Many of us, without even realizing it, are dominated by fear. We might be aware of some of our fears—perhaps we are afraid of public speaking, of financial hardship, or of losing a loved one. Chögyam Trungpa shows us that most of us suffer from a far more pervasive fearfulness: fear of ourselves. We feel ashamed and embarrassed to look at our feelings or acknowledge our styles of thinking and acting; we don’t want to face the reality of our moment-to-moment experience. It is this fear that keeps us trapped in cycles of suffering, despair, and distress.
Chögyam Trungpa offers us a vision of moving beyond fear to discover the innate bravery, trust, and delight in life that lies at the core of our being. Drawing on the Shambhala Buddhist teachings, he explains how we can each become a spiritual warrior: a person who faces each moment of life with openness and fearlessness. “The ultimate definition of bravery is not being afraid of who you are,” writes Chögyam Trungpa. In this book he offers the insights and strategies to claim victory over fear.
Profound and Wonderful This is really the third in a series of what I would consider essential teachings from one of the most important Buddhist teachers of our time. It follows “Shambhala, Sacred Path of the Warrior” and “Great Eastern Sun.” I love reading this before I sit for meditation in the morning. I salute Carolyn Rose Gimian for a loving and elegant job editing these talks.In case you have any doubts, this is no little book of “left-overs” that are being put out long after Trungpa’s death. This is the “real deal.” I find these teachings–arranged in bite sized chapters–to be profound and literally enlightening. The material not only covers diving into your fears or being present with them rather than recoiling; but more importantly to me, it explains how to shine with the unconditional fearless, doubtless awareness that fuels the confidence and joy of Windhorse energy.This pithy little book is surprisingly powerful–at least it is to me. I recommend it very highly, especially to anyone who has found resonance with the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa, Pema Chodron or Sakyong Mipham.Very rich and rewarding indeed!
Being Fearless in a Scary World We live in an age of easy access to information about virtually anything; that’s a double edged sword. Sometimes, what we don’t know won’t scare us; when we find out about every little thing that could pose a threat to our well being, we have a tendency to worry; and when we worry, we’re not living life to its fullest potential.The late Chogyam Trungpa (1940-1987) understood how fear can hold us back, and his writings from over two decades ago are particularly helpful for guiding us through the scary world of 21st century realities.His simple strategy relied on looking objectively at ourselves and meeting every possible challenge to our sense of safety and security head on; instead of running away from our fears, we assertively address them, and they become minimalized. By mastering this ability, we discover the “way of the warrior”; our true heart of bravery is awakened, and suddenly that big presentation you were dreading in front of all those people doesn’t seem like such a big deal, after all.Trungpa’s sage advice is particularly valuable in dealing with today’s modern problems—from a struggling economy, to unstable world affairs, to trying to avoid the swine flu. Personally, the latter never crosses my mind, until I see another story about it as a trending topic on Twitter. Still, I think I’ll manage to avoid its devastation, perhaps forever. We’ll see.In the meantime, for readers of this book, you’ll come away with a better understanding that life’s not so challenging after all; especially if we keep smiling (or even laughing) in the face of fear.