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Meditation in Action: 40th Anniversary Edition
This classic teaching by a Tibetan master continues to inspire both beginners and long-time practitioners of Buddhist meditation. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche shows that meditation extends beyond the formal practice of sitting to build the foundation for compassion, awareness, and creativity in all aspects of life. He explores the six activities associated with meditation in action—generosity, discipline, patience, energy, clarity, and wisdom—revealing that through simple, direct experience, one can attain real wisdom: the ability to see clearly into situations and deal with them skillfully, without the self-consciousness connected with ego.
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First published January 1, 1969
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About the author
Chögyam Trungpa
166 books810 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 - 30 of 94 reviews
March 22, 2018
Not especially accesible. Not dumbed down. Not for the sofa-shamans. But if you pick it up, it could give you the swift kick in your ass you're looking for. I assume you'd never pick it up otherwise.
Not for the fool-hardy.
Not for the fool-hardy.
February 16, 2019
I first learned about this book in the Shunryu Suzuki biography Crooked Cucumber. Trungpa was a friend of Suzuki, and Suzuki spoke highly of Trungpa. History has shown to be Trungpa to be... not a good man? He would often have sexual relationships with his students, once even using his 'guards' to strip students naked (see Wikipedia). To me that doesn't sound particularly enlightened, more like someone abusing their position.
Here we have a few collected speeches of Trungpa, and they're actually *good*, if a bit too short. I can see why his style of meditation immediately became popular in the West, it's meditation without a need for religion or spirituality: ' In fact, it is the essence of meditation. Whatever one does, whatever one tries to practice, is not aimed at achieving a higher state or at following some theory or ideal, but simply, without any object or ambition, trying to see what is here and now.'
There is an amazing discussion of how the ego is in your way, and by giving away things (even only symbolically, like a single cheap thing you are emotionally attached to) is one way of getting away from your ego - similar like having a teacher won't help you learn new things (in meditation, at least) but they're a way to protect you from your ego, as their teaching will come from the outside:
Funny enough, opposing the title there is not much advice on how to meditate 'best', Trungpa leaves that to the personal teachers.
Some other good advice:
Curiously, there's a lot of good stuff here, even if you're not looking to learn more about Buddhism or meditation.
Here we have a few collected speeches of Trungpa, and they're actually *good*, if a bit too short. I can see why his style of meditation immediately became popular in the West, it's meditation without a need for religion or spirituality: ' In fact, it is the essence of meditation. Whatever one does, whatever one tries to practice, is not aimed at achieving a higher state or at following some theory or ideal, but simply, without any object or ambition, trying to see what is here and now.'
There is an amazing discussion of how the ego is in your way, and by giving away things (even only symbolically, like a single cheap thing you are emotionally attached to) is one way of getting away from your ego - similar like having a teacher won't help you learn new things (in meditation, at least) but they're a way to protect you from your ego, as their teaching will come from the outside:
So one must also be very grateful to the teacher. And that is a great protection against the ego, since you do not look on it as something discovered within yourself, but as something which someone else has given you. He gives you this gift; although in reality the transmission is not, as we said, something given to you, it is simply discovered within oneself.
Funny enough, opposing the title there is not much advice on how to meditate 'best', Trungpa leaves that to the personal teachers.
Some other good advice:
For unless one is able to overcome this excitement, one will not be able to learn, because any form of emotional excitement has a blinding effect. One fails to see life as it is because one tends so much to build up one’s own version of it. Therefore one should never commit oneself or conform to any religious or political structure without first finding the real essence of what one is looking for. Labeling oneself, adopting an ascetic way of life or changing one’s costume—none of these brings about any real transformation.
Curiously, there's a lot of good stuff here, even if you're not looking to learn more about Buddhism or meditation.
