Riding on elephantIn August 1989, Rinpoche teaches chapters 1, 2 and 4 of Maitreya's text at Kagyu Ling, Plaige.

During the extensive course in Bodhgaya, November 1989 - March 1990, at the Burmese Vihara, Rinpoche has senior teachers go through chapter one with those students who weren't present in France. In November, Rinpoche explains chapter 5 and 3 to his students aspiring to become translators. After his return from Nepal, he then explains the entire text with alternating English translators. 

For the course in Bodhgaya, you find:

  • a talk on Listening, Reflecting and Meditating, 22 November.
  • a talk on the Ten Types of Dharma Training on the 25th of November
  • a talk on the Ten Fields of Expertise on the 26th of November
  • 6 talks on Chapter 1
  • 6 talks on Chapter 2
  • 16 talks on Chapter 3
  • 5 talks on Chapter 4
  • 12 talks on Chapter 5

In Songs of Realization you also find 2 sessions called Alphabet Poem, a Christmas gift from Rinpoche, and Joyous Reunion Songs, where Rinpoche composed spontaneous verses.

Rinpoche also taught The Thirty-seven Practices of a Bodhisattva.

When His Holiness Dalai Lama visited Bodhgaya, November 1989, Rinpoche led the group in an audience with His Holiness. The recording of this is also posted here.

Tibetan - English, Tibetan only

97 talks, audio

Here, you find the recordings from Rinpoche's very first visit to Karmê Chöling, October 1990.

Rinpoche gives a beautiful teaching at the arrival ceremony, where he, inspired by the layout of the shrine room, speaks about dharmadhatu and how wonderful Trungpa Rinpoche's students are practicing regardless of good times or bad.

Rinpoche then points out the progression of view based on his own spontaneous verses and continues to teach the shentong view based on Maitreya's text, drawing excerpts from chapter 1 and 3.

From the 16th - 23rd October, Rinpoche visits Kagyu Thubten Choling, where Rinpoche continues to teach Maitreya's text.

Tibetan - English

5 & 16 talks, audio

In Munich, November 23-26 1995, Rinpoche offers three talks on Maitreya's text, celebrating the coming German translation of the text. Rinpoche furthermore teaches:

  • Talk 1, Mila: Seven Ways Things Shine Inside and Out
  • Talk 3, Mila: Profound Definitive Meaning Sung on the Snowy Range
  • Talk 5, Classifications of Reasoning
  • Talk 7, How to bring negative conditions onto the path. This talk was given at Munich Shambhala Center.

Tibetan - German

Talk 2,4 and 6, video and audio

At the summer course held at Dechen Choling, France, 25 August - 2 September 2001, called "Laying the Foundation for Vajrayana", Rinpoche teaches:

  • 2 talks on Sakya Chogden's Establishing Two Traditions as One
  • 10 talks on Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena and Pure Being
  • 6 talks on Distinguishing the Middle and the Extremes
  • 5 talks on Nagarjuna's Knowledge Fundamental to the Middle Way
  • 1 talk on In Praise of Dharmadhatu
  • 2 talks on Chandrakirti's Entering the Middle Way

Here, you find 6 talks on Distinguishing the Middle and Extremes. For the remaining talks, please use the course's search box.

Tibetan - English

6 talks, audio

Visiting Karma Chophel Ling, Rodby, Denmark, July 1990, Rinpoche offers 9 beautiful talks on the vipassana section's ten ways of being unmistaken.

Visiting Montreal in 1991, Rinpoche explains shamata's six distractions and vipassana's ten ways of being unmistaken from Maitreya's text, Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes, chapter 5. There are Q/A and guided meditations.

Also, in Albuquerque, July 1991, Rinpoche offers two talks on shamatha and vipassana.

Tibetan / English / French, Tibetan - English

9, 2 and 5 talks, audio

Visiting Kagyu Shenpen Kunchab, Santa Fe, 19-21 July 1991, Rinpoche offers beautiful explanations on the two truths from Chapter 7.2 in the Treasury of Knowledge, and from Maitreya's text, the twelve ways in which the practice of the pāramitāyāna is genuine   སྒྲུབ་ཚུལ་དམ་པ་བཅུ་གཉིས། and, furthermore, on the ten ways of practicing dharma   ཆོས་སྤྱོད་བཅུ།  Rinpoche concludes with a song by the lord of yogis Milarepa, Distinguishing the Provisional in the Context of Mahamudra.

Tibetan - English

2 talks, audio

Visiting Athens, 10 - 18 October 2001, Rinpoche visit three different locations where he offers:

  • 2 talks: Outlining the three yanas. This is a location close to a highway.
  • 1 talk: Reading transmission for chapter 4&5 of Maitreya's Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes and questions and answers.
  • 1 talk: Mind's fundamental power of compassion taught in a Shambhala Center
  • 2 talks: Milarepa's Distinguishing the Provisional from the Definitive in the Context of Mahamudra
  • 3 talks: Singing songs of realization and then asking questions related to each song.

1 talk, audio

Tibetan - English - Greek translation