We are very excited to offer this fireside chat between Khentrul Rinpoche and Judith Simmer-Brown in advance of the Kalachakra Empowerment at Shambhala International. The renowned Kalachakra-tantra, the most detailed of Vajrayana literature, speaks about the degenerate age and the coming Golden Age. The Shambhala teachings, said to be the hidden inner teachings of the Kalachakra, envision an enlightened society imbued with harmony, compassion, and warriorship. What are the Shambhala teachings of the Kalachakra, and how do they relate to the terma lineages and visions of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche?
ABOUT JUDITH-SIMMER BROWN
Judith Simmer-Brown, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Contemplative and Religious Studies Emeritx at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, where she has taught since 1978. As Buddhist practitioner since the early 1970’s, she became a student of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1974, and served as an acharya in Shambhala from 2000-2022. Her books are Dakini’s Warm Breath (Shambhala 2001)and Meditation and the Classroom: Contemplative Pedagogy for Religious Studies (SUNY 2011). She and her husband, Richard, have two adult children and four grandchildren.
ABOUT KHENTRUL RINPOCHE
Khentrul Rinpoché Jamphel Lodrö is the founder and spiritual director of Dzokden. Rinpoche is the author of Unveiling Your Sacred Truth, The Great Middle Way: Clarifying the Jonang View of Other-Emptiness, A Happier Life, and The Hidden Treasure of the Profound Path.
Rinpoche spent the first 20 years of his life herding yak and chanting mantras on the plateaus of Tibet. Inspired by the bodhisattvas, he left his family to study in a variety of monasteries under the guidance of over twenty-five masters in all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Due to his non-sectarian approach, he earned himself the title of Rimé (unbiased) Master and was identified as the reincarnation of the famous Kalachakra Master Ngawang Chözin Gyatso. While at the core of his teachings is the recognition that there is great value in the diversity of all spiritual traditions found in this world; he focuses on the Jonang-Shambhala tradition. Kalachakra (wheel of time) teachings contain profound methods to harmonize our external environment with the inner world of body and mind, ultimately bringing about the golden age of peace and harmony (dzokden).
2023 Shambhala Teaching Judith and Rinpoche