Online Zoom Forum: Chögyam Trungpa: The Spiritual, Humanitarian, Artistic, and Scholarly Vision in his Life and Work.
Date: Wednesday 7 May 2025.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be five talks, each of 12 minutes, followed by discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Dr Brion Sweeney:
Bio: Brion had a good fortune of connecting with Vajradhatu as it then was, through its European Land Centre at Dao Shonnu in the Boyne Valley close to Newgrange and other ancient passage tombs in Ireland in 1981 and attended a number of Datun, Intensive Study Programmes and studied with the Vidyadhara in the 80s and first met Chogam Trungpa on his visit to London visit in 1986. After Rinpoche’s parinirvana in 1987 Brion took Ven Akong Rinpoche as his root Guru and His Eminence Tai Situpa as his lineage Guru.
However, Brion remained a member Vajradhatu and Shambala throughout the decades and continues his close personal friendships with Shambala Sangha members in Ireland and Europe.
Brion’s wife Dorothy Gunne is a close disciple of the Vidyadhara and latterly the Sakyong.
In 2009 Brion made a pilgrimage to Taktsang one of the key locations where Guru Rinpoche meditated and where the Vidyadhara wrote the profound mind terma the Sadhana of Mahamudra, a practice that continues to guide and inspire so many today.
Speakers:
Prof Judith Simmer-Brown, Ph.D.:
Title: Sparks of Wisdom: Chogyam Trungpa’s Educational Vision.
Description: When Tibetan Buddhist meditation master Chogyam Trungpa came to the west, he briefly studied at Oxford University as a Spalding Fellow. In 1974, he founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, envisioning a way to revitalize western education with meditative wisdom. This presentation will outline Rinpoche’s vision for infusing secular education with pedagogies and curricula that spark an experience of personal journey. Examples from Naropa University’s 50-year history will illustrate the impact this vision has had on American higher education.
Bio: Judith Simmer-Brown, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Contemplative and Religious Studies Emerita at Naropa University, where she is a founding faculty member. She was a student of Chogyam Trungpa from 1974 until his death in 1987. At Naropa, she has taught Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, interreligious dialogue, Buddhist chaplaincy, and contemplative education subjects. She is a Team Leader for Fetzer Institute’s Sacred Story project and is a Fellow for the Mind & Life Institute. She is author of Dakini’s Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism (Shambhala) and editor, with Fran Grace, of Meditation and the Classroom: Contemplative Pedagogy for Religious Studies (SUNY).
Carolyn Rose Gimian:
Title: Creating a Buddhist Vocabulary: How Chogyam Trungpa Shaped the Discussion of Buddhism in the West.
Description: Chogyam Trungpa began learning English in India in the early 1960’s and continued his studies in England, becoming fluent and accomplished in the English language. In both England and America, in his lectures and his writings, he increasingly chose psychological and poetic language to describe human experience and the practice of meditation. His work has been extremely influential in shaping the vocabulary for Buddhism, especially Buddhist practice, in the English-speaking world. As Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche stated in 2018:
"And how can we forget Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche venturing alone into places totally unknown to him and bringing himself down to the most ordinary human level to single-handedly create nuances, terms, language, atmosphere, discipline and stages of practice for new dharma students? To take just one example among thousands, coining the term “basic goodness” of human beings brilliantly spoke to the hearts and minds of people in the here and now without ever deviating from the most traditional Buddhist teachings."
We will examine all of this in the presentation, which will include several slides from his time in England.
Bio: Carolyn Rose Gimian is the Executive Director of the Chogyam Trungpa Institute at Naropa Uniersity. She was the founding director of the Shambhala Archives, a major repository of Trungpa Rinpoche’s work, and is a past president of the Council of Nova Scotia Archives. She edited Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior in close cooperation with the author. Volumes edited posthumously include the Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa, Mindfulness in Action, and The Future Is Open. Carolyn’s writing is published in Lion’s Roar, Mindful Magazine, Buddhadharma, The Best of Buddhist Writing, and other publications. Carolyn is a teacher of meditation and Buddhism. Her current focus is both preserving the legacy of Chogyam Trungpa and also supporting and learning from young leaders and teachers inspired by his work.
Prof Lee Worley:
Title: Chögyam Trungpa and Artistic Process: Space is Solid, You are Empty,
Description: When Chögyam Trungpa came to the west our idea of space was pretty much that it was the empty area between things. Things were solid and space was empty. Turning this idea on its head, giving space the significance that modern science is discovering, introduced us to the fundamentals of Tibetan Buddhism without religious dogma. Trungpa saw artistic process as a way to experientially communicate the fullness and emptiness of space. A Master of visual and performing arts, he created opportunities to discover space as both element and homeland.
Bio: Lee Worley, M.A. is a founding faculty member and Professor Emerita of both Performance and Contemplative Education from Naropa University. Prior to her career at Naropa she was a founding member, actress and director in Joseph Chaikin’s Open Theater of New York. Under the guidance of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, she began studying Mudra Space Awareness in 1975 and is one of a handful of authorized Mudra teachers. This work formed the basis of her Contemplative Performance training method. A practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism, she currently teaches in the Buddhist sangha of Nalandabodhi directed by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. She has authored two books: Coming From Nothing: the Sacred Art of Acting and Teaching Presence: Field Notes for Players.
Judy Lief:
Title: Back to Square One: Sitting Meditation, Foundational Teachings, and Leading a Dharmic Life.
Description: Trungpa Rinpoche’s emphasis on the importance of shamatha or mindfulness training for his students and the unique way in which he presented it. His relationship with Suzuki Roshi and the influence of Zen forms. How he trained senior students at Vajradhatu Seminaries structured on the three stages of the Tibetan Buddhist path.
Bio: I have been studying, practicing, and teaching in the tradition of Chögyam Trungpa for over 50 years, and I have edited several of his works, including the three-volume Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. My weekly podcast, Dharma Glimpses, is followed in over ten countries. I helped found and have served as head teacher for over ten years in the annual nine-day Profound Treasury Retreats held in Maine and in Colorado.
Prof Mitchell Levy, MD:
Description: Using lessons from mindfulness to deliver bad news in clinical practice. This session will discuss lessons learned on teaching palliative care/communication skills to Internal Medicine residents. Participants will explore how aspects of the practice of meditation can help to develop deep communication skills necessary for working with patients and families facing death. The program is designed to bring together a wide variety of participants--including physicians, other care-givers, and laypeople—who are actively involved or concerned with end-of-life situations and decision-making.
Bio: Mitchell Levy, MD is Professor of Medicine at Warren Alpert medical school at Brown University and Systemwide Director for Critical Care at Brown University Health system. Dr. Levy was former Chief, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine for the Department of Medicine. He is also a senior teacher, in the Shambhala Buddhist Tradition. He was the personal physician to Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a well-known Tibetan Buddhist teacher who was one of the major figures in establishing Buddhism in the West. Dr. Levy carries on a key aspect of Chogyam Trungpa’s work, drawing upon the Buddhist tradition to improve and deepen the communication skills of medical professionals. He was also an early advocate of hospice care.
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Donation:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are having a difficulty paying by Paypal, then you can pay by bank transfer instead.
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Here are the bank transfer details:
Account Name: Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Bank Address: Edinburgh Royal Mile Branch
Account Number: 06131159
Sort Code: 802000
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The IBAN number:
GB70 BOFS 8020 0006 1311 59
BIC:
BOFSGB21168