First Thought Best Thought: 108 Poems

by Chögyam Trungpa

Here is a unique contribution to the field of a new collection of works by America's foremost Buddhist meditation master, Chögyam Trungpa. These poems and songs—most of which were written since his arrival in the United States in 1970—combine a background in classical Tibetan poetry with Trungpa's intuitive insight into the spirit of America, a spirit that is powerfully evoked in his use of colloquial metaphor and contemporary imagery.

Most of the poems were originally written in English—clearly the result of the author's own perceptions of new forms and media offered to him by a different culture. Each poem has its own insight and power, which come from a skillful blend of traditional Asian subtlety and precision combined with a thoroughly modern vernacular. Several of the author's calligraphies accompany the collection.

Genres: Poetry, Buddhism

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Vidyadhara 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.

Reviews

[Magdelanye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came to me through inter-library loans instead of the audio version of the Naropa poets which I am keen to hear. Having been in the presence of the rinpoche, I took him home with me instead, not entirely sure how I would find him after all this time.

I was delighted to find that stiff manner transformed into playful meditations that dignify the human condition even when the arrow hits.

Vision and dollar are in conflict
When there are lots of dollars
There is no vision p107

Shall we have our mutual celebration
One who fights is endlessly poor
One who shares is victorious
Let us celebrate our mutual passion
p123

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 5 out of 5]

сами наставления духовного учителя, конечно, ценны, но даже если брать эти книжки только в западной традиции, то стихи удивительные - в диапазоне от прямого высказывания (которое само по себе мне не близко, для меня в этом собственно поэзии маловато, но с этим я смирился) до битнических экспериментов с каталогами и спонтанной образностью. это то пропущенное звено в американской духовной поэзии, из которого и прорастает много находок собственно битников и тех, кто писали позже. читать это бесценно, как найти ещё один источник знания и красоты

[Shashi Martynova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Dharma poetry, playful, daring, post-beatnik in many ways, but far not exclusively, with a lot of devotion and longing. True upaya. Could be a door to the Vidyadhara's space, or to the Kagyu space, and maybe even to the Dharma as such.
*
Замечательная дхармическая поэзия, игривая, дерзкая, постбитническая много в чем, но далеко не исключительно, с большим зарядом приверженности и томления. Настоящее искусное средство -- возможно, для кого-то дверь в пространство Видьядхары, или кагью, или даже Дхармы вообще.

[Loretta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am cheating a little bit, in that I dipped in and out of this poetry collection, and had to return it to the library before I was quite sure I had read all of the poems. I read most of them, though, and I did read the Intro and the poems at the end.

As with most poetry collections, some things really resonated, and some didn't at all. But overall, I quite enjoyed it, and it is a book I will pick up at some point for more dipping into.

[Elisef · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chogyam writing a poem
Is like a king inspecting his soldiers