Chögyam Trungpa

Buddhist teacher and writer

• Born: February 28, 1939
• Birthplace: Ge-je, Tibet
• Died: April 4, 1987
• Place of death: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Contribution: Chögyam Trungpa was a Tibetan Buddhist monk who brought the teachings and practices of his religion to an international audience. Forced from his homeland as a young man, Trungpa traveled to India, Europe, and North America. Along the way, he adapted his teachings to reflect his shifting perspectives and beliefs. His actions occasionally drew criticism from the outside world and his own community, but his achievements as a teacher, writer, poet, artist, and visionary made him a respected ambassador of Eastern culture.

Early Life and Education

Chögyam Trungpa was born February 28, 1939, in Ge-je, Tibet, to nomad parents. On the day he was born, people reported that a rainbow appeared in the sky and water pails filled with milk. According to local Buddhist leaders, these special signs meant that the baby was the reincarnation of an important holy man, and Trungpa took his place as the leader of the Surmang Monastery.

A ceremony was held in observance of Trungpa’s transformation from a poor child to a powerful spiritual leader. More than thirteen thousand Buddhist monks attended the celebration. While at the Surmang Monastery, Trungpa managed farms, fields, and other monasteries. Under the guidance of the monks, Trungpa learned the monastery’s strict rules against stealing, lying, killing, drinking alcohol, and marrying. He was given the title Rinpoche, which means “precious one.”

Life in Asia and Europe

The tranquility of the Surmang Monastery was shattered in 1959 when Chinese Communists invaded Tibet. Trungpa was twenty years old, and although he was still deeply involved with his studies, he had to flee the country. He and other monks escaped over the Himalayan Mountains, making their way to India.

In India, Trungpa met the Dalai Lama, the prominent Buddhist leader who had also fled from Tibet. The Dalai Lama assigned Trungpa to the Young Lamas Home School, where Trungpa provided spiritual guidance to the students. While Trungpa taught, he also studied English, and he and several other monks were awarded scholarships to England’s Oxford University.

In 1963, Trungpa moved to England, where he studied religion, philosophy, art, and Western culture. Trungpa also took classes in ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. Finding his monk’s robes to be a distraction, he decided to dress like a Westerner.

After attending Oxford, Trungpa moved to Scotland, where he established a meditation center. The Samye Ling Meditation Center, as Trungpa named it, became the Western Hemisphere’s first Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Shortly thereafter, Trungpa was seriously injured in a car accident. The left side of his body was partially paralyzed, and he required a wheelchair. Trungpa used his skills of meditation to regain his health. During this recovery process, Trungpa began drinking alcohol regularly, which violated his vows as a monk.

In 1969, Trungpa surrendered the vows he took as a monk and began writing books about Buddhist spirituality. The following year, he further shocked his community when he married sixteen-year-old Diana Pybus. His followers in the United Kingdom and the administrators of Samye Ling were outraged by his behavior. Trungpa was no longer welcome in the monastery he founded, and he moved to North America.

Life in North America

In 1970, Trungpa arrived in Barnet, Vermont, where he founded a Buddhist center called Tail of the Tiger. He taught meditation from a nonspiritual perspective. This new method, which he called “Shambhala training,” attracted a great deal of interest. In 1974, he established the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. The institute would later become Naropa University, which blends Eastern and Western academic approaches. The institute attracted many famous teachers and students, and Trungpa became a popular figure in the rebellious atmosphere of 1970s America.

By the 1980s, more than a hundred meditation centers had been established. The centers attracted some controversy, and though no major scandal occurred, the behavior at Trungpa’s centers was criticized, particularly for violating the Buddhist precept against intoxicants. In 1983, Trungpa moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, where he built a monastery in Cape Breton. This rustic, secluded Buddhist center, called Gampo Abbey, attracted old and new followers.

Legacy

Trungpa died of heart failure on April 4, 1987, in Nova Scotia at age forty-seven. His body was transported to Vermont, near the site of his first North American home, and thousands of followers attended Trungpa’s cremation ceremony. Trungpa was survived by his widow, Diana, and five sons. His oldest son and the organizations he founded continue his work.

Principal Works

Nonfiction Writings

Born in Tibet, 1966

Meditation in Action, 1969

Cutting through Spiritual Materialism, 1973

Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation, 1976

Glimpses of Abhidharma, 1978

Journey without Goal, 1981

Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, 1984

Crazy Wisdom, 1991

Orderly Chaos, 1991

The Heart of the Buddha, 1991

The Lion’s Roar, 1992

Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness, 1993

Illusion’s Game, 1994

Great Eastern Sun, 1999

Poetry

Mudra, 1972

First Thought, Best Thought, 1983

Timely Rain, 1998

Bibliography

“Chögyam Trungpa.” ChögyamTrungpa.com. Chögyam Trungpa Legacy Project, 2012. Web. 29 July 2013.

“Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.” Shambhala.org. Shambhala International, 2009. Web. 29 July 2013.

Cooper, Torie. “Spiritual Warrior or Train Wreck? Chogyam Trungpa.” Examiner.com. Clarity Digital Group, 16 June 2010. Web. 29 July 2013.

“Education: Precious Master of the Mountains.” Time. Time Inc., 14 Feb. 1977. Web. 29 July 2013.

Jaynes, Gregory. “In Vermont: A Spiritual Leader’s Farewell.” Time. Time Inc., 22 June 1987. Web. 29 July 2013.

Toughill, Kelly. “Tibetan Buddhism Flourishes in Remote Cape Breton Abbey.” Toronto Star 13 May 2001: NE1. Print.

“Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987).” BuddhaNet.net. Buddha Dharma Education Association, 2012. Web. 29 July 2013.