Dragon Thunder: My Life with Chogyam Trungpa

(Paperback)

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"It was not always easy to be the guru's wife," writes Diana Mukpo. "But I must say, it was rarely boring." At the age of sixteen Diana broke with her upper-class English family and left school to marry Chogyam Trungpa, a young Tibetan lama who would go on to become a major figure in the transmission of Buddhism to the West. Trungpa attracted thousands of students in North America and is credited for introducing many key Buddhist concepts into the English language and psyche. During his lifetime he founded more than one hundred meditation centers and authored dozens of popular books on meditation and Buddhism. Among Asian masters living and teaching in the West, Trungpa was known for having an unorthodox and unpredictable teaching style - and for leading an unconventional personal life.In "Dragon Thunder", the reader gets an intimate look at this compelling and enigmatic figure through the eyes of his wife of seventeen years. Diana herself led an extraordinary and unusual life as the "first lady" of a burgeoning Buddhist community in the American 1970s and 80s. Diana gave birth to four sons, three of whom were recognized as "tulkus" or reincarnations of high Tibetan lamas. It is not a simple matter to be a modern Western woman married to a Tibetan lama, let along to be married to a man who is adored and sought out by thousands of eager students. Surprising events and colourful people fill the narrative as Diana seeks to understand the dynamic, puzzling, and larger-than-life man she married - and to find a place for herself in his unusual world.

Reviews

The unorthodox love story at the heart of Dragon Thunder offers universal lessons in the transformative power of love and devotion.Shambhala Sun

The value of this book is to open household doors and tell a page-turning family story by which the controversial guru Chgyam Trungpa can be better understood.Publishers Weekly

Endows the reader with a sense of familiarity that refreshes and challenges our conception of diversity within tradition.Tricycle

Gives readers a fresh yet intimate view of Trungpa and invites us to see the female strength that so often lies behind the man.Inquiring Mind

"A 'warts and all' account of a most extraordinary marriage and the collision of Tibetan and Western cultures. An intimate and unflinching portrait, it contains many surprises and demonstrates Trungpa's undoubted genius for creating very provoking teaching situations."Middle Way

"Diana Mukpo has written a deeply intimate, insightful, raw and moving account of her life with her late husband. I don't think it would be possible to capture the essence of Chgyam Trungpa more accurately and beautifully than she has done here."Dzigar Kongtrl, author of It's Up to You: The Practice of Self-Reflection on the Buddhist Path

"A delightful and unusual book. Diana Mukpo offers readers new understandings of the life and teachings of Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a remarkable person and irreplaceable teacher."Pema Chdrn, author of When Things Fall Apart

An intimate and frank telling of the life of one of the great spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. Diana Mukpos extraordinary story as wife, lover, and friend to Chgyam Trungpa reveals her to be a courageous, independent woman with a depth of understanding of her husbands life and teaching. More than just a history, it is a timeless illumination of the genuine Buddhist path.Melvin McLeod, editor of The Best Buddhist Writing series

"This candid and unsparing book offers up wisdom, courage, and compassion, but also engages the reader in a journey far beyond the normal frames of reference for what spiritual experience actually is. An extraordinary love story as well as a remarkable portrait of a great spiritual teacher."Rudy Wurlitzer, novelist and author of numerous screenplays including The Little Buddha

"Taking us into the heart of Chgyam Trungpa's crazy wisdom, exposing us to his genius and the 'craziness' which I at least was never sure was not his madness, Dragon Thunder is a wild and unfathomable story, as heartbreaking and irresistible as Don Quixote. As a dharma book, its mix of sadness and wisdom is so complete that reading it becomes a practice in itself."Lawrence Shainberg, author of Ambivalent Zen: One Man's Adventures on the Dharma Path

Author Bio

Diana J. Mukpo was born in England in 1953. She attended the prestigious Benenden School until she left at the age of sixteen to marry the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Ch gyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Mrs. Mukpo moved to the United States in 1970, where she remained with Trungpa Rinpoche until his death in 1987. During their marriage, she pursued intensive study of dressage. She is now the owner and director of Windhorse Dressage, and she travels and teaches dressage clinics throughout the United States and Canada.