13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"It's real, sweethearts...", March 6, 2005
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!
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dazzling, exasperating, October 24, 2001
"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.
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22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Embracing Life, February 9, 2000
By A Customer
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.
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