Shambhala Teachings

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Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and the Shambhala teachings

Between 1970 when he first moved to North America and his death in 1987, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave over 2500 talks and presentations related to many human endeavors: Buddhism, spirituality in general, education, various arts, martial arts, psychology, livelihood/work, sexuality, finances, politics. In his home country of Tibet, Trungpa Rinpoche was not only a spiritual leader as abbot of Surmang monasteries but played a significant role in politics and other secular activities related to governance, arts, and culture. He was not only a lineage holder of the spiritual jewels of buddhadharma, as passed down by the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of the Buddhism of Tibet, but also the secular jewels of family and cultural wisdom, which he presented in North America and Europe in the context of the Shambhala teachings, dharma art teachings, and other public presentations.

In North America and Europe, Trungpa Rinpoche was well-known as a Buddhist teacher before the emergence of his Shambhala teachings in 1976. These Shambhala teachings, while inspired by Buddhist wisdom and practice, were not and are not limited to those who have interest in Buddhist vows and commitments or to those who were particularly interested in being his personal students. These teachings provide a platform for any who wish to train themselves in meditation and awareness disciplines in the context of creating a better world, an enlightened society for all beings.

Also in this context, in accord with the Buddhist teachings, Trungpa Rinpoche's presentation of the Shambhala teachings begins with the personal discipline, personal path, of each individual practitioner. The notion of enlightened "society", enlightened existence, is based on the notion of individual liberation (sosor tharpa in Tibetan), promoting a path towards liberation for each person. Enligntened society, in other words, is a collective of individuals whose path as human beings, a good human life, is facilitated through the economy, arts, social relations, and politics where the Shambhala teachings pay a central role. This begins  with the path of mindfulness-awareness meditation and the view of basic goodness understood not only as an abstract principle but as a personal experience than can be accessed as the basis for living a good human life.

For Trungpa Rinpoche's Buddhist students, practicing and manifesting these Shambhala teachings was a way to transcend selfishness and to fulfill their bodhisatva vows, their Buddhist commitment to put others before themselves, to serve all sentient beings, and to benefit this world. In this tradition,  Trungpa Rinpoche encouraged and directed his senior Buddhist students to not merely relate to one's community of Buddhists as an in-group, or to use the teachings to accumulate personal power or position, but to work with, be part of, and to serve the greater world.

For students of other Tibetan Buddhist teachers, the Shambhala Training program and teachings were a way to gain access to significant meditation and post-meditation disciplines at the heart of Trungpa Rinpoche's teachings. In the 1980s, for instance, a number of Tibetan Buddhist teachers recommended the Shambhala Training program to their students as part of their broader training. Many people from other religious traditions, as well as those who did not trust any form of religiosity, were also drawn to these teaching and found a home or second home within them. We aspire to be worthy of that  trust.

As a body of teachings, these Shambhala Teachings were meant to be available to all, especially those teachings presented through the publicly available books and the Shambhala Training program. As Dharma Study Group Kalamazoo, our intention is to present and make possible the study and practice of the original Shambhala Training program, using the original logics and skillful means developed in 1978-1981, roughly, and accessing the original teachings by Trungpa Rinpoche and his Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin. Links to many of these teachings appear below.

 The Shambhala teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

The Shambhala teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche were formally presented by him to senior Buddhist students between 1976 and 1985. Early in that process (fall of 1976), he empowered Osel Tendzin with the title "Vajra Regent" as his dharma heir, and soon after appointed him to be the director of the Shambhala Training program, a vehicle for transmitting these Shambhala teachings and training students in their application. Information about the empowerment of the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin can be found at the website www.vrot.org

Dharma Study Group Kalamazoo: the Shambhala teachings

In our current online format, we study original teaching seminars by Trungpa Rinpoche and his Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin related to these Shambhala  teachings.  As much as possible, we intend to practice these oral instructions and skillful means in the manner that they were presented in the 1970s and 1980s, drawing on original seminars and public talks on the Chogyam Trungpa Digital Library website Home - Chogyam Trungpa Digital Library and the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin Library and Archives https://www.vajraregent.org. There are many public seminars and single talk available online on the Naropa Digital Library, the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin websites, and the Chronicles of Chogyam Trungpa website https://www.chronicleproject.com.   These are also listed in the Resources section of this website Links and Other Resources - Dharma Study Group Kazoo

Some of these seminars are available as audio, some as video, some with streaming text, and some with transcripts. There are also several books by Trungpa Rinopoche on the Shambhala teachings which we make use of in our study. In past years, when we had in-person programs, we taught and studied the Shambhala Training levels and advanced programs in their original form, as in-person weekend programs, several times over. Following are some of the source materials for such study and practice.

