We are thrilled to announce the release of four essential seminars to the Digital Library, offering an in-depth exploration of the meaning of mandala— a prominent feature of Tibetan Buddhism. Chögyam Trungpa was unique in presenting mandala as a principle, not just a symbolic representation of tantric teachings. According to the mandala principle, all phenomena are interrelated—whether good or bad, happy or sad, clear or obscure. Trungpa Rinpoche invites us into a lived experience of the mandalas of both samsara (the confused world) and nirvana (the awakened world), by working directly with confusion to uncover our inherent wisdom.
Two of these seminars—The Structure of Unconditioned Energy (1972) and Mandala of the Five Buddha Families II (1974)—were later edited into Chögyam Trungpa’s influential book, Orderly Chaos: The Mandala Principle. The other two series—Mandala of the Five Buddha Families I (1971) and Mandala Principle and the Three Yanas (1976)—have never been published!
These talks provide a range of entry points into this rich subject, from introductions to key vajrayana topics to atmospheric descriptions that defy linear logic. If you are new to the mandala principle, the 1976 seminar Mandala Principle and the Three Yanas is a great place to start!
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The vajrayana vision gives you a different manifestation of how the world manifests to ourselves. When we turn our head, when we look right and left, when we move our arms, hands, and body, we find that there is immense power which comes from a sense of no center, no particular reference point whatsoever. But nevertheless, there’s immense glamor, opulence. Immense space, immense freedom, immense delight takes place. Quite simply, without any reason, of course. Why should that be so? Because there is some kind of magic that exists in the cosmos, which can’t be conjured in books or captured in experiences of somebody’s testimony. But it exists in the atmosphere, very simply, very directly. It is somewhat black and white, on the spot; but nevertheless, it has all spectrums of colors glittering outward.
Chögyam Trungpa, Mandala Principle and the Three Yanas, Talk 4: “The Vajra Castle”
Included in this release:
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Image Credits:
Seminar playlist icons: Tibetan mandalas from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (open source imagery)