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 Common Misunderstanding

A common misunderstanding is that the meditative state of mind has to be captured and then nursed and cherished. That is definitely the wrong approach. If you try to domesticate your mind through meditation–try to possess it by holding on to the meditative state–the clear result will be regression on the path, with a loss of freshness and spontaneity. If you try to hold on without lapse all the time, then maintaining your awareness will begin to become a domestic hassle. It will become like painfully going through housework. There will be an underlying sense of resentment, and the practice of meditation will become confusing. You will begin to develop a love-hate relationship toward your practice, in which your concept of it seems good, but at the same time, the demand that rigid concept makes on you is too painful.

— From “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,” in The Sanity We Are Born With: A Buddhist Approach to Mindfulness, page 28.

Stephen Seely

Steve takes a look at his relationship to Ponlop Rinpoche and the Nalandabodhi community, in light of his ongoing connection to the Mukpos and the Shambhala mandala.

4:15 am, Thimphu, Bhutan

May Peace Prevail over all the Earth for All Beings

Meeting Rinpoche

In the autumn of 1969, I was living in Berkeley, California. I had been introduced to Zen meditation by a friend and began practicing meditation either at the Zen...

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...

The Do-Gooders

I lived at Tail of the Tiger from November 1971 until the spring of 1972 when Rinpoche asked me, along with Ken and Helen Green and their small son Mithra,...

Lunch is served

I was on staff as a cook in the Vidyadhara's household in Los Angeles in 1979. It was a joint ITS (Intensive Training Seminar) and ATS (Advanced Training Seminar)...

Memories of Chögyam Trungpa

He replied, “The path is the goal.”

My Very Short Life with Milarepa

One of the first books I read about Tibetan Buddhism was the Life of Milarepa. I found the story of his life and enlightenment a great inspiration. Reading about...

2020 New Year Message from Kyabje Thrangu Rinpoche

Thrangu Monastery Canada Sangha's wishes you all Happy New Year with prosperity and happiness

The Transmission of Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye’s Treasury of Pith Instructions

In December 2012, Steve Cline had the opportunity to speak with Lama Sonam Phuntsho about the transmission of the Dam Ngak Dzo. Here is their conversation.

The Underbelly of Vajrayana

When Tibetans were forced into exile by the Chinese Communist invasion of Tibet, two of the most prominent places of refuge were Kathmandu, Nepal and Dharmsala, India. Within Kathmandu, the village of Boudha, the site of the Great Stupa of Boudhanath, became an un-wobbling pivot around which Tibetans gathered to live, to work, and to revere.

Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche in Boulder

By Roland Cohen Boulder Colorado, Friday, August 13, 2010: Organized and hosted by Dzigar Kongtrul, Rinpoche and his sangha (Mangala Shri Bhuti), the ceremony was held at the old Boulder...

Saraha and Sahaja

In this lecture, Roger Jackson talks about Saraha's songs, with a special focus on his teachings on sahaja – a vital tantric term variously translated as "the coemergent," "the connate," or "the simultaneously arisen."

Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche at Phuntsok Choling in Ward

By Joanna Bolek AKA: Joanne Fagan Attending the "Celebrating the Return" event was an opportunity to soak in the dharma which my husband and I rarely get, living as we...