The Path is the Goal A Basic Handbook of Buddhsit Meditation

Dharma Ocean

by Chögyam Trungpa

According to the Buddha, no one can attain basic sanity or enlightenment without practicing meditation. The teachings given here on the outlook and technique of meditation proide the foundation that every practitioner needs to awaken as the Buddha did. Trungpa teaches us to let go of the urge to make meditation serve our ambition; thus we can relax into openness. We are shown how the deliberate practice of mindfulness develops into uncontrived awareness, and we discover the world of insight that awareness reveals. We learn of a subtle psychological stage set that we carry with us everywhere and unwittingly use to structure all our experience - and we find that meditation gradually carries us beyond this and beyond ego altogether to the experience of undonditioned freedeom.

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, Audiobook, Meditation

179 pages

First published April 18, 1995

About the author

Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (Tibetan: ཆོས་ རྒྱམ་ དྲུང་པ་ Wylie: Chos rgyam Drung pa; also known as Dorje Dradul of Mukpo, Surmang Trungpa, after his monastery, or Chökyi Gyatso, of which Chögyam is an abbreviation) was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar, teacher, poet, and artist. He was the 11th descendent in the line of Trungpa tulkus of the Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was also trained in the Nyingma tradition, the oldest of the four schools, and was an adherent of the rimay or "non-sectarian" movement within Tibetan Buddhism, which aspired to bring together and make available all the valuable teachings of the different schools, free of sectarian rivalry.

Trungpa was a significant figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Naropa University and establishing the Shambhala Training method, a presentation of the Buddhadharma largely devoid of ethnic trappings. In 1963, he moved to England to study comparative religion, philosophy, and fine arts at Oxford University. During this time, he also studied Japanese flower arranging and received an instructors degree from the Sogetsu school of ikebana. In 1967, he moved to Scotland, where he founded the Samye Ling meditation centre.

Shortly thereafter, a variety of experiences—including a car accident that left him partially paralyzed on the left side of his body—led him to give up his monastic vows and work as a lay teacher. In 1969, he published Meditation in Action , the first of fourteen books on the spiritual path published during his lifetime. The following year he married Diana Pybus and moved to the United States, where he established his first North American meditation centre, Tail of the Tiger (now known as Karmê-Chöling) in Barnet, Vermont.

In 1986, he moved to Nova Scotia, Canada, where hundreds of his students had settled. That Autumn, after years of heavy alcohol use, he had a cardiac arrest, and he died of heart failure the following Spring. His legacy is carried on by his son, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, under the banner of Shambhala International and the Nalanda Translation Committee.

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spiritual materialism is using spiritual practices as a means to achieve egoistic ambitions. The way through this is by sacrificing ego’s sense of self. Mindfulness is about precision and simplicity. Awareness embraces the totality. Awareness is in opposition to ego, because there’s no particular object ever existing in awareness. Emotions are our primary reactions and following thoughts about emotions are secondary. The former is externally out of grasp and the latter determines internal nature. The thoughts following an emotion determine the characteristics of its experience. Discipline and patience are necessary to cultivate selfless action, without intentions of loss and gain. Concentration is about becoming one with an action. Mindfulness is about awareness of the totality in relation to one’s point of reference. Attempts to gain or achieve an external something are the first steps towards self-suffering. The basic point is to be precisely one-pointed, direct and without judgement or aim in mind. Use areas of resistance as starting points for practice. Much of the suffering we experience is rooted in inaccurate definitions we hold on to in our minds. Avoidance is always problematic, because avoidances are sourced in the ground of ego. Through selflessness and egolessness we feel more interconnected with the world and more in touch with the world of emotions, and the ties of sympathy and empathy that bound all things together.

[Mark Robison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This contains transcripts of two talks and Q&As from 1974. I'd put it at intermediate-level Buddhism/meditation. It's my first book by the author, and I really liked it — although I got much more out of the first talk than the second.

One idea from the book was especially helpful for my own journey. He explains that simple meditation with no goal is so useful because over time, it will crack the ego's shell. Your ego gets bored and tries to hijack meditation with mindless thoughts and stories about what you really ought to be doing. But if you stick with it, the ego cracks and you can finally see — as Ram Dass describes it — the product instead of the packaging.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book for its profound and pragmatic description of the meditation technique, as well as for it's good-natured insight into both the neurotic and wise aspects of mind. One of my favorites by Chogyam Trungpa.

