A Comparative Analysis of the Transmission and “Translation” of Tibetan Buddhist Teachings in the American Context

Abstract

In the history of the transmission and adoption of the practice of Tibetan Buddhism in the American context, two teachers from the Kagyu tradition, His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje (Rang byung Rig pa’i rdo rje, 1924–1981) and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (Chos rgyam Drung pa, 1939–1987), taught in America in the 1970s, but took very different approaches. Trungpa Rinpoche, one of the earliest teachers to popularize Tibetan Buddhism in America, took an innovative and unconventional approach in his teaching style. By contrast, H. H. the 16th Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, took a traditional and conservative approach to teaching Buddhism. Through an analysis of the two “translation styles” of these teachers in their approach to transmitting Buddhist teaching in the American context, this thesis argues that despite their different forms, both teachers retain the core meaning of the teachings in terms of beliefs and practices. This thesis further shows how Trungpa Rinpoche’s non-traditional approach paved the way for the receptivity of Americans to the more traditional approach of H. H. the 16th Karmapa.