Table Of ContentEntering the Tibetan Buddhist Path
CHOGYAM TRUNGPA
THE HEART
OF THE BUDDHA
BOOKS BY CHOGYAM TRUNGPA
Born in Tibet
The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa, Volumes One through Eight
Crazy Wisdom
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
The Dawn of Tantra
The Essential Chogyam Trungpa
First Thought Best Thought: 108 Poems
Glimpses of Abhidharma
Great Eastern Sun: The Wisdom of Shambhala
The Heart of the Buddha
Illusion's Game: The Life and Teaching of Naropa
journey without Goal: The Tantric Wisdom ofthe Buddha
The Life of Marpa the Translator
The Lion's Roar: An Introduction to Tantra
Meditation in Action
The Mishap Lineage: Transforming Confusion into Wisdom
Mudra
The Myth of Freedom and the Way of Meditation
Ocean of Dharma: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa
Orderly Chaos: The Mandala Principle
The Path Is the Goal: A Basic Handbook of Buddhist Meditation
The Rain of Wisdom: The Essence of the Ocean of True Meaning
The Sanity We Are Born With: A Buddhist Approach to Psychology
Shambhala: The Sacred Path ofthe Warrior
Shambhala: The Sacred Path ofthe Warrior, Book and Card Set
Smile at Fear: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo
Timely Rain: Selected Poetry of Chogyam Trungpa
Training the Mind and Cultivating Loving-Kindness
Transcending Madness: The Experience of the Six Bardos
The Truth of Suffering and the Path of Liberation
THE HEART
OF THE
BUDDHA
Entering the Tibetan Buddhist Path
Chogyam Trungpa
EDITED BY JUDITH L. LIEF
S HAMBHALA
Boston & London
20I O
SHAMBHALA P UBLICATIONS, INC.
Horticultural Hall
300 Massachusetts Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts 02II5
www.shambhala.com
© I99I by Diana J. Mukpo
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form or by any means, electronic or m echanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
Printed in the United States of America
@ This edition is printed on acid-free paper that meets
the American National Standards Institute 239.48 Standard.
0 This book was printed on 30% postconsumer recycled paper.
For more information please visit www.shambhala.com.
Distributed in the United States by Random House, Inc.,
and in Canada by Random House of Canada Ltd
THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUES THE
PREVIOUS EDITION OF THIS BOOK AS FO LLOWS:
Trungpa, Chogyam, I939-
The heart of the Buddha I Chogyam Trungpa.- Ist ed.
p.
cm.-(Dharma Ocean series: I)
ISBN 978-0-87773-592-2
ISBN 978-I -59030-766-3
1. Spiritual life (Buddhism)
2. Buddhism- China-
Tibet-Doctrines.
I. Title.
II. Series.
BQ7775-I78 I99I
90-52802
294·3'4448- dc20
CIP
Contents
Acknowledgments
..
Vll
Edi.tor'5 Formd
JX
PART ONE: PERSONAL JOURNEY
r. What Is the H eart of the Buddha?
3
2. Intellect and Intuition
12
3. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness
r8
4. Devotion
47
PAR T TWO· STAGES ON THE PATH
5· Taking Refuge
69
6. Bodhisattva Vow
87
7· Sacred Outlook: The Practice of Vajrayogini
ro6
PART THREE· WORKING WITH OTHERS
8. Relationship
139
9. Acknowledging Death
143
ro. Alcohol as Medicine or Poison
rso
rr. Practice and Basic Goodness: A Talk for Children
r2 Dharma Poetics
r6r
13. Green Energy
r67
J4. Manifesting Enlightenment
r69
v
CON T ENTS
APPE N D IXES
The Bon Way of Life
177
The Vajrayogini Shrine
187
List of Sources
193
About Chogyam Trungpa
195
Index
197
Vl
Acknowledgments
!
WO ULD LIKE TO thank the many people who worked on the devel-
opment of the articles included in this book. Especially I would like to
thank my fellow members of the Vajradhatu Editorial Office, who over
the years have taken primary responsibility for the editing and produc-
tion of Trungpa Rinpoche's written work, including: Sherab Chodzin
Kohn, Carolyn Rose Gimian, and Sarah Coleman. Each of these editors
trained directly with Trungpa Rinpoche in how best to convey his spo-
ken teachings in written form, and in the appropriate forms and levels
of editing for different occasions and audiences. The articles collected in
The Heart of the Buddha exhibit the resulting variety of editorial styles.
Sherab Chodzin Kohn, who was the first Vajradhatu editor-in-chief, was
the original editor for several of the articles included in this collection.
H e also edited Garuda magazine, where many of these articles were first
published. Carolyn Gimian worked closely with Trungpa Rinpoche as
my successor to the Vajradhatu editorial post and did the original edito-
rial work on the "Sacred Outlook" article. She also did a careful reading
of the book and gave much advice on the manuscript in its entirety. Sarah
Coleman worked with Vajradhatu Editorial Office for many years, during
which time she worked on a number of the articles in this collection.