Within these, certain audio talks (and their transcripts) go well with each of the five Shambhala Training levels listed below.

The Shambhala teachings, recommended online seminars and single talks:

--University of Colorado Public Talk, "Basic Goodness", Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Home - Chogyam Trungpa Digital Library
--Warriorship in the Three Yanas (1978), Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, also on the Chogyam Trungpa digital library website. https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/
--The Warrior of Shambhala(1979), Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, co-taught with the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin. The talks by Trungpa Rinpoche are included on the Naropa website, the others at https://www.vajraregent.org/

--The Warrior of Shambhala (1979), audio of talks by both Trungpa Rinpoche and the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin, https://www.vajraregent.org
--Primordial Confidence, a two talk seminar by the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin given in Chicago, 1988, https://www.vajraregent.org
--A talk by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche at the 1983 Naropa Institute Psychology Symposium, titled "Genuine relationship" on the Chogyam Trungpa digital library timeline. Although not particularly expressed in "Shambhala language," this talk covers the basic logics of Shambhala Training Level I while touching profoundly on other topics related to working with others. https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/

The Shambhala Teachings, books:

These books on the Shambhala teachings by Trungpa Rinpoche (through Shambhala Publications) all based on talks by him, are generally available, and are recommended. They include:

--Shambhala, Sacred Path of the Warrior. This book draws on many of Trungpa Rinpoche's Shambhala teachings, including the Warrior of Shambhala seminar (1979) and other teachings given to senior students. For audio teachings related to this book, see the Naropa Digital Libray website and the websites related to the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin; links are above.
--Great Eastern Sun. This book is an edited collection of "Shambhala Training Level 5" teachings (see below) given by Trungpa Rinpoche.
--Smile at Fear. Awakening the True Heart of Bravery. This book includes edited versions of teachings mostly given at the Warriorship in the Three Yanas seminar (1978) as well as edited versions of teachings given to senior students and students who had completed many levels of the Shambhala Training program and beyond, in what used to be called the Shambhala Training "graduate program". Links to the audio related to this book can be found at the Naropa Institute digital library website.

The Shambhala Training Program

Shambhala Training is and was a series of five contemplative workshops suitable for both new and experienced meditators, founded by and developed by Buddhist Meditation master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and his dharma heir, the Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin. These programs provide a strong foundation in mindfulness-awareness practice, both on the cushion and in everyday life, particularly drawing on these Shambhala-oriented oral instructions of Trungpa Rinpoche. In this approach, the view of basic goodness is the guiding principle -- the unconditional spaciousness, gentleness, bravery and intelligence of the human heart which, because it is primordial, can be connected with in any life situation. This view extends to livelihood, family, education, politics, and community, as well as the basis for each individual working with mind and meditation.

Traditionally, each of these Shambhala Training workshops included group meditation instruction, talks with discussion, individual consultations with a meditation instructor, a discussion group, and mindfulness practice, taught in subtly different ways for the various levels of the program. Originally, these programs began with a Friday evening talk and ended Sunday late afternoon, including Saturday evening, so there was a good deal of sitting and walking meditation practice at each program. One of the levels, usually level 3, took place over 2 consecutive weekends. (For a period before that, through mid-1980, Shambhala Training level 2 was the 2-week program.)

Much of the curriculum was developed by Osel Tendzin and other students in consultation with Trungpa Rinpoche, particularly Lila Rich. The basic ground, path, fruition logics for each talk of the 5 program "levels" was provided by Trungpa Rinpoche in the form of 15 phrases, a ground, path, and fruition phrase as the heart of each talk.. That is, each of the "levels" included 3 formal talks, one for the ground, one for the path, and one for the fruition logic provided by Trungpa Rinpoche. These were then expanded upon by Osel Tendzin and other teachers of this program, especially Mrs. Lila Rich, in consultation with Trungpa Rinpoche.

Shambhala Training Level 1: The Discovery of Basic Goodness|

This first weekend retreat of the Shambhala Training program introduces participants to the discipline of mindfulness meditation and to the basic principles of the Shambhala path of warriorship: bravery and gentleness. It takes bravery to be nonaggressive and gentle, and to come face to face with our basic being. This is a joyful, heartfelt, artful, and genuine way to live, full of appreciation for the ordinary magic of the world, guided by the genuine vision of "The Great Eastern Sun". Such discipline, it is said, overcomes depression, the depression of the "setting sun" world.

