JOURNEY WITHOUT GOAL DHARMA OCEAN SERIES JOURNEY WITHOUT GOAL The Ta ntric Wisdom of the Buddha Chogyam Trungpa SHAMBHALA BOSTON & LONDON 1985 SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS, INC. 314 Dartmouth Street Boston, Massachusetts 02116 © 1981 by Chogyam Trungpa All rights reserved 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Shambhala Edition Printed in the United States of America Pistributed in the United States by Random House and in Canada by Random House ofC anada Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Trungpa, ChOgyam, 1939- Joumey without goal. "Based on a series oflectures delivered ... in the Buddhist Studies Department ofNaropa Institute, Summer 1974"-T.p. verso. Reprint. Originally published: Boulder, Colo.: Prajiia Press, 1981. Includes index. 1. Tantric Buddhism-Doctrines-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Spiritual life (Tantric Buddhism) Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Title. BQ8918.7.T78 1985 294.3'925 85-8175 ISBN 0-87773-334-1 (pbk.) ISBN 0-394-74194-3 (Random House: pbk.) "Lord Marpa's Praise to the Gurus" is excerpted from The Life ofMarpa the Translator, translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee under the direction ofChogyam Trungpa, ©1982 by ChOgyam Trungpa, published by Shambhala Publications, Inc. a This book is published in the Dharma Ocean Series. It is based on series oflectures delivered by Chogyam Trungpa in the Buddhist Studies Department ofNaropa Institute, 1974. CONTENTS vii Acknowledgments 1 Introduction 7 "Intensifying Devotion in One's Heart" by J amgon Kongtriil Lodro Thaye 19 The Tantric Practitioner 25 Vajra Nature 31 Mandala 39 Nontheistic Energy 47 Transmission 55 The Vajra Master 65 Visualization 71 Body, Speech, and Mind 77 The Five Buddha Families 87 Abhisheka 101 Being and Manifesting 109 The Question of Magic 117 The Tantric Journey 125 Anuttara Yoga 133 Maha Ati 143 "Lord Marpa's Praise to the Gurus" 145 Index ILLUSTRATIONS Frontispiece. Padma Trime, ]amgon Kongtrill of Sechen (1901?- 1960). The root guru of ·Chogyam 'Trungpa and an incarnation of Lodro Thaye, Jamgon Kongtriil I. Page 18. Lodro Thaye, ]amgon Kongtrii.l I (1813-1899). Often referred to as Jamgon Kongtriil the Great, Lodro Thaye was a leader of the Rime movement (see Chapter 10). This painting is from ·the lineage thangkas at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India. Photo used by the gracious permission of His I:Ioliness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung.Rikpe Dorje. Page 30. The Mandala of Kalacakra. A two-dimensional represen tation of the mandalas of body, speech, and mind of the Kalacakra· Tantra. Page 46. ]etsiln Milarepa (104~1123). The chief disciple of Marpa, Milarepa is renowned for his songs of devotion and realization. This statue was a shrine object of Gampopa, Milarepa's chief disciple. Photo credit: George Holmes and Blair Hansen. Page 64. Cakrasamvara and Vajravarahi. Two of the principal yidams, or "personal deities," of the Kagyii school of Tibetan Buddhism, used in tanttic visualization practice. This statue was a shrine object of Naropa, Marpa's guru. Photo credit: George Holmes and Blair Hansen. Page 76. Vajra and.Ghanta (bell). Photo credit: George Holmes. Page 100. Vajradhara. The dharmakaya buddha. A tantric mani festation of the Buddha, Vajradhara is depicted as dark blue. Painting by Sherapalden Beru. Photo credit: George Holmes and Blair Hansen. Page 124. Evam. The personal seal of ChOgyam Trungpa and the Trungpa tiilkus (see Chapter 14). Design: Molly K. Nudell. Page 132. Rangjung Dorje, Karmapa Ill (1284-1339). A great vajrayana scholar and teacher, famous for bringing together the teachings of ati yoga with anutta,ra tantra. This painting is from the lineage thangkas at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, India. Photo used by the gracious permission of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rikpe Dorje. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Journey without Goal is based on a series of fifteen lectures presented by Vajracarya the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, at Naropa Insti tute during the summer of 1974. Under his guidance, Mrs. Judith Lief, then the Editor-in-Chief at Vajradhatu, began editing the lectures for publication in 1975. Working with the author and other members of the editorial department, she completed · the major part of the manuscript before leaving to become the Dean of Naropa Institute in 1980. The preparation of the final draft of the manuscript has been a collabo rative effort by members of the editorial department: Mrs. Sarah Levy, Mrs. Barbara Blouin, Mrs. Helen Berliner, and myself. We have tried to maintain Mrs. Lief's approach to the material, which always respected the language of the original and showed an acute sensitivity to meaning and tone. We are deeply indebted to the Vajracarya for the original presentation of this material and for allowing us the opportunity to deepen our own understanding through working with him on the manuscript. We would like to thank the Nalanda Translation Committee for the translation from the Tibetan of the two poems that appear in the book. The first, "Intensifying Devotion in One's Heart" is by Jamgon Kongtriil the Great, whose contributions to the Practice Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism are discussed in Chapter Ten, "Abhisheka." The second, "Lord Marpa's vii viii JOURNEY WITHOUT GOAL Praise to the Gurus," is by Marpa the Translator, the first Tibetan holder of the Kagyu lineage. It is taken from a larger work in progress, The Life of Marpa, to be published by Shambhala Publications. Particular thanks go to Miss Christine KeyseP of the translation committee, who completed the initial draft of the translation ofJamgon Kongtri.il' s poem; and to Mr. Larry Mermelstein, the executive director of the committee, for editorial contri butions to the entire manuscript. We would also like to express our thanks to the Vajra Regent bsel Tendzin and to Dr. Reginald Ray, Chairman of the Buddhist Studies Depa1tment at Naropa Institute, for their careful reading of the final typescript. As well, we would like to acknowledge the efforts of the many volunteers-typists, transcribers, and others-who worked on this book. Finally, we would like to thank the publisher, Mr. Samuel Bercholz, and the staff of Prajfiii. Press for their support of this book. The reader may note that the language in this book is often poetic and evocative. These qualities have been treated as essential rather than inci dental aspects of the original lectures, since they express most vividly the awake and brilliant experience of the vajra world. The vajr<tyana wisdom that is presented here is powerful and authen tic. We hope that this book will lead to a greater appreciation and under standing of tantric Buddhism, and we share in the author's wish that this book may benefit sentient beings and bring them to the path of dharma. Carolyn Rose Gimian Vajradhatu Editorial Department