The original production of the articles included in this collection in-
volved the work of countless volunteers who carried out such tasks as
tape recording, transcribing, typing, and manuscript checking. I would
like to thank all of them for their donations of time and effort.
I would like to thank Mrs. Diana M ukpo for her kind permission to
work with this material.
vn
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Most especially, I would like to thank the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa
for his tireless efforts in leading students on the path of awakening.
Vttt
j UDITH L. LIEF
Editor
Editor's Foreword
T
HE HEAR T oF THE BuDDHA is a collection of fifteen previously
published articles by the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
In choosing the particular articles to be included, the intent was to intro-
duce the reader to as complete a range of Rinpoche's teachings as possi-
ble. For that reason, both introductory essays and more technical or
scholarly presentations have been included. Some articles were written
for particular publications or for distribution among his students. Others
were derived from seminars and talks he gave over his teaching career;
as such, they embody the living quality of oral transmission and the im-
portance of discussion and dialogue between student and teacher.
In his many seminars, Trungpa Rinpoche was careful always to bal-
ance the role of practice and of study. Students attending such seminars
always spent time in formal meditation practice as well as in studying
the Buddha's teachings through lectures, reading, and discussion groups.
In that way, they could test their understanding through the mechanism
of their own experience, so that refinement of intellectual understanding
could be accompanied by a deepening of insight.
PERSONAL jOURNEY
At the heart of the Buddhist path is the practice of meditation. The de-
velopment of mindfulness and awareness is an essential foundation for
both understanding ourselves and working with others. It is a common
preconception that the spiritual journey takes us away from ourselves,
to some higher or more peaceful existence. In this context, m editation
tX
EDITOR' S FOREWORD
practice is seen as a kind of drug, or as a way of removing ourselves from
the harsh realities of life. However, throughout his teachings, Trungpa
Rinpoche stressed that meditation practice is not an escape but a way to
"begin at the beginning."
In beginning the path, we need to be willing to confront ourselves
directly, without either wishful thinking or harsh judgmentalism.
Through the practice of meditation, we are constantly brought back to
working with what is, rather than with what might be; we are constantly
brought back to "square one." So at the heart of the very personal jour-
ney of meditation practice is the willingness simply to be who we are. It
is a process of acceptance rather than one of manipulation.
While each student's journey is a solitary one, it is through the meet-
ing of student and teacher that the spiritual path is awakened. The
teacher-student relationship is of central importance in the Buddhist tra-
dition. Devotion is the key to unlocking the power of the tradition.
However, this concept is quite subtle, and we must be careful to distin-
guish genuine devotion from the naive approach of blind faith.
STAGES ON THE PATH
According to the Tibetan system, an individual student's journey has
three main stages: hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana. (In this context,
these terms are simply descriptive of stages of the path and should not
be confused with their m ore common usage as names for historical
schools of Buddhist thought.) These three stages work together in a very
powerful way. The hinayana marks the beginning stage, in which one
explores the workings of one's own mind and emotions and begins to
settle the mind through the practice of meditation. This allows one to
lessen one's sense of struggle and to begin to make friends with oneself.
In the second stage, mahayana, this friendliness begins to extend out-
ward. There is a great appreciation for the phenom enal world as well as
an understanding of the depth of suffering of fellow sentient beings. This
gives rise to compassion and the intent to work for the benefit of others.
The third stage, or vajrayana, is one of not holding back but of extending
fearlessly to any situation that arises. There is a willingness to relate di-
rectly to the wisdom and power of one's mind and emotions, as evoked
in visualization practice and tantric ritual.
X
EDITOR'S FOREWORD
While these may be viewed as three stages, they must all work to-
gether in a balanced way if the journey is to be successful. That is, each
stage expands upon and enriches the previous stage, reawakening its in-
sight in a broader context. So each serves to complement and enrich the
others.
WORKING WITH OTHERS
The insights gained through the formal practice of m editation can be
applied to the variety of circumstances we encounter in our day-to-day
lives. So daily life is not rejected, or viewed as simply a distraction to
our ((spiritual" practice. Instead, by joining practice and ordinary life, the
entirety of our experience is seen as valuable and, in fact, sacred.
Although classically trained in the ancient tradition of Tibetan Bud-
dhism, Trungpa Rinpoche was immensely interested in the workings of
modern society and in the social implications of the Buddhist teachings.
Therefore he gave considerable attention in his talks and seminars to
such issues as education, health care, the raising of children, the nature
of relationships, and the conduct of business.
It is hoped that this collection of essays will give the reader a sense of
the richness and variety of Trungpa Rinpoche} s teachings and of their
relevance in day-to-day life.
Xt
Part One
PERSONAL JOURNEY
