Chogyam Trungpa Institute

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.

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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!

Happy Milarepa Day! Today we celebrate the life of Tibet’s great poet-yogi, Jetsun Milarepa (1040-1123 CE). A disciple of Marpa Lotsawa, Milarepa was a major Kagyu lineage figure who attained enlightenment in one lifetime and is known for his spontaneous spiritual songs. In honor of the occasion, the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library is releasing Milarepa: His Life and Example, a short seminar Chögyam Trungpa gave at Karmê Chöling, Vermont, in 1976. These four talks draw connections between Milarepa’s life in medieval Tibet and ours as modern-day students and meditators. Trungpa Rinpoche illuminates Milarepa’s relationship to his principal teacher, Marpa, and his path of discipline, honesty, and perseverance that led to his spiritual realization. Learn more, access the seminar, and hear a clip at the link! https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/the-life-and-example-of-milarepa/

Milarepa: His Life and Example was published in the book Milarepa: Lessons from the Life and Songs of Tibet’s Great Yogi, edited by Judy Lief. With the addition of this new seminar, the Library now contains all four main seminars included in the book: 100,000 Songs of Milarepa (Karmê Chöling, 1970), The Message of Milarepa (Karmê Chöling, 1973, with video!), Milarepa: His Life and Example (Karmê Chöling, 1976), and Yogic Songs of Milarepa (Naropa University, 1976).

Follow the link below to access all four of these Milarepa seminars, featuring the latest release to the Library, Milarepa: His Life and Example. https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/the-life-and-example-of-milarepa/

“Milarepa in the Mountains” illustrated collage by Emily Waters.

Cheerful Shambhala Day and Losar! Today marks the first day of the Tibetan lunar calendar and the beginning of the Year of the Fire Horse. To celebrate the new year, the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library is releasing two seminars which capture the fearless spirit of the Fire Horse: Warriorship in the Three Yanas (RMDC, CO, 1978) and How to Manifest Enlightened Society (Boulder, CO, 1980). Follow the link to access the playlist and hear a clip! https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/warriorship-and-manifesting-enlightened-society/?_thumbnail_id=6346

The seminar Warriorship in the Three Yanas follows the courageous journey of the warrior—a person who faces each moment of life with openness and fearlessness—through the hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana paths. Based on the practice of mindfulness-awareness meditation, Chögyam Trungpa describes the progression through getting to know our mind, discovering our basic goodness, transplanting a compassionate moon in our heart and an intelligent sun in our head, and appreciating the world as unconditionally sacred. Notably, this seminar was the primary source for Part One of the book Smile at Fear: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery (Shambhala Publications, 2010).

In the seminar How to Manifest Enlightened Society, Trungpa Rinpoche describes how to be in the world with others, while cultivating basic goodness, egolessness, joyful discipline, and compassion. Topics of this comprehensive four-talk seminar include working with resistance to meditation, fearlessness in facing our basic goodness, freeing ourselves from ego-clinging, and maintaining continual awareness.

New Digital Library Release! Three seminars exploring devotion on the Buddhist path: Devotional Buddhism of Tibet (Boulder, 1973), Cynicism and Devotion (Karmê Chöling, 1975), and Delivering Buddha Into Your Palm (Boulder, 1976). In these three unique seminars, Chögyam Trungpa gives approachable and nuanced teachings on the genuine meaning of devotion. He emphasizes developing our own critical intelligence, seeing our neuroses clearly, moving beyond spiritual materialism, and the importance of coming back to “square one”: mindfulness meditation practice. As he explains in the Cynicism and Devotion seminar, “Devotion is a larger-scale version of compassion and intelligence combined together.” Follow the link to learn more, watch, and listen! https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/devotion-on-the-buddhist-path/

Imagery Info:

Bowing Photo: Likely a photo of one of The Sixteenth Karmapa’s monks bowing to a Buddha statue at the De Young Museum of Art in San Francisco during the Karmapa’s 1976 visit to the United States. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Shambhala Archives.

Shrine Photo: The shrine at Karme Choling, VT, set up for an abhisheka, taken during His Holiness Karmapa XVI’s visit in 1976. Courtesy of Shambhala Archives.

Meditator Photo: Unidentified woman sitting on a meditation cushion in the newly-built shrine room at Karmê Chöling, VT in 1976. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Shambhala Archives.

Buddha Photo: A small Buddha statue on a platform, taken in 1965. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Shambhala Archives.