I was raised in the largest community of Buddhists in America, led by the enigmatic and outrageous Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, in Boulder, Colorado.
Escaping Tibet in 1959, Trungpa Rinpoche made his way to America to teach the dharma and surround himself with Western students.
Right after I was born my mother met Trungpa Rinpoche, and four years later, she would join his thriving community in Colorado.
Responsible for introducing meditation to the West, Trungpa Rinpoche was also responsible for his own brand of self-proclaimed crazy wisdom, which included drinking to excess, having sex with his students, and pushing the limits of conventionality.
Growing up in this community, I witnessed the birth of a secret society of dharma practitioners who, with Trungpa Rinpoche’s help, created a deadly environment of sexual predation, classism, and blind assent.
I learned the teachings of the dharma and the actions of dharma students were two very different things.
This is a story about discovering who I really am after a lifetime of living and breathing a spiritual path based on ancient secrets and modern deceptions.
Escaping Tibet in 1959, Trungpa Rinpoche made his way to America to teach the dharma and surround himself with Western students.
Right after I was born my mother met Trungpa Rinpoche, and four years later, she would join his thriving community in Colorado.
Responsible for introducing meditation to the West, Trungpa Rinpoche was also responsible for his own brand of self-proclaimed crazy wisdom, which included drinking to excess, having sex with his students, and pushing the limits of conventionality.
Growing up in this community, I witnessed the birth of a secret society of dharma practitioners who, with Trungpa Rinpoche’s help, created a deadly environment of sexual predation, classism, and blind assent.
I learned the teachings of the dharma and the actions of dharma students were two very different things.
This is a story about discovering who I really am after a lifetime of living and breathing a spiritual path based on ancient secrets and modern deceptions.