1. Arrival in India, 1960.
On January 17, 1960, Trungpa Rinpoche and the fortunate remaining members of a once much larger group arrived at a border crossing between Tibet and India after a harrowing nine-month ordeal. Rinpoche was exhausted by the difficulty of the journey but undaunted by the new world he had entered. As he later wrote, he “was filled with fascination and inquisitiveness” * teaching other young Tibetan lamas, learning English, traveling, meeting political and spiritual leaders and Westerners for the first time.
2. Oxford University, England, 1963
With the help of Freda Bedi and John Driver, English friends he met in India, Rinpoche received a scholarship to Oxford University, sailing to England on “an exciting journey made eve n more so by being completely surrounded by Westerners.” At Oxford, he studied comparative religion, philosophy, and fine arts, including the arts of Japan, in particular ikebana. He also came to understand that the West, rather than being a stark modern realm “turned out to have its own dignified culture,” which he began to appreciate.
3. Samye Ling, Scotland, 1965
For Rinpoche there was a sense of “dissatisfaction” in not being able to fully “teach and… spread the Dharma.” In 1965, the founder of a Buddhist contemplative center in southern Scotland proposed turning the direction of the centre over to Rinpoche and Akong Tulku, a fellow lama and good friend from Tibet. They gladly accepted and started Rinpoche’s first dharma center in the West, Samye Ling Meditation Center near Dumfries.
4. Born In Tibet, first major publication, England, 1966
While at Oxford, Rinpoche began detailing his experience being raised and trained in Tibet as a tulku. “With the great help and inspiration of Esme Cramer Roberts,” the remarkable story of his life from birth to his escape from Tibet at the age of 19 was told in great breadth, detail, and modesty and published as Born In Tibet in 1966. Rinpoche went on to publish numerous significant and widely read books largely based on talks he had given. Among these books are Meditation in Action, Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, Myth of Freedom, and Shambhala, Sacred Path of the Warrior.
5.Sadhana of Mahamudra, Bhutan, 1968
In 1968 Rinpoche was invited by the Royal Family of Bhutan to visit Bhutan. During this visit, he spent ten days in the cave of Taktsang, where Padmasambhava manifested in wrathful form to subdue evil spirits in Tibet. While there, he had “a jolting experience of the need to develop more openness and greater energy in order to propagate dharma in the West.” In a significant turning point in his life, and in order “to exorcise materialism,” he spontaneously wrote the Sadhana of Mahamudra, which was later recognized by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche as terma, or visionary writing.
6. Marriage to Diana Pybus, Scotland, 1970
Returning to England, by 1969 Rinpoche felt he could no longer “hide behind the robes of a monk” and needed to “throw [himself] completely into proclaiming dharma to the Western world, uprooting spiritual materialism and develop further compassion and affection.” He soon decided to marry Diana Pybus, “a very devoted Buddhist who inspired [him] in his work,” in order to “provide a united front in devoting ourselves to the cause of Buddhadharma.” The wedding was in Edinburgh in early 1970 and, along with his removing robes and a new, at times unorthodox teaching style, created controversy within the English sangha.
7. Tail of the Tiger/Karma Dzong, North America, 1970
In 1970, Rinpoche felt that there was greater potential for “genuine Buddhism” in North America than in the U.K. At the invitation of students there, and with great ambition, he and Diana moved, establishing Tail of the Tiger (now Karme Chöling) in Vermont and Karma Dzong in Colorado. He found the students in America “undisciplined,” but with “genuine possibilities for receiving the dharma.” He also later noted, “one of my principal intents was to develop a Buddhist culture, one which would transcend the cultural characteristics of particular nationalities.” He soon began traveling and teaching widely, attracting many students.
8. First Vajradhatu Seminary, Wyoming, 1973
By 1973, Rinpoche felt a need to offer his students “more advanced training in the tradition of Jamgön Kongtrul the Great and the Kagyu contemplative order. A situation was needed in which a systematic and thorough presentation of the dharma could be made. [He] initiated the annual Vajradhatu Seminary, a three-month intensive practice and study retreat for mature students,” which he continued to teach until 1986.