Mahasiddha (; or ; Sanskrit Devanagari: महासिद्ध; IAST: mahāsiddha, 'maha' meaning 'great' and 'siddha' meaning 'adept') is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates siddhi of perfection. They are a type of eccentric yogi in both Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism. Mahasiddhas were tantric practitioners, or tantrikas who had sufficient attainments to act as a guru or tantric master. A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sadhana, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic and spiritual abilities and powers. Their historical influence throughout the Indic and Himalayan region was vast and they reached mythic proportions which is codified in their songs of realization and hagiographies, or namthar, many of which have been preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. The Mahasiddha are acknowledged as the founders of many Indian and Buddhist traditions and lineages.

Robert Thurman contrasts the Tantric Buddhist communities within which the Mahasidda practiced and taught with the Buddhist universities such as Nalanda which flourished at the same time:

The Tantric communities of India in the latter half of the first Common Era millennium (and perhaps even earlier) were something like “Institutes of Advanced Studies” in relation to the great Buddhist monastic “Universities.” They were research centers for highly cultivated, successfully graduated experts in various branches of Inner Science (adhyatmavidya), some of whom were still monastics and could move back and forth from university (vidyalaya) to “site” (pitha), and many of whom had resigned vows of poverty, celibacy, and so forth, and were living in the classical Indian saiñnyãsin or sãdhu style. I call them the "psychonauts" of the tradition, in parallel with our “astronauts,” the materialist scientist-adventurers whom we admire for their courageous explorations of the “outer space” which we consider the matrix of material reality. Inverse astronauts, the psychonauts voyaged deep into “inner space,” encountering and conquering angels and demons in the depths of their subconscious minds.

It was the Mahasiddhas who instituted the practices that birthed the Inner Tantras of Dzogchen practiced by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. The other schools of Tibetan Buddhism and other Vajrayana Buddhists such as Shingon Buddhism practice Mahamudra meditation, also a practice initiated by the original Buddhist Mahasiddha.

Genealogy and historical dates

The exact genealogy and historical dates of the Mahasiddhas are contentious. Dowman (1986) holds that they all lived between 750 CE - 1150 CE.

Mahasiddha tradition

Mahasiddhas represent the mystical and unconventional which, in tantric thinking, is often associated with the most rarefied and sublime levels or states of spiritual enlightenment and realisation. They are typically contrasted with arhats, austere saints, though this description is also suitable for many of the Mahasiddhas.However to call mahasiddha directly while talking the word nath(Master) is used and this is how the tradition of nath grew and later on seemed as a distinct sampradaya.

Abhayadatta Sri is an Indian scholar of the 12th century who is attributed with recording the hagiographies of the eighty-four siddha in a text known as 'The History of the Eighty-four Mahasiddha' (Sanskrit: Caturasitisiddha pravrtti; Wylie: grub thob brgyad bcu tsa bzhi'i lo rgyus.)

Dowman holds that the eighty-four Mahasiddha are spiritual archetypes:

The number eighty-four is a "whole" or "perfect" number. Thus the eighty-four siddhas can be seen as archetypes representing the thousands of exemplars and adepts of the tantric way. The siddhas were remarkable for the diversity of their family backgrounds and the dissimilarity of their social roles. They were found in every reach of the social structure: kings and ministers, priests and yogins, poets and musicians, craftsmen and farmers, housewives and whores.

The non-monastic Mahasiddha Dharma is composed of artists, business people, healers, family people, politicians, nobility, prostitutes and outcasts. The Mahasiddhas were a diverse group of people who were practical, committed, creative and engaged with their world. As a collective, their spirituality may be viewed as key and essential to their lives; simple, in concert and accord with all aspects of their lived experience. The basic elements of the lives of the Mahasiddas included their diet, physical posture, career, relationships; indeed 'ordinary' life and lived experience were held as the principal foundation and fodder for realization. As siddhas, their main emphasis in spirituality and spiritual discipline was a direct experience of the sacred and spiritual pragmatism.

Reynolds (2007) states that the mahasiddha tradition:

"...evolved in North India in the early Medieval Period (3-13 cen. CE). Philosophically this movement was based on the insights revealed in the Mahayana Sutras and as systematized in the Madhyamaka and Chittamatrin schools of philosophy, but the methods of meditation and practice were radically different than anything seen in the monasteries."

Mahasiddhas are a form of bodhisattva, meaning they have the spiritual abilities to enter nirvana whenever they please, but they are so compassionate they resolve to remain in samsara to help others. Mahasiddhas are often associated with historic persons, but nonetheless typically have magical powers or siddhi which they achieve by the efficacy of their spiritual practice.

Reynolds (2007) proffers that the mahasiddha tradition:

"...broke with the conventions of Buddhist monastic life of the time, and abandoning the monastery they practiced in the caves, the forests, and the country villages of Northern India. In complete contrast to the settled monastic establishment of their day, which concentrated the Buddhist intelligenzia [sic.] in a limited number of large monastic universities, they adopted the life-style of itinerant mendicants, much the wandering Sadhus of modern India."

The mahasiddha tradition may be conceived and considered as a cohesive body due to their spiritual style, sahaja, which was distinctively non-sectarian, non-elitist, non-dual, non-elaborate, non-sexist, non-institutional, unconventional, unorthodox and non-renunciate. The mahasiddha tradition arose in dialogue with the dominant religious practices and institutions of the time which often foregrounded practices and disciplines that were over-ritualized, politicized, exoticized, excluded women and whose lived meaning and application were largely inaccessible and opaque to non-monastic peoples.

Simmer-Brown (2001: p.127), in her exposition of the charnel ground conveys how great mahasiddhas in the Nath and Mantrayana Buddhadharma traditions such as Tilopa (988–1069) and Gorakṣa (fl. 11th - 12th century) yoked adversity to till the soil of the path and accomplish the fruit, the 'ground' (Sanskrit: āśraya; Wylie: gzhi) of realization - worthy case-studies for those with spiritual proclivity:

"The charnel ground is not merely the hermitage; it can also be discovered or revealed in completely terrifying mundane environments where practitioners find themselves desperate and depressed, where conventional worldly aspirations have become devastated by grim reality. This is demonstrated in the sacred biographies of the great siddhas of the Vajrayāna tradition. Tilopa attained realization as a grinder of sesame seeds and a procurer for a prominent prostitute. Sarvabhakṣa was an extremely obese glutton, Gorakṣa was a cowherd in remote climes, Taṅtepa was addicted to gambling, and Kumbharipa was a destitute potter. These circumstances were charnel grounds because they were despised in Indian society and the siddhas were viewed as failures, marginal and defiled."

Different Mahasiddha traditions

According to Ulrich von Schroeder Tibet has different traditions relating to the mahasiddhas. Among these traditions, two were particularly popular, namely the Abhayadatta Sri list and the so-called Vajrasana list. The number of mahasiddhas varies between eighty-four and eighty-eight, and only about thirty-six of the names occur in both lists. In many instances more than one siddha with the same name exists, so it must be assumed that fewer than thirty siddhas of the two traditions actually relate to the same historical persons. In the days when the siddhas of the later Tibetan traditions flourished in India, i.e. between the 9th and 11th centuries, it was not uncommon for initiates to assume the names of famous adepts of the past. Sometimes a disciple would have the same name as his guru, while still other names were based on caste or tribe. In such a context the distinction between siddhas of the same name becomes blurred. The entire process of distinguishing between siddhas with the same name of different texts and lineages is therefore to large extent guesswork. The great variation in phonetic transcription of Indian words into Tibetan may partly be the result of various Tibetan dialects. In the process of copying the Tibetan transcriptions in later times, the spelling often became corrupted to such an extent that the recognition or reconstitution of the original names became all but impossible. Whatever the reasons might be, the Tibetan transcription of Indian names of mahasiddhas clearly becomes more and more corrupt as time passes.

