The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa: Volume 6 (5 page)

Mandala principle is about how both confusion and wisdom manifest in a pattern. The pattern of orderly chaos describes both the patterns of confused, or samsaric, existence and the patterns of enlightened awareness. More fundamentally, it is about the space that underlies all experience and how it operates in terms of energy and form. The first seminar in
Orderly Chaos
was originally entitled “The Mandala of Unconditioned Being.” Here, Rinpoche approaches the subject of mandala from the point of view of the mandala of samsara, or the mandala of confused existence. As he says, “We should discuss the idea of orderly chaos, which is the mandala principle. It is orderly, because it comes in a pattern; it is chaos, because it is confusing to work with that order. The mandala principle includes the mandala of samsara and the mandala of nirvana, which are equal and reciprocal. If we do not understand the samsaric aspect of mandala, there is no nirvanic aspect of mandala at all” (Part One, chapter 1). It is only in the last two talks of the seminar, chapters 6 and 7, that he introduces the buddha mandala, or the principle of the mandala of enlightenment.

In the second seminar, originally titled “Mandala of the Five Buddha Families,” Rinpoche talks about the principle of mandala in terms of the energy that arises from the basic ground of unconditioned space, taking the form of the five buddha families or five buddha principles. These have both a confused and an awake aspect. He describes them as “aspects of the basic totality that accommodates things and allows them to happen. So it is not so much a matter of five separate buddha qualities; rather there are five aspects of the totality. We are talking about one situation from five different angles” (Part One, chapter 7). The five families are buddha, vajra, ratna, padma, and karma. There is an excellent discussion in
Journey without Goal
¹⁰
of the quality, symbolism, and significance of all five families, which are basically different qualities of energy, emotion, and wisdom that arise within oneself and can also be experienced in our perception of the world. Here, in
Orderly Chaos
, Rinpoche presumes the reader’s basic familiarity with the buddha families. In discussing the buddha mandala, he describes how they are related to the five skandhas, not so much in terms of the skandhas as the constituents or building blocks of ego but from the perspective of confusion transmuted into the wisdom of the five buddhas.

Glimpses of Space: The Feminine Principle and E
VAM,
edited by Judith L. Lief, was published in 1999 by Vajradhatu Publications. It consists of two seminars given by Chögyam Trungpa in 1975 and 1976. As the subtitle implies, the first seminar is on the feminine principle, the second on the principle of
EVAM.
In the Tibetan Buddhist teachings, space is understood as the feminine principle. Understanding what is meant by space altogether is part of the reader’s challenge in reading this book. Again, as with
Transcending Madness
and
Orderly Chaos
, the material is not entirely linear. At times, it seems as though space itself is speaking or presenting itself, which is highly disconcerting. Trungpa Rinpoche tells us: “We are not talking about outer space. We are talking about that which is—that which
isn’t
, at the same time.” Various aspects of the feminine principle are presented: space as the mother principle; the feminine attributes of space as unborn, unceasing, with a nature like sky; and finally, the feminine manifested in the dakini principle, or
prajnaparamita
, the principle of space as a playful consort who gives birth to wisdom and to all the buddhas.

The second seminar presents both the feminine and the masculine principles and how they come together in the nondual experiences of bliss and wisdom. This is not a gender study. Rather, the book is an investigation of masculine and feminine qualities or principles that exist in all experience. The title of the second seminar, “E
VAM,
” is a Sanskrit word that means “thus.” The beginning of every sutra, or discourse by the Buddha, begins with the phrase “evam maya shrutam,” which means “Thus I have heard.” In Vajrayana Buddhism,
EVAM
represents the union of the feminine and masculine principles, the container
(E)
and what is contained
(VAM).
A monogram of the word
evam
is employed as one of the seals of the Trungpa tulkus (see illustration at the beginning of Part Two, chapter 1). It had a very personal meaning for Chögyam Trungpa, the eleventh incarnation of the Trungpa lineage. He always wore a signet ring with the symbol
EVAM
on it, and a gold-leafed carving of the evam symbol hung above his head when he taught from a traditional Tibetan throne in the main shrine hall in Boulder, Colorado.

Next we have
Secret Beyond Thought: The Five Chakras and the Four Karmas
, a small volume published by Vajradhatu Publications in 1991. This contains two talks on the principles of the chakras and the karmas, which are teachings from the tantric tradition of Buddhism.
Chakra
is a Sanskrit word that means “wheel.” In the practice of both Hindu and Buddhist tantra, the chakras refer to psychophysical centers of energy in the body. While acknowledging this understanding of the chakras, Trungpa Rinpoche suggests that we can relate the chakras to both everyday life and “to their essence in the universe, the cosmos.” The second talk discusses the four karmas, or enlightened actions, that are associated with yogic activity. These are actions that are appropriate to situations, rather than imposed on them. They are pacifying, enriching, magnetizing, and destroying. Rinpoche also discusses the obstacles, or maras, that arise in connection with realizing each of the four karmas. Karma here, which simply means “action,” is quite distinct from the usual understanding of karma as the chain of cause and effect. As Rinpoche says, “there are two types of karma, which could be called greater karma and lesser karma. Greater karma is these four types of karma, which are deliberate, which do not involve chain reactions any more, because the whole purpose of greater karma is to break the chain reaction. It is applied to action in the moment, on the spot. The other karma is the chain reaction process, or lesser karma” (in “The Four Karmas”). As always, he recommends the sitting practice of meditation as the starting point for working with these teachings. The seminar on which this book was based was given in Boston, Massachusetts, in February 1971, another example of the advanced level of teaching he was presenting to the public in his earliest days in North America.

