Directed by Johanna Demetrakas
When Westerns think of Tibetan Buddhism, usually it’s the Dalai Lama who comes to mind. But in 1959, the same year the Dalai Lama escaped the Communist takeover of Tibet, there was another lama on the run—Chögyam Trungpa.
Trungpa was raised with the traditional teachings of the Kagyu lineage, one of four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. But when he landed in London in the 1970s to study at Oxford University, the monastic robes came off. Trungpa soaked up Western culture like a sponge, completely immersing himself in it. He smoked, drank to excess, took lovers, married a 16-year-old follower and continued to take lovers. He said that living as a westerner would help him to better connect the two cultures. Whatever the truth, it worked.
In Scotland, Trungpa helped establish the first Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the West. He moved to the United States in the 1970s, and legend says he told his students: “Take me to your poets.” He attracted Allen Ginsburg, John Cage and Joni Mitchell, as well as prominent spiritual teachers and intellectuals, such as Pema Chodron, Ram Dass and Robert Thurman, several of whom are interviewed in this film. Trungpa also founded what is now Naropa University, the first accredited Buddhist university in North America, and created the Shambala Meditation Centers that now dot the globe.
Filmmaker Johanna Demetrakas has painted a fascinating portrait of Trungpa by those who knew and loved him most, without trying to make him into a saint or explain him. Her film remains touching, heartfelt and thought-provoking at the same time. And even through some of the grainy older footage, it’s possible to feel his energy, his sense of humor, and that little charismatic, indefinable something else.
Crazy wisdom? Or just crazy? It’s doubtful anyone can answer the question that’s guaranteed to spark continued debate. And that’s probably the way Chögyam Trungpa would want it.
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