The library is delighted to release the second seminar Chogyam Trungpa ever taught in North America, “The 100,000 Songs of Milarepa,” on the collection of songs spontaneously composed by the legendary 11th century Tibetan poet-yogi and Kagyu lineage figure. Over the thirteen talks, Trungpa Rinpoche gives commentary on select chapters, presenting Milarepa as evergreen inspiration: an unlikely individual who overcame considerable obstacles and tenaciously pursued the path of meditative discipline and devotion until achieving realization.
The seminar was given in 1970 at Karme Choling, only a week after Trungpa Rinpoche concluded a seventeen-talk seminar on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, the seminal Kagyu text by Gampopa, Milarepa’s chief disciple.
“Milarepa was able to move, and his wisdom was able to move [into] more than Tibetan caves. He’s managed to arrive in the United States now. He is really here. And this kind of preciseness, and this kind of positive warrior attitude must be taken. … And I’m sure we could really practice Milarepa-like actions anywhere. Pull up your socks!”