Over the years, this first weekend program has also been called, at various times, "The art of being human", "Ordinary magic," and "The discovery of dignity and confidence." Traditionally, the very first talk of the program, which introduces the concept and experience of basic goodness, was free for all and available to the general public.

Basic goodness, in this approach, is the basis for all of the Shambhala teachings, and is the very nature of our being, before any notion of good or bad, accepting or rejecting – before thought itself. Through the practice of meditation, we glimpse unconditional basic goodness as the ground of our existence -- alive, brilliant, energetic. Opening to our own being with gentleness and appreciation, we begin to see our potential as genuine and compassionate human beings and to make friends with and reconcile ourselves with our frailties. This is not just philosophy, but experience, and includes disciplines for connecting with basic goodness in everyday life. Subsequent levels of the program bring greater depth, breadth, and subtlety to the students' journey and understanding. As important as teachers are, it is our discipline and application of the teachings that bring us forward, not just the teacher or the written word or audio.

Readings and audio/video related to Shambhala Training Level I

The first 3 chapters of the book Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior particularly apply to the curriculum of Shambhala Training level 1. The first 6 chapters of the book Smile at Fear:Awakening the True Heart of Bravery, also apply to Shambhala Training level 1, as well as to the Shambhala teachings on the whole.

--Talk 1, Warrior of Shambhala Seminar, at the Chogyam Trungpa digital library website; https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/
--Talk 2, Warrior of Shambhala Seminar, at https://www.vajraregent.org
--Talk 3, Warrior of Shambhala Seminar, at the Chogyam Trungpa digital library website, https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/

University of Colorado public talk on the Shambhala Teachings by Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, on the Chogyam Trungpa digital library website

The audio seminar Primordial Confidence, on the audio/video timeline of the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin, is a particularly good presentation of Shambhala Training Level 1 themes, and beyond. This 1987 seminar can be found at the Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin website.

Creating Enlightened Society, a single talk on the Chogyam Trungpa Digital Library website. https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/

Building Enlightened Society, a single talk given by Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche in New York City, availability uncertain. In the past, this was available through Shambhala Media in Halifax.

Shambhala Training Level II: Birth of the Warrior

Habitual ways of thinking and experiencing obscure the raw brilliance of the world we live in, and of our own genuineness and tenderness. Such habits are based in fear. We create a cocoon of habitual tendencies to mask our fear, which also covers over the liveliness of basic goodness.

Mindfulness-awareness meditation exposes our fear and these habits and reveals the constructed nature of this cocoon. We could begin to see that it is possible to use that very experience of fear, and the awareness of such habits, as stepping-stones to waking up. This brings appreciation of our lives and the lives of others. It is the way of the gentle warrior. In this second weekend of the Shambhala Training program, precision and heedfulness in meditation practice is emphasized, along with working with obstacles that inevitably arise as we open further to our energetic experience. The unconditional confidence which comes out of such bravery, the bravery to face oneself, does not depend upon things going our way in life.

Readings and audio/video related to Shambhala Training Level II

Chapters 4 and 7 of the book Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior, particularly apply to Shambhala Training Level 2, as do Chapters 7 and 9 from the book Smile at Fear: Awakening the Heart of Bravery. These also apply to subsequent Shambhala Training levels.

Warrior of Shambhala seminar, talk 4, available at the Chogyam Trungpa digital library website
Warrior of Shambhala seminar, talk 9, available at the Chogyam Trungpa digital library website

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"Not knowing the nature of fear / It is impossible to realize fearlessness."
--Chögyam Trungpa

Shambhala Training Level III: Warrior in the World

In order to overcome hesitation and contact the world, daring is necessary. Basic goodness is not a private possession, nor the basis for dwelling on accomplishments, nor to be used as an opportunity to denigrate oneself. The path of warrior in the world is one of synchronizing body and mind, of joining heaven and earth – inspiration and practicality. This level was also sometimes titled "Joining Heaven and Earth." Beyond holding on to a purely personal experience of basic goodness, the goodness and workability of the world is emphasized in this seminar.

