Chogyam Trungpa: Buddhist Master ...
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Chogyam Trungpa: Buddhist Master and His Dark Legacy
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Episode notes

Chogyam Trungpa helped bring Tibetan Buddhism to the West, founding Naropa University and the secular Shambhala Training that shaped modern mindfulness. He was also a figure of profound and troubling controversy.

This episode traces his life from a Himalayan monastery and a harrowing nine-month escape from Tibet to Boulder, Colorado, where the loss of institutional guardrails produced a legacy permanently scarred by abuse.

  • Recognized as the 11th reincarnation of a major spiritual lineage
  • The 1959 flight from Tibet leading roughly 300 refugees to India
  • Disrobing after a 1969 car crash into an English joke shop
  • Founding Naropa with Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs
  • The 1975 Halloween party and the weaponizing of crazy wisdom