Great Eastern Sun [Hardcover]

Carolyn Rose Gimian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 2000

     The journey that began in Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior reaches a new level of intimacy and depth in this book, based on talks Chögyam Trungpa gave in the last ten years of his life.
     
     Trungpa possessed uncanny insight into our deepest fears, and how these are heightened by the pressures of today's society. He addresses many of them here: the speed and alienation of modern life; depression; materialism; aggression, anger, and anxiety; and a crippling lack of self-worth.
     
     Trungpa also held an unshakable belief in human goodness and our ability to create an enlightened human society. His most ardent message is that each of us is a genuine and powerful individual who can help this world. Throughout the book, he evokes the image of a spark or dot of goodness that is always available to us—the fuse for igniting warriorship in our lives. In every line of this extraordinary and uplifting collection, he challenges us to embrace life and to find the Great Eastern Sun, the spark of sacredness and health in every moment.
     

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Chögyam Trungpa had a vision of a society of enlightened people, or at least of people on the path to enlightenment. These are the Shambhala warriors, people "brave enough not to give in to the aggression and contradictions that exist in society." A companion volume to Trungpa's classic Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Great Eastern Sun is an invitation for all people to discover their own goodness, which is always there, just as the sun is always rising. Trungpa had an uncanny grasp of the hang-ups and excuses that keep Westerners in their safe ego cocoons, and in Great Eastern Sun he entices us all out, to express our goodness and live a life on the edge of insecurity. The mindful life turns out to be one of detached but sacred existence, floating with the power of compassionate awareness. A genuine life is what Trungpa propels us to, and Great Eastern Sun is his lantern for guiding us down the path of genuine living. --Brian Bruya

Review

     "As a loving and grateful student of Chögyam Trungpa, the Dorje Dradul of Mukpo, I am delighted that these wonderful teachings—which have so profoundly influenced and shaped my life—are now available to benefit others. May countless people have the good fortune to read this book."—Pema Chödrön, author of When Things Fall Apart
     

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 265 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala (January 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570622930
• ISBN-13: 978-1570622939
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,196,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chögyam Trungpa (1940-1987)--meditation master, teacher, and artist--founded 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: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, and The Myth of Freedom.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "It's real, sweethearts...", March 6, 2005

By 

Myron Makewater "redcrosseknight" (Laramie) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Eastern Sun: The Wisdom of Shambhala (Shambhala Dragon Editions) (Paperback)

I find this presentation of Trungpa's Shambhala vision much more intimate and satisfying than the first book, Shambhala. Both books offer clear and practical advice transparently; Great Eastern Sun leaves more of the edges and contrasts in the foreground, giving a more nuanced taste of the good times at Trungpa's house. This is a very rewarding volume, and as the other reviewers have noted, it's good to read this one more than once. (Really, that goes for all serious reading. Real books are not one-time-use disposables.)

That said, I would like to follow up on one of Trungpa's suggestions in Great Eastern Sun: "It would be worth investigation futher the origins of Shambhala vision in the European traditions... to conduct a study of Western historical figures who tried to achieve the Shambhala vision of englightened society" (p 134). Okay. Trungpa's contemporaries, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, had a vision of their own, and one quite resonant with Trungpa's: "Learning to undo things, and to undo onesself, is proper to the war machine: the 'not doing' of the warrior, the undoing of the subject" (A Thousand Plateaus p 400). So long, neurosis.

I'm a bit disappointed that some of Trungpa's actual words (the dreaded 'f-word' for one) were edited from this volume. Trungpa, like Joseph Conrad and V Nabokov, was a second-language master of the English tongue, and chose his words very carefully for impact. He chose punchiness in his diction, he took a risk; why pretend he played it safe?

Here's to Trungpa's successes, and to the birth pangs of a culture of englightenment. Cheers!

HOMAGE TO ACALA VIDHYARAJA, the Immoveable Radiant King! Namah samanta vajranam chanda maharosana sphotaya hum trat ham mam!

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dazzling, exasperating, October 24, 2001

By 

Nicholas R. Hunter (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Great Eastern Sun (Hardcover)

"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.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Embracing Life, February 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Eastern Sun (Hardcover)

Carolyn Gimian has done a wonderful job of sculpting a body of work that speaks to the essence of Shambhala Training and warriorship. She has painted a genuine portrait of Chogyam Trungpa through his training methodologies, poems, talks, and personal history. The book contains reference information for those readers who may want to pursue Shambhala Training, in their own quest to embrace life through direct participation. I would recommend this book to all students of Shambhala, present and future.