Articles
Thrangu Rinpoche Praises Translation Work
Remarks on Tibetan Translators and the Nalanda Translation Committee By Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche, Afternoon of Aug 13th 2011 (~25:00-40:00) [transcript of above video] We need to develop and strengthen our view, and in order to do that, we do meditation and practice. When we do meditation and practice, there are three parts: listening, contemplating, and [more...]
Treasures East & West, Old & New Again
Tibet (Three Terma Cycles), Bhutan (Sadhana of Mahamudra), North America (Shambhala) The Vidyadhara discovered the terma (treasure teaching) of The Sadhana of Mahamudra at a transitional time in his life: between Tibet and North America, as he moved from a robed monastic to a Western lifestyle, and began transplanting the buddhadharma into North America soil. [more...]
Crazy Wisdom and Devotion
Celebrating Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche As Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche began to establish practice centers throughout North America in the early seventies, he introduced the group practice of The Sadhana of Mahamudra on new and full moon days for anyone who came to his meditation centers. For four decades, many a person has walked off the street, [more...]
Shir Sheng, “Arising as Ground”
In September 2010, we worked with Lama Tenzin, a senior chöpön of Namkha Drimed Rinpoche, who is well-versed in Gesar practice and lore. During one of our meetings, Lama Tenzin, after consulting with Namkha Drimed Rinpoche, explained the phrase nang si shir sheng (“the phenomenal world arising as the ground”), a profound ati term appearing [more...]
The Daily Chants: Then and Now
Notes that introduce each chant and explain various terms (names, mantras, and so on) have been available previously in the Vajradhatu Practice Manual. . This fall we’re delighted to publish a new edition of the Daily Chant Book. It will contain all the previous chants as well [more...]
Listening In: Translation Meetings with Tibetan Teachers
This spring we were very fortunate to have Changling Rinpoche come to Nova Scotia to visit, teach, and translate. Changling Rinpoche is in charge of teaching the ritual and ceremonial traditions to the monks at Shechen Monastery, the monastic seat Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche founded in Nepal, and he is a close associate of Rabjam Rinpoche, [more...]
Translating in Bhutan
and the Magic of Chanting in English By Larry Mermelstein Last fall I returned to Bhutan at the invitation of the Institute for Language and Culture Studies, located just above the oldest dzong in Bhutan at Simtokha, a school founded back in the 1960s by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, now part of the Royal University of [more...]
Remembering Robin
On July 31, 2007, Robin Kornman, one of the founding members of the Nālandā Translation Committee, passed away at age 60, from complications due to cancer following a lengthy illness. Robin became a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche soon after the Vidyadhara’s arrival in North America. He lived at Karme Chöling through the early 70s, [more...]
No Activity and Nonmeditation
This spring, the Vidyadhara’s nephew, Karma Senge Rinpoche, returned to Canada for the fourth time to teach and translate with us. The focus this time was on a very important transmission: The Sadhana of Nonmeditation: A Practice of No Activity, Drawn from “The Heart Treasure of Samantabhadra”—an ati terma discovered by the Vidyadhara in Kyere, [more...]
Gesar Supplication: King Gesar of Ling & Shambhala
Gesar of Ling, one of the four main ancestral sovereigns of Shambhala, represents the quintessence of the Tibetan warrior tradition—an enlightened being who took birth as a Buddhist warrior king to defeat the enemies of the dharma. He is both guru and protector, as well as the ancestral spirit of the Mukpo clan. As the [more...]
Eliminating Gender-Biased Language
Over the past decade, we have dedicated a fair bit of thought and time to transforming the language of our practice texts from male-biased English to gender-inclusive language. In recent years, with the encouragement and consultation of a number of advisors, including several women practitioners, we have revised many of our major practice texts, as [more...]
Karma Senge on Kyere Monastery and Trungpa Rinpoche
In our annual newsletter, we published a story, “The Vidyadhara Meets Mahakala,” from the following article. Here, we are pleased to present the entire article, which is based on an interview Walter Fordham had with Karma Senge Rinpoche in July 2005. Peter Roberts served as interpreter. Jessie Litven, who is now an apprentice with the [more...]
Chögyam the Translator
Please feel free to download this article (PDF) by Larry Mermelstein, which was first published in Recalling Chögyam Trungpa compiled and edited by Fabrice Midal, ©2005.
Collected Tibetan Works of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Something Old, Something New 2004 | 2003 | 2002 Table of Contents On his historic first visit to Tibet in 2001, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche made a lengthy visit to the Surmang monasteries of the Trungpa tülkus. In addition to the many photographs, videos, and stories the Sakyong and his traveling companions brought back, they brought [more...]
Trungpa Rinpoche's Early Days As a Tertön
Within the Shambhala Community, many of us are familiar with terma that the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche discovered after leaving Tibet, such as The Sadhana of Mahamudra and a number of Shambhala texts. However, until recently we knew nothing of his activity as a tertön (treasure revealer) while still in Tibet. Some time after the [more...]
Surmang Rinpoches Visit North America
Homecoming by Larry Mermelstein In the summer of 2003, for the first time, Damchö Tenphel Rinpoche, the younger brother of the Vidyadhara Trungpa Rinpoche, and Karma Senge Trakpa Rinpoche, the Vidyadhara’s nephew, journeyed from the Surmang Monasteries in East Tibet to North America. Each was accompanied by an attendant: Karma Senge Rinpoche with his brother, [more...]
Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance
For several years we have been translating the shamatha and vipashyana sections of Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje’s medium-length work on mahamudra, Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance. This is to complement our translation of the Karmapa’s Pointing Out the Dharmakaya, which is his most concise mahamudra instruction. This latter translation was originally accomplished at the request of [more...]
Translating Shamatha Mahamudra
Mahamudra is ultimately indefinable, indescribable. Nevertheless, for generations teachers have guided students who have themselves become teachers, who have guided yet more students in the ways of mahamudra. In that spirit, we would like to share a few very profound and pithy excerpts on the subject of shamatha meditation as expressed by the mahamudra lineage. [more...]