April 28, 2015
I love the everyday application that this book offers. I especially appreciate the exercises offered that keep one humble and open to inspiration from whatever deity you receive revelation from in your life. I recommend this one highly if you are interested in getting started in mediation or if you already meditate and you need to move that skill into giving you a sense of stillness in your everyday activities.
August 18, 2021
I've heard CT mentioned a lot in passing from other teachers and I definitely see why. I'd be very interested to visit his retreat in Scotland and start harnessing the accessibility to teachers via tech. Again reminders to not take anything so seriously. Also guidance to take regular breaks from learning. Got it. I'll read more from this author.
April 14, 2013
First published in 1969 this Buddhist gem has not gone out of print for over 40 years. Clearly the author was making an strong effort to present these concepts to the Western mind and he succeeded brilliantly. For anyone interested in Buddhism this is a must read.
July 27, 2018
One of the better books by Chögyam Trungpa. I liked Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism better, but this is good too and may be worth a read as well
May 14, 2012
The parts about the Manure of Experience and the Ego Bubble were worth reading the entire book. Wicked short! The version I read was 74 pages.
August 26, 2015
This book struck me as scattered and, while somewhat insightful, it introduces a lot of concepts without having a clear idea of how much the reader ought to know about Buddhism or meditation or what level the reader is at. For example, it rapidly switches from advice for new meditators about learning from scriptures to advice about how to teach wisdom to others.
I understood why this disorder happened when I listened to the afterward. It turns out that the book was transcribed from a series of lectures Chogyam Trungpa gave at his temple in the UK in the 60's. This book was one of the first books to introduce Buddhism to a Western audience and became a massive hit once it hit a Berkeley bookstore and spread around the Bay Area. Trungpa ended up moving to Vermont to start a Buddhist center there.
Today, there are much better-organized and better-written books about Buddhism. This book was interesting as a historical document in American Buddhism, and I learned some things, but I prefer more recent books.
Disclaimer: About halfway through the book I looked up the author who turns out to be a lifelong alcoholic who died from alcohol-related causes and regularly slept with his students. This seems very un-Buddhist to me--the opposite of removing attachment. This colored my view of the contents, although I didn't find the author's personal life reflected much in the book.
I understood why this disorder happened when I listened to the afterward. It turns out that the book was transcribed from a series of lectures Chogyam Trungpa gave at his temple in the UK in the 60's. This book was one of the first books to introduce Buddhism to a Western audience and became a massive hit once it hit a Berkeley bookstore and spread around the Bay Area. Trungpa ended up moving to Vermont to start a Buddhist center there.
Today, there are much better-organized and better-written books about Buddhism. This book was interesting as a historical document in American Buddhism, and I learned some things, but I prefer more recent books.
Disclaimer: About halfway through the book I looked up the author who turns out to be a lifelong alcoholic who died from alcohol-related causes and regularly slept with his students. This seems very un-Buddhist to me--the opposite of removing attachment. This colored my view of the contents, although I didn't find the author's personal life reflected much in the book.
December 29, 2011
Loved it, but then I read this book seeking the precise formula of "answers" described by the author, so I am biased to say the least. Though it's organized in chapters, it reads more like a train of thought monologue seeking to address particular subjects. This is a short book, but it took me a couple of weeks to get through it because it was so densely packed with insight that I had to stop and contemplate. I anticipated a guide or commentary on sitting meditation but the author's aim, which he achieved successfully, was application of meditation as a way of living. Simple enough in concept: being in the present moment and all that. But it requires a significant amount of rewiring and that is the true work. I think a reader would experience this book and either toss it away for life or study it in depth over a longer period of time thereafter. I'm definitely in Group B. You read a widely regarded author or spiritual leader and almost hope to not be blown away like "everyone else." In keeping with the themes and theories of this text, I'm just going to be okay with being blown away, regardless of what others would think or say, and appreciate the experience. I love a book that doesn't shatter my world, but manages to shift it, because so much truth is simply stated.
