This compelling collection of essays, talks, and seminars by Chogyam Trungpa presents the basic teachings of Buddhism as they relate to everyday life. This book is divided into three parts. In " Personal Journey," the author discusses the qualities of openness, inquisitiveness, and good humor that characterize the enlightened Buddha - nature in everyone. In "Stages on the Path,"he presents the three vehicles - Hinayana,Mahayana, and Vajrayana - that carry the Buddhist practitioner toward enlightenment.


The Heart of the Buddha, Chogyam Trungpa, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 259 pages, $19.95

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.