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Chogyam Trungpa

Chogyam Trungpa Books

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“The Shambhala understanding of bravery is quite different. Here bravery is the courage to be – to live in the world without any deception and with tremendous kindness and caring for others. You might wonder how this can bring magic into your life. The ordinary idea of magic is that you can conquer the elements, so that you can turn earth into fire or fire into water or ignore the law of gravity and fly. But true magic is the magic of reality, as it is: the earth of earth, the water of water – communicating with the elements so that, in some sense, they become one with you. When you develop bravery, you make a connection with the elemental quality of existence. Bravery begins to heighten your existence, that is, to bring out the brilliant and genuine qualities of your environment and of your own being. So you begin to contact the magic of reality – which is already there in some sense. You actually can attract the power and strength and the primordial wisdom that arise from the cosmic mirror.”

EnlightenmentAwakeningWay Of The WarriorShambhala Warrior
Book:Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
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“„The Shambhala understanding of bravery is quite different. Here bravery is the courage to be – to live in the world without any deception and with tremendous kindness and caring for others. You might wonder how this can bring magic into your life. The ordinary idea of magic is that you can conquer the elements, so that you can turn earth into fire or fire into water or ignore the law of gravity and fly. But true magic is the magic of reality, as it is: the earth of earth, the water of water – communicating with the elements so that, in some sense, they become one with you. When you develop bravery, you make a connection with the elemental quality of existence. Bravery begins to heighten your existence, that is, to bring out the brilliant and genuine qualities of your environment and of your own being. So you begin to contact the magic of reality – which is already there in some sense. You actually can attract the power and strength and the primordial wisdom that arise from the cosmic mirror.“ (The Sacred Path of the Warrior)”

BuddhismEnlightenmentAwakeningWay Of The WarriorShambhala Warrior
Book:Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
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“You are actually doing something. You are getting into this process without making sure that what you're doing is okay. Things are actually taking place, almost of their own accord, very simply and directly. That is meditation.”

ProcessMeditationOkayAccordActually Doing Something
Book:The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa, Volume 10: Work, Sex, Money - Mindfulness in Action - Devotion and Crazy Wisdom - Selected Writings
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“Elegance means appreciating things as they are. There is a sense of delight and of fearlessness. You are not fearful of dark corners.”

MeanDarkAppreciateDelightCornersFearfulEleganceFearlessness
Book:The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume Four: Journey without Goal; The Lion's Roar; The Dawn of Tantra; An Interview with Cho gyam Trungpa
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“Very beautiful situations have developed using chaos as part of the enlightened approach. There is chaos of all kinds developing all the time... If you are trying to stop those situations, you are looking for external means of liberating yourself, another answer. But if we are able to look into the basic situation, then chaos is the inspiration, confusion is the inspiration.”

IfsTryingLooksKindMeanInspirationAbleBeautifulAnswersSituationApproachChaosConfusionAll KindsDevelopingEnlightenedLiberatingVery Beautiful
Book:The Pocket Chögyam Trungpa
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“In your cocoon, occasionally you shout complaints, such as, "Leave me alone!" "Bug off!" "I want to be who I am!"... which comes from fighting against your environment... You can raise your head and just take a little peek out of the cocoon... The environment is friendly. It is called "Planet Earth.”

WantLittlesEarthFightingEnvironmentPlanetsRaisesComplainingWho I AmFriendlyComplaintsBugsLeaving MeOur EnvironmentMe AlonePlanet EarthLeave Me AloneCocoons
Author:Chogyam Trungpa
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“Right mindfulness does not simply mean being aware; it is like creating a work of art. You can therefore trust what you are doing; you are not threatened by anything. You have room to dance in the space, and this makes it a creative situation. The space is open to you.”

MeanDoeArtSpaceRoomsSituationCreativeMindfulnessCreatingWorks Of ArtThreatenedDoing You
Book:The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume Three: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism; The Myth of Freedom; The Heart of the Bud dha; Selected Writings
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“If there is some profound method that offers a quick way, we would rather follow that than undertake arduous journeys and difficult practices. But some manual work and physical effort is necessary.”

IfsWayDifficultEffortPracticeJourneyOffersMethodProfoundManualsManual Work
Book:The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume One: Born in Tibet; Meditation in Action; Mudra; Selected Writings
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“Humans are the only animals that try to dwell in the future. You don't have to purely live in the present situation without a plan, but the future plans you make can only be based on the aspects of the future that manifest within the present situation.”

