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The Profound Treasury

ProfoundTreasuryby Carolyn Gimian

Every year but one between 1973 and 1986, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche spent three months presenting Buddhist teachings to a group of his senior students, who came together with him to practice and study intensively. These programs were called the Vajradhatu Seminaries. The people who attended them had generally spent a number of years practicing and studying Buddhism before they attended these advanced programs. The talks were organized around the three yanas, or major stages of the Buddhist path: hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana. It was a landmark moment in a practitioner’s life to be accepted to seminary and even more so to be able to hear the vajrayana teachings in particular.

Transcripts of the teachings that Trungpa Rinpoche gave each year were edited and published following the conclusion of the program. Many of his senior editors, including myself, were in part trained by the careful work that we did to produce transcripts that were well-edited but retaining the flavor of the original talks, including extensive question and answer periods.

The Vajradhatu Transcripts were available only to “authorized” students, and the vajrayana material, in particular, was highly restricted, at Rinpoche’s insistence. At the same time, beginning just a few years after the seminaries started, he began talking about compiling this material and editing it for a general audience. The chief editor within his organization at this time was Judith Lief, who in the mid-1970’s began the tedious and extensive work of compiling the existing material. In those days, no one used personal computers. Judy and several other editors were literally cutting up and pasting parts of one transcript and another to create chapters for this giant compendium.

The story goes on, with many twists and turns, halts and stumbles. It’s a pretty good story, but too long for this article. Suffice it to say, forty years after the first Vajradhatu Seminary took place, Judy Lief, now Acharya Emeritus Lief, has completed this mammoth work. It has just been published in three volumes totaling more than 2,000 pages, as The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. For the first time, all of this material is available to the world at large. It is a stunning and somewhat shocking moment, especially for those of us who have held these teachings close for so long.

It would be a mistake, I think, to consider The Profound Treasury as simply a repackaging of the original transcripts. The whole here is much greater than the parts. (This is not to deny the importance of the original transcripts. But the Profound Treasury is its own work of brilliance.) Acharya Emeritus Lief has taken what were chronologically organized transcripts and compiled them by topic, incorporating the essence of the question and answers into the body of the talks. As Trungpa Rinpoche himself suggested, the material has been carefully structured to reflect a traditional approach to the three-yana journey on the Buddhist path. When Rinpoche talked about his desire for this project to be undertaken, he expressed the wish that this more scholarly side of his teachings be available. He himself talked about looking at traditional literary arrangements of such teachings, referring to shila, samadhi and prajna, for example, as organizing principles for some material. By presenting the material in this way, one sees the depth, the breadth, and the systematic genius of how Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche presented the path of dharma for Western students.

Over the next year and probably well beyond, Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week will draw heavily from the three volumes of The Profound Treasury. The material is so fresh, so elegant, and so penetrating that it is simply too magnetizing to ignore. These are not particularly easy books to read, but they reward the serious student and practitioner. And within them are many passages that are accessible, direct, and inspiring.

There will be a number of events related to the publication of this material, and updates will be forthcoming on Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week and at profoundtreasury.com, maintained by the Chogyam Trungpa Legacy Project. Panel discussions to celebrate The Profound Treasury and its author will be held in a number of cities. Judy Lief will be teaching several programs presenting material from The Profound Treasury. Links to her programs and those taught by other senior students will be provided.

As well, there will be a read-a-thon, or resounding, of The Profound Treasury. All 2,000 plus pages will be read somewhere by someone over the course of several months. The first readings will take place around the time of the anniversary of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s death, April 4th, and the resounding will continue for some months. Group readings of parts of the Profound Treasury may occur in a number of places, and both groups within Shambhala and individuals will be invited to organize and participate in readings of anything from one chapter to one entire volume. Look for more information soon on how Shambhala will be participating the Great Resounding of the Profound Treasury.

At the beginning of Volume Two of The Profound Treasury, The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion, Chogyam Trungpa says of bodhichitta, or awakened heart, that it is “not much of a fanfare, but at the same time, it may be a spiritual atomic bomb.” No doubt, The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma is a spiritual atomic bomb of great power, and it is up to us to create the fanfare for its publication. Please join in celebrating the arrival of this most pristine wisdom in the world. May it benefit countless beings!

~~
The Profound Treasury is now available at Shambhala.com. Use code PTWEB13 to receive 30% off plus free shipping (U.S. media mail). You can also download a free excerpt from Volume One here.

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7 responses to “ The Profound Treasury ”
  1. David Philbedge
    Feb 24, 2013
    Reply

    My one question is regarding the Vajrayana Section: Following its publication, does this mean that the Vidyadhara’s Vajrayana transcripts are no longer restricted?

  2. David Philbedge
    Feb 24, 2013
    Reply

    Having lost my ability to read, the publishing of ebook versions with TTS enabled is so important to me. I love physical books but (speaking) ebooks are now my only way to access such precious (and still timely!) teachings.

    As regards the still Shambhala Training, it is so precious and one of the best ways to glimpse directly the heart of what the Dorje Dradül taught. The secret is to complete it many times, in a variety of rôles, to discover its many, subtle levels.

  3. Jonah, I can’t say I agree with your take on Shambhala Training, but I do agree with you regarding the magnificence of the Profound Treasury. In case you don’t know already, Judi Lief will be leading a nine day study and practice retreat on Volume One of the Profound Treasury May 24 – June 2 in Topsham, Maine. You can find further information at the Chronicles of Chogyam Trungpa website:

    http://www.chronicleproject.com/stories_392.html

  4. I pre-ordered these books and already have them in my possession. I’m halfway through the first volume and its changed my life. Never have I read a piece of Buddhist work that is so powerful, clear, and wonderful as these directions are. After using it for awhile I consider them to be the Buddhist King James Bible. It’s that important.

    In my humble view the teachings and structure of this material should replace Shambhala training altogether, or at least provide an alternate path for those that just want to get to the meat. Honestly I found the Level’s weird, confusing and not advanced enough.

    But the Profound Treasury is right up my alley.

  5. I second the question about eBook availability and would buy the Nook (epub) version immediately! Thank you for this labor of kindness and devotion.

  6. E ma ho! Thank you for your incredible hard work!

  7. Hy Lindsay
    Jan 16, 2013
    Reply

    Is there or will there be an e-book format of these?


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