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Top 42 Chögyam Trungpa Quotes (WISDOM)

Top 12 Most Famous Chögyam Trungpa Quotes (BEST)

“If we can accept our imperfections as they are, quite ordinarily, then we can use them as part of the path. But if we try to get rid of our imperfections, then they will be enemies, obstacles on the road to our ‘self-improvement.’”

Chögyam Trungpa
A great deal of the chaos in the world occurs because people don't appreciate themselves.Pin
A great deal of the chaos in the world occurs because people don’t appreciate themselves.
Enlightenment is ego's ultimate disappointment.Pin
Enlightenment is ego’s ultimate disappointment.
The essence of warriorship, or the essence of human bravery, is refusing to give up on anyone or anything.Pin
The essence of warriorship, or the essence of human bravery, is refusing to give up on anyone or anything.
To be a spiritual warrior, one must have a broken heart; without a broken heart and the sense of tenderness and vulnerability, your warriorship is untrustworthy.Pin
To be a spiritual warrior, one must have a broken heart; without a broken heart and the sense of tenderness and vulnerability, your warriorship is untrustworthy.
The bad news is you're falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is, there's no ground.Pin
The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is, there’s no ground.
It is of utmost importance to realize that the warrior’s approach should be simple-minded sometimes, very simple and straightforward.Pin
It is of utmost importance to realize that the warrior’s approach should be simple-minded sometimes, very simple and straightforward.
The ideal of warriorship is that the warrior should be sad and tender, and because of that, the warrior can be very brave as well.Pin
The ideal of warriorship is that the warrior should be sad and tender, and because of that, the warrior can be very brave as well.
Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness.Pin
Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness.
We must begin our practice by walking the narrow path of simplicity, the hinayana path, before we can walk upon the open highway of compassionate action, the mahayana path.Pin
We must begin our practice by walking the narrow path of simplicity, the hinayana path, before we can walk upon the open highway of compassionate action, the mahayana path.
The complexities of life situations are really not as complicated as we tend to experience them.Pin
The complexities of life situations are really not as complicated as we tend to experience them.
If you must begin then go all the way, because if you begin and quit, the unfinished business you have left behind begins to haunt you all the time.Pin
If you must begin then go all the way, because if you begin and quit, the unfinished business you have left behind begins to haunt you all the time.

18 Inspirational Chögyam Trungpa Quotes About Life (WISDOM)

“We do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly enlightened or peaceful or intelligent. Nevertheless, we have soil good enough to cultivate; we can plant anything in it.”

Chögyam Trungpa
Walking the spiritual path properly is a very subtle process; it is not something to jump into naively.Pin
Walking the spiritual path properly is a very subtle process; it is not something to jump into naively.
Becoming awake involves seeing our confusion more clearly.Pin
Becoming “awake” involves seeing our confusion more clearly.
We are always in transition. If you can just relax with that, you'll have no problem.Pin
We are always in transition. If you can just relax with that, you’ll have no problem.
Enlightenment is permanent because we have not produced it; we have merely discovered it.Pin
Enlightenment is permanent because we have not produced it; we have merely discovered it.
Sanity lies somewhere between the inhibitions of conventional morality and the looseness of the extreme impulse.Pin
Sanity lies somewhere between the inhibitions of conventional morality and the looseness of the extreme impulse.
Meditation practice is a way of making friends with ourselves. Whether we are worthy or unworthy, that's not the point.Pin
Meditation practice is a way of making friends with ourselves. Whether we are worthy or unworthy, that’s not the point.
Talking non-thinker, thinking non-talker.Pin
Talking non-thinker, thinking non-talker.
When you express gentleness and precision in your environment then real brilliance and power can descend into that situation.Pin
When you express gentleness and precision in your environment then real brilliance and power can descend into that situation.

“We cannot change the way the world is, but by opening ourselves to the world as it is, we may find that gentleness, decency and bravery are available – not only to us, but to all human beings.”

Chögyam Trungpa
Ultimately, that is the definition of bravery not being afraid of yourself.Pin
Ultimately, that is the definition of bravery: not being afraid of yourself.
We have to face our fear; we have to look at it, study it, work with it, and practice meditation with it.Pin
We have to face our fear; we have to look at it, study it, work with it, and practice meditation with it.
Hold the sadness and pain of samsara in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun. Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea.Pin
Hold the sadness and pain of samsara in your heart and at the same time the power and vision of the Great Eastern Sun. Then the warrior can make a proper cup of tea.
As long as a person is involved with warfare, trying to defend or attack, then his action is not sacred; it is mundane, dualistic, a battlefield situation.Pin
As long as a person is involved with warfare, trying to defend or attack, then his action is not sacred; it is mundane, dualistic, a battlefield situation.
Everyone loves something, even if it's only tortillas.Pin
Everyone loves something, even if it’s only tortillas.
Compassion is not having any hesitation to reflect your light on things.Pin
Compassion is not having any hesitation to reflect your light on things.
So let the phenomena play. Let the phenomena make fools of themselves by themselves. This is the approach.Pin
So let the phenomena play. Let the phenomena make fools of themselves by themselves. This is the approach.
Too often, people think that solving the world’s problems is based on conquering the earth, rather than touching the earth, touching ground.Pin
Too often, people think that solving the world’s problems is based on conquering the earth, rather than touching the earth, touching ground.

12 Chögyam Trungpa Quotes About Mindfulness (SPIRITUAL)

Mindfulness does not mean pushing oneself toward something or hanging on to something. It means allowing oneself to be there in the very moment of what is happening in the living process – and then letting go.”

Chögyam Trungpa
As in music, when we hear the crescendo building, suddenly if the music stops, we begin to hear the silence as part of the music.Pin
As in music, when we hear the crescendo building, suddenly if the music stops, we begin to hear the silence as part of the music.
In the garden of gentle sanity, may you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness.Pin
In the garden of gentle sanity, may you be bombarded by coconuts of wakefulness.
No matter what the practice or teaching, ego loves to wait in ambush to appropriate spirituality for its own survival and gain.Pin
No matter what the practice or teaching, ego loves to wait in ambush to appropriate spirituality for its own survival and gain.
Delight in itself is the approach of sanity. Delight is to open our eyes to the reality of the situation rather than siding with this or that point of view.Pin
Delight in itself is the approach of sanity. Delight is to open our eyes to the reality of the situation rather than siding with this or that point of view.
It's easier to put on a pair of shoes than to wrap the earth in leather.Pin
It’s easier to put on a pair of shoes than to wrap the earth in leather.
To be a warrior is to learn to be genuine in every moment of your life.Pin
To be a warrior is to learn to be genuine in every moment of your life.
There are times to cultivate and create, when you nurture your world and give birth to new ideas and ventures.Pin
There are times to cultivate and create, when you nurture your world and give birth to new ideas and ventures.
That combination of love affair and loneliness is what enables the warrior to constantly reach out to help others.Pin
That combination of love affair and loneliness is what enables the warrior to constantly reach out to help others.
By renouncing his private world, the warrior discovers a greater universe and a fuller and fuller broken heart. This is not something to feel bad about; it is a cause for rejoicing.Pin
By renouncing his private world, the warrior discovers a greater universe and a fuller and fuller broken heart. This is not something to feel bad about; it is a cause for rejoicing.
The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there’s no ground.Pin
The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there’s no ground.

“When you relate to thoughts obsessively, you are actually feeding them because thoughts need your attention to survive. Once you begin to pay attention to them and categorize them, then they become very powerful.”

Chögyam Trungpa
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Chögyam Trungpa Short Biography

Born in February 1940 in Kahm, Tibet, Chögyam Trungpa also known as Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, was a meditation guru and Tibetan Buddhist. 

Trungpa fled Tibet in 1959, he ended up in London, where he studied at the University of Oxford. In 1970 Trungpa moved to the United States and founded the Tail of the Tiger meditation center, it is now known as Karmê Chöling.

Trungpa was known as one of the first teachers to introduce Vajrayana to Westerners.

A year later, Trungpa moved to Colorado and established the Vajradhatu International. Trungpa was able to successfully translate Buddhism in a way that Westerns would be able to understand.

Some of Trungpa’s followers would refer to him as a “tulku”, or what is believed to be a reincarnation of Kunga Gyaltsen, a 14th century Tibetan guru.

Trungpa’s Shambhala International now has 100 centers all across North America and Europe.

Further Reading:

Here are the best Chögyam Trungpa quotes so you can learn the art of making the right choices and cultivating kindness.

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Top Chögyam Trungpa Quotes (WISDOM) - Gracious QuotesPin
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