Thursday

Marking the 26th Parinirvana

This year marks the 26th Parinirvana of the Vidyadhara, the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, founder of the International Shambhala Buddhist community. Centers and groups all over the world will be commemorating this day by coming together to practice the profound Sadhana of Mahamudra, the feast section of which is usually reserved for advanced students, but for this one day each year when all are invited to practice together. During the feast is the time when devotional poems, songs, dances and other remembrances of the Buddha activity of the founder of Shambhala may be offered and enjoyed.

As this is the 50th year of the Vidyadhara’s teachings in the West, many activities are under way to commemorate his vast activities. One of the major offerings was the publishing of The Profound Treasury, which represents a vast multitude of the teachings Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche gave. Today, in honor of both the Parinirvana and the unfolding events around the release of this beautiful collection, the Shambhala Times is delighted to offer the following letter by the wife of the Vidyadhara, the Druk Sakyong Wangmo, Lady Diana Mukpo. The letter was originally written to Acharya Emerita Judith Lief who was the chief editor of The Profound Treasury, and Carolyn Gimian, Director of the Chogyarn Trungpa Legacy Project. (http://chogyamtrungpa.com/)

“I am writing to express the appreciation and gratitude of the Mukpo family for the deeply impressive work you – and all those who have worked with you – have done in making possible the publication of The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma.

“The publication of this brilliantly edited and beautifully produced three-volume set brings to fruition one ofthe expressed wishes of the Druk Sakyong, the venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, which was that the teachings he gave during his rnany seminaries be published in an appropriate way so that these extraordinary teachings could be accessed by a far larger audience in the years following his parinirvana.

“It might come as a surprise to the practitioners who attended those seminaries or who studied them in subsequent seminaries and Shambhala programs to see these now openly published. In fact, this is completely in accord with his wishes and, in fact, he signed a contract for this as early as 1980 with Shambhala Publications. Quite properly, as we discussed during the editing, this public offering does not include his transmissions or post-transmission teachings.

“It is important for our community to understand that these three volumes are different from the transcripts themselves. The transcripts remain restricted. The Profound Treasury does not include the questions and answers; thus the flavor is different and offers a different experience to that of a seminary participant. This is what we want to thank you for accomplishing, and doing it so skillfully and faithfully. This is a monumental piece of work. The material is now compiled by topic and thus synthesized and shaped in ways that will make the teachings much more accessible to a reader, while honoring and bringing out their depth and potency.

“As I said at the outset of this letter, I am writing to express the gratitude of our family for the undying devotion that has made this remarkable achievement possible. I would love it if you could find a way to share this letter with our community when there are readings or other events to celebrate the unveiling of this treasure.

With appreciation,
Lady Diana Mukpo
The Druk Sakyong Wangmo”

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To visit the Chogyam Trungpa Legacy Project and see what other events are unfolding, please click here.

Stay tuned on the Shambhala Times for more articles coming about the unfolding events surrounding The Profound Treasury.