Volume Six ends with the article “Femininity,” which originally appeared in
Woman: Maitreya 4
, published by Shambhala Publications in 1973.
¹¹
By far the most accessible piece in this entire volume, it is a rather lighthearted and playful article about feminine energy and its role in the Buddhist teaching. Trungpa Rinpoche pays homage to the feminine principle as the mother and consort of the buddhas, as the source of inspiration, and as a playful but very powerful maiden. He touches on the limitations of the cultural attitudes toward women in the early development of Buddhism, and ends with the statement that “as long as you respect your manhood or your womanhood, your masculinity and femininity will be an integral part of your being on the spiritual path.”

With the end of Volume Six, we also come to the end of the presentation of the strictly Buddhist teachings in
The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa.
The remaining two volumes take us into the realms of dharma art and the Shambhala path of warriorship, not unrelated to Buddhism but presenting distinct areas of his work. In these six volumes, we have seen Trungpa Rinpoche already in many guises: In Volume One he is a biographer of his own life, in
Born in Tibet;
a humble Buddhist teacher, in
Meditation in Action;
and a yogi poet in
Mudra.
In Volume Two he manifests as meditation master and teacher of compassion, in
The Path Is the Goal
and in
Training the Mind
, and as psychologist, educator, and ecumenical pastor, among his many roles in the articles included in that volume. Volume Three shows us Trungpa Rinpoche the pioneer, bringing a new view of the Buddhist teachings and a new language of Buddhism to the West, through his best-selling volumes
Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism
and
The Myth of Freedom.
In Volume Four we see him once again mapping out new territory and establishing the ground to present the tantric journey in
Journey without Goal, The Dawn of Tantra
, and
The Lion’s Roar.
In Volume Five we see him as devoted child of the lineage, bringing the stories of his ancestors and heritage to Western practitioners, in
Crazy Wisdom, Illusion’s Game, The Life of Marpa the Translator
and
The Rain of Wisdom.
In this volume, we will see him as master of space and as master of the teachings that join life and death in nondual awareness.

There is much more to come, not only in the remaining volumes of this series but in the many volumes that will be produced in years to come. As far as the Buddhist aspect of his teachings is concerned, it will be many generations before we have the
complete
teachings of Chögyam Trungpa.

By this merit, may all attain omniscience.

May it defeat the enemy, wrongdoing.

From the stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death,

From the ocean of samsara, may we free all beings.
¹²

C
AROLYN
R
OSE
G
IMIAN

April 19, 2002

Trident Mountain House

Tatamagouche Mountain,

Nova Scotia

1
. For more information on this project, see Volume Two.

2
.
Shambhala Review
4, no. 5 (March/April 1976).

3
. “Reminiscences on Translating
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
with Trungpa Rinpoche,” communication to Carolyn Rose Gimian, December 2001.

4
. In the introduction to Volume Five of
The Collected Works
, there is a discussion of Rinpoche’s collaboration with Richard Arthure on the translation of
The Sadhana of Mahamudra
, quite remarkable in that Richard did not speak any Tibetan! In Volume One, there is mention of the work that Rinpoche did in England with Rigdzin Shikpo, then known as Michael Hookham, and a group of scholarly minded students. The article “The Bardo,” which appears in Volume Six, was edited by Rigdzin Shikpo. To this day, few of the early translations done in England have been published.

5
. An interesting and rather offbeat development connected with this was the use of psychedelics by Stanislav Grof and Joan Halifax Grof in working with terminally ill patients. The Grofs taught at the Naropa Institute in 1975. There is a video tape of a panel in which Stanislav and Joan Grof present their work alongside Chögyam Trungpa and David Rome, Rinpoche’s private secretary. Rinpoche’s earthy and direct discussion of death and dying stands in stark contrast to the energetic but highly confused presentation made by the Grofs.

6
. “Reminiscences on Translating
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
with Trungpa Rinpoche,” communication to Carolyn Rose Gimian, December 2001

7
. Ibid.

8
. Only a photocopy of this article has been preserved in the Shambhala Archives, and this editor has been unable to obtain definite information on the date it was published.

9
. E-mail communication from Judith Lief to Carolyn Rose Gimian, February 2002.

10
. See Volume Four.

11
. The Maitreya series was inaugurated by Shambhala Publications in the early 1970s as a forum to present short offerings from many of its authors. Each volume had a different theme. Chögyam Trungpa’s article “Spiritual Farming” from
Gardening: Maitreya
3 appears in Volume Two of
The Collected Works.
His article “Relationship” from
Relationship: Maitreya 5
appears as part of
The Heart of the Buddha
in Volume Three.

12
. Dedication of Merit, translated from the Tibetan by the Nālandā Translation Committee. Used (with a slight alteration) by permission.

T
RANSCENDING
M
ADNESS

The Experience of the Six Bardos

EDITED BY

J
UDITH
L. L
IEF

Acknowledgments

I
WOULD LIKE TO THANK
the many people who helped in the preparation of this book: Carolyn Rose Gimian, Sherab Chödzin, Emily Hilburn Sell, Lilly Gleich, Hazel Bercholz, Alma Carpenter, and Helen Berliner. In addition, the recording, transcribing, and preservation of these materials has taken the work of countless volunteers, to whom I am most grateful.