First Thought Best Thought

Here is a unique contribution to the field of poetry: a new collection of works by America's foremost Buddhist meditation master Chogyam Trungpa. These poems and songs -- most of which were written since his arrival in the United States in 1970 -- combine a background in classical Tibetan poetry with Trungpa's intuitive insight into the spirit of America a spirit that is powerfully evoked in his use of colloquial metaphor and contemporary imagery.<P>Most of the poems were originally written in English -- clearly the result of the author's own perceptions of new forms and media offered to him by a different culture. Each poem has its own insight and power which come from a skillful blend of traditional Asian subtlety and precision combined with a thoroughly modern vernacular. Several of the author's calligraphies accompany the collection.<P>Chogyam Trungpa -- meditation master scholar and artist -- is the founder and president of Naropa Institute including the Jack Kerouac School of Poetics and the author of Cutting through Spiritual Materialism The Myth of Freedom and Meditation in Action.