The Lion's Roar: An Introduction to Tantra

Dharma Ocean

by Chögyam Trungpa

This
book is based on two historic seminars of the 1970s, in which Chögyam
Trungpa introduced the tantric teachings of Tibetan Buddhism to his Western
students for the first time. Each seminar bore the title "The Nine
Yanas."
Yana,
a Sanskrit word meaning "vehicle," refers to a body of doctrine and
practical instruction that enables students to advance spiritually on the path
of Buddha-dharma. Nine vehicles, arranged in successive levels, make up the
whole path of Buddhist practice. Teaching all nine means giving a total picture
of the spiritual journey. The author's nontheoretical, experiential approach
opens up a world of fundamental psychological insights and subtleties. He
speaks directly to a contemporary Western audience, using earthly analogies
that place the ancient teachings in the midst of ordinary life.

Genres: Buddhism, Religion, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Meditation, Psychology

266 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1992

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

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knocked off this one in a few days’ rash of enthusiasm back in the late eighties, when this Tibetan writer’s influence was at its zenith.

Disciplined as I was back then, I found the fast & loose methodology of tantra quite beyond my grasp...

Except for one central idea - TRUE freedom can ONLY be attained by shedding our “24 Hour Watcher.”

Wuzzat, you ask?

Well, it’s like this. When we were little, our parents WATCHED us 24/7. So you know what we did as we grew up, especially if we couldn’t blow our noses without them knowing about it?

We INTROJECTED their watching of us. So we all grew a Superego. Our own home-grown supervisor!

But - this is where the plot thickens - when we grew to be teens, we had NEW Watchers:
The School In-Crowd.

Yes... we VOLUNTARILY took that group, whether cool or uncool, to be our new Role Models. So we grew into adulthood. Cool or uncool.

So, adulthood. And coming of age - which produces the Three Poisons: Passion, Agression and Ignorance - which in turn produce all the conflicts, and all the wars that make up the world.

That gives a whole new meaning to our political allegiances, don’t it?

So, guess what? These guys’ behaviour was then introjected into our NEW superego.

So we became adults. We played by the rules or we didn’t. And the WHOLE WORLD by now was watching us. We did that to ourselves, guys.

Ergo, we were trapped!

Then, along came mid-age crisis. Most of us loosened up.

But I read Trungpa... and he helped me get through it safely.
***

You know, with COVID-19 I take lots of naps. Don’t you? So today, being at my cranky worst, I went upstairs to nap at 2. All well and good.

Oh, yeah? When I awoke it was SIX!

Groggily, I stumbled downstairs again. My wife was cooking, definitely one of her FAVE things in the whole world.

But I was relaxed, and she was relaxed. And you know what happened as we just talked for an hour? Nothing. No disagreements or accidents of circumstance.

We BOTH lost our watchers at this evening’s dinner. No conflicts or battles…

And then, after a few drinks, our Speech Chakras miraculously opened!

Yeah, temporarily, I know. But wuzzat tell you?

It tells ME that we can simulate Trungpa’s rare moments of enlightenment sometimes on our own.

Just by goofing off.

But, seriously…

On the other hand, if you want to Roar like a Victorious Lion over your dying personal WATCHER - Orwell’s Big Brother - who hounds us all, all the time, read this book!

[Sarah]

An essential run-down of what the Vajrayana has to offer, and what the initiatory curriculum actually is. Trungpa Rinpoche offers his unique perspective as a Tibetan born traditional monk, who decidedly took a different route, breaking away in the 60s to join the counter-culture, and teach Buddhism to American counter-culture in Seattle. He offers profound insights on drug use, sex, and other taboo topics regarding the path, and it is a great book for the curious scholar to use comparatively with other schools of initiation in both the occult, and Tantric world.

[Kerstin Heydrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps the single most comprehensive guide on buddhism you'll ever read, particularly insightful for the uninitiated or those with a very low degree of understanding.

Now, since this book is divided in two seminars with similar themes, one might think that reading a singular part is more than enough for understanding the basis of Tantra, yet I found both to be interesting in their own way.

Either of them discusses Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana, as the three big groups of Tantra thinking, however, the first seminar is more abstract and spiritualist in nature: I didn't quite get it at first, and for a more descriptive and practical approach, I've personally preferred the second one, which made me comprehend and visualize the workings of the five skandhas (foundation of Hinayana), the six paramitas and essence of bodhichitta (foundation of Mahayana), and then the separate yoga forms in Vajrayana.

Nonetheless, it's crucial to highlight that, although very exhaustive, someone who is invested in exploring tantric buddhism should continue to read on the subject, for instance "Awakening Wisdom: Heart Advice on the Fundamental Practices of Vajrayana Buddhism" (if looking for practice straight away) and/or the Foundation on Buddhist Thought series by Tsering (if sparing enough time to explore on a more theoretical basis); as it also feels quite relevant to note a deep understanding of Hinayana and a bit of Mahayana should be the bare minimum before moving onto Tantra and its visualizations, since otherwise it can rend the practice useless and make the user take a self-destructive path (what is called vajra hell.)

Finally, I would recommend anyone interested to read this volume with a little caveat: you might get a better appreciation of its contents by swapping the seminars, that is, starting with the second segment over the first, as the metaphysical descriptions are more thought-evading in the initial than what I've noticed in the predominantly logical later.

[Aliisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tantra refers to "continuous" nature of reality as it is instead of the non-dual compassion training from the Mahayana path. According to Trungpa the Theravada path is an advanced form of the Mahayana, and thus the completion of the Bodhisattva path. An American that jumps straight to Tantra without training in Mahayana is a danger to himself and others, according to Trungpa.

[Kendra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting book, but quite honestly, I got tired of how we are our own problems, and the world is a crappy place.

[william m manzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

intense and so informative

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great presentation of the 9 yanas of Tibetan Buddhism