The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness
Page 96
At the age of eight, Trungpa Rinpoche received ordination as a novice monk. Following this, he engaged in intensive study and practice of the traditional monastic disciplines, including traditional Tibetan poetry and monastic dance. His primary teachers were Jamgön Kongtrül of Sechen and Khenpo Gangshar—leading teachers in the Nyingma and Kagyü lineages. In 1958, at the age of eighteen, Trungpa Rinpoche completed his studies, receiving the degrees of kyorpön (doctor of divinity) and khenpo (master of studies). He also received full monastic ordination.
The late fifties was a time of great upheaval in Tibet. As it became clear that the Chinese Communists intended to take over the country by force, many people, both monastic and lay, fled the country. Trungpa Rinpoche spent many harrowing months trekking over the Himalayas (described later in his book Born in Tibet). After narrowly escaping capture by the Chinese, he at last reached India in 1959. While in India, Trungpa Rinpoche was appointed to serve as spiritual adviser to the Young Lamas Home School in Delhi, India. He served in this capacity from 1959 to 1963.
Trungpa Rinpoche’s opportunity to emigrate to the West came when he received a Spalding sponsorship to attend Oxford University. At Oxford he studied comparative religion, philosophy, history, and fine arts. He also studied Japanese flower arranging, receiving a degree from the Sogetsu School. While in England, Trungpa Rinpoche began to instruct Western students in the dharma, and in 1967 he founded the Samye Ling Meditation Center in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. During this period, he also published his first two books, both in English: Born in Tibet (1966) and Meditation in Action (1969).
In 1968 Trungpa Rinpoche traveled to Bhutan, where he entered into a solitary meditation retreat. While on retreat, Rinpoche received a pivotal terma text for all of his teaching in the West, “The Sadhana of Mahamudra,” a text that documents the spiritual degeneration of modern times and its antidote, genuine spirituality that leads to the experience of naked and luminous mind. This retreat marked a pivotal change in his approach to teaching. Soon after returning to England, he became a layperson, putting aside his monastic robes and dressing in ordinary Western attire. In 1970 he married a young Englishwoman, Diana Pybus, and together they left Scotland and moved to North America. Many of his early students and his Tibetan colleagues found these changes shocking and upsetting. However, he expressed a conviction that in order for the dharma to take root in the West, it needed to be taught free from cultural trappings and religious fascination.
During the seventies, America was in a period of political and cultural ferment. It was a time of fascination with the East. Nevertheless, almost from the moment he arrived in America, Trungpa Rinpoche drew many students to him who were seriously interested in the Buddhist teachings and the practice of meditation. However, he severely criticized the materialistic approach to spirituality that was also quite prevalent, describing it as a “spiritual supermarket.” In his lectures, and in his books Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (1973) and The Myth of Freedom (1976), he pointed to the simplicity and directness of the practice of sitting meditation as the way to cut through such distortions of the spiritual journey.
During his seventeen years of teaching in North America, Trungpa Rinpoche developed a reputation as a dynamic and controversial teacher. He was a pioneer, one of the first Tibetan Buddhist teachers in North America, preceding by some years and indeed facilitating the later visits by His Holiness the Karmapa, His Holiness Khyentse Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and many others. In the United States, he found a spiritual kinship with many Zen masters, who were already presenting Buddhist meditation. In the very early days, he particularly connected with Suzuki Roshi, the founder of Zen Center in San Francisco. In later years he was close with Kobun Chino Roshi and Bill Kwong Roshi in Northern California; with Maezumi Roshi, the founder of the Los Angeles Zen Center; and with Eido Roshi, abbot of the New York Zendo Shobo-ji.
Fluent in the English language, Chögyam Trungpa was one of the first Tibetan Buddhist teachers who could speak to Western students directly, without the aid of a translator. Traveling extensively throughout North America and Europe, he gave thousands of talks and hundreds of seminars. He established major centers in Vermont, Colorado, and Nova Scotia, as well as many smaller meditation and study centers in cities throughout North America and Europe. Vajradhatu was formed in 1973 as the central administrative body of this network.
In 1974 Trungpa Rinpoche founded the Naropa Institute (now Naropa University), which became the first and only accredited Buddhist-inspired university in North America. He lectured extensively at the institute, and his book Journey without Goal (1981) is based on a course he taught there. In 1976 he established the Shambhala Training program, a series of seminars that present a nonsectarian path of spiritual warriorship grounded in the practice of sitting meditation. His book Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior (1984) gives an overview of the Shambhala teachings.
In 1976 Trungpa Rinpoche appointed Ösel Tendzin (Thomas F. Rich) as his Vajra Regent, or dharma heir. Ösel Tendzin worked closely with Trungpa Rinpoche in the administration of Vajradhatu and Shambhala Training. He taught extensively from 1976 until his death in 1990 and is the author of Buddha in the Palm of Your Hand.
