Lief Judith L. - The Path of Individual Liberation Volume 1

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma represents meditation master Chgyam Trungpas greatest contribution to Western Buddhism. This three-volume collection presents in lively, relevant language the comprehensive teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist path of the hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana. This work will resonate with new students of Buddhism as well as the most senior students.

The first volume, The Path of Individual Liberation, presents the teachings of the hinayana. The hinayana introduces core Buddhist teachings on the nature of mind, the practice of meditation, the reality of suffering, and the possibility of liberation. It examines the nature of suffering, impermanence, and egolessness, with an emphasis on personal development through meditative discipline and study. The formal entry into the hinayana and the Buddhist path altogether is the refuge vow, in which a student goes for refuge to the Buddha, or the teacher; the dharma, or the teachings; and the sangha, or the community. The hinayana path is based on training in mindfulness and awareness, cultivating virtue, and cutting grasping. Topics covered in detail in this volume include the four noble truths, karma, the four foundations of mindfulness, meditation practice, the refuge vows, the three jewels, the five skandhas, the five precepts, twofold egolessness, and more.

CHGYAM TRUNGPA (19401987)meditation master, teacher, and artistfounded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist-inspired university in North America; the Shambhala Training program; and an international association of meditation centers known as Shambhala International. He is the author of numerous books including Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, and The Myth of Freedom.

JUDITH L. LIEF is an acharya, or senior teacher, in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage of Chgyam Trungpa.

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THE PROFOUND TREASURY OF THE OCEAN OF DHARMA

VOLUME ONE

The Path of Individual Liberation

VOLUME TWO

The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion

VOLUME THREE

The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness

Published in association with Vajradhatu Publications, a division of Shambhala Media. www.shambhala.org.

VOLUME ONE

THE PROFOUND TREASURY OF THE OCEAN OF DHARMA

The Path of Individual Liberation

CHGYAM TRUNGPA

COMPILED AND EDITED BY

Judith L. Lief

SHAMBHALA BOSTON & LONDON 2013

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Horticultural Hall

300 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02115

www.shambhala.com

2013 by Diana J. Mukpo

Cover art: Shakyamuni Buddha, detail. Tibet, 18th century.

Frontispiece: Photograph of Chgyam Trungpa in Scotland, circa 1968, provided by Tendzin Parsons. From the collection of the Shambhala Archives. Photographer unknown.

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Trungpa, Chgyam, 19391987. The profound treasury of the ocean of dharma / Chgyam Trungpa; compiled and edited by Judith L. Lief.First Edition.

pages cm

Compilation of Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoches Vajradhatu Seminary teachings in three volumes.

Includes index.

eISBN 978-0-8348-2858-2 (eBook: vol. 1)

ISBN 978-1-59030-708-3 (hardcover: alk. paper; set)

ISBN 978-1-59030-802-8 (hardcover: alk. paper; vol. 1)

ISBN 978-1-59030-803-5 (hardcover: alk. paper; vol. 2)

ISBN 978-1-59030-804-2 (hardcover: alk. paper; vol. 3)

1. BuddhismDoctrines. I. Lief, Judith L., editor of compilation. II. Title.

BQ4165.T75 2013

294.34dc23

2012022795

Like any great Buddhist teacher, Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche offered diverse teachings in diverse settings, adapting the Dharma each time to the capacities and needs of those listening. Rinpoche had a particular genius in presenting the Dharma to Western audiences, and he did so at a time when Tibetan Buddhism was new and unfamiliar to most in the West.

Many of the public Dharma talks that Trungpa Rinpoche offered to his Western students over the years have already been made available in various books. They benefited many readers at all levels of interest and spiritual experience. But the present volumes represent the teachings Rinpoche gave to his senior-most disciples, as part of the famous Vajradhatu Seminaries. At his request, these fortunate students have set about transcribing and organizing more than four hundred different Dharma teachings given by Rinpoche, in a massive project that has taken them three decades. In these extensive volumes, we can see the great care they are taking to offer to others what they themselves most valued receiving from their own lama. In this, these volumes are upholding Rinpoches spirit as well as preserving his words.

The Vajradhatu Seminary teachings that Rinpoche gave are signs of his kindness and compassion for his disciples. Their efforts to preserve his teachings are signs of their devotion to him. As such, these volumes display the far-reaching goodness that can be created in the world when compassion and devotion come together.

Ogyen Trinley Dorje

June 8, 2011

The Vidyadhara Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche made an enormous contribution to the spread of Buddhism to the West. This enlightened Vajra Master was able to make the teachings understandable through his insight, his compassion, and his extraordinary ability to connect with others, particularly the young during the sixties and seventies who were longing for spirituality and genuine teachings.

He was a rare teacher. One seldom has the opportunity to meet such a great master. At long last his teachings given during seminaries will be published in several volumes. They should be of great benefit in upholding his teaching lineage for both his older students and the younger generations on the Buddhist path.

The Very Venerable Ninth Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche

February 28, 2011

I first met Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1976 when I was just seven years old. I had traveled to America with my grandfather, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, at the invitation of Trungpa Rinpoche. He invited Khyentse Rinpoche again in 1982 around the time that Trungpa Rinpoche had begun to reveal his Shambhala Mind Treasures (dgongs-gter).

Khyentse Rinpoche asked to see the revealed treasures, or terma, and kept it with him overnight. The next day he asked Trungpa Rinpoche for the transmission and, along with Khyentse Rinpoche, I was one of the first to receive it. I was also present during Khyentse Rinpoches third visit to the United States when he presided over the funeral arrangements for his longtime spiritual friend.