Geographical sites

In local folk tradition there were held to have been a number of icons and sacred sites to the 84 Mahasiddha at Bharmour (formerly known as Brahmapura) in the Chaurasi complex. Chaurasi Temples , that is, where Chaurasi means "84".

"It is also very significant that nowhere else, except at Bharmaur in Chamba district, may be seen the living tradition of the Eighty-four Siddhas. In the Chaurasi temple complex, near which the famous temple of goddess Lakshana (8th century A.D.) stands, there once were eighty-four small shrines, each dedicated to a Siddha."

There are a number of archaeological sacred sites requiring iconographic analysis in the Chaurasi complex in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. Though it may be hagiographical accretion and folk lore, it is said that in the reign of Sahil Varman:

"Soon after Sahil Varman's accession Brahmapura was visited by 84 yogis/mahasidhas, who were greatly pleased with the Raja's piety and hospitality; and as he ad no heir, they promised him ten sons and in due course ten sons were born and also a daughter named Champavati."

Caturāsiti-siddha-Pravṛtti

The Caturasiti-siddha-pravrtti (CSP), “The Lives of the Eighty-four Siddhas”, compiled by Abhayadatta Sri, a Northern Indian Sanskrit text dating from the 11th or 12th century, comes from a tradition prevalent in the ancient city-state of Campa in the modern district of Bihar. Only Tibetan translations of this Sanskrit text seem to have survived. This text was translated into Tibetan by sMon grub Shes rab and is known as the Grub thob brgyad cu rtsa bzhi’i lo rgyus or “The Legends of the Eighty-four Siddhas”. It has been suggested that Abhayadatta Sri is identical with the great Indian scholar Mahapandita Abhayakaragupta (late 11th–early 12th century), the compiler of the iconographic compendiums Vajravali, Nispannayogavali, and Jyotirmanjari.

The other major Tibetan tradition is based on the list contained in the Caturasiti-siddhabhyarthana (CSA) by Ratnakaragupta of Vajrasana, identical with Bodhgaya (Tib.: rDo rje gdan) located in Bihar, Northern India. The Tibetan translation is known as Grub thob brgyad cu rtsa bzhi’i gsol ’debs by rDo rje gdan pa. There exist several Tibetan versions of the list of mahasiddhas based on the Vajrasana text. However, these Tibetan texts differ in many cases with regard to the Tibetan transcriptions of the Indian mahasiddhas names.

The 84 Mahasiddhas

By convention there are 84 Mahasiddhas in both Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist traditions, with some overlap between the two lists. The number is congruent with the number of siddhi or occult powers held in the Indian Religions. In Tibetan Buddhist art they are often depicted together as a matched set in works such as thangka paintings where they may be used collectively as border decorations around a central figure.

Each Mahasiddha has come to be known for certain characteristics and teachings, which facilitates their pedagogical use. One of the most beloved Mahasiddhas is Virupa, who may be taken as the patron saint of the Sakyapa sect and instituted the Lamdré (Tibetan: lam 'bras) teachings. Virupa (alternate orthographies: Birwapa/Birupa) lived in 9th century India and was known for his great attainments.

Some of the methods and practices of the Mahasiddha were codified in Buddhist scriptures known as Tantras. Traditionally the ultimate source of these methods and practices is held to be the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, but often it is a transhistorical aspect of the Buddha or deity Vajradhara or Samantabhadra who reveals the Tantra in question directly to the Mahasiddha in a vision or whilst they dream or are in a trance. This form of the deity is known as a sambhogakaya manifestation. The sadhana of Dream Yoga as practiced in Dzogchen traditions such as the Kham, entered the Himalayan tantric tradition from the Mahasiddha, Ngagpa and Bonpo. Dream Yoga or "Milam" (T:rmi-lam; S:svapnadarśana), is one of the Six Yogas of Naropa.

Four of the 84 Mahasiddhas are women. They are Kanakhala, the younger of the two Headless (Severed-Headed) Sisters, Lakshmincara The Mad Princess, Manibhadra, the Model Wife (the Happy Housewife) and Mekhala (c. 900) the elder of the two Headless (Severed-Headed) Sisters.. Von Schroeder (2006) states:

Some of the most important Tibetan Buddhist monuments to have survived the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976 are located at Gyantse (rGyal rtse) in Tsang province of Central Tibet. For the study of Tibetan art, the temples of dPal ’khor chos sde, namely the dPal ’khor gTsug lag khang and dPal ’khor mchod rten, are for various reasons of great importance. The detailed information gained from the inscriptions with regard to the sculptors and painters summoned for the work testifies to the regional distribution of workshops in 15th-century Tsang. The sculptures and murals also document the extent to which a general consensus among the various traditions or schools had been achieved by the middle of that century. Of particular interest is the painted cycle of eighty-four mahåsiddhas, each with a name inscribed in Tibetan script. These paintings of mahasiddhas, or “great perfected ones endowed with supernatural faculties” (Tib. Grub chen), are located in the Lamdre chapel (Lam ’bras lha khang) on the second floor of the dPal ’khor gTsug lag khang. Bearing in mind that these murals are the most splendid extant painted Tibetan representations of mahasiddhas, one wonders why they have never been published as a whole cycle. Several scholars have at times intended to study these paintings, but it seems that difficulties of identification were the primary obstacle to publication. Although the life-stories of many of the eighty-four mahasiddhas still remain unidentified, the quality of the works nevertheless warrants a publication of these great murals. There seems to be some confusion about the number of mahåsiddhas painted on the walls of the Lam ’bras lha khang. This is due to the fact that the inscription below the paintings mentions eighty siddhas, whereas actually eighty-four were originally represented. [Note: According to the Myang chos ’byung, eighty-eight siddhas are represented. G. Tucci mentions eighty-four, whereas Erberto Lo Bue assumed that only eighty siddhas were shown, as stated in the inscription. Cf. Lo Bue, E. F. andRicca, F. 1990. Gyantse Revisited, pp. 411–32, pls. 147–60]. Of these eighty-four siddhas painted on the walls, two are entirely destroyed (G55, G63) and another retains only the lower section; the name has survived (G56). Thus, the inscribed Tibetan names of eighty-two mahasiddhas are known. Of the original eighty-six paintings, eighty-four represent a cycle of mahåsiddhas (G1–G84).

List of the 84 Mahasiddhas

In Buddhism there are 84 Mahasiddhas (the asterisk * denotes a female): #Acinta or Acintapa, the 'Avaricious Hermit'; #Ajogi or Ayogipa, the 'Rejected Wastrel'; #Anangapa, Ananga, or Anangavajra; #Aryadeva (or Karnaripa), the 'Lotus-Born' or the 'One-Eyed'; #Babhaha, the 'Free Lover'; #Bhadrapa, the 'Snob' or the 'Exclusive Brahmin'; #Bhandepa, the 'Envious God'; #Bhiksanapa, 'Siddha Two-Teeth'; #Bhusuku, Bhusukupada or Shantideva, the 'Lazy Monk' or the 'Idle Monk'; #Camaripa, the 'Divine Cobbler'; #Campaka or Campakapada, the 'Flower King'; #Carbaripa or Carpati, 'Who Turned People to Stone' or 'the Petrifyer'; #Catrapa, the 'Lucky Beggar'; #Caurangipa, the 'Limbless One' or 'the Dismembered Stepson'; #Celukapa, the 'Revitalized Drone'; #Darikapa, the 'Slave-King of the Temple Whore'; #Dengipa, the 'Courtesan's Brahmin Slave'; #Dhahulipa, the 'Blistered Rope-Maker'; #Dharmapa, the 'Eternal Student' (c.900 CE); #Dhilipa, the 'Epicurean Merchant'; #Dhobipa, the 'Wise Washerman'; #Dhokaripa, the 'Bowl-Bearer'; #Dombipa, the 'Tiger Rider'; #Dukhandi, the 'Scavenger'; #Ghantapa, the 'Celibate Monk' or the 'Celibate Bell-Ringer'; #Gharbari or Gharbaripa, the Contrite Scholar (Skt., pandita); #Godhuripa, the 'Bird Catcher'; #Goraksa, Gorakhnath or Goraksha, the 'Immortal Cowherd'; #Indrabhuti, (teachings disseminated to Tilopa); #Jalandhara, the 'Dakini's Chosen One'; #Jayananda, the 'Crow Master'; #Jogipa, the 'Siddha-Pilgrim'; #Kalapa, the 'Handsome Madman'; #Kamparipa, the 'Blacksmith'; #Kambala, the 'Yogin of the Black Blanket' (or the 'Black-Blanket-Clad Yogin'); #Kanakhala*, the younger of the two Headless Sisters or Severed-Headed Sisters; #Kanhapa (or Krsnacarya), the 'Dark-Skinned One' (or the 'Dark Siddha'); #Kankana, the 'Siddha-King'; #Kankaripa, the 'Lovelorn Widower'; #Kantalipa, the 'Rag Picker' (or the 'Ragman-Tailor'); #Kapalapa, the 'Skull Bearer'; #Khadgapa, the 'Master Thief' (or the 'Fearless Thief'); #Kilakilapa, the 'Exiled Loud-Mouth'; #Kirapalapa (or Kilapa), the 'Repentant Conqueror'; #Kokilipa, the 'Complacent Aesthete'; #Kotalipa (or Tog tse pa, the 'Peasant Guru'; #Kucipa, the 'Goitre-Necked Yogin'; #Kukkuripa, (late 9th/10th Century), the 'Dog Lover'; #Kumbharipa, 'the Potter'; #Laksminkara*, 'The Mad Princess'; #Lilapa, the 'Royal Hedonist'; #Lucikapa, the 'Escapist'; #Luipa, teachings disseminated to Tilopa; #Mahipa, the 'Greatest'; #Manibhadra*, the 'Model Wife' or the 'Happy Housewife'; #Medhini, the 'Tired Farmer'; #Mekhala*, the elder of the two Headless Sisters or Severed-Headed Sisters; #Mekopa, the 'Wild-Eyed Guru' (or the 'Guru Dread-Stare'); #Minapa, the 'Fisherman'; #Nagabodhi, the 'Red-Horned Thief'; #Nagarjuna, "Philosopher and Alchemist", #Nalinapa, the 'Self-Reliant Prince'; #Nirgunapa, the 'Enlightened Moron'; #Pacaripa, the 'Pastrycook'; #Pankajapa, the 'Lotus-Born Brahmin'; #Putalipa, the 'Mendicant Icon-Bearer'; #Rahula, the 'Rejuvenated Dotard'; #Saraha, the "Great Brahmin" #Sakara or Saroruha; #Samudra, the 'Pearl Diver'; #Santipa (or Ratnakarasanti), the 'Academic' (the 'Complacent Missionary') was a teacher of Brogmi; #Sarvabhaksa, the 'Empty-Bellied Siddha' (or the 'Glutton'); #Savaripa, the 'Hunter', held to have incarnated in Drukpa Künleg; #Syalipa, the 'Jackal Yogin'; #Tantepa, the 'Gambler'; #Tantipa or Tanti, the 'Senile Weaver'; #Thaganapa, #Thaganapa, 'Master of the Lie' (or the 'Compulsive Liar'); #Tilopa, the "Great Renunciate" #Udhilipa, the 'Flying Siddha' (the 'Bird-Man'); #Upanaha, the 'Bootmaker'; #Vinapa, the 'Music Lover', the 'Musician' (teachings disseminated to Indrabhuti) and Tilopa}; #Virupa, inspired the Sakya lineage; #Vyalipa, the 'Courtesan's Alchemist'.

Names of the 84 Mahasiddhas according to the Abhayadatta Sri Tradition

According to Ulrich von Schroeder the title of the above list as the Names of the 84 Mahasiddhas is misleading because Tibet has different traditions relating to the mahasiddhas. Among these traditions, two were particularly popular, namely the Abhayadatta Sri list and the so-called Vajrasana list. The number of mahasiddhas varies between eighty-four and eighty-eight, and only about thirty-six of the names occur in both lists. It is therefore also wrong to state that in Buddhism are 84 Mahasiddhas. The correct title should therefore be Names of the 84 Mahasiddhas according to the Abhayadatta Sri Tradition. It should also be clearly stated that only Tibetan translations of this Sanskrit text Caturasiti-siddha-pravrtti (CSP) or The Lives of the Eighty-four Siddhas seem to have survived. This means that many Sanskrit names of the Abhayadatta Sri tradition had to be reconstructed and perhaps not always correctly.

Identification of Mahasiddhas

According to Ulrich von Schroeder for the identification of Mahasiddhas inscribed with Tibetan names it is necessary to reconstruct the Indian names. This is a very difficult task because the Tibetans are very inconsistent with the transcription or translation of Indian personal names and therefore many different spellings do exist. When comparing the different Tibetan texts on mahasiddhas, we can see that the transcription or translation of the names of the Indian masters into the Tibetan language was inconsistent and confused. The most unsettling example is an illustrated Tibetan block print from Mongolia about the mahasiddhas, where the spellings in the text vary greatly from the captions of the xylographs. To quote a few examples: Kankaripa [Skt.] is named Kam ka li/Kangga la pa; Goraksa [Skt.]: Go ra kha/Gau raksi; Tilopa [Skt.]: Ti la blo ba/Ti lla pa; Dukhandi [Skt.]: Dha khan dhi pa/Dwa kanti; Dhobipa [Skt.]: Tom bhi pa/Dhu pi ra; Dengipa (CSP 31): Deng gi pa / Tinggi pa; Dhokaripa [Skt.]: Dho ka ra / Dhe ki ri pa; Carbaripa (Carpati) [Skt.]: Tsa ba ri pa/Tsa rwa ti pa; Sakara [Skt.]: Phu rtsas ga’/Ka ra pa; Putalipa [Skt.]: Pu ta la/Bu ta li, etc. In the same illustrated Tibetan text we find another inconsistency: the alternate use of transcription and translation. Examples are Nagarjuna [Skt.]: Na ga’i dzu na/Klu sgrub; Aryadeva (Karnaripa) [Skt.]: Ka na ri pa/’Phags pa lha; and Ghantapa [Skt.]: Ghanda pa/rDo rje dril bu pa, to name a few.

Concordance lists for the identifications of Mahasiddhas

For the identification of individual mahasiddhas the concordance lists published by Ulrich von Schroeder are indispensable tools for every scholar. The purpose of the concordance lists published in the appendices of his book is primarily for the reconstitution of the Indian names, regardless of whether they actually represent the same historical person or not! The index of his book contains more than 1000 different Tibetan spellings of mahasiddha names.

Other mahasiddhas

Tibetan masters of various lineages are often referred to as mahasiddhas. Among them are Marpa, the Tibetan translator who brought Buddhist texts to Tibet, and Milarepa. In Buddhist iconography, Milarepa is often represented with his right hand cupped against his ear, to listen to the needs of all beings. Another interpretation of the imagery is that the teacher is engaged in a secret yogic exercise (e.g. see Lukhang). (Note: Marpa and Milarepa are not mahasiddhas in the historical sense, meaning they are not 2 of the 84 traditional mahasiddhas. However, this says nothing about their realization.) Lawapa the progenitor of Dream Yoga sadhana was a mahasiddha.

See also

Songs of realization

Charyapada

Matsyendranath

Shantideva

The Twilight Language

Gorakshanath

Indrabhuti

Kukkuripa

Luipa

Nagarjuna

Saraha

Tilopa

Nath

Siddha

Notes

References

Dowman, Keith (1984). The Eighty-four Mahasiddhas and the Path of Tantra. From the introduction to "Masters of Mahamudra", SUNY. Source: (accessed: Monday, November 5, 2007)

Dowman, Keith (1986). Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-four Buddhist Siddhas. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-88706-160-5

Reynolds, John Myrdhin (2007). The Mahasiddha Tradition In Tibet. Source: (accessed: Wednesday, June 20, 2007)

von Schroeder, Ulrich (2006). Empowered Masters: Tibetan Wall Paintings of Mahasiddhas at Gyantse. Chicago: Serindia Publications & Visual Dharma Publications Ltd.

White, David Gordon (1998). The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India. University Of Chicago Press.

External links

Mahasiddha: Buddhist Tantric Teachers of India

Names of the 84 Mahasiddha (with brief explanation of their meaning).

The Mahasiddha Linedrawings of H.R.Downs (in Dowman (1986)).

Lamdre: Dawn of Enlightenment by Lama Choedak Yuthok Teachings of Mahasiddha Virupa

The Caraypadas: the Yoga Songs and Poetry of the Maha Siddhas

Writing at Twilight: "O' Shariputra, the sandhaa-bhashya of the Tathaagatas is very difficult." by Layne Little

The 84 Indian Adepts of Abhayadatta System

Category:Sanskrit words and phrases Category:Hindu religious figures Category:Religious leadership roles *Mahasiddha Category:Tibetan Buddhism Category:Buddhist yogis Category:Vajrayana Category:Buddhist titles

The Ninth Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche is the current incarnation of the Traleg tulku line, a line of high lamas in the Kagyu lineage of Vajrayana. He is a pioneer in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to Australia.

Biography

Traleg Rinpoche was born in 1955 in Kham (eastern Tibet), and two years later was recognized by HH 16th Gyalwa Karmapa as the ninth incarnation of the Traleg Tulkus and enthroned as the Abbot of the Thrangu monastery. He was taken to safety in India during the 1959 Chinese Communists invasion of Tibet. There he was given a traditional tulku education, supplemented by five years of schooling at Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India. He lived and studied for several years at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the main seat in exile of the Kagyu Lineage.

Teaching in the West

In 1980 Rinpoche transmitted the Dharma in Australia where he established Kagyu E-vam Buddhist Institute, in Melbourne. He relinquished his monastic vows, became a lay teacher and married. He earned a Masters degree in comparative philosophy from La Trobe University. In 1989, he taught extensively at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, visiting the North American affiliates of HH Gyalwa Karmapa. In 2004 he established the Evam Institute in New York in Chatham, NY. He also teaches extensively in the Karma Thegsum Choling network of the Karmapa's centers and at Shambhala Buddhist centers.

Bibliography

The Benevolent Mind, by Traleg Kyabgon, Zhi-sil Cho-kyi Gha-Tsal Publications (2003), ISBN 1-877294-28-4

The Essence of Buddhism, by Traleg Kyabgon, Shambhala (2001), ISBN 1-57062-468-2

Mind at Ease, by Traleg Kyabgon, Shambhala (2004), ISBN 1-59030-156-0

The Practice of Lojong, by Traleg Kyabgon, Shambhala (2007), ISBN 1-59030-378-8

See also

Thrangu Rinpoche

Nalandabodhi

Shambhala Buddhism

External links

The Evam Institute in New York homepage

The Kagyu E-Vam Institute in Melbourne

An introduction by Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche

An Australian Buddhist magazine established by Traleg Rinpoche

Category:Lamas Category:Buddhism in Australia Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Category:Rinpoches Category:1955 births Category:Living people

Background	#FFD068 | color = black
Name	Chögyam Trungpa
Birth date	February 28, 1939
Birth place	Kham region, Tibet
Death date	April 04, 1987
Death place	Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nationality	Tibetan
Religion	Buddhism
School	Vajrayana
Lineage	Karma Kagyu and Nyingma
Title	Rinpoche
Teacher	Jamgon Kongtrul of SechenDilgo Khyentse RinpocheKhenpo Gangshar
Reincarnation of	Trungpa Tulku
Predecessor	Chökyi Nyinche
Successor	Choseng Trungpa
Students	Pema Chödrön, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Diane di Prima, Peter Lieberson, José Argüelles and Francisco Varela
Spouse	Lady Diana Mukpo
Children	Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Tagtrug (Taggie) Mukpo, Gesar Mukpo
Website	http://www.shambhala.org/

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (wylie: Chos rgyam Drung pa; February 28, 1939 – April 4, 1987) was a Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages, the eleventh Trungpa tülku, a tertön, supreme abbot of the Surmang monasteries, scholar, teacher, poet, artist, and originator of a radical re-presentation of Shambhala vision.

Recognized both by Tibetan Buddhists and by other spiritual practitioners and scholars as a preeminent teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, he was a major, albeit controversial, figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Vajradhatu and Naropa University and establishing the Shambhala Training method.

Among his contributions are the translation of a large number of Tibetan texts, the introduction of the Vajrayana teachings to the West, and a presentation of the Buddhadharma largely devoid of ethnic trappings. Regarded as a mahasiddha by many senior lamas, he is seen as having embodied the crazy wisdom (Tib. yeshe chölwa) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. His teaching methods and his personal habits were the topic of controversy during his lifetime and afterwards.

Biography

Early years

Born in the Kham region of Tibet in February 1939, Chögyam Trungpa was eleventh in the line of Trungpa tülkus, important figures in the Kagyu lineage, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism that is renowned for its strong emphasis on meditation practice. Among his three main teachers were Jamgon Kongtrul of Sechen, HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and Khenpo Gangshar.

The name Chögyam is a contraction of Chögyi Gyatso (), which means "ocean of dharma". Trungpa () means "attendant". He was deeply trained in the Kagyu tradition and received his khenpo degree at the same time as Thrangu Rinpoche; they continued to be very close in later years. Chögyam Trungpa was also trained in the Nyingma tradition, the oldest of the four schools, and was an adherent of the ri-me ("nonsectarian") ecumenical movement within Tibetan Buddhism, which aspired to bring together and make available all the valuable teachings of the different schools, free of sectarian rivalry.

Already installed as the head of the Surmang monasteries in eastern Tibet, Chögyam Trungpa followed the Dalai Lama who fled Tibet during the ultimately unsuccessful 1959 Tibetan uprising. He was 20 years old, and he led his own party of monks across the Himalayas on foot and on horseback into India.

From 1959-1963, by appointment of the Dalai Lama, Chögyam Trungpa served as the spiritual advisor for the Young Lamas Home School in Dalhousie, India.

Early teachings in the West

In exile in India, Trungpa began his study of English. In 1963, with the assistance of sympathetic westerners , he received a scholarship to study Comparative Religion at Oxford University in England. In 1967 he and Akong Rinpoche were invited by the Johnstone House Trust in Scotland to take over a meditation center on the departure of the western Theravadan monk named Anandabodhi, which then became Samye Ling, the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the West. At this monastery in Scotland, future actor and musician David Bowie was one of Chogyam Trungpa's meditation pupils. In 1970, after a break with his fellow lama Akong Tulku Rinpoche, Trungpa moved to the United States at the invitation of several students.

Shortly after his move to Scotland, a variety of experiences, including a car accident that left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body, led Trungpa to the decision to give up his monastic vows and work as a lay teacher. This decision was principally motivated by the intention to undercut the temptation of students becoming distracted by exotic cultures and dress, and by their preconceptions of how a guru should behave.

Introduction of the Vajrayana

Trungpa was one of the first teachers to introduce the esoteric practice of the Vajrayana to the West. According to Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, "The one who mainly spread the Vajrayana in the West was Trungpa Rinpoche." In contrast to its traditional presentation in Tibet, where the esoteric practices are largely the domain of the monastic sangha, in America Trungpa introduced the Vajrayana to the lay sangha.

The presentation of these teachings gave rise to some criticism. According to a former student, Stephen Butterfield, "Trungpa told us that if we ever tried to leave the Vajrayana, we would suffer unbearable, subtle, continuous anguish, and disasters would pursue us like furies" Other Vajrayana teachers, however, also warn their students about the dangers of the esoteric path.

Butterfield noted "disquieting resemblances" to cults, and "to be part of Trungpa's inner circle, you had to take a vow never to reveal or even discuss some of the things he did." However, Butterfield also notes that "This personal secrecy is common with gurus, especially in Vajrayana Buddhism," and acknowledges that Trungpa's organization is anything but a cult: "a mere cult leaves you disgusted and disillusioned, wondering how you could have been a fool. I did not feel that charlatans had hoodwinked me into giving up my powers to enhance theirs. On the contrary, mine were unveiled."

Meditation and education centers

In 1973, Trungpa established Vajradhatu, encompassing all his North American institutions, headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. Trungpa also founded more than 100 meditation centers throughout the world. Originally known as Dharmadhatus, these centers, now more than 150 in number, are known as Shambhala Meditation Centers. He also founded retreat centers for intensive meditation practice including Shambhala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, CO, Karmê Chöling in Barnet, VT and Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

In 1974, Trungpa founded the Naropa Institute, which later became Naropa University, in Boulder, Colorado. Naropa was the first accredited Buddhist university in North America. Chogyam Trungpa hired Allen Ginsberg to teach poetry and William Burroughs to teach literature.

He had a number of notable students, among whom were Pema Chödrön, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Diane di Prima, Peter Lieberson, José Argüelles, David Deida and Francisco Varela. Ginsberg, Waldman, and di Prima were also teachers at Naropa University. Some important but less well-known students, whom he taught in England and in the USA, were Alf Vial, Rigdzin Shikpo (né Michael Hookham), Howard Useche, Ezequiel Hernandez who later became known as Keun-Tshen Goba after setting up in Venezuela his first meditation center, Miguel Otaola (aka Dorje Khandro), Francisco Salas Roche, and Francesca Fremantle. Rigdzin Shikpo went on to continue Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche's teachings from a primarily Nyingma rather than a Kagyü point of view in the Longchen Foundation.

Shambhala vision

In 1976, Trungpa began giving a series of secular teachings, some of which were gathered and presented as the Shambhala Training, inspired by his vision (see terma) of the legendary Kingdom of Shambhala. Trungpa had actually started writing about Shambhala before his 1959 escape from Tibet to India, but most of those writings were lost during the escape.

In his view not only was individual enlightenment not mythical, but Shambhala Kingdom referred to an enlightened society that could in fact be actualized. The practice of Shambhala vision is to use mindfulness/awareness meditation as a way to connect with one's basic goodness and confidence. It is presented as a path that "brings dignity, confidence, and wisdom to every facet of life." The enlightened society it proposes would be led by himself as sakyong (Tib. earth protector) and his wife as queen-consort or sakyong wangmo.

Shambhala vision is described as a non-religious approach, rooted in meditation and accessible to individuals of any, or no, religion. In Shambhala terms, it is possible, moment by moment, for individuals to establish enlightened society. His book, , provides a concise collection of the Shambhala views. According to Trungpa, it was his intention to propagate the kingdom of Shambala that provided the necessary inspiration to leave his homeland and make the arduous journey to India and the West.

Work with arts and sciences

From the beginning of his time in America, Chögyam Trungpa passionately encouraged his students to integrate a contemplative approach into all of their everyday activities. In addition to making a variety of traditional contemplative practices available to the community, he also incorporated the many already-existing special interests of his students, evolving specialized teachings on how to apply a meditative approach to these various disciplines. These disciplines included kyūdō (Japanese archery), calligraphy, ikebana (flower arranging), sado (Japanese tea ceremony), dance, theater, film, poetry, as well as health care and psychotherapy. His aim was, in his own words, to bring "art to everyday life." He founded the Nalanda Foundation in 1974 as an umbrella organization for these activities.

Death

On September 28, 1986, Trungpa, in failing health due to the auto accident in his youth and to years of heavy alcohol use, suffered cardiac arrest, subsequent to which his condition deteriorated further, requiring intensive care at the hospital, then at his home, and finally back at the hospital in mid-March 1987, where he died on April 4 from the effects of cirrhosis of the liver. His wife Diana Mukpo asserted in 2006 that: "Although he had many of the classic health problems that develop from heavy drinking, it was in fact more likely the diabetes and high blood pressure that led to abnormal blood sugar levels and then the cardiac arrest". However, when asked in a November 2008 interview, "What was he ill with? What did he die of?," his doctor Mitchell Levy replied, "He had chronic liver disease related to his alcohol intake over many years." One of his nursing attendants reports that in his last months, he suffered from the classic symptoms of terminal alcoholism and cirrhosis, yet continued drinking heavily. She adds, "At the same time there was a power about him and an equanimity to his presence that was phenomenal, that I don't know how to explain."

He is reported to have remained in a state of samādhi for five days after his death, his body not immediately decaying and his heart remaining warm. His body was packed in salt and laid into a wooden box that was conveyed to Karmê Chöling. A number of observers have reported that his cremation there on May 26, 1987 was accompanied by various atmospheric effects and other signs traditionally viewed as marks of enlightenment. These included the appearance of rainbows, of eagles circling, and of a cloud in the shape of an Ashe.

Continuation of the Shambhala lineage

Upon the death of Chögyam Trungpa, the leadership of Vajradhatu was first carried on by his American disciple, appointed regent and Dharma heir, Ösel Tendzin (Thomas Rich), and then by Trungpa's eldest son and Shambhala heir, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.

The next Trungpa tülku, Chokyi Sengay, was recognized in 1991 by Tai Situ Rinpoche.

Acclaim

Major lineage holders of his own Tibetan Buddhist traditions and many other Buddhist teachers supported his work.

In 1974, Trungpa invited the Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu lineage, to come to the west and offer teachings. Based on this visit, the Karmapa proclaimed Trungpa to be one of the principal Kagyu lineage holders in the west:

The ancient and renowned lineage of the Trungpas, since the great siddha Trungmase Chökyi Gyamtso Lodrö, possessor of only holy activity, has in every generation given rise to great beings. Awakened by the vision of these predecessors in the lineage, this my present lineage holder, Chökyi Gyamtso Trungpa Rinpoche, supreme incarnate being, has magnificently carried out the vajra holders discipline in the land of America, bringing about the liberation of students and ripening them in the dharma. This wonderful truth is clearly manifest.

Accordingly, I empower Chögyam Trungpa Vajra Holder and Possessor of the Victory Banner of the Practice Lineage of the Karma Kagyu. Let this be recognized by all people of both elevated and ordinary station.

In 1981, Chögyam Trungpa and his students hosted the Fourteenth Dalai Lama in his visit to Boulder, Colorado. Of Trungpa, he later wrote, "Exceptional as one of the first Tibetan lamas to become fully assimilated into Western culture, he made a powerful contribution to revealing the Tibetan approach to inner peace in the West."

Chögyam Trungpa also received support from one of his own main teachers, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, head of the Nyingma lineage. In addition to numerous sadhanas and poems dedicated to Trungpa, Khyentse Rinpoche wrote a supplication after Trungpa's death specifically naming him a mahasiddha. Among other Tibetan lamas to name Trungpa as a mahasiddha are the Sixteenth Karmapa, Thrangu Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche and Tai Situpa.

The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche said, "As taught in the Buddhist scriptures, there are nine qualities of a perfect master of buddhadharma. The eleventh Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche possessed all nine of these."

Suzuki Roshi, founder of the San Francisco Zen Center and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and another important exponent of Buddhism to western students, described Trungpa Rinpoche in the context of a talk about emptiness:

The way you can struggle with this is to be supported by something, something you don't know. As we are human beings, there must be that kind of feeling. You must feel it in this city or building or community. So whatever community it may be, it is necessary for it to have this kind of spiritual support.

That is why I respect Trungpa Rinpoche. He is supporting us. You may criticize him because he drinks alcohol like I drink water, but that is a minor problem. He trusts you completely. He knows that if he is always supporting you in a true sense you will not criticize him, whatever he does. And he doesn't mind whatever you say. That is not the point, you know. This kind of big spirit, without clinging to some special religion or form of practice, is necessary for human beings.

Gehlek Rinpoche, who lived with Trungpa Rinpoche when they were young monks in India and later visited and taught with him in the U.S., remarked:

He was a great Tibetan yogi, a friend, and a master. The more I deal with Western Dharma students, the more I appreciate how he presented the dharma and the activities that he taught. Whenever I meet with difficulties, I begin to understand – sometimes before solving the problem, sometimes afterward – why Trungpa Rinpoche did some unconventional things. I do consider him to be the father of Tibetan Buddhism in the United States. In my opinion, he left very early – too early. His death was a great loss. Everything he did is significant.

Diana Mukpo, his wife, stated:

First, Rinpoche always wanted feedback. He very, very much encouraged his students’ critical intelligence. One of the reasons that people were in his circle was that they were willing to be honest and direct with him. He definitely was not one of those teachers who asked for obedience and wanted their students not to think for themselves. He thrived, he lived, on the intelligence of his students. That is how he built his entire teaching situation.

From my perspective, I could always be pretty direct with him. Maybe I was not hesitant to do that because I really trusted the unconditional nature of our relationship. I felt there was really nothing to lose by being absolutely direct with him, and he appreciated that.

Controversies

Chögyam Trungpa's style of teaching was often unconventional. In his own words, "When we talk about compassion we talk in terms of being kind. But compassion is not so much being kind; it is being creative to wake a person up." He did not encourage his students to imitate his own behavior, and he was troubled by those who felt empowered by his example to do whatever they wanted and manipulate people. As the third Jamgön Kongtrül explained in a teaching given to students of Chögyam Trungpa, "You shouldn't imitate or judge the behavior of your teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, unless you can imitate his mind."

Trungpa's sexuality has been one of the sources of controversy, as he cultivated relations with a number of his female students. Tenzin Palmo, who met him in 1962 while he was still at Oxford did not become one of his consorts. She mentions she refused his advances at the time because he had presented himself as "a pure monk". However, she said had she known that Trungpa began having sexual relations with women at age 13 she would not have declined, considering that in the higher stages of Tibetan Buddhist tantra, sexual relations (especially with tertöns) are a means of enhancing spiritual insights. Trungpa formally renounced his monastic vows in 1969.

Trungpa was also known for smoking tobacco and for his liberal use of alcohol; many who knew him characterized him as an alcoholic. He began drinking occasionally shortly after arriving in India. Before his coming to America, Trungpa drove a sports car into a joke shop in Dumfries, Scotland. While his companion was not seriously injured, Trungpa was left partially paralyzed. Later he described this event as a pivotal moment which inspired the course of his teachings. Some accounts ascribe the accident to drinking. Others suggest he may have had a stroke. According to Trungpa himself, he blacked out.

He often combined drinking with teaching. David Chadwick recounts: "Suzuki [Roshi] asked Trungpa to give a talk to the students in the zendo the next night. Trungpa walked in tipsy and sat on the edge of the altar platform with his feet dangling. But he delivered a crystal-clear talk, which some felt had a quality – like Suzuki's talks – of not only being about the dharma but being itself the dharma." However, in some instances he was too drunk to walk and had to be carried.

Two former students of Trungpa, John Steinbeck IV and his wife, wrote a sharply critical memoir of their lives with him in which they claim that, in addition to alcohol, Trungpa used $40,000 a year worth of cocaine, and used Seconal to come down from the cocaine. The cocaine use, say the Steinbecks, was kept secret from the wider Vajradhatu community.

An incident that became a cause célèbre among some poets and artists was the Halloween party at the Fall, 1975, Snowmass Colorado Seminary, a 3-month period of intensive meditation and study of the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism. The poet W. S. Merwin had arrived that summer at the Naropa Institute and been told by Allen Ginsberg that he ought to visit seminary. Although he had not gone through the several years' worth of study and preparatory mind training required, Merwin was insistent he attend, and Trungpa eventually granted his request – along with his girlfriend as well. At seminary the couple stayed to themselves. At the Halloween party, after many, including Trungpa himself, had taken off their clothes, Merwin was asked to join the event, but refused. On Trungpa's orders his Vajra Guard forced entry into the poet's locked and barricaded room; brought him and his girlfriend, Dana Naone, against their will, to the party; and eventually stripped them of all their clothes, onlookers ignoring Naone's pleas for help and for someone to call the police. The next day Trungpa asked Merwin and Naone to remain at the Seminary as either students or guests. They agreed to stay for several more weeks to hear the Vajrayana teachings (which centered around samaya), with Trungpa's promise that "there would be no more incidents," and Merwin and Naone's assertion that "it would be with no guarantees of obedience, trust, or personal devotion to him." They left immediately after the last talk. In a 1977 letter to members of a Naropa class investigating the incident, Merwin concluded,

My feelings about Trungpa have been mixed from the start. Admiration, throughout, for his remarkable gifts; and reservations, which developed into profound misgivings, concerning some of his uses of them. I imagine, at least, that I've learned some things from him (though maybe not all of them were the things I was 'supposed' to learn) and some through him, and I'm grateful to him for those. I wouldn't encourage anyone to become a student of his. I wish him well.

Author Jeffery Paine commented on this incident that "Seeing Merwin out of step with the rest, Trungpa could have asked him to leave, but decided it was kinder to shock him out of his aloofness." However, he also notes the outrage felt in particular by poets such as Robert Bly and Kenneth Rexroth, who began calling Trungpa a fascist.

Trungpa's choice of Westerner Ösel Tendzin as his dharma heir was controversial as Tendzin would be the first Western Tibetan Buddhist lineage holder and Vajra Regent. This was exacerbated by Tendzin's own behavior as lineage holder. Tendzin, while knowingly carrying HIV, was sexually involved with students, one of whom became infected and died.

Rick Fields, historian of Buddhism in America, writes that Trungpa "caused more trouble, and did more good, than anyone I'll ever know."

Chronology

1940: Born in Kham, Eastern Tibet. Enthroned as eleventh Trungpa Tulku, Supreme Abbot of Surmang Monasteries, and Governor of Surmang District. Some put his birth in 1939.

1944–59: Studies traditional monastic disciplines, meditation, and philosophy, as well as calligraphy, thangka painting, and monastic dance.

1947: Ordained as a shramanera (novice monk).

1958: Receives degrees of Kyorpön (Doctor of Divinity) and Khenpo (Master of Studies). Ordained as a bhikshu (full monk).

1959–60: Follows the Dalai Lama to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising, which failed to overthrow the Chinese government

1960–63: By appointment of the Dalai Lama, serves as spiritual advisor to the Young Lamas' Home School in Dalhousie, India.

1962: Fathers first son, Ösel Rangdröl (Mukpo), by a nun later referred to as Lady Kunchok Palden (or Lady Konchok Palden).

1963–67: Attends Oxford University on a Spaulding scholarship, studying comparative religion, philosophy, and fine arts. Receives instructor's degree of the Sogetsu School of ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement)

1967: Founds Samyê-Ling, a meditation center in Dumfriesshire, Scotland.

1968: Receives The Sadhana of Mahamudra terma text while on retreat in Paro Taktsang, a sacred cliffside monastery in Bhutan.

1969: Becomes the first Tibetan British subject. Injured in a car accident, leaving him partially paralyzed. Relinquishes monastic vows and robes.

1970: Renounces monastic vows and marries wealthy sixteen year old disciple Diana Judith Pybus. Arrives in North America. Establishes Tail of the Tiger, a Buddhist meditation and study center in Vermont, now known as Karmê Chöling. Establishes Karma Dzong, a Buddhist community in Boulder, Colorado.

1971: Begins teaching at University of Colorado. Establishes Rocky Mountain Dharma Center, now known as Shambhala Mountain Center, near Fort Collins, Colorado.

1972: Initiates Maitri, a therapeutic program that works with different styles of neurosis using principles of the five buddha families. Conducts the Milarepa Film Workshop, a program which analyzes the aesthetics of film, on Lookout Mountain, Colorado.

1973: Founds Mudra Theater Group, which stages original plays and practices theater exercises, based on traditional Tibetan dance. Incorporates Vajradhatu, an international association of Buddhist meditation and study centers, now known as Shambhala International. Establishes Dorje Khyung Dzong, a retreat facility in southern Colorado. Conducts first annual Vajradhatu Seminary, a three-month advanced practice and study program.

1974: Incorporates Nalanda Foundation, a nonprofit, nonsectarian educational organization to encourage and organize programs in the fields of education, psychology, and the arts. Hosts the first North American visit of The Sixteenth Gyalwang Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyü lineage. Founds The Naropa Institute, a contemplative studies and liberal arts college, now fully accredited as Naropa University. Forms the organization that will become the Dorje Kasung, a service group entrusted with the protection of the buddhist teachings and the welfare of the community.

1975: Forms the organization that will become the Shambhala Lodge, a group of students dedicated to fostering enlightened society. Founds the Nalanda Translation Committee for the translation of Buddhist texts from Tibetan and Sanskrit. Establishes Ashoka Credit Union.

1976: Hosts the first North American visit of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, revered meditation master and scholar of the Nyingma lineage. Hosts a visit of Dudjom Rinpoche, head of the Nyingma lineage. Empowers Thomas F. Rich as his dharma heir, known thereafter as Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin. Establishes the Kalapa Court in Boulder, Colorado, as his residence and a cultural center for the Vajradhatu community. Receives the first of several Shambhala terma texts (see termas). These comprise the literary source for the Shambhala teachings. Founds Alaya Preschool in Boulder, Colorado.

1977: Bestows the Vajrayogini abhisheka for the first time in the West for students who have completed ngöndro practice. Establishes the celebration of Shambhala Day. Observes a year-long retreat in Charlemont, Massachusetts. Founds Shambhala Training to promote a secular approach to meditation practice and an appreciation of basic human goodness. Visits Nova Scotia for the first time.

1978: Conducts the first annual Magyal Pomra Encampment, an advanced training program for members of the Dorje Kasung. Conducts the first annual Kalapa Assembly, an intensive training program for advanced Shambhala teachings and practices. Conducts the first Dharma Art seminar. Forms Amara, an association of health professionals. Forms the Upaya Council, a mediation council providing a forum for resolving disputes. Establishes the Midsummer's Day festival and Children's Day.

1979: Empowers his eldest son, Ösel Rangdröl Mukpo, as his successor and heir to the Shambhala lineage. Founds the Shambhala School of Dressage, an equestrian school under the direction of his wife, Lady Diana Mukpo. Founds Vidya Elementary School in Boulder, Colorado.

1980–83: Presents a series of environmental installations and flower arranging exhibitions at art galleries in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, and Boulder.

1980: Forms Kalapa Cha to promote the practice of traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. With the Nalanda Translation Committee, completes the first English translation of The Rain of Wisdom.

1981: Hosts the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama to Boulder, Colorado. Conducts the first annual Buddhist-Christian Conference in Boulder, Colorado, exploring the common ground between Buddhist and Christian contemplative traditions. Forms Ryuko Kyūdōjō to promote the practice of Kyūdō under the direction of Shibata Kanjuro Sensei, bow maker to the Emperor of Japan. Directs a film, Discovering Elegance, using footage of his environmental installation and flower arranging exhibitions.

1982: Forms Kalapa Ikebana to promote the study and practice of Japanese flower arranging.

1983: Establishes Gampo Abbey, a Karma Kagyü monastery located in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, for Western students wishing to enter into traditional monastic discipline. Creates a series of elocution exercises to promote precision and mindfulness of speech.

1984–85: Observes a year-long retreat in Mill Village, Nova Scotia.

1986: Moves his home and the international headquarters of Vajradhatu to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

1987: Dies of an alcohol-related illness, April 4, in Halifax; cremated May 26 at Karmê Chöling. (His followers have constructed a chorten or stupa, the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, located near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, for his remains.)

1989: The child recognized as his reincarnation, Chokyi Sengay, is born in Derge, Tibet; recognized two years later by Tai Situ Rinpoche.

Bibliography

Born in Tibet (1966), autobiography, story of escaping from Tibet.

Meditation in Action (1969)

Mudra (1972)

Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (1973)

The Dawn of Tantra, by Herbert V. Guenther and Chögyam Trungpa (1975)

Glimpses of Abhidharma (1975)

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo, translated with commentary by Francesca Fremantle and Chögyam Trungpa (1975)

The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation (1976)

The Rain of Wisdom (1980)

Journey without Goal: The Tantric Wisdom of the Buddha (1981)

The Life of Marpa the Translator (1982)

First Thought Best Thought: 108 Poems (1983)

Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior (1984)

Encountering the Shadow in Buddhist America, Katy Butler (1990)

Crazy Wisdom (1991)

The Heart of the Buddha (1991)

Orderly Chaos: The Mandala Principle (1991)

Secret Beyond Thought: The Five Chakras and the Four Karmas (1991)

The Lion's Roar: An Introduction to Tantra (1992)

Transcending Madness: The Experience of the Six Bardos (1992)

Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving Kindness (1993)

Glimpses of Shunyata (1993)

The Art of Calligraphy: Joining Heaven and Earth (1994)

Illusion's Game: The Life and Teaching of Naropa (1994)

The Path Is the Goal: A Basic Handbook of Buddhist Meditation (1995)

Dharma Art (1996)

Timely Rain: Selected Poetry of Chögyam Trungpa (1998)

Great Eastern Sun: The Wisdom of Shambhala (1999)

Glimpses of Space: The Feminine Principle and Evam (1999)

The Essential Chögyam Trungpa (2000)

Glimpses of Mahayana (2001)

Glimpses of Realization (2003)

The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa, Volumes One through Eight (2003)

True Command: The Teachings of the Dorje Kasung, Volume I, The Town Talks (2004)

The Sanity We Are Born With: A Buddhist Approach to Psychology (2005)

The Teacup & the Skullcup:Chogyam Trungpa on Zen and Tantra (2007)

See also

Buddhism in the United States

Shambhala Buddhism

Celtic Buddhism

Ken Keyes, Jr.

Miksang (contemplative photography)

Reginald Ray

Samaya

Notes

References

Butterfield, Stephen T. The Double Mirror: A Skeptical Journey into Buddhist Tantra. North Atlantic Books, 1994. ISBN 1556431767

Chadwick, David (1999). Crooked Cucumber: The Life and Zen Teachings of Shunryu Suzuki. ISBN 0-7679-0104-5

Clark, Tom (1980). The Great Naropa Poetry Wars. ISBN 0-932274-06-4

Coleman, James William. The New Buddhism: The Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition (2001) Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513162-2

Das, Bhagavan (1997). It's Here Now (Are You?) Broadway. ISBN 0767900081

Eldershaw, Lynn P. "Collective identity and the post-charismatic fate of Shambhala International" 2004 Ph. D. thesis, University of Waterloo; an article drawn from this thesis was published in Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, (2007) Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 72–102, ISSN 1092-6690

Falk, Geoffrey D. (2007) Stripping the Gurus: Sex Violence, Abuse and Enlightenment Chapter 17, A Wild and Crazy Wisdom Guy (no ISBN)

Fields, Rick (3rd ed., 1992). How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America. ISBN 0-87773-631-6

Hayward, Jeremy (2008). Warrior-King of Shambhala: Remembering Chögyam Trungpa. ISBN 0-86171-546-2

Mackenzie, Vicki (1999). Cave in the Snow: Tenzin Palmo's Quest for Enlightment. ISBN 978-1582340456

Midal, Fabrice (2001). Chögyam Trungpa: His Life and Vision. ISBN 1-59030-098-X

Midal, Fabrice (2005). Recalling Chögyam Trungpa. ISBN 1-59030-207-9

Miles, Barry (1989). Ginsberg: A Biography. ISBN 0-671-50713-3

Paine, Jeffery (2004) Re-Enchantment: Tibetan Buddhism Comes to the West ISBN 0393019683

Rigdzin Shikpo (2007). Never Turn Away. ISBN 0861714881

Sanders, Ed (ed.) (1977). The Party: A Chronological Perspective on a Confrontation at a Buddhist Seminary. (no ISBN)

Steinbeck, John Steinbeck IV and Nancy (2001). The Other Side of Eden: Life with John Steinbeck Prometheus Books. ISBN 1573928585

Trungpa, Chogyam (2004). "The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa, Volume Eight". ISBN 1-59030-032-7

Weinberger, Eliot (1986). Works on Paper. ISBN 0-8112-1001-4

Zweig, Connie; Jeremiah Abrams (eds.) (1991). Meeting the Shadow. ISBN 087477618X

Further reading

Feuerstein, Georg. Holy Madness: The Shock Tactics and Radical Teachings of Crazy-Wise Adepts, Holy Fools, and Rascal Gurus. Paragon House, 1991. ISBN 1-55778250-4

Feuerstein, Georg. Holy Madness: Spirituality, Crazy-Wise Teachers, And Enlightenment (revised and expanded edition of Feuerstein, 1991). Hohm Press, 2006. ISBN 1890772542

Marin, Peter. "Spiritual Obedience" in Freedom & Its Discontents, Steerforth Press, 1995, ISBN 1-883642-24-8

Midal, Fabrice. Chögyam Trungpa: His Life and Vision. Shambhala, 2004. ISBN 159030098X

Mukpo, Diana J. Dragon Thunder: My Life with Chögyam Trungpa. Shambhala, 2006. ISBN 1590302567

Perks, John. The Mahasiddha and His Idiot Servant. Crazy Heart Publishers. ISBN 0-9753836-0-4

Chögyam Trungpa/Dorje Dradül of Mukpo: Great Eastern Sun: The Wisdom of Shambhala (1999), 2nd edition 2001, , Shambhala Root Text.

External links

Chögyam Trungpa - Shambhala

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche Straight Up!

The Chronicles of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Videos of Trungpa:

Dragon Thunder: My Life with Chögyam Trungpa by Diana J. Mukpo with Carolyn Rose Gimian

Married to the Guru by Steve Silberman

Category:1939 births Category:1987 deaths Category:Buddhist philosophers Category:Kagyü Buddhists Category:Lamas Category:Rinpoches Category:Tulkus Category:Modern Buddhist writers Category:People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Tibet Category:Shambhala Vision Category:Ngagpa Category:Alcohol-related deaths in Canada Category:American people of Tibetan descent Category:20th-century Lamas

Imee Ooi (pronounce as English "E-ME WOO --E" (connected) - Ch: 黃慧音, pinyin: Huáng Huìyīn, which means HUANG-Yellow - HUI-Wisdom - YIN-Sound/Music, being her original name by birth) is a Malaysian music producer, composer, arranger and vocalist who brings traditional Buddhist chants, mantras and dharanis (typically from the Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan or Mandarin languages) into sung versions with accompanying musical scores. She also is a classical pianist by training.

Ooi is the musical director and composer of two highly-acclaimed stage musicals; Siddhartha and Above Full Moon, and is currently working on a musical entitled Jewel of Tibet. The musical is set during the Tang Dynasty and is about a Tang princess who marries a Tibetan king and how she brings Buddhism to Tibet.

Imee Ooi established I.M.M Musicworks in 1997, and to date has released over 20 albums.

Discography

Jayamangalagatha Mantra

The Chant of Metta

Great Compassionate Mantra

Mantra of Guanyin

Mantras of the Sanskrit

Namo Amitabha (Mandarin)

Diamond Sutra (Mandarin)

Arya Ekdasa-Mukha Dharani

Medicine Buddha Dharani

Amitabha (Mandarin)

Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra

Karaniya Metta Sutta

Ratana Sutta, Discourse of the Jewels

The Wisdom of Manjusri Bodhisattva

Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 1

Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 2

Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 3

Series of 10 Short Mantras, Volume 4

Tisarana

Heart Sutra

Om Mani Padme Hum

Green Tara Mantra

The Mantra of Guru Rinpoche

Chants from Heart to Heart

References

Meet Imee the mantra musician

I.M.M. Music Works

An interview by 劉潔芬 in Chinese: 俗世慧音

Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Malaysian Buddhists Category:Malaysian Chinese people Category:Malaysian female singers Category:Malaysian musicians Category:Performers of Buddhist music

His Eminence Garchen Rinpoche (born: 1936, east Tibet) is a Tibetan Buddhism teacher in the Drikung Kagyu lineage. He is believed to be an incarnation of Siddha Gar Chodingpa, a heart-disciple of Jigten Sumgön, founder of the Drikung Kagyu lineage in the thirteenth century, C.E. He is also believed to have incarnated as Mahasiddha Aryadeva in ancient India - the lotus-born discipe of Nagarjuna himself. He was known as Lonpo Gar, the minister of Tibetan dharma king Songsten Gampo in the seventh century CE.

Life

Garchen Rinpoche was born in 1936 in Nangchen, Kham in eastern Tibet. after he was recognized by the former Drikung Kyabgon Zhiwe Lodro where he was instructed by Siddha Chime Dorje.

Garchen Rinpoche first came to North America in 1997, teaching in Canada and the United States.

Current Activities and Expertise

Garchen Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of the Garchen Buddhist Institute in Chino Valley, Arizona, and teaches throughout North America, Asia, and Europe.

Rinpoche is a master of dzogchen, the fivefold practice Mahamudra, the six yogas of Naropa, and the preliminary practices (Tib. ngondro). He widely promotes Thogme Zangpo's Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva and White Tara practice.

References

External links

Garchen Buddhist Institute

Gar Drolma Buddhist Center

Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:Lamas from Tibet Category:Buddhist monks from Tibet