The Collected Tibetan Works
of the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa
Rinpoche (2002)
The Collected Tibetan
Works (sung bum) of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
When Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche returned from his
first journey to Tibet in the summer of 2001, he
brought with him a very precious collection of texts
written or discovered (in the case of terma, or
"treasure" texts) by his father, the Vidyadhara
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. We had never seen most
of these, nor did we even know of their existence.
Karma Senge Rinpoche, a nephew of the Vidyadhara,
spent fifteen years searching the regions traveled
by the Vidyadhara for any texts, even scraps of
paper, authored by him.
On June 20, 2001, the Sakyong and his party journeyed
to Dorje Khyung Dzong, the retreat center of Surmang
Dütsi
Tel, over a thousand feet above the monastery, perched
on a hundred-foot cliff built around a Chakrasamvara
cave. At the time, there were eight retreatants
there, all yogins with long hair. After a formal
welcoming ceremony, Karseng Rinpoche described how
he had collected these texts, and he gave a reading
transmission of Light Rays of the Sun and Moon,
the autobiographical doha that we translated and
published in time for the stupa consecration in
2001. This was the first reading transmission of
the text, and Karseng Rinpoche was moved to tears
a number a number of times while giving the transmission.
The assembled party listened in silence as he was
overtaken by strong emotion while reading the Vidyadhara's
own account of the precious time he spent with his
teachers.
Karseng Rinpoche is having all of the texts he
collected recopied into a single volume that will
number about 380 pages when it is complete. While
in Tibet, he gave a copy of what had been completed
to Mipham Rinpoche, totaling 309 pages, all written
in the u-me, or "headless" script.
We have cataloged the contents, and with the help
of Lama Chönam and Lama Karma Phüntsok,
have begun to prioritize the rather lengthy project
of translation. There are twenty-five texts plus
a table of contents—an interesting document
in its own right. Not only does it detail the titles
and length of each text but it also gives a brief
history of some of the terma revealed by the Vidyadhara
in Tibet—the circumstances and particulars
of its discovery and so forth.
 Lama
Chönam advised us to continue our translation
of the collection with a text called The Sun
of Wisdom, Which Dispels the Darkness of the Barbarians:
The Condensed Meaning of the Effortless Yana, the
King of All Oral Instructions. This contains
a more detailed account of Khenpo Gangshar teaching
Trungpa Rinpoche, and so we hope it will become
a companion volume to the doha. It's a bit longer
and written somewhat like a sutra, beginning with
"Thus have I heard." The Vidyadhara recounts
the particulars of being with his teacher, Khenpo
Gangshar, the khenpo's consort, Chi-me Palmo, as
well as other close students. We are working on
a translation of this with the learned assistance
of Thrangu Rinpoche and Geshe Samdup.
Other texts in this volume include short sadhanas
and supplications, guru yoga practices, feast liturgies,
a fulfillment offering, songs, poems, and collected
oral instructions and advice on meditation. Obviously,
we have our work cut out for us, and it has been
very inspiring to be able to read and translate
such precious and previously unknown teachings from
our root guru. We hope we will be able to meet Karseng
Rinpoche sometime in the near future, learn more
about these works, and receive the rest of this
collection.
Text
from
The Sun of Wisdom,
Which Dispels the Darkness of the Barbarian
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