The daring willingness to touch and be touched is experienced further as sensitivity — to our own beings, to others, to sense perceptions. This touch is gentle and unconditional, not pigeonholing ourselves or others. Perceptions and emotions could be more vivid, playful, and accurate. Living like this, the tendency to fixate on our own point of view could relax, and we learn that we can work humbly and confidently with whatever situations arise, free from extreme evangelism or ideological hangups. The steady mind of the warrior is not overwhelmed

Readings and audio/video related to Shambhala Training Level III

Chapters 5, 6 and 8 from the book Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior, particularly apply to the teachings related to Shamblala Training Level 3. In the book Smile at Fear: Awakening the Heart of Bravery, the chapters 10 and higher relate to the level 3 teachings and every level beyond those as well.

Warrior of Shambhala seminar, talk 5, by the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin, available at the Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin website.

Warrior of Shambhala seminar, talk 6, by the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin, Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin website.

Readings and audio/video related to the fruition of Shambhala Training Level III and are a bridge to Shambhala Training Level IV:

Warrior of Shambhala seminar, talk 7, by Trungpa Rinpoche, available at the Chogyam Trungpa digital library website. https://library.chogyamtrungpa.com/

Warrior of Shambhala seminar, talk 8, by the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin, available at the Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin website.

Shambhala Training Level IV: Awakened Heart

Going further with the principles of gentle and fearless warriorship in meditation and awareness practice in everyday life, we discover that communication is happening all the time. Awakened Heart is about lifting our gaze and opening up to the world further with openness and sensitivity, allowing one's awareness to abide in that space in between self and other, oneself and the world. Abiding with that in-between space allows the warrior to communicate, to send and receive communication free from pigeonholing others or oneself, which naturally expresses itself as inquisitiveness and appreciation of others. The path of "awakened heart," which is a further extension of warriorship in the world, is marked by exertion and patience, never giving up on others and resourcefully discovering ways to connect with others.

Early on, the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin was the main teacher of this Shambhala Training level 4, before other senior students were authorized to teach this. His level 4 talks are excellent, foundational examples for students and student teachers to study with respect to these Shambhala teachings.

Readings and audio/video related to Shambhala Training Level IV

Chapters 9 and 10 from the book Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior particularly apply to the teachings of Shambhala Training levels 3 and 4.

Talks 7 and 8 from the Warrior of Shambhala seminar, noted above, are useful. Actual talks given by the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin at level 4s are also good to study, but are not yet generally available for public access.

“Communication starts with recognizing that there are a lot of things in the world that are asking us to say ‘hello”, begging our acquaintance. And we are being very stubborn about that, extremely stubborn. We don't want to say hello because we don't want to pollute anything that we have. But on the contrary, if we recognize that this particular sense of being good, feeling good, being sane, doesn't have any authority or doesn't depend on anything, then we can actually shake hands with the world, say hello.”
--Vajra Regent Ösel Tendzin, February 1979

Readings and audio/video which form a bridge to Shambhala Training Level V teachings by Trungpa Rinpoche:

Level V traditionally provided quite a leap in understanding and experience for the original students because that was the point when many of them not only met Trungpa Rinpoche, the main source of these teachings, but met him in his manifestation as master warrior and monarch. Along with this, more to the point, this was when students were inspired and challenged to realize the possibilities of themselves manifesting as warriors and monarchs in their own world, the power and wisdom to manifest individually and in their social relations in a way that could truly be of benefit to this world.

Trungpa Rinpoche's 5-talk 1978 seminar, Warriorship in the 3 Yanas, given at what was then called "Rocky Mountain Dharma Center", provides an excellent bridge to the level V teachings and the higher Shambhala teachings to come, addressing the role of the student-teacher relationship, the indestructible nature of basic goodness in one's own being, and other topics. This excellent seminar is available at the Chogyam Trungpa digital library website.

Shambhala Training Level 5: Open Sky, Primordial Stroke

Letting go of deception and paying attention to the details of one’s life, one also finds the open clear sky of mind, which is a source of wisdom and uplifted energy. By learning to trust our nature enough to let go into the present moment, the Shambhala teachings help us to soften our hearts and appreciate the sacredness of our daily lives with delight.

Trusting further in basic goodness, the vast space of our being, is like being a monarch with a broken heart. In the simplicity of that vast space, one takes joy in basic goodness, along with great sadness related to experiencing the suffering and confusion of the setting sun world. Based on that, one renounces whatever separates one from one’s own heart, and anything that gets in the way of being available to others. Based on that awareness, one could come to an ever-deepening understanding of what is of benefit and what is of harm to the world and to oneself.

Readings and audio/video related to Shambhala Training Level V
The book Great Eastern Sun: The Wisdom of Shambhala, is a collection of talks given at various Shambhala Training Level V levels taught by Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche.