TryingHumansAnimalSituationPlansFutureAspectManifestLive In The PresentFuture PlansPresent Situation
Book:Ocean of Dharma: The Everyday Wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa
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“Our path is sometimes rough and sometimes smooth; nonetheless, life is a constant journey... whatever we do is regarded as our journey, our path. That path consists of opening oneself to the road, opening oneself to the steps we are about to take.”

SometimesLife IsStepsPathJourneyConstantOneselfOpeningRoughSmooth
Book:The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume Two: The Path Is the Goal; Training the Mind; Glimpses of Abhidharma; Glimpses of Shu nyata; Glimpses of Mahayana; Selected Writings
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“The discovery of magic can happen only when we transcend our embarrassment about being alive, when we have the bravery to proclaim the goodness and dignity of human life, without either hesitation or arrogance. Then magic can descend onto our existence.”

HumansHappensExistenceAliveMagicGoodnessDiscoveryDignityBraveryHuman LifeArroganceEmbarrassmentHesitation
Book:The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume Eight: Great Eastern Sun; Shambhala; Selected Writings
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“The meditator develops new depths of insight through direct communication with the reality of the phenomenal world... He or she is able to see not only the absence of complexity, the absence of duality, but the stoneness of stone and the waterness of water. One sees things precisely as they are, not merely in the physical sense, but with awareness of their spiritual significance.”

WorldRealityAbleSpiritualWaterAwarenessCommunicationStonesDirectDepthInsightAbsenceComplexitySignificanceDualityPhenomenalDirect Communication
Author:Chogyam Trungpa
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“No one can stop or control your thought process or your thinking. You can think anything you want. But that doesn't seem to be the point. The thinking process has to be directed into a certain approach... not in accord with certain dogma, philosophy, or concepts. Instead, one has to know the thinker itself.”

ThinkingKnowsWantPhilosophySeemsCertainProcessApproachConceptsThinkerDogmaAccordThought ProcessThinking Process
Book:The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume Seven: The Art of Calligraphy (Excerpts); Dharma Art; Visual Dharma (Excerpts); Selecte d Poems; Selected Writings
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“While you're meditating, all kinds of thoughts arise... You don't find your thoughts threatening or particularly helpful. They just become the general gossip of your thoughts. This traffic of your thoughts and the verbosity of your mind are simply part of the basic chatter that goes on in the universe. Just let it go through.”

MindKindUniverseGoes OnAriseAll KindsHelpfulGossipTrafficThreateningLet It GoMeditatingChatterJust Let It Go
Author:Chogyam Trungpa
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“When you put relative and absolute truth together and they become one unit, it becomes possible to make things workable. You are not too much on the side of absolute truth, or you would become too theoretical. You are not too much on the side of relative truth, or you would become too precise. When you put them together, you realize that there is no problem.”

ProblemTogetherSidesRealizingToo MuchAbsolutesRelativeUnitsPreciseNo ProblemTheoreticalAbsolute TruthRelative Truth
Author:Chogyam Trungpa
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“In fact, a person always finds when he begins to practice meditation that all sorts of problems are brought out. Any hidden aspects of your personality are brought out into the open, for the simple reason that for the first time you are allowing yourself to see your state of mind as it is.”

MindFirstsPersonsStatesReasonFactsProblemSimplePracticeMeditationPersonalityFirst TimeAspectAllowingState Of Mind
Book:The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume Three: Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism; The Myth of Freedom; The Heart of the Bud dha; Selected Writings
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“Although the warrior's life is dedicated to helping others, he realizes that he will never be able to completely share his experience with others...Yet he is more and more in love with the world. That combination of love affair and loneliness is what enables the warrior to constantly reach out to help others. By renouncing his private world, the warrior discovers a greater universe and a fuller and fuller broken heart. This is not something to feel bad about; it is a cause for rejoicing.”

WorldFeelsHeartHelpingAbleLife IsUniverseCausesRealizingGreaterShareLonelinessBrokenAffairHelping OthersWarriorCombinationDedicatedRejoiceReach OutLove Affair
Author:Chogyam Trungpa
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“If we open our eyes, if we open our minds, if we open our hearts, we will find that this world is a magical place. It is magical not because it tricks us or changes unexpectedly into something else, but because it can be so vividly and brilliantly.”

IfsWorldMindHeartEyeThis WorldTricksMagical Places
Book:The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa: Volume Eight: Great Eastern Sun; Shambhala; Selected Writings
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“A great deal of chaos in the world occurs because people don't appreciate themselves. Having never developed sympathy or gentleness toward themselves, they cannot experience harmony or peace within themselves, and therefore, what they project to others is also inharmonious and confused.”

PeopleWorldDealsProjectsAppreciateHarmonyChaosConfusedGentlenessPeace WithinChaos In The World
Book:Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior
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