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Great Eastern Sun: The Wisdom of Shambhala
Chögyam Trungpa had a vision of a society of enlightened people, or at least of people on the path to enlightenment. These are the Shambhala warriors, people "brave enough not to give in to the aggression and contradictions that exist in society." A companion volume to Trungpa's classic Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Great Eastern Sun is an invitation for all people to discover their own goodness, which is always there, just as the sun is always rising. Trungpa had an uncanny grasp of the hang-ups and excuses that keep Westerners in their safe ego cocoons, and in Great Eastern Sun he entices us all out, to express our goodness and live a life on the edge of insecurity. The mindful life turns out to be one of detached but sacred existence, floating with the power of compassionate awareness. A genuine life is what Trungpa propels us to, and Great Eastern Sun is his lantern for guiding us down the path of genuine living. --Brian Bruya
293 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
About the author
Chögyam Trungpa
170 books844 followersVidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (Tibetan: ཆོས་ རྒྱམ་ དྲུང་པ་ Wylie: Chos rgyam Drung pa; also known as Dorje Dradul of Mukpo, Surmang Trungpa, after his monastery, or Chökyi Gyatso, of which Chögyam is an abbreviation) was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar, teacher, poet, and artist. He was the 11th descendent in the line of Trungpa tulkus of the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was also trained in the Nyingma tradition, the oldest of the four schools, and was an adherent of the rimay or "non-sectarian" movement within Tibetan Buddhism, which aspired to bring together and make available all the valuable teachings of the different schools, free of sectarian rivalry.
Trungpa was a significant figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Naropa University and establishing the Shambhala Training method, a presentation of the Buddhadharma largely devoid of ethnic trappings. In 1963, he moved to England to study comparative religion, philosophy, and fine arts at Oxford University. During this time, he also studied Japanese flower arranging and received an instructors degree from the Sogetsu school of ikebana. In 1967, he moved to Scotland, where he founded the Samye Ling meditation centre.
Shortly thereafter, a variety of experiences—including a car accident that left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body—led him to give up his monastic vows and work as a lay teacher. In 1969, he published Meditation in Action , the first of fourteen books on the spiritual path published during his lifetime. The following year he married Diana Pybus and moved to the United States, where he established his first North American meditation centre, Tail of the Tiger (now known as Karmê-Chöling) in Barnet, Vermont.
In 1986, he moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, where hundreds of his students had settled. That Autumn, after years of heavy alcohol use, he had a cardiac arrest, and he died of heart failure the following Spring. His legacy is carried on by his son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, under the banner of Shambhala International and the Nalanda Translation Committee.
Trungpa was a significant figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Naropa University and establishing the Shambhala Training method, a presentation of the Buddhadharma largely devoid of ethnic trappings. In 1963, he moved to England to study comparative religion, philosophy, and fine arts at Oxford University. During this time, he also studied Japanese flower arranging and received an instructors degree from the Sogetsu school of ikebana. In 1967, he moved to Scotland, where he founded the Samye Ling meditation centre.
Shortly thereafter, a variety of experiences—including a car accident that left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body—led him to give up his monastic vows and work as a lay teacher. In 1969, he published Meditation in Action , the first of fourteen books on the spiritual path published during his lifetime. The following year he married Diana Pybus and moved to the United States, where he established his first North American meditation centre, Tail of the Tiger (now known as Karmê-Chöling) in Barnet, Vermont.
In 1986, he moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, where hundreds of his students had settled. That Autumn, after years of heavy alcohol use, he had a cardiac arrest, and he died of heart failure the following Spring. His legacy is carried on by his son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, under the banner of Shambhala International and the Nalanda Translation Committee.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 23, 2015
The purpose of Shambhala is about to help other´s to save others to cure others pain, in your daily life by raising your consciousness and being a warrior, fearless and brave, about how to become a real person and how to have a real enlighted society. Chögyam Trungpa was one of the best known Tibetan Buddhist teachers in the west. The source is this book are public talks and weekend seminars in the level five of Shambhala training program during the 70´s and 80´s.
I started reading the book with a lot of expectation. Some years ago I read “Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior”. This book is a sequel to that. However a few years later, the teachings here seem to me too metaphoric or elementary. Although the teachings are indeed valuable, Chögyam Trungpa just simply expose a sort of basic ideas like: “your personal feelings should be expressed freely to your friends”, “synchronize mind and body and try to have a good physical posture”, and so on. Other teachings are metaphoric but not too profound: “the primordial dot has no bias to either that or this; therefore it is unconditional”, “wisdom is what joins heaven and earth”, “humility, very simply, is the absence of arrogance”.
Being a Buddhist book, you should expect that sort of ideas. But from my point of view it lacks some kind of philosophic, psychologic, metaphysic, or spiritual explanations or discussions. Chögyam Trungpa says that he deliberately rejects to go into any kind of analysis of the Shambhala teachings. Just simply let follow the teachings, because they are good.
It is a valuable book because the Shambhala teachings are essentially good. But the benefit you could get from it depends on your actual spiritual path.
I started reading the book with a lot of expectation. Some years ago I read “Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior”. This book is a sequel to that. However a few years later, the teachings here seem to me too metaphoric or elementary. Although the teachings are indeed valuable, Chögyam Trungpa just simply expose a sort of basic ideas like: “your personal feelings should be expressed freely to your friends”, “synchronize mind and body and try to have a good physical posture”, and so on. Other teachings are metaphoric but not too profound: “the primordial dot has no bias to either that or this; therefore it is unconditional”, “wisdom is what joins heaven and earth”, “humility, very simply, is the absence of arrogance”.
Being a Buddhist book, you should expect that sort of ideas. But from my point of view it lacks some kind of philosophic, psychologic, metaphysic, or spiritual explanations or discussions. Chögyam Trungpa says that he deliberately rejects to go into any kind of analysis of the Shambhala teachings. Just simply let follow the teachings, because they are good.
It is a valuable book because the Shambhala teachings are essentially good. But the benefit you could get from it depends on your actual spiritual path.
May 1, 2015
I have been going through a difficult time right now so I started reading books by this author. I started with Shambhala, The Sacred Path of the Warrior and continued on with this book which is supposed to be a continuation of the same themes. These books are on a topic I can get behind which is creating an enlighten society. Seeing how we are about to globally warm ourselves into extinction I think its message is needed more than ever. Since I never watch TV I had to laugh when I read this:
"Lately we have been spoiled by television, whose creation is one of the worst crimes ever committed. When you watch TV all the time you have your appreciation and your self-exploration taken away."
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Buddhism and people doing something to help others and make a contribution. I must admit I do not understand his alcohol abuse, I do not drink these days myself. The only way I can make sense out of it is that he was a 60s guru and he was a Pisces Dragon. Sometimes Dragons can be outrageous and quite powerful, but often Pisces people can have a problem with addiction.
"Lately we have been spoiled by television, whose creation is one of the worst crimes ever committed. When you watch TV all the time you have your appreciation and your self-exploration taken away."
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Buddhism and people doing something to help others and make a contribution. I must admit I do not understand his alcohol abuse, I do not drink these days myself. The only way I can make sense out of it is that he was a 60s guru and he was a Pisces Dragon. Sometimes Dragons can be outrageous and quite powerful, but often Pisces people can have a problem with addiction.
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April 25, 2016Chogyam Trungpa is always worth reading and "Shambhala" -the book to which this is a follow up- is excellent, but this volume -which is a collection of speeches given at the conclusion of his curriculum based on the aforementioned book- is disjointed, rambling and a bit repetitive. Still a lot of wisdom here, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you really liked the previous volume (as I did.)
May 7, 2012
While I always find insightful things to ponder in Trungpa's writing no matter what, the redundancy of these talks made it hard to tell one apart from the other. I also found myself puzzling over the irony of his "BIG NO" talk, which seemed hypocritical in light of his alcohol abuse (though I agree with the talk's message).
January 8, 2021
Chogyam presents the Tibetan Buddhist wisdom in a fresh way that was very helpful for me at a time when I was looking to make radical change in my life. The book is a series of lectures that was compiled and edited posthumously, that present a way of being in the world as a spiritual warrior.
May 25, 2024
This has - since 2009 - become my manual for living my daily life - mindfully and fearlessly. It is the path to becoming fully human - through the daily discipline of mediation/mindfulness. I finally learned how to shake my own hand.
July 22, 2017
Clear, gentle, and humorous, Trungpa paints a picture of human possibility like no other, and offers a lyrical, intuitive path to realizing it.
January 7, 2024
college read
Read
July 22, 2026Insightful and brilliant. A continuation of the Sacred Path of the Warrior, stepping into the same ideas and advancing them.
September 7, 2015
Nice companion piece to Chogyam Trungpa's introductory work. Based on talks he gave during retreats and seminars, the tone is much more conversational and personal. Specific topics addressing common struggles like depression bring this book out of the more lofty clouds of The Sacred of Path of the Warrior- though the 'Warrior' book is excellent in it's own right.
June 24, 2007
Title in German:
Große östliche Sonne
Große östliche Sonne
December 16, 2015
omg, just read it, it's so good. seriously, if this subject matter interests you (being human), it is worth your time.
June 3, 2017
I feel Shambhala is a sex cult and I threw this away.
Note: the key word being “sham”
Note: the key word being “sham”
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews