Greetings from the depths of winter! The Library is delighted to bring you three seminars exploring devotion on the Buddhist path: Devotional Buddhism of Tibet (Boulder, 1973), Cynicism and Devotion (Karmê Chöling, 1975), and Delivering Buddha Into Your Palm (Boulder, 1976).
In these three unique seminars, Chögyam Trungpa gives approachable and nuanced teachings on the genuine meaning of devotion. He emphasizes developing our own critical intelligence, seeing our neuroses clearly, moving beyond spiritual materialism, and the importance of coming back to “square one”: mindfulness meditation practice. These teachings also clarify how the student-teacher relationship evolves along the three-yana path. As he explains in the Cynicism and Devotion seminar, “Devotion is a larger-scale version of compassion and intelligence combined together.”
Notably, the 1973 seminar Devotional Buddhism of Tibet was published in Chögyam Trungpa’s classic book The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation (Shambhala Publications, 1976). These powerful talks were the basis for chapters in the book on the idea of surrendering, the spiritual friend or teacher in the mahayana, bravery and compassion in the vajrayana, commitment to the teachings, and the guru principle.
Learn more, watch, and listen
Devotion becomes a greater source of interest in the dharma and that expanse [a larger world] and a greater source of interest in life. And at some point, that particular kind of keen interest becomes cosmic, all-pervasive. Every move that one makes, every breath, every step that one takes becomes an expression of the dharma and devotion at the same time. And the insightfulness of a particular teacher, spiritual friend, reminds you of the way the water flows and the way the sun shines. The whole thing becomes one. Traditionally, that is what’s known as the “inner guru.” That is to say, the ever-present experience of the teachings and the teacher. So at some point, the teachings and the teacher become one.
Chögyam Trungpa, from the Cynicism and Devotion seminar, Talk 4: “The Inner Guru”
FEATURED SEMINARS
Devotional Buddhism of Tibet
A series introducing devotion in Tibetan Buddhism, specifically clarifying how it develops in the hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana paths. (Given in Boulder, CO, in 1973 and published in the book The Myth of Freedom.)
Listen here
Cynicism and Devotion
Four pithy talks on how to join critical intelligence and devotion on the spiritual path. (Given at Karmê Chöling, Vermont, in 1975.)
Listen here
Delivering Buddha Into Your Palm (Video)
A seminar on spiritual materialism, the student-teacher relationship, and the absolute necessity of sitting meditation. (Given in Boulder, CO, in 1976, shortly before a visit from The Sixteenth Karmapa.)
watch here
Inspired by these seminars 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.