[Jyotsna · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are someone who is just starting out with meditation or trying to get into spirituality, then this is the best no-nonsense book out there that will help you understand more on both, meditation and mindfulness.

This is a beginners guide to understanding Buddhist meditation.

It also covers some good concepts about breath-work and the concept of existence.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The language is rather straightforward, but this does not mean the philosophy of mind and meditation described is easier to understand - but it gets you closer. Some of the language is dated given the author sometimes uses the vernacular popular during the 1970s (the book is basically a transcript of Q&A periods between students and Trungpa during two retreats). He is sometimes rather funny comparing our mind to that of a dog exploring the world by sniffing everything he sees and smells (though he admits that dogs are more generous than our minds in terms of acceptance and aversion). He also introduces some concepts I had not encountered before in other discussions of meditation, particularly that of the experience, so to speak, of boredom.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

A transcription of lectures and Q&A with his students from a seminar about Buddhist meditation. It was interesting to hear Trungpa's responses to student questions but there are better books out there for learning this subject [including others by this author]. Probably of most interest to Trungpa fans and scholars.

[Jim Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really think this is the ideal book for the beginning mediator despite the subtitle. The book is a compilation of lectures each of which is followed by a question and answer session.

For most of the lectures I found the questions and answers to be as helpful, if not more helpful than the actual lectures.

[Radim Sandr · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a tough read! I would have to read this carefully and repeatedly at least 10 times in order to grasp the very basic ideas of the book, haha. I enjoyed it and it definitely offered a lot of interesting and comprehensive insight, but it was a bit too philosophical for me to fully grasp and get the most out of it. But I now feel an urge to seek a meditation coach!

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned some good things from this book but I just don't think a book on meditation should be this stressful.

[BookChampions · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I will probably never afford to attend a Buddhist retreat with a great Buddhist teacher like Chögyam Trungpa, I am grateful for reading this book, which is basically the transcript of such a retreat, complete with the questions asked him from his students and his thoughtful--and sometimes playful--answers. Although not as complete as other works from Trungpa, The Path Is the Goal is going to get my butt back on the mat where is belongs after a long time away.

[Renate Eveline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of lectures on meditation and how this cornerstone practice can develop into awareness, insight, and openness. Trungpa warns against using meditation to obtain specific goals or ambitions. Generally a good book, though I would have liked a more practical and less theoretical /  esoterical tone better.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book, this author, all very helpful. it seems that almost everything Chogyam trungpa did put into words things that were in my mind but i could not form the words. if you want a good no nonsense intro in meditation than this book is it.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is both a personal guide and a historical treasure for establishing critical East-meets-West context to span (and spawn) the development of many different fields of cultural, philosophical and contemplative study in America.

[Mina · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'auteur présente une possibilité. Libre a nous de l'explorer. En tout cas je suis convaincue et j'ai envie de tester. Pas de glamour dans ce libre et ça fait du bien. Non l'éveil ne fait pas maigrir et ne rend pas les cheveux doux et brillants. Oui la méditation c'est difficile et desagreable...

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not an easy read. It is laid out as a transcription of a series of lectures given by Chögyam Trungpa, so it appears to be true to his quirky style of speaking and thinking, but in reading it there were quite a few sections I couldn't quite get my head around, or which never came to any conclusion. This is probably quite natural in a lecture-style environment, but it was rather strange as a book.

At the end of each lecture was a transcription of questions and answers from the audience. While I at least gained some knowledge from the main body of the talks, most of these lost me entirely as I couldn't figure out the meaning or inflection of many of the questions and therefore the answers just didn't make sense. I envied the people who had been there at the time as I suspect it would have been a far deeper experience.

Nevertheless, I did get a few very important take-aways from his lectures, and perhaps deepened my understanding of Buddhist philosophy and meditation practice somewhat. But without at least some prior grounding, I think this book would be utterly mystifying.

