49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Where the Clover-Tops are Trees, and the Rain-Pools are the Seas.", November 14, 2008
This review is from: Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior (Mass Market Paperback)
Chögyam Trungpa was, if nothing else, a Character. As famous as his ideas were his Shenanigans: promiscuity, affairs with students, and heavy drinking that on the face of it seem out of step with the Buddha's teachings, but which many of his followers justified as "Crazy Wisdom" in a long Tibetan tradition.(His misbehaviour is said to have begun after an accident: he crashed his car - I place my hand over my heart as I tell you this - into a joke-shop.)
I've always felt uncomfortable with books like "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" and "The Myth of Freedom". He shows nothing short of genius in adapting Tibetan world-pictures and spiritual methods for Western readers: unlike many icons of Asian spirituality in the West, he really, thoroughly (and indeed scarily) understood the people he found himself among.
But he adapted by psychologising. For Tibetans, the Six Realms of Existence are actual and concrete; they are as real as Ecuador or Niagara Falls. Trungpa Rinpoche turns them into Mental Tendencies that we can observe in our own minds at any moment. The result is fascinating, much-praised and helpful to many, but leaves me feeling... confused, dubious.
No such reservations about this more modest book. The legendary city of Shambhala, the Way of the Warrior, may be peripheral aspects of Tibetan tradition, but they're especially accessible. This is, in a word, Wisdom, that anybody could practice anywhere, at any time. I am awed by his subtlety, poetry and delicacy of touch. His choice of the "Child's Garden of Verses", for instance, to illustrate the Buddhist concept of seeing the Universe in its smallest details, is wildly inspired. I rack my brains to think of another Asian spiritual teacher who could have used that illustration.
Wisdom is often advertised, much more seldom found, but it's certainly here, along with a fragrance of ancient heroic tales and indelible childhood stories. Even the faintly Asian English (you keep waiting to be called "Grasshopper") only adds to the appeal.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Basic wisdom for a world of chaos, January 20, 2008
This review is from: Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior (Mass Market Paperback)
Recognized as the eleventh reincarnation of Trungpa Tulku and abbot of Surmang, Chogyam Trungpa (Mukpo) came to the United States after escaping from Communist-occupied Tibet to India in exile, and living in the UK and Canada. Although Trungpa Rinpoche's writings have spanned broad topics in buddhist studies and secular meditation, "Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior," perhaps more than any other, represents his efforts in bringing basic sanity to the western masses. Based on the inherently simple premise that "in order to establish an enlightened society for others, we need to discover what inherently we have to offer the world," he introduces Shambhala as the result of our examination of our own experience: "there is something basically good about our existence as human beings" (29). The book is not religious in any sense; there is no effort to prosyletize and no overtly religious overtones. Although the student of buddhism will see similarities, Trungpa Rinpoche regularly reminds us that warriorship is not limited to any particular culture, time period, or belief system. Warriorship is the basic birthright of all humans and is particularly accessible in both the secular and the sacred worlds.
This book was moving for me and an excellent example of a true Tibetan teacher's legacy for the western world. I recommend it to anyone who seeks a return to basic sanity.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Basic Wisdom of Shambhala, September 5, 2010
This review is from: Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior (Mass Market Paperback)
Review of "Shambhala: The Sacred Path of The Warrior" by Chögyam Trungpa. The Shambhala teachings, named for a legendary Himalayan kingdom where prosperity and happiness reigned, follow the potential for achieving enlightenment that exist within every human being. The basic wisdom of Shambhala, Trungpa writes, is that "in this world, as it is, we can find a good and meaningful human life that will also serve others. That is our true richness." In this concise guide to enlightened living, Trungpa offers inspirational visions based upon the figure of the sacred warrior. Trungpa opines "In ancient times the warrior learned to master the challenges of life, both on and off the battlefield. He acquired a sense of personal freedom and power--not through violence or aggression, but through gentleness, courage, and self-knowledge." Trungpa takes the reader onto the warrior path in search of self-mastery and a feeling of greater fulfillment. He discusses skills such as synchronizing the mind and body, overcoming habitual behaviors, relaxing within discipline, facing the world with openness and fearlessness, finding the sacred dimension in everyday life, and more. In the end, Trungpa shows that is discovering the basic goodness of human life, the warrior learns to radiate the goodness out into the world for the peace and sanity of others. Five stars without reservation.
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