Trungpa Rinpoche was also active in the field of translation. Working with Francesca Fremantle, he rendered a new translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which was published in 1975. Later he formed the Nalanda Translation Committee in order to translate texts and liturgies for his own students as well as to make important texts available publicly.
In 1979 Trungpa Rinpoche conducted a ceremony empowering his eldest son, Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo, as his successor in the Shambhala lineage. At that time he gave him the title of Sawang (“Earth Lord”).
Trungpa Rinpoche was also known for his interest in the arts and particularly for his insights into the relationship between contemplative discipline and the artistic process. Two books published since his death—The Art of Calligraphy (1994) and Dharma Art (1996) [a new edition appeared in 2008 under the title True Perception: The Path of Dharma Art]—present this aspect of his work. His own artwork included calligraphy, painting, flower arranging, poetry, playwriting, and environmental installations. In addition, at the Naropa Institute he created an educational atmosphere that attracted many leading artists and poets. The exploration of the creative process in light of contemplative training continues there as a provocative dialogue. Trungpa Rinpoche also published two books of poetry: Mudra (1972) and First Thought Best Thought (1983). In 1998 a retrospective compilation of his poetry, Timely Rain, was published.
Shortly before his death, in a meeting with Samuel Bercholz, the publisher of Shambhala Publications, Chögyam Trungpa expressed his interest in publishing 108 volumes of his teachings, to be called the Dharma Ocean Series. “Dharma Ocean” is the translation of Chögyam Trungpa’s Tibetan teaching name, Chökyi Gyatso. The Dharma Ocean Series was to consist primarily of material edited to allow readers to encounter this rich array of teachings simply and directly rather than in an overly systematized or condensed form. In 1991 the first posthumous volume in the series, Crazy Wisdom, was published, and another seven volumes followed in the ensuing years. Carolyn Gimian gathered many of these published materials, along with a great number of previously unpublished articles, into the eight-volume set, The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa. Plans continue for many future volumes of his teachings to be published.
Trungpa Rinpoche’s published books represent only a fraction of the rich legacy of his teachings. During his seventeen years of teaching in North America, he crafted the structures necessary to provide his students with thorough, systematic training in the dharma. From introductory talks and courses to advanced group retreat practices, these programs emphasized a balance of study and practice, of intellect and intuition. Chögyam Trungpa by Fabrice Midal, a biography, details the many forms of training that Chögyam Trungpa developed. Dragon Thunder: My Life with Chögyam Trungpa is the story of R
inpoche’s life as told by Diana Mukpo. This also provides insight into the many forms that he crafted for Buddhism in North America.
In addition to his extensive teachings in the Buddhist tradition, Trungpa Rinpoche also placed great emphasis on the Shambhala teachings, which stress the importance of meditation in action, synchronizing mind and body, and training oneself to approach obstacles or challenges in everyday life with the courageous attitude of a warrior, without anger. The goal of creating an enlightened society is fundamental to the Shambhala teachings. According to the Shambhala approach, the realization of an enlightened society comes not purely through outer activity, such as community or political involvement, but from appreciation of the senses and the sacred dimension of day-to-day life. A second volume of these teachings, entitled Great Eastern Sun, was published in 1999. The final volume of these teachings, Smile at Fear, appeared in 2009.
Chögyam Trungpa died in 1987, at the age of forty-seven. By the time of his death, he was known not only as Rinpoche (“Precious Jewel”) but also as Vajracharya (“Vajra Holder”) and as Vidyadhara (“Wisdom Holder”) for his role as a master of the vajrayana, or tantric teachings of Buddhism. As a holder of the Shambhala teachings, he had also received the titles of Dorje Dradül (“Indestructible Warrior”) and Sakyong (“Earth Protector”). He is survived by his wife, Diana Judith Mukpo, and five sons. His eldest son, the Sawang Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo, succeeds him as the spiritual head of Vajradhatu. Acknowledging the importance of the Shambhala teachings to his father’s work, the Sawang changed the name of the umbrella organization to Shambhala, with Vajradhatu remaining one of its major divisions. In 1995 the Sawang received the Shambhala title of Sakyong like his father before him, and was also confirmed as an incarnation of the great ecumenical teacher Mipham Rinpoche.
Trungpa Rinpoche is widely acknowledged as a pivotal figure in introducing the buddhadharma to the Western world. He joined his great appreciation for Western culture with his deep understanding of his own tradition. This led to a revolutionary approach to teaching the dharma, in which the most ancient and profound teachings were presented in a thoroughly contemporary way. Trungpa Rinpoche was known for his fearless proclamation of the dharma: free from hesitation, true to the purity of the tradition, and utterly fresh. May these teachings take root and flourish for the benefit of all sentient beings.
CREDITS
Frontispiece photo: © Ray Ellis. Used with permission.
Ekajati Protector’s chant translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee under the direction of Vidyadhara the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and published in Collected Vajra Liturgies (Halifax, Nova Scotia: Nalanda Translation Committee, 2010). Reprinted with special permission.
Drawing of Ekajati commissioned from Glen Eddy by Shambhala Publications for The Myth of Freedom and rendered according to Trungpa Rinpoche’s instructions. Used with permission of Shambhala Publications.
Photo 1: © Gina Stick. Used with permission.
Photo 2: © Martin Janowitz. Used with permission.
Photo 3: by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Photo 4: photographer unknown.
Calligraphy titled The Great Eastern Sun by Chögyam Trungpa, © Diana J. Mukpo. From The Art of Calligraphy, Shambhala Publications, Boston, 1974. Used with permission.
Painting The primordial Buddha, Samantabhadra, in union with Samantabhadri: © Greg Smith. Used with permission.
Painting Vajradhara (“Vajra Holder”), the primordial Buddha by Sherab Palden Beru. Reprinted courtesy of Kagyü Samye Ling.
Photo 5: © Liza Matthews. Used with permission.
Photo 6: photographer unknown. From the collection of the Shambhala Archives.
Photo 7: © Robert Del Tredici. Used with permission.
Photo 8: © Marvin Moore. Courtesy of the Shambhala Archives.
Photo 9: © Martin Janowitz, from the collection of the Shambhala Archives. Used by permission.
Photo 10: © Liza Matthews. Used with permission.
Calligraphy “EVAM, one of the seals of the Trungpa Tülkus” by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Photo 11: photographer unknown. Reprinted courtesy of kalachakranet.org.
Photo 12: © Don Farber. Used with permission.
“Five-Buddha-Family Mandala” diagram: © Judy Lief.
Illustration 1: artist unknown.
Symbols for the five buddha-families (Vajra Family, Ratna Family, Padma Family, Karma Family, and Buddha Family): © Tingdzin Ötro. Used with permission.
Photo 13: © Jane R. Cohen. Used with permission.
Tibetan symbols for OM, SVAHA, HUM, TRAM, HRIH, and AH provided by Tingdzin Ötro (Nalanda Translation Committee).
Photos 14a, b, and c: © Liza Matthews. Used with permission.
Illustration 2: © Sherab Palden Beru. Reprinted courtesy of Kagyü Samye Ling. Used with permission.
Poem “I take refuge in the glorious holy gurus . . .”: translated by the Vajravairochana Translation Committee under the guidance of Chögyam Trungpa. Used with permission.
Illustration 3: © Sherab Palden Beru. Reprinted courtesy of Kagyü Samye Ling. Used with permission.
Photo 15: © Liza Matthews. Used with permission.
Photo 16: © Paul C. Kloppenburg. Used with permission.
Photo 17: photographer unknown. From the collection of the Shambhala Archives.
Drawing The great siddha Tilopa: © Greg Smith. Used with permission.
Calligraphy “VAM, E, and EVAM”: Wartu Sanskrit Eh-Vam by Tibetan calligraphy artist Tashi Mannox.
Photo 18: © Diana Church. From the collection of the Shambhala Archives.
Photos 19, 20, 21, and 22: © Max King. Used with permission.
Photo 23: photographer unknown. From the collection of the Shambhala Archives.
Notecards in Appendix 4: translated by the Vajravairochana Translation Committee. Used with permission.
Excerpt from the Guhyasamja Tantra translated by Francesca Fremantle, unpublished PhD thesis, 1971. Used by permission of the author.
INDEX
Note: Index entries from the print edition of this book have been included for use as search terms. They can be located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.
aah!
abhisheka. See empowerment
accumulations, two
Achala (Fudo)
adhishthana. See blessings
Adro Shelu-bum
aggression
Akshobhya
alaya
alayavijnana
Amitabha
Amoghasiddi
amrita
anger
See also wrathfulness
anuttarayoga
divisions of
emotions in
empowerment in
kriyayoga and
levels of
phenomenal world in
place of
samaya in
suitability for
unique aspects of
visualization in
anuyoga
attainments and yogas of
mahasukha in
passion in
place among yanas
space and wisdom in
suitability for
appreciation
of dharma
of lineage
in mahamudra
of teacher
arrogance, positive
See also vajra pride
Ashoka Maharaja
Atisha
atiyoga
action
enlightenment, view of in
experience of
place among tantras
practice in
realism of
as square one
suitability for
teachers of
view in
See also long-de; men-ngag gi de; sem-de; thögal; trekchö
Avalokiteshvara
awareness
ayatanas
bardo retreat
&nb
sp; basic goodness
emotions and
as küntu sangpo
as Samantabhadra
visualization, as basis
yeshe and
basic sanity
Bercholz, Samuel
bewilderment
Bhaktivedanta
bija mantras. See seed syllables
bindu
black air
black ati practice
blessings
in guru yoga
as meeting of minds
sacred outlook and
vajrayana view of
bliss
bodhichitta
absolute/ultimate