[OceanofDharma] Teaching Concerns Actual Experience

[cgimian at suchns.com]

Ocean of Dharma Quotes of the Week

October 21, 2006

TEACHING CONCERNS ACTUAL EXPERIENCE


I decided to give up the robe, which I feel stood as a subtle obstacle to the formulation of my teaching in the West. The monk's robe confused many as a glorious image of spirituality. However, my teaching concerns actual experience. I don't feel that I need to hide behind something, though some people are critical of me for coming out and showing myself as a human being....But my role is a far deeper one than a mere cultural mission, a representative of the East to the West. I am not Tibetan but Human  and my mission is to teach others as effectively as I can in this world in which I find myself.

>From a letter by Chogyam Trungpa written in 1970. The excerpts appear in DRAGON THUNDER: MY LIFE WITH CHOGYAM TRUNGPA. This excerpt was read by Diana J. Mukpo in her keynote address at the OCEAN OF DHARMA conference at Naropa University, now ongoing. To hear the speech, go to www.chroniclesproject.com. For a blog about the DRAGON THUNDER tour and Naropa conference by Carolyn Gimian, go to ChogyamTrungpa.com

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is used by permission of Diana J. Mukpo.