April 4th marks the 39th anniversary of the passing of the great Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Each year, on his parinirvana (nirvana after death), we celebrate his remarkable life and legacy and highlight a selection of his teachings. This year, we present a unique, substantive interview Chogyam Trungpa gave on the progressive Montreal radio station, CKGM, in 1971.
Host Doug Pringle interviews Chogyam Trungpa about his background, the American spiritual climate, and asks him the question: “What is Buddhism?” Their conversation explores the Buddhist concept of sanity, meditation, and the importance of direct transmission from a teacher. A portion of the evening program is a lively call-in Q&A where Rinpoche fields questions from listeners on reincarnation, karma, charlatans, and enlightenment. Remarkably, Trungpa Rinpoche was fresh off giving two talks that same day for a seminar (Passion and Aggression)—a classic example of his tireless generosity in bringing the dharma to others.
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DOUG PRINGLE: Would you like to perhaps explain, as briefly as you can, what exactly Buddhism is, what it is that you’re offering people?
TRUNGPA RINPOCHE: Well, Buddhism is a way of life. You regard pain and misery, or suffering, as a way of inspiring yourself. Nothing is rejected. Nothing is regarded as condemned in terms of original sin. Nobody is condemned in that sense. People, human beings, have already been accepted as worthy people, because they have a basic essence of intelligence within themselves. They are worthy people, so they are positive people, human beings as a whole. And from that particular basic principle, such practices like meditation and looking into practicing the teachings becomes a basic way of relating to their life situation as a sane and ordinary human being.
(Excerpt from a CKGM radio interview, 1971.)
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Images:
Photos of Chögyam Trungpa in the 1970s, photographers unknown
Photo of CKGM radio host Doug Pringle from The Montreal Gazette