Directly following Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s death, Jack offers perspectives on the life and dharma of one of spirituality’s most impactful and controversial figures.
This Dharma Talk on 4/01/1987 at Spirit Rock Meditation Center was originally published on DharmaSeed.org
“Lama Govinda said that of all the young tulkus, of all the young incarnate lamas to leave Tibet, there was none as bright as Trungpa Rinpoche—bright in the sense of his field of his being and his energy. Lama Govinda, even at a point when he wasn’t very happy with the way Trungpa Rinpoche was behaving, said that he still had to admit there was no one who walked across the Himalayas and came out who had that light more than Trungpa.” – Jack Kornfield
In this episode, Jack dives into:
- A celebration of the life, teachings, and impact of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
- The Vimalakīrti Sutra, and how certain Bodhisattvas teach as householders so that their message can be best understood by the world
- How Jack being invited to teach alongside Ram Dass, Sharon Salzberg, and Joseph Goldstein on the faculty of Trungpa’s Naropa University in Boulder, CO sparked their teaching careers in the West
- Lama Govinda’s view on Trungpa’s innate radiant brightness and his “lion’s roar”
- The traditions, trainings, and spirit of Shambala through the metaphor of the rising sun
- Meeting our life and practice with an openness and fearlessness
- Buddhist personality types and their unique seeds of awakening
- Trungpa’s discipline for practice, and his deep devotion for his teachers and dharma lineage
- Ping-ponging between Ram Dass’s and Trungpa Rinpoche’s dueling Bhakti and Buddhism sessions the opening summer at Naropa
“Trungpa Rinpoche gave himself as fully to the West as any Buddhist teacher that I know that has come. And in a more remarkable way, he absorbed our culture, our language, our customs, who we are, into himself and said, ‘Alright, let’s play! Let’s take the seed of the Dharma and really make it sparkle and alive in the West.'” – Jack Kornfield
Ram Dass joins Trungpa Rinpoche at Naropa in 1974 to discuss the notion of ego, on Here and Now Ep. 112
About Jack Kornfield:
Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India, and Burma, studying as. a monk under the Buddhist master Ven. Ajahn Chah, as well as the Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and is one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. Jack co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, with fellow meditation teachers Sharon Salzberg and Joseph Goldstein and the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. His books have been translated into 20 languages and sold more than a million copies.
Dive into Jack’s ongoing dharma offerings and transformational online courses on the new JackKornfield.com
Listen to more from Jack:
Tune into Ep. 109 of Heart Wisdom: This Too Shall Pass
Learn about Living with a Peaceful Heart in Ep. 91 of Heart Wisdom
Check out Ep. 90 of Heart Wisdom to learn about Healing Through Loving Awareness
Listen to more Stories That Open the Mind, Mend the Heart and Lead to Joy with Jack Kornfield in Ep.92 of Heart Wisdom
Tune into Ep. 102 of Heart Wisdom: The Wisdom of the One Who Knows
Check out Ep. 1 of Heart Wisdom to gain wisdom on Impermanence
Image via Crazy Wisdom/Kobal