Earlier this month, the United States celebrated its Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the country’s Declaration of Independence. We’re excited to announce that the Digital Library team has published 21 new recordings for the occasion: a collection of teachings on American karma. In these talks, Chögyam Trungpa presents the Buddhist path as an antidote for the societal momentum of aggression and as a means to awaken compassion. While these lectures were geared towards an American audience, the heart of these teachings on working with cultural karma is universally applicable.
This new collection includes three seminars—Tibetan Buddhism and American Karma (Boulder, Colorado, 1971), Growth of Spirituality in North America (Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1972), and Spiritual Materialism and American Karma (San Francisco, California, 1973)—as well as a group of public talks. In these lectures, Chögyam Trungpa urges us to relate to our inescapable collective karma through cultivating our own sanity and extending ourselves to others.
Introducing these teachings is an article exploring what karma is (and what it isn’t), collective karma, American karma, the meeting of Tibetan Buddhism and America, spiritual materialism, and working with the cycle of karma in the present moment.
Learn more and access the seminars!
All those [subtle feelings of] aggression, all kinds of aggression that we meet within ourselves, is the first perfect example of American karma. We have to conquer them. Conquering does not necessarily mean to get rid of it, but some kind of relationship has to be made. We are acknowledging that those situations do exist to begin with, rather than simply trying to forget the whole thing. There’s some kind of gentle approach to our life that seems to be necessary. That particular gentle approach in our life is not a big deal, but it’s just the basic attitude that our life is worth exploring. Our psychological state is worth exploring, rather than looking for something else.
Chögyam Trungpa, Spiritual Materialism and American Karma seminar, Talk 1: “Non-Aggression”
MORE FROM THE INSTITUTE:
This Date in Chögyam Trungpa History
In June 1976, ahead of the 200th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence, Chögyam Trungpa gave a public talk at Naropa University, which was captured on video: “Bicentennial and Buddhism.” The Digital Library first released this talk at the launch of the website in 2023 as part of the Naropa Collection. We hope you enjoy this look back!
I think the message of the Bicentennial and Buddhism in America is celebrating American achievement of freedom—whatever that may be—but also the Buddhists along with it. The Buddhists are beginning to join along with that particular [American] basic sanity. … Sometimes people blame too much, sometimes people praise too much, and there’s a big conflict. However, the fact of the matter, the real truth, is that the American basic state of being, as a total experience of American mind, allowed Buddhism to come to this country. Americans produced Buddhists from that point of view.
Watch the Talk Here
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
Our last newsletter was a message from CTI Director Carolyn Gimian: “Unfinished Business Is Good Business: A Letter to the Friends of the Chögyam Trungpa Institute.” Carolyn shares her perspective on the long-term vision of CTI and the Digital Library.
Read the Letter
Inspired by these teachings and our work at the Chögyam Trungpa Digital Library? Consider offering your support! We are powered by donations, and every contribution makes a big difference in helping us make available every single one of Trungpa Rinpoche’s recorded talks.
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Image Credits:
American flag photo by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, probably taken in 1976. Preserved and digitized by the Shambhala Archives.
Photo of Chögyam Trungpa in a suit taken in 1971 or 1972 (photographer unknown)
Sagrada Familia star spire photo from sagradafamilia.org
Photo of Chögyam Trungpa with yellow background taken in the 1980s (photographer unknown)