This is the first book I read of Trungpa's. This is the first time that I discovered that there was a "Chogyam Trungpa". I greedily took it home from the Bodhi Tree, read it, and then grimaced as I realized that you needed a teacher (not so today!). So I took some Valium and went into the Dharmadhatu Center in L.A. and received meditation instruction. This was 1977 so it was a brave deed. And since I had no feeling in my brain or body, I did quite well. A brunette sat down with me and taught me about the famous "outbreath". Chogyam Trungpa was officially my "teacher". Later, I would find out that he was an outrageous madman (no slander, Amazon.com. Even his present students admit this!) The book is a brillant way to begin to "read up" on Trungpa. It's a soft blow. It will give good insight into Trungpa's teachings. But this series of lectures were given in Scottland in 1968, I believe. Trungpa wouldn't hit his stride until years later. After reading this, read "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" and "The Myth of Freedom". The title is a bit misleading. In the Kagyu (just say "cog-you" and you will get away with it) Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, they more or less depend on sitting meditation to trigger off mindfulness. As one student told me, "They sit like pigs". They have been criticized by the other three Tibetan traditions for it. So if you are buying this book from Amazon.com because of the title "Meditation in Action" - forget it. Buy "The Miracle of Minfulness" by Thich Nhat Hanh and vote for my review as you examine it! But if you are buying this book as an introduction to Trungpa's brillant teachings, then BUY THIS BOOK! Thank you.

This books clearly and simply describes the process of meditation. It explains many of my experiences. I have found this book to be very helpful and inspirational.

The torch of certainty is an essential text for any serious Buddhist practitioner of the Kagyu lineage. The text, written by Jamgon Kongtrul and translated by Judith Hanson, describes the four ordinary foundation practices and the four special foundation practices. These are commonly known as the ngondro practice.

The text covers specifics on each practice and should be used alongside the Ngondro text, with instruction from your lama.

The introduction includes a section on the Kagyu lineage known as the golden rosary.

The must have manual for anyone setting out to do the Ngondro practices. Clear and concise, with a very nice question/answer section.

My father gave me a copy of "Crazy Wisdom" on my twelfth birthday. I am now 20 years old, and I still struggle with the enormity of what this book implies. I have read it several times, left it behind, returned to it with new experiences and gained new insights. Basically, the book contains Tibetan philosophical wisdom, but it is infinitely more. I'd recommend this book to everyone who is interested in philosophy (and in particular Oriental and Tibetan). The book is a powerful and relatively understandable introduction to contemporary Tibetan philsophers, based largely on Buddhism, but the religious aspect of the book is negligible. This is not a cheap "This will change your life" scam, but contains some serious and powerful methods of working with the mind.

Mr Newmans many years of experience in Buddhism provide him with thoughtful and graceful insight from which to provide wonderful selections from the writings of Dudjom Rinpoche and Chogyam Trungpa, as well as his own commentary, to accompany these sublime images.

The "Mandala" is a beautiful book of the many cultures that experience this sacred path. I followed the step by step process of the Mandala. It taught me how to meditate & become aware of the underlying intellegence. I reccomend this book to anyone in search of the truth of who they truly are. This is a form of meditation that opens doors to your Inner World.

Mudra by Chogyam Trungpa (Shambhala) is in many ways one of the best books by the late Chogyam Trungpa. First published in 1972 it was I believe the first title by the Lama brought out by Shamahala and in many ways these brief poems offer the nectar of Varjayana wisdom in ways Chogyam Trungpa's more discursive and popular titles do not. True Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism provides a biting critique of western presumptions upon spiritual practice, but in the brief poetic reflections we are shown in Mudra suggest how simple gestures, slight alterations of attitude shift one from suffering to bliss. The famous Ox Herding Pictures are also included with a telling commentary on the path toward enlightenment.

This book contains translations of the songs of realisation of the master of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, including the Karmapas. The collection is traditional and is usually chanted by the monks and nuns once a year in Kagyu-monasteries. As such, the songs have an important place in the spiritual literary tradition of Tibet. The songs are beautiful and very inspiring, usually stressing the importance of a spiritual teacher (guru) and the actual practice of meditation.

This book is a tough read, it becomes very tricky to piece together certain understandings. I would suggest reading it twice. But the profundity is there. I have not read any other Shambala teachings, but the "Primordial Dot" has been very intriguing to meditate upon. Along with the awakening from the "shadow world" of the autonomous mind; this parralels other buddhist teachings. A nice addition to any collection, the hardcover is bleach white with the great eastern sun symbol in gold. It complements my Art of War hardcover which is completely black and the same size.