Further study of the Shambhala teachings

The first five programs of Shambhala Training present some basic principles and practices, a complete toolkit of mindfulness-awareness meditation on the cushion as well as practices related to awareness and accurate action in everyday life. In these further teaching programs, language and teachings from the original Shambhala root texts are presented. These are broadly addressed in sections 2 and 3 of the book Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior and sections 2 and 3 of the book Smile at Fear: Awakening the Heart of Bravery.

The term "Great Eastern Sun" refers to the power of basic goodness manifesting as vision and discipline. "Windhorse" (Tibetan: lungta) refers to the uplifted energy of basic goodness that can be roused in practice and through everyday life disciplines. "Rigden" principle and "cosmic mirror" refer to unconditional basic goodness as the magic and power of relating to primordial mind, mind before thought.

"Drala principle" is a broad subject which includes basic goodness manifesting in cultural forms and tools, the sacred relationship to one's own being and to the being of great teachers and warriors. Drala is a Tibetan term which literally means "beyond the enemy," the enemy being aggression in all it's personal and interpersonal manifestations. Drala is related to the magic of overcoming aggression and has the function of cutting through obstacles, such as obstacles to discovering sacredness in the world, obstacles to seeing the goodness of other people, and obstacles within one's own being and discipline.

Sakyong (literally "earth protector") is human drala, a kind of human potential which is intrinsic to all.. Sakyong is not just a title, but describes the master warrior, a great leader, as well as being a possibility for any human being,

The education of the warrior is described in broad strokes in chapter 7 of the book Smile at Fear. Such education is one of gradual development, starting with the discovery of fear and fearlessness (echoing the teachings of Shambhala levels 1 and 2), nurturing that mind of fear in the "cradle of loving-kindness," up through gradual levels of training that culminate in joining in with a society of master warriors -- beings of intelligence, bravery, gentleness, and artfulness -- and the vision of the Great Eastern Sun. It is a path of gentleness, bravery, and intelligence, the qualities of Ashé, that brilliant nature that resides in the hearts of all.

Within these post-level 5 teachings, the path of warriorship is laid out -- not as a predetermined path, but as something that one discovers through one's own practice, humor, exertion, and discipline. This is described as the path and realization of the four "dignities" of Shambhala -- the dignity of meek, the dignity of perky, the dignity of outrageous, and the dignity of inscrutable -- meek tiger, perky snow lion, outrageous garuda, inscrutable dragon.

The Four Dignities of Shambhala

These four dignities – meek, perky, outrageous, inscrutable -- are introduced as path and inspiration, the way Shambhala warriors train and abide with the brilliant energy of the great eastern sun and the sacredness of the world. They are all based on synchronizing mind and body, raising windhorse, and connecting with sacredness. Such manifestation is the key to serving others and creating enlightened society.

An exquisite short teaching on the four dignities of Shambhala can be found in the Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior book, chapter 20, "Authentic Presence."

The Dignity of Meek
Basic warriorship, meek, has to do with being tamed and trained. The meek tiger overcomes arrogance, has greater vision, and possesses tremendous exertion.

The Dignity of Perky
The Dignity of Perky is connected to discovering joy in discipline and overcoming the anxiety and doubt which come along with relating to heightened experiences of sacredness. The perky snow-lion knows what to accept and what to reject and, with developing awareness, manifests in an elegant and uplifted way.

The Dignities of Outrageous and Inscrutable
These dignities refer to the extraordinary skill of an accomplished warrior, as well as aspects of our practice as warriors-in-training. No longer afraid of making mistakes, the unconventional and visionary perspective of the outrageous warrior combines with the skill of spontaneous inscrutability to create benefit for others on a large scale. Although, in their full manifestation, these dignities do describe the qualities of master warriors, they also present vision, clues, and practices for student warriors on the path, such as we are.

Golden Key
These teachings are based on a Shambhala text that works with our relationship to the “material world” and our sense perceptions. It teaches the practice of enriching presence—the ability to sense the inner wealth within oneself, phenomena, and the natural world.

Some introduction to these teachings can be found in the book Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior in the chapter called "Natural Hierarchy", Chapter 17, as well as Chapter 16, "Sacred World".

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Although it is not possible to do full justice to the path of the Shambhala Teachings as presented by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in this brief article, this will hopefully provide some introduction to and enticement to exploring these teachings. This also provides the framework for our study of these teachings at Dharma Study Group Kalamazoo.