abhidharma.

09/01/2026

TURN OFF AUTO CAPTIONS! Video clip of Chögyam Trungpa speaking about Shambhala vision, excerpted from a Shambhala Training Talk entitled “Building Enlightened Society” given at the Theosophical Society Hall in New York City in 1982. Follow the link to watch the full talk: https://cti.aviaryplatform.com/c/19820121VCTR1

This talk features as part of the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library’s recent release of nearly all of Trungpa Rinpoche’s Shambhala Training Level V talks: 18 talks that make up the core of his Shambhala Level V presentations plus several public talks given in connection with the Level V programs. Follow this link to learn more and explore the release! https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/great-eastern-sun-the-shambhala-training-level-v-talks/

In one of our recent newsletters, Executive Director Carolyn Gimian shares a personal message about the long-term vision...
08/22/2026

In one of our recent newsletters, Executive Director Carolyn Gimian shares a personal message about the long-term vision of the Chögyam Trungpa Institute’s flagship project, the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library.

The letter explores “gifts for the future”—the work of great creative leaders whose far-reaching visions serve to benefit generations beyond their own. Carolyn’s examples include the architect Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona, more than a century in the making; ancient Shinto shrines in Ise, Japan that are rebuilt from scratch every twenty years; and Chögyam Trungpa’s many long-term projects around the world. In particular, she describes his 500-year vision for Naropa University and the creation of a shedra (school) in Surmang, Tibet, begun when Trungpa Rinpoche was a young man and recently finished thanks to work from the Konchok Foundation and the leadership of his successor, the Twelfth Trungpa.

The letter emphasizes an important message of these and many other big-vision projects: that unfinished business is good business (not unlike the business of enlightenment itself!), and that this unfinished business is probably the best business to be in because it means we keep working, adding, dreaming, and delivering. This is a message we take deeply to heart as we continue to build the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library.

Follow this link to read the full letter!: https://mailchi.mp/chogyamtrungpa/tciw-10598240?e=3df6fcc6f8&utm_campaign=linkinbio&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=later-linkinbio

Sign up for our newsletter here: https://naropa.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=c23bf086414a9185e883c52c0&id=829ed9f7a5

DONATE here to support our work: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/donate/

**

Buddha statue with scaffolding photo by Harsha Kiriti Kopalley (open source)

08/06/2026

Chögyam Trungpa speaking about aggression, gentleness, and American karma. This clip is from a talk entitled “Talk 1: Non-aggression” from the seminar Spiritual Materialism and American Karma given in San Francisco in 1973. The seminar features as part of the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library’s latest release on American Karma. Follow the links below to hear this entire talk or explore the release, including an article, the full playlist of seminars and talks, and a longer version of this clip.

Hear the full talk here: https://cti.aviaryplatform.com/c/19731109VCTR1

Explore the American Karma release here: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/american-karma/

New release in the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library! A playlist of recordings on American karma. Follow the link to learn...
08/03/2026

New release in the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library! A playlist of recordings on American karma. Follow the link to learn more, hear a clip, and explore the playlist: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/american-karma/

**

This year, the United States celebrates its Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the country’s Declaration of Independence. The Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library has published twenty-one new recordings for the occasion: a collection of teachings on American karma. In these talks, Chögyam Trungpa presents the Buddhist path as an antidote for the societal momentum of aggression and as a means to awaken compassion. While these lectures were geared towards an American audience, the heart of these teachings on working with cultural karma is universally applicable.

This new collection includes three seminars—Tibetan Buddhism and American Karma (Boulder, Colorado, 1971), Growth of Spirituality in North America (Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1972), and Spiritual Materialism and American Karma (San Francisco, California, 1973)—as well as a group of public talks. In these lectures, Chögyam Trungpa urges us to relate to our inescapable collective karma through cultivating our own sanity and extending ourselves to others.

Introducing these teachings is an article exploring what karma is (and what it isn’t), collective karma, American karma, the meeting of Tibetan Buddhism and America, spiritual materialism, and working with the cycle of karma in the present moment.

Follow the link to read the article and hear the recordings! https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/american-karma/

Imagery credits:

Photograph by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, taken around 1976. Preserved and digitized by the Shambhala Archives

07/22/2026

TURN OFF AUTO CAPTIONS! Enjoy this audio clip of Chögyam Trungpa engaging in a lively Q&A with an audience member, exploring the question “Do we exist?” This excerpt is from a talk entitled “Recollecting the Present,” talk two from the seminar Vipashyana Insight Meditation given at Karmê Chöling, Vermont, in 1974. Follow the link below to hear the full talk, which features as part of the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library's recent release: the complete playlist of recorded talks that were the basis for Trungpa Rinpoche’s book The Path is the Goal: A Basic Handbook of Buddhist Meditation.

Link to full talk: https://cti.aviaryplatform.com/r/n00zp3z333

Link to the Digital Library release: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/the-path-is-the-goal/

We are excited to announce the latest additions to the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library: a wealth of seminars on the tech...
05/29/2026

We are excited to announce the latest additions to the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library: a wealth of seminars on the technique and psychology of mindfulness and awareness meditation.

Two of the four seminars now available in the media library are included in Chögyam Trungpa’s book The Path Is the Goal: A Basic Handbook of Buddhist Meditation (1995). Both given in his prolific year of 1974, the seminars Mindfulness and Awareness (New York City) and Vipashyana Insight Meditation (Karmê Chöling, Vermont) capture the essence of shamatha and vipashyana meditation practice. Explore the playlist here: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/the-path-is-the-goal/

These teachings are presented in the Digital Library’s second “book-to-talks playlist,” where each book chapter is mapped to the original talk upon which it was based. Because the book The Path Is the Goal includes every talk (with Q&A) from the seminars in chronological order, the experience of listening to these recordings is almost like listening to an audiobook with bonus material!

This Digital Library release also features additional seminars on meditation: Understanding the Neurotic Aspects of Mind (New York City, 1971) and Dhyana and Samadhi (Berkeley, CA, 1974). The 1971 seminar explores how to work directly with our neurosis through meditation. The 1974 seminar includes teachings on meditation practice as a method for reconnecting with our fundamental enlightened state, the experience of loneliness in practice and life, and tuning into messages from the phenomenal world.

Visit the link to learn more, explore the playlist, and hear a special clip of Trungpa Rinpoche describing the significance of the breath in the meditation technique: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/the-path-is-the-goal/

Enjoy!

Photo: Fiordland National Park, Aotearoa New Zealand. By Emily Waters.

**

Inspired by our work? Please consider a donation. Thank you!
https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/donate/

05/19/2026

TURN OFF AUTO CAPTIONS! Chögyam Trunpga Rinpoche speaking about work and its relationship to the spiritual path. This excerpt is from a talk titled “Work: Simplicity and Awareness,” the second talk in a three-talk seminar that Trungpa Rinpoche gave in Boston, MA, in 1970 (shortly after arriving in North America).

This talk features as part of the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library’s recent release: Real Life on the Path of Mindfulness. The release includes all the talks and seminars that formed the basis for Trungpa Rinpoche’s groundbreaking book Work, S*x, Money: Real Life on the Path of Mindfulness. Follow this link to hear this full talk: https://cti.aviaryplatform.com/c/19700929VCTR1

And follow this link to explore the Digital Library release and access the full playlist of talks: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/work-sex-money-real-life-on-the-path-of-mindfulness/

This collection features recordings of three compelling seminars given during the early 70s in Boston; Karme Chöling; and Burlington, Vermont. Also included in the release are Trungpa Rinpoche’s addresses to the Ratna Society, a group of businesspeople in Boulder, Colorado, exploring Buddhist business practices, founded by Rinpoche and his students.

In these seminars, Chögyam Trungpa presents how to work with meditation in action—the application of meditative awareness to everyday life. CTI Director Carolyn Gimian introduces this new Digital Library collection in an article composed of excerpts from the preface and afterword that she wrote for the book (for which she was a co-editor). She shares fascinating historical context, her experience working with the original recordings, and insight into these teachings on the profundity of ordinary life.

Enjoy exploring and listening!

04/20/2026

Chögyam Trungpa speaking about the idea of freedom or liberation—“moksha” in Sanskrit—from a talk titled “The Myth of Freedom” given in New York City in 1973. This clip features as part of the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library’s recent release centered on Trungpa Rinpoche’s classic book The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation. The release includes a playlist of every recorded talk that was a source for the book, along with several stand-alone talks on the topic of freedom (including the one excerpted here). Follow this link to hear the entire talk: https://cti.aviaryplatform.com/c/19730114VCTR1

And check out our Myth of Freedom release here: https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/the-myth-of-freedom/

New release from the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library! This year marks the 50th anniversary of Chögyam Trungpa’s classic ...
04/15/2026

New release from the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library! This year marks the 50th anniversary of Chögyam Trungpa’s classic book The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation. Inspired by the new anniversary edition—and Pema Chödrön’s exciting commentary published last week by Shambhala Publications, Another Kind of Freedom—we have now released every single recording that was a source for Trungpa Rinpoche’s influential book! For the very first time, you can listen to all the original talks that became each section of the ground-breaking text, presented in an accessible playlist. Follow the link to explore the playlist, hear a clip, and more! https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/the-myth-of-freedom/

Published in 1976, The Myth of Freedom is based on 37 different talks Trungpa Rinpoche gave across the United States between 1971 and 1973. These talks were distilled into short, pithy sections of the book, each one giving a vivid snapshot of a step on the Buddhist path.

The Library playlist maps each section of the book to the specific talk upon which it was based. You can jump around between sections and find your favorites, go through chapter by chapter, queue up the whole playlist in order, or download a PDF version—there are endless possibilities for exploration, study, and contemplation. As is often the case when a book is based on oral presentations, the material in the original recordings differs significantly from the final published versions. Because of this, working with the book and the playlist side-by-side adds another rich dimension to the teachings. This playlist also provides a unique opportunity to deeply engage with Pema Chödrön’s new teachings in Another Kind of Freedom.

Do you have a favorite chapter or section from the Myth of Freedom? Let us know in the comments!

Address

2130 Arapahoe Avenue
Boulder, CO
80302

Website

, ,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Chogyam Trungpa Institute posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category