November 24, 2008
In the highly sensitive and spiritually inclined cultures of India there are a number of forms of Yoga (union-with-the-beloved). One is Bhakti or devotional yoga, another is Karma yoga or the practice of selfless work in service (also called Seva). The ultimate yoga is called Raja yoga or the yoga of kings whereupon, the student is given extensive practices to perform, dietary regulations to adhere to, prayers and words to memorize, and a whole catalog of proscriptions, prescriptions, and inscriptions to guide the seeker through a life time of practice. These will lead to their liberation if all goes well. There are a number of reasons this system is called Raja or Kingly yoga and one of them is practical. It requires the wealth of a king to have the time required to practice these complex and demanding disciplines. In American terms, Raja Yoga is best suited for the independently wealthy or those who can look forward to years of free time. This book reminds me of such a system, a philosophy of Kings. For those who are inclined to complicate the obvious or look to exotic far away lands in order to find what already exists in their innermost hearts this book is must read.
January 5, 2014
I dunno...i'm going through my shelves of "Eastern Spirituality" and trying to sort the wheat from the chaff, and am not really sure what to do with Trungpa. This time out, I'm leaning "chaff", I'm afraid. One wants to get beyond "concepts", but the Tibetan tradition (for me, at least) overcomplicates with its own conceptual grid. He's a smart guy, just not a great fit for me at present. And too heavy on the guru principle.
January 30, 2008
Just a taste...
"We never allow anything to really happen or take place in our mind. One thought comes and almost before we finish that another one comes in and overlaps it and then another."
It's a quick read and a nice overview of Tibetan (yes?) buddhism. Sometimes it felt like stream of consciousness and a little hard to follow, but there were some gems like the one above.
"We never allow anything to really happen or take place in our mind. One thought comes and almost before we finish that another one comes in and overlaps it and then another."
It's a quick read and a nice overview of Tibetan (yes?) buddhism. Sometimes it felt like stream of consciousness and a little hard to follow, but there were some gems like the one above.
October 3, 2016
Trungpa's first dabbling in what became in my opinion the most well rounded aspect of his teaching career. After the accident it seemed he lost his birthright , and in personal interviews always had dreary demeanor cast over...In meditation the healthy body is essential, especially in the higher schools of Tibetan and Vajrayna..
September 5, 2015
Astonishingly simple explanations of the deepest things of life. The stories of Buddha and the great teachers are woven into the rest of his explanations in a way that does not seem didactic. He has a grace and depth which is beguiling and nourishing. I've learned a lot.
January 15, 2015
This little book is a powerhouse. I'm early in my buddhist meditation studies, but the ease in which Trungpa tackles complex topics like the self and the ego is perspective-shifting. The humility of the words is striking. The colorful stories sear in the mind. This book will be read again.
May 26, 2015
As much as Trungpa's book "Smile at Fear" resonated with me, this book (being one of his more widely read) did not manage to generate the same effect. Perhaps because it is less exotic, explaining meditation in a more down-to-earth fashion.
May 7, 2015
A collection of philosophers, writers, thinkers, Native American wisdom, which shows that the spiritual side needs as much attention as the physical side. It's about feeding the soul, evolving spirituality...forward by Duncan Goodhew
May 29, 2007
While there is no substitute for a real teacher, this book offers some solid advice for those seeking to learn about the practice of meditation.
January 26, 2008
A very clear modern presentation of some of the basic ideas of Buddhism, but in a way anyone can benefit from. A helpful book.
October 13, 2012
The quintessential book on mindfulness by one of the most profound teachers of Tibetan Buddhism this century has seen.
Want to read
September 3, 2014h
January 4, 2018
A must read for anyone getting into meditation and a great introduction to buddhist way of thinking.
August 4, 2015
This was a wonderful and still relevant introduction to the six paramitas, and the purpose of meditation in one's life.
May 11, 2015
This is a good introduction to the Buddhist philosophy and meditation.