"The Great Eastern Sun" is presented as a companion volume to Chogyam Trungpa's spiritual classic "Shambhala: The Sacred Art of the Warrior."

Both books were based on Trungpa's talks, but "The Great Eastern Sun" has suffered (or benefitted) from a much lighter editorial hand. The result is that the present volume preserves a stronger flavor of Trungpa's teaching style. On the other hand, the talks in this book were intended for a more advanced audience who were presumed to be already familiar with the material presented in the earlier book.

My experience of Trungpa's books has always been one of a cumulative effect. It helps to read, to practice, to read again, and to practice some more. The extraordinary nature of the teachings grow clearer with time and practice, although sometimes very little comes through on the first reading.

Chogyam Trungpa uses the Great Eastern Sun as a metaphor for liberation. It is always rising, and "there is always the potential for human beings to discover their own goodness and the sacredness of the world" (p. xvi). It represents "the dawn of wakefulness" (p. 151), and "overcoming frivolity and becoming a decent person" (p. 161). Conversely, the world in which people are "sleeping in their cocoons trying to avoid the pain of death is called the setting-sun world" (p. 9). Trungpa observes that the setting-sun world is synonymous with having a "groovy" time, trying to avoid the reality of impermanence (p. 162).

The basic goal of Trungpa's Eastern Sun teachings is "to radiate the peacefulness of nonaggression, learning how to develop discipline and wisdom, and developing the wisdom of body, speech, and mind" (pp. 50-51). Trungpa encourages us to take care of the world, and also have a sense of humor (p. 210). "Listen to your own brook, echoing yourself" (p. 123).

For some enlightening reading, I recommend Trungpa's GREAT EASTERN SUN.

G. Merritt

I don't consider this a beginner's ("Basic") guide to meditation. Many of the topics seem more appropriate for experienced meditators: boredom, loss of self, Vipashyana meditation, etc.

The author does a fair job describing methods for beginning meditators, but explains almost nothing for those who feel they're ready for insight meditation, simply stating that the path is very lonely. Actually, I thought much of his advice was discouraging, given his emphasis on the negatives of meditating practice.

This "book" is actually a transcription of two seminars, and I didn't find the student question & answer segment at the end of each section to be very helpful. And, I was surprised at the lack of compassion Chogyam Trungpa showed to one student who felt threatened by his teachings on loss of self. He appeared to be mocking the student as he/she left the teaching.

I'll give this book another chance after a few more months of meditation, but I don't recommend it for idealistic beginners.

Another reviewer harshly criticized Chogyam Trungpa's lack of compassion with respect to the meditation practices and the non-dualism that they promote. While I would concur that the Rinpoche's style is very straightforward, I do not believe that is the result of a lack of compassion or any extra "harshness" on the his part.

His writings are direct, and concise. I find that his writing style very much belies his primary language and the translation is almost exact, phrase-for-phrase. This often leads to difficult reading because the subject-verb-object relationships and sentence structures do not map well between Tibetan and English. Additionally, he spends much time discussing the failures of language with respect to non-dualism. The use of any language to describe concepts inherently opposed by language leads to several tricky sections where I was forced to rigorousely parse each section in order to understand his point. The rewards of better understanding and a much diminished ego were well worth the effort.

All in all, this book is an excellent building block that doesn't treat meditation in the same feel-good, "New Age" style of so many other authors. It is definately built upon the underlying structures of Kagyu-style Buddhism. If Trungpa hurts your ego and makes "you" feel virtually non-existant... Well that's kind of the point of non-dualism in the first place.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche does not engage in "idiot compassion." This book will not gratify any of the desires of your ego. Instead it has (as the foreward says) an "iron hook" of compassion, which will attempt to cut away your ego & expose you to the hard lonely reality of practice.

In his first exposition of the nature of meditation Rinpoche tells us to sit without pretensions, "like a disused coffee cup." He describes the feeling of spaciousness that comes from abandoning the ego as a reference point as "boring" & "suffocating." He does not give us any room to use meditation as an ego toy.

I recommend this book highly to anyone who is seriously interested in the hard, confusing road of spirituality. After many years of meditation, feeling very confident & special, reading "The Path is the Goal" and "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" was a kick to the gut.

When you're done having fun pretending to meditate, come to "The Path is the Goal" & be cut open by Chogyam Trungpa's absolute unwavering compassion.