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...

A Good Journey

Our life is an endless journey. It is like a broad highway that extends infinitely into the distance. The practice of meditation provides a vehicle to travel on that road. Our journey consists of constant ups and downs, hope and fear, but it is a good journey. The practice of meditation allows us to experience all the textures of the roadway, which is what the journey is all about. Through the practice of meditation, we begin to find that within ourselves there is no fundamental complaint about anything or anyone at all.

— From “Discovering Basic Goodness,” in Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, page 21.

Jakusho Kwong-roshi on Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Jakusho Kwong-roshi on Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Video by Bill Scheffel.

Planting Terma on Mount Tamalpais

One day in the early 1970s, Trungpa Rinpoche decided to bury treasures on Mount Tamalpais

Old Dog Wags Its Tail

It was April in Halifax.
It was misty and cold.
There was black ice in the harbour.

On the Porch at Charlemont

Jean Claude's recollections of Trungpa Rinpoche   Charlemont is a town in northwestern Massachusetts. Rinpoche spent a lot of time in a farmhouse near Charlemont, mostly during a long retreat in...

How Naropa Got Its Name

In the summer of 1973, Trungpa Rinpoche gathered a few of his more academically minded students to discuss the creation of a new college

Interview with Phil Karl

The following conversation between Phil Karl and Walter Fordham took place at the Trident Cafe and Booksellers in Boulder, Colorado on March 16, 2002.

The Shrine Blessing

About 15 of us were doing the first dathun at the Abbey in January, 1986. The place was abuzz because Rinpoche was coming up to Halifax for the shrine...

Two Moments

I met Rinpoche in person only twice, both in the mid-1980's in Berkeley. Once I waited in a reception line to meet him. When I finally came to the...

The Apple Stem

This story takes place at Karme Choling meditation center in Vermont around 1982. There were two of us working in the graphic design department. I was the assistant. We...

Remembering Thrangu Rinpoche

An account of Rinpoche's final days from Thrangu Tashi Chöling Monastery To all those around the world who have a connection, direct or indirect, with the Lord of Refuge, Khenchen...

A Letter to the Queen of Bhutan on Her 90th Birthday

In 1968, the Queen of Bhutan invited 28 year-old Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to enter into a retreat at Taktsang. It was there that Rinpoche received the Sadhana of Mahamudra.

Love in the Time of Chaos

Training in Tenderness, by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Shambhala Publications, 2018

Mindfulness in Action

by Chögyam Trungpa Edited by Carolyn Rose Gimian Available from Shambhala Publications This comprehensive collection of teachings by Chögyam Trungpa offers both new and experienced meditation students an extraordinary guide to mindfulness...

Pilgrimage to Delhi (New York)

Late in September 2016, fourteen aspirants, mostly “old” students of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, began wending their ways to Delhi (pronounced “Del-High”), New York. We came to receive the Chakrasamvara Abhisheka,...

Celebrating the Return in Colorado

When Yangsi Rinpoche came into the shrine room, we witnessed a kind of scene special to Tibetan Buddhism, where the buddha activity of the previous teacher becomes identified with another, subsequent person.