Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Vajradhatu Seminary fonds
General material designation
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Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
Physical description area
Physical description
- 666 audio cassettes
- 340 audio reels
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Vajradhatu Seminary was founded in 1973 by the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche as a program of advanced training in Buddhist study and meditation practice. The programs were offered by Vajradhatu, an international organization of Buddhist churches founded in 1973 by Trungpa Rinpoche. Admission was by application with final approval at the discretion of the presiding teacher. In addition to teaching the main class the presiding teacher customarily performed traditional Buddhist ceremonies convened meetings of teachers meditation instructors and administrators and presided at social occasions. The curriculum also included additional required and elective courses taught by senior students. At the conclusion of the program participants could request permission to begin the preliminary practices [Tibetan: ngondro] of the vajrayana. Trungpa Rinpoche presided over the first seminary in 1973 and twelve subsequent seminaries held annually except in 1977 and 1987. After his death in 1987 the program continued under the direction of the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin in 1988 and 1990 and the Sawang sel Mukpo (now Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche) in 1992 and 1994.
Custodial history
Custodial history is unknown.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of sound recordings made at fifteen seminary programs from 1973 to 1990 by Vajradhatu Recordings pursuant to its policy of creating a permanent record of the teaching and administrative activities of the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and other principal teachers and administrators of Vajradhatu. The originals and all copies of the sound recordings produced at Vajradhatu Seminaries were transferred at the conclusion of each program to the custody of Vajradhatu Recordings a department of Vajradhatu, an association of Buddhist churches founded in 1973 by the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche in Boulder, Colorado. No copies other than for conservation or transcribing purposes or for use in limited study at Vajradhatu centres or by authorized individuals were made. Vajradhatu Recordings (now Kalapa Recordings) retained custody of these sound recordings until their transfer to the Vajradhatu Archives in 1989.
Notes area
Physical condition
Some audio reels show evidence of deterioration. As a conservation measure a number of audio reels have been exercised and copied to both digital and high-quality cassette formats.
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Some restrictions on access apply.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Finding aid available. Inventories exist at the series level. An inventory of verbatim transcriptions of portions of the fonds exists.
Associated materials
Related materials may be found in the following fonds of sound recordings: the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche fonds; the Vajradhatu fonds; the Nalanda Foundation fonds; the Naropa Institute events fonds; the Shambhala Training events fonds; and the Vajra Regent Osel Tendzin fonds. Videocassette recordings related to portions of the fonds are in the custody of the Archives; a partial inventory is available. Photographic records related to portions of the fonds are described in the Vajradhatu and Nalanda Foundation Information Office Photographic Fonds Finding Aid.
Accruals
Further accruals are expected, including the sound recordings from the 1992 and 1994 Vajradhatu Seminaries presided over by the Sawang Osel Rangdrol Mukpo (now Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche).