Biography of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

The Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1939-1987) was the 11th descendent in the line of Trungpa tülkus, important teachers of the Kagyü lineage, one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism and renowned for its strong emphasis on meditation practice. In addition to being a key teacher within the Kagyü lineage, Chögyam Trungpa was also trained in the Nyingma tradition, the oldest of the four schools and was an adherent of the ri-me ("non-sectarian") 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 was forced to flee the country in 1959, at the age of 20. Barely escaping Chinese invaders, he and a small party of monks made the perilous journey over the Himalayas to India on horseback and on foot. From 1959-1963, by appointment of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, Chögyam Trungpa served as the spiritual advisor for the Young Lamas Home School in Dalhousie, India.

In 1963, Chögyam Trungpa moved to England to study comparative religion, philosophy, and fine arts under a Spaulding Fellowship at Oxford University. During this time, he also studied Japanese flower arranging and received an instructors degree from the Sogetsu school. In 1967, he moved to Scotland, where he founded the Samye Ling meditation centre, the first Tibetan Buddhist practice centre in the West. Shortly thereafter, a variety of experiences--including a car accident that left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body--led Chögyam Trungpa to the decision to give up his monastic vows and work as a lay teacher. In 1969, he published Meditation in Action, the first of fourteen books on the spiritual path published during his lifetime. The following year represented yet another turning point in Trungpa's life, when he married Diana Pybus and moved to the United States, where he established his first North American meditation centre, Tail of the Tiger (now known as Karmê-Chöling) in Barnet, Vermont.

The ancient teachings and practical instructions that Chögyam Trungpa brought with him found an eager audience in the America of the 1970s, a decade during which he traveled nearly constantly throughout North America, published six books, established three meditation centers and a contemplative university (Naropa University). He became renowned for his unique ability to present the essence of the highest Buddhist teachings in a form readily understandable to Western students.

During this period, Chögyam Trungpa conducted six Vajradhatu Seminaries, three-month residential programs at which he presented a vast body of Buddhist teachings in an atmosphere of intensive meditation practice. The seminaries assisted in the important function of training his students to become teachers themselves. Chögyam Trungpa also invited other teachers, including His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa--head of the Kagyü lineage--to come to the West and offer teachings.

In 1976, Trungpa Rinpoche appointed Thomas Rich to be his Vajra Regent and dharma heir, giving him the responsibility of carrying on the buddhist teachings of the Kagyü and Nyingma schools. Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin was the first westerner to be acknowledged as a lineage holder in the Tibetan tradition.

Late in the 1970s, Chögyam Trungpa expressed his long-held desire to present contemplative practice to those who were not necessarily interested in studying Buddhism. He developed a program called Shambhala Training, based on the legendary enlightened kingdom of that name. During the 1980s, Trungpa increasingly turned his attention to the propagation of teachings that extended beyond the Buddhist canon. These activities included not only Shambhala Training, but also Japanese archery, calligraphy, flower arranging, tea ceremony, health care, dance, theatre, and psychotherapy, among others. In planting the seeds for these many activities, Chögyam Trungpa sought to bring, in his words, "art to everyday life." He founded the Nalanda Foundation in 1974 as an umbrella organization for these activities.

The essence of Chögyam Trungpa’s teaching was to introduce students to the possibility of integrating meditation practice and study into their everyday lives. Depending on their interests and inclinations, students engaged in any of many contemplative activities, from traditional meditation practice to flower arranging and dance.
In 1986, based on his desire to establish the center of his organization in a less aggressive and materialistic atmosphere, Chögyam Trungpa moved to Nova Scotia.

The Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche died in April, 1987.