The Abhidharma is a collection of Buddhist scriptures that investigates the workings of the mind and the states of human consciousness. In this book Chogyam Trungpa dicussses the development of ego as it is explained in the Abhidharma.
From the Buddhist perspective, the creation of ego is a neurotic process based on fundamental ignorance of our true situation. This book shows how an examination of the formation of ego leads to a realization of confusion and also provides an opportunity to develop real intelligence. The practice of meditation is represented as the means that enables us to see our psychological situation clearly and directly.
Glimpses of Abhidharma is a provocative interpretation of ego and psychology, presented in a highly personal and humanistic context.

Glimpses of Abhidharma, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, 117 pages, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, $15.95

Trungpa was born in Eastern Tibet and recognized as an incarnation of the Trungpa line at an early date. He studied with, among others, one of the reincarnations of the Jamgyon Kongtrul who wrote the most famous commentary on the Seven Points. In 1959 he fled to India in the wake of the Communist takeover in Tibet, courageously leading many of his people to safety (this period is described in his book Born in Tibet.) He came to England in the mid-sixties to study at Oxford, learned English, started to teach, and started one of the first Tibetan Buddhist centers in the West. He later dropped his monastic vows, married, and moved to America where he continued his teaching. He founded the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, a large and highly respected Buddhist university, as well as the Shambhala organization. The influence of both his teaching and his books on American Buddhism was and still is enormous.