Dear Shambhala Sangha, Our community has experienced an incredible loss. We write with heavy hearts to share that Lady Diana Mukpo - wife and widow of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, mother, grandmother, accomplished equestrian, and steadfast protector of the Shambhala teachings...

Journey to Taktsang 57 Years Ago

The Sadhana of Mahamudra was completed at Taktsang in Bhutan on September 6, 1968. Here, in his own words, is the story of traveling to Taktsang and receiving the sadhana.

Lack of Credentials

Excerpted from The Way of Basic Sanity, A Brief Overview of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's Perspective on Sutric Buddhism

Jonathan Barbieri on Meeting our Kagyu and Nyingma relatives for the first time

Jonathan Barbieri has taught Buddhist and Shambhala trainings extensively throughout North America for over 40 years. He served as a Shastri, a senior teacher, in the Shambhala lineage for several years. Jon has been engaged in several livelihood pursuits including 10 years in educational non-profits, consulting with cities and counties on workforce development, creating contemplative co-housing...

Tim Olmsted on Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Pema Chödrön and Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche

These Sons and Daughters of Noble Family lectures showcase the rich dharma heritage of our extended dharma family. They were originally presented live by Karme Choling and hosted by Julia Sagebien & Karme Choling Co-Directors JT Buck & Vegan Aharonian between April and October 2024. The Chronicles is now in the process of making all sixteen of these lectures available permanently here, adding a new episode to this page every few weeks.

It Was the Memory of His Kindness

I read something recently that recalled the evening I heard Chögyam Trungpa speak in Toronto in the autumn of 1971. My memories of that evening come back to me occasionally, and they surfaced again while I was reading Opening a Mountain: Koans of the Zen Masters. The book is a deeply contextualized collection of stories and...

Joni and Rinpoche

Here is Joni Mitchell in conversation with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden after receiving the Gershwin Prize. When asked what themes she might want to explore currently in her songwriting, Joni talked about her connection with Trungpa Rinpoche

Calligraphy Lesson

I loved Trungpa Rinpoche beyond words and admired him more than anyone I had ever met (I was also a little afraid of him).

Father Thomas Keating and Trungpa Rinpoche Talk About Egolessness

This conversation took place during Naropa’s 1983 Christian Buddhist Conference

Stories of Sechen Kongtrül, told by Tulku Urgyen

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's Stories of Shechen Kongtrül, read by Larry Mermelstein.

Myth of Freedom and the Cosmic Joke with Ani Pema Chodron

In this talk, which is presented in three segments, Pema guides us through the beginning chapters of Trungpa Rinpoche's Myth of Freedom.

The Heart of Enlightened Action

Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche teaches on the mahayana at the Berkley Shambhala Center, August 2007. Here are talks One, Two, and Three of the five talk series.

Vajradhatu Seminary Lake Louise

A slideshow of Lake Louise from Charles Marrow

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s Cremation Ceremony

Thirty Eight Years Ago in Karme Choling's upper meadow

Why Now?

Tashi Colman's Review of The Sadhana of Mahamudra, a new title from Shambhala Publications

Announcement from the Mukpo Family

The Mukpo family would like to announce that after many years of living with cancer, Lady Diana has taken the decision to stop treatment and begin the dying process. She is currently with her family and friends resting at home and receiving care. We will continue to send updates as her end-of-life phase progresses. In the...

Devotion & Crazy Wisdom! A Sadhana of Mahamudra Book Launch (in-person & online)

In collaboration with Shambhala Publications and the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library

When Ice Clogged the Harbour

About 10 days before Rinpoche's passing on April 4, 1987, Halifax harbour began filling up with ice...

Make Friends with Yourself

We get angry with ourselves, saying, “I could do better than this. What’s wrong with me? I seem to be getting worse. I’m going backwards.” We’re angry at the whole world, including ourselves. Everything we see is an insult. The universe becomes the expression of total insult. One has to relate with that. If you are going to exert your power and energy to walk on the path, you have to work with yourself. The first step is to make friends with yourself. That is almost the motto of shamatha or mindfulness meditation experience. Making friends with yourself means accepting and acknowledging yourself. You work with your subconscious gossip, fantasies, dreams–everything. And everything that you learn about yourself you bring back to the technique, to the awareness of the breathing, which was taught by the Buddha.

— From “The 4th Moment” in the Shambhala Sun magazine, March 2006.

Leonard Hortick

The twentieth anniversary of the parinirvana, of the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche is a time of reflection for many of us. Many remember those events of a long time...

Ashoka Mukpo

Twenty years! It seems difficult to comprehend that it has been so long since Trungpa Rinpoche passed away. Even now I feel him more as a living, breathing entity...

Totally Free from Agenda

I became a kasung by coincidence. In 1975, I was a student of Trungpa Rinpoche and working as a waiter at the Canyon Inn restaurant in Boulder. Just before closing...

Nothing Else

Sometime in the early 80's, I was helping Trungpa Rinpoche with names for the Vajrayogini abhisheka. I think it was my first time doing that, so it was likely...

Richard Arthure on Meeting Chogyam Trungpa

Richard Arthure on meeting Chogyam Trungpa. Video by Bill Scheffel.

Like a Foreign Country

[Rinpoche] said there would be economic problems and earthquakes, that the weather would become more extreme because the dralas would not be protecting the situation, and that it would be harder and harder to practice genuine dharma because of the level of aggression in the country.

The Day I Shook Hands with my Guru

Note: This story takes place in Boston in March of 1982. The talk mentioned is the same one that was videotaped and titled "Creating Enlightened Society." It was a beautiful...

As a Parent, All You Can Do Is…

In 1975 I brought my son Ben to an interview with Trungpa Rinpoche. I got him as dressed up as I could manage from Berkeley CA's pathetic department-store...

Joining Heart and Mind: Creating a Compassionate World

https://youtu.be/xcopRse0rr8 This talk was sponsored by the Karmapa Foundation, which carries out secular activities of His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa and seeks to contribute to the betterment of mankind and...

The Boulder Premiere of “Crazy Wisdom”

As Clay Evans, a staff writer for the Boulder Daily Camera who recently reviewed "Crazy Wisdom" aptly put it, Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche "haunts Boulder."

Larry Mermelstein and Barry Boyce on the Sadhana of Mahamudra

On January 14, 2023, Barry and Larry had a candid conversation about the Sadhana of mahamudra in Ocean's Main Shrine Room. Here is the recording of that event.

Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma Retreat

By Kim Gilmer and Robbie Dvorkin Devotion and generosity of heart" is a phrase that captures the atmosphere of the Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma retreat, held in...

The Passing of Tulku Thondup Rinpoche

Loving-kindness is the thought of wishing total happiness for others and putting that wish into practice. It is the thought of unconditioned, pure, and universal love towards all beings without attachment, self-centeredness, or expectation of rewards. — Tulku Thondup

Ordinary Memories of an Extraordinary Man

I was privileged to spend many weeks at Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche's side, only able to hold my seat because of the affection he lavished upon me and countless others.