[Ryoko Kleiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this talk in book form. It was interesting to hear the man who brought this form of enlightenment philosophy to the US talk. His mode of explaining was easy to understand and a bit refreshing. Coming from Ram Dass, it felt very digestible. From the cursory research I did, it seems like Ram Dass knew Trungpa which might explain why both texts are easy to take in. My only grip would be that it often felt like the "arguing" or "discussion" sections were acted and because of this, it felt like it undid some of the explanations in the chapter prior to the discussion section. Trunpa would explain something very simply and then contort it when a "student" asked for the meaning of something. It was very strange. The book was supposed to be the antithesis of all the guru talk in the 70s that made everything into a riddle but then in the discussion following all the chapters, he would do the riddle nonesense. I just dont know how to feel about it.

[Faye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm glad I finally read this book. I've had it for 10+ years.
There were some gems, like 25%/25%/25%/25% wile meditating, breath, relax, make friends with oneself, open mind to something happening. The Star of Bethlehem. Just Do it, like buying gloves. The mind split Ego vs other and emotions/feelings/thoughts. Student must do the work. You can only go as far as the garage, it can't drive you into the bedroom, you have to walk in, take off your clothes, and go to bed yourself. Everyone is on their own path.

It totally lose me when it got to the full cup of water is emptiness, loneliness = love, and the desired tingle of joy you feel is not a happy one.

I wonder if there is something lost in translation with Asian interpretation of the English language. But eh, maybe just me.

[Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another no nonsense guide to Buddhist practice from Chogyam Trungpa. Though his personal life leaves you wondering just how much of this teaching he put into practice, he still doesn’t come off as a hypocrite. His humanity and vulgarity is as apparent in his teaching as it was in his life and it’s hard to not find the whole enterprise enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed his emphasis on the fact that even the path toward enlightenment could be boring at times. He’s far from a conventional spiritual guru, but I see myself returning to his ideas regularly as a refreshing taste of someone who lived life both hedonistically and spiritually. Most of the time, that’d leave a bad taste in my mouth, but with Trungpa, it just makes him all the more amiable and relatable.

[Stevie Ada · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complete focus on meditation and the ways that we can be meditating. One new take away for me is that in English "meditation" is a verb - it is a state that we step into. In its original Buddhist intention the word "meditation" acts as a noun. It is a state of being. It is just something we are or can be. This provides me a renewed insight into ways I can continue to access the tools necessary to be more aware and mindful in every action I take.

[Danica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Please note: I listened to this book on Audible.

The narrator did a fine job and had an appropriately soothing voice.

However, the format of the book was essentially a question and answer session in a classroom. Yes, some questions are thoughtful and profound, but the content of this book is only as good as the Q&A session (and there are always foolish people and impossible answers). As a newer follower to Buddhism, I did not think this was a useful contribution to my journey.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great lectures with practical advice on how to approach “meditation”- such a loaded word these days. Trungpa describes what it is and what it is not, where we can get side tracked and trip urselves up or trip out. He describes the full boredom of meditation and intentionally moves away from any kind of gimmick or promise of relief, happiness, enlightenment, etc.

[B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is super deep. I would not recommend for the casual seeker of Buddhist knowledge-I am currently studying and practicing mediation daily and much of it was over my head. This is Buddhism lvl. 1000. I will one day revisit these lectures once I have spent more time in meditation and study. That said, Chogyam Trungpa was a genius.

[Wendy]

A lot of riddles in this bad boy. Gonna take another go around for me to fully engage. Doesn’t give “handbook” vibes one bit. Heard lots for quotes and references but never read - still not sure how much I can absorb from his almost arrogant responses. Makes me tense and guilty. Probably doing a bit of what it set out to do then..

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting look at Buddhist meditation, mostly Tibetan. These are lectures that Trungpa gave to students in the U.S., and the informal, conversational tone really helps. Some of the best parts of the lectures are students' questions and Trungpa's responses.

[pierre bovington · Rating 3 out of 5]

My fault. I didn't read " it does what it says on the tin"
I expected an introduction, it was in seminar style with students asking questions.
Happy to read up on the Buddhist religion, so if anyone out there can recommend books I will be grateful.

[Plipplopp · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got kinda annoyed at the question/answer parts when he tended to respond "it's very simple..." If iit were so simple he wouldn't have gotten so many questions about it O.o

That's a me problem, I need to work on finding books that fit my needs.
2/5 not for me.

[Les Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Pasa wa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enlightening; this is the perfect introduction for a Buddhist who is interested in meditation

[Fabiano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book if you are not looking for something inspirational, it is most technical.

[Cath Gielnik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, but not particulary for me.