Glimpses of the Profound: Four Short Works

by Chögyam Trungpa

A collection of Chögyam Trungpa's early teachings in North America--on buddha nature, emptiness, the feminine principle, and the three bodies of enlightenment.


At the beginning of a North American teaching career that would span seventeen years, the meditation master Chögyam Trungpa conducted five pivotal seminars covering various dharmic topics. The transcripts from these seminars are collected here so that readers can experience them right at home. Comprising twenty-six talks in total, each one followed by a Q&A, Glimpses of the Profound is sure to provoke glimpses of all glimpses that inspire you to look further, glimpses that give you confidence, glimpses that upset the apple cart, glimpses that open your heart, glimpses that undermine falsity, glimpses that awaken you to your boundless potential.

This book was originally published as four separate volumes by Vajradhatu Publications. Judith L. Lief has written a new introduction.

Genres: Buddhism

366 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 2016

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

[jjfoerch · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're not already familiar with Vajrayana Buddhism, this book is a jump into the deep end—rather hard to follow, actually. However certain glimpses come through, with some parts both accessible and fascinating. This is a book that I would come back to after further study of the topic. One thing about it that held my interest was learning about Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. I knew nothing about him before picking up this book, but was prompted to further study as I read, as a compelling, enigmatic, non-conventional, and highly influential figure of the 20th century. There is a good biographical film about him called Crazy Wisdom from 2011, and another about the broader context of Tibetan Buddhism in the west called When the Iron Bird Flies from 2012, that both helped me contextualize Glimpses.

[Winnie Lim · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I picked this randomly out of the library, flipped it and I liked what I saw. This is a difficult book to read if one is new to Tibetan Buddhism, but like the title suggests the content is profound and illuminating in glimpses. I’m having difficulty reconciling the behavior of the author and the wisdom he was expressing, yet at the same time I’m also unsurprised because he was still human. We all contain different potentialities and selves I suppose — perhaps being wise does not exclude one from having difficulty with coping with one’s existence.

[Sylvia M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing how in few lines I had a review of the Path.Many Blessings.