Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s impact on the transmission of Buddhism to the West cannot be overstated. In the quarter century he spent in the West, he taught tens of thousands of students, in many cases introducing them to Buddhism for the first time. His legacy is nearly impossible to measure, but one gauge is his literary

Sacred Are the Trees: A Retelling of Ancient Stories from Biographies of the Buddha by Wendy Garling, author of Stars at Dawn Why Trees? Those familiar with the Buddha’s biography know that all major events in his life took place under trees. He was born under a shala tree (shorea robusta), for example, as his

The Anatomy of a Common Tibetan Ritual: The Lhasang The lhasang—literally ‘‘higher purification offering,’’ which may be glossed as ‘‘invocation of the higher beings’’—is one of the most common rituals in traditional Tibet. While some rituals are performed strictly for temporal ends and others for spiritual ends, the lhasang is interesting because it is performed

The Essence of Wisdom: How to Sustain the Face of Rigpa by Jamgön Mipham To the glorious primordial protector, I pay homage! There are three stages to sustaining the essence of rigpa: (1) recognition, (2) perfecting the strength, and (3) gaining stability. At first, refine your understanding until, through the guru’s instructions, you come to see

Kalu Rinpoche and the Translation of The Treasury of Knowledge Below Sarah Harding shares the story of how Kalu Rinpoche came to take on the task of translating Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye's The Treasury of Knowledge, an immense feat that took the skills and dedication of many that will be treasured by all who are

Related Reader's Guides Guide to the Sakya Tradition Guides to Other Important Sakya Figures: Sakya Pandita | Sakyasribhadra Drogön Chögyal Phagpa Lodrö Gyaltsten (1235-1280) Drogon Chogyal Phagpa Lodro Gyaltsen (1235-1280), better known to the world as Chögyal Phagpa (or Phakpa) is one of the five great founding masters from the Sakya tradition in Tibet. In

We have excerpted the chapter “Offering Realization: In the Presence of Pagmo Drupa” from The Supreme Siddhi of Mahamudra: Teachings, Poems, and Songs of the Drukpa Kagyu Lineage here. The Drukpa Kagyu lineage is renowned among the traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism for producing some of the greatest yogis from across the Himalayas. After spending many years

The Boy without a Name or The Boy Who Lives by Himself is an unfinished story written by Chögyam Trungpa at an unknown date. We would like to invite you to read what Chögyam Trungpa wrote and write your own ending to the story. You can post your writing in the comments below. I am the boy who

We have excerpted the chapter “Impermanence” from Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind: The Trilogy of Rest, Volume 1 here. Written in the fourteenth century, this text is the first volume of Longchenpa’s Trilogy of Rest, a work of the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition. This profound and comprehensive presentation of the Buddhist view and path combines

The Buddha Walks into the Office seemed a particularly apt choice for our Shambhala office book club. After all, if anyone should aspire to an awake, uplifted workplace, it should be us. We dove in to see if Lodro Rinzler, teacher in the Shambhala tradition and founder of MNDFL meditation studios in New York, had