June 11, 2015
Not about how to meditate, but what meditation is. Also about Buddism, lamas and the mindset. Bit too slow and philosophical. I wanted more info about how to meditate.
March 1, 2019
"It is said, I think in the Lankavatara Sutra, that unskilled farmers throw away their rubbish and buy manure from other farmers, but those who are skilled go on collecting their own rubbish, in spite of the bad smell and unclean work, and when it is ready to be used they spread it on their land, and out of this they grow their crops. That is the skilled way."
"Discipline is in fact the key to everything. And there are two schools of thought: according to one, discipline is necessary and only through discipline can one learn and find the right way: according to the other, things should be allowed to develop in their own way and if there is less discipline, if things are left to the individuals choice\instinct, then he will develop a personal interest in the subject and there will be no need to impose anything on him. Both are extreme views. Not that Buddhists like to compromise in every case; it is more a question of seeing very clearly. Whenever there is too much discipline it is invariably being imposed by someone else. There are rules and regulations and one is always being watched and told what to do, in which case one is not really being what one is- somebody else is merely expanding his Ego and imposing his idea on you. That would be a kind of dictatorship rather than discipline, because it would be trying to force things to grow, as opposed to allowing them to grow naturally. On the other hand, if discipline is left entirely to the individual and he has to feel his own way, he would find it very difficult- There is usually a neurotic pattern of thoughts, opinions and emotions. Which is not to say that most people are mad or psychologically disturbed but this element is in everyone. There is usually a neurotic aspect which causes us in some way or another to react to a given situation and develop a neurotic way of dealing with it, which is not at all the true way. That is acting according to one's conditioning rather than according to what is."
"Discipline is in fact the key to everything. And there are two schools of thought: according to one, discipline is necessary and only through discipline can one learn and find the right way: according to the other, things should be allowed to develop in their own way and if there is less discipline, if things are left to the individuals choice\instinct, then he will develop a personal interest in the subject and there will be no need to impose anything on him. Both are extreme views. Not that Buddhists like to compromise in every case; it is more a question of seeing very clearly. Whenever there is too much discipline it is invariably being imposed by someone else. There are rules and regulations and one is always being watched and told what to do, in which case one is not really being what one is- somebody else is merely expanding his Ego and imposing his idea on you. That would be a kind of dictatorship rather than discipline, because it would be trying to force things to grow, as opposed to allowing them to grow naturally. On the other hand, if discipline is left entirely to the individual and he has to feel his own way, he would find it very difficult- There is usually a neurotic pattern of thoughts, opinions and emotions. Which is not to say that most people are mad or psychologically disturbed but this element is in everyone. There is usually a neurotic aspect which causes us in some way or another to react to a given situation and develop a neurotic way of dealing with it, which is not at all the true way. That is acting according to one's conditioning rather than according to what is."
September 22, 2019
I'm flying through these Trungpa books because they're pretty short, but I've finished each one thinking about how I really should revisit it sometime soon. There are few "spiritual" teachers I've come across quite as worldly as he seems to be. There's a negative amount of New Agey bullshit here—it's just a no nonsense guide to how the practice of meditation is one of humanity's greatest tools to achieving greater awareness, clarity, equanimity, insight, wisdom, and more. It definitely encouraged me to continue on with meditation myself and hopefully with a little more humility and understanding about the path forward.
April 5, 2021
This is a book that I maybe need to return to. I was distracted at times in my car journeys ( ironic I know) and so didn’t always get concept of this or understand the background. However when I could concentrate I found it really inspirational and made me think differently. Maybe a book to read I think than listen to. Maybe at a different time.
August 8, 2021
Interesting little book on the concept of meditation, but even more on the progression, or path, that you should go through to evolve in the Buddhism way. It bring the concept in a very concise and easy to understand way to help you bringing practice into your life. Not the deepest book on theory, but very good for the practical part. Well done!
January 27, 2020
Very wise words
Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews