The Western Mountain is an archive of work I made as a writer and videographer between 2004 and 2011. This work was an exploration, directly or indirectly, of the drala principle, a teaching introduced in the West by Chögyam Trungpa.

For my work now, please visit my new website:
VERTICAL TIME YOGA

- Bill Scheffel

 

CHÖGYAM TRUNGPA, VIDEOS - This page is a resource of video tributes about Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, primarily personal accounts from those who knew him, who were his students.... read more.

 

INTRODUCTION TO THE DRALA PRINCIPLE - The “drala principle” refers to a body of teachings the Tibetan Buddhist meditation master Chögyam Trungpa presented in the last decade of his life, from 1978 to 1986. The roots of the drala principle precede the into Tibet and... read more.
Download: Introduction to the Drala Principle

 

FATHER AS ANCESTOR - I'm writing about my father. I'm writing for the first anniversary of his death. August second is over two months from now but I want to be prepared. Though death comes without warning the anniversary of death comes with plenty of lead-time... read more.
Download: FATHER AS ANCESTOR
 

DECLINE OF THE AUTOMOBILE - I sold my last automobile six years ago and I hope to never own another one. After I'd taken the car away from him, I drove my father's car intermittently over these last couple of years, but I sold it too. Studebaker, Mercury Comet, Dodge Coronet, Toyota Camry: middle-class cars of the American dream... read more. Download: DECLINE OF THE AUTOMOBILE
 

K.O.S ENERGY - The Kingdom of Shambhala refers to a semi-mythical society that once existed in the Himalaya region of central Asia, an “enlightened society” that was based and organized on the principle of awake - that society could encourage and support the spiritual realization of every individual within it. Not that everyone was or would become enlightened or that the society was perfect, but that it’s constitution, so to speak, held this aim... read more.
Download: K.O.S. ENERGY

HOMAGE TO CAMBODIA - Below are selections of writing about Cambodia I made during my five trips there, taken between January 2005 and November 2007. I had the good fortune and indeed privilege to spend over four-hundred days in Cambodia, a country I fell immediately in love with and yet, simultaneously, was anxious to flee - my first visit was only seven days, a trip I cut short from a planned eleven... read more.

SELECTED TRAVEL WRITING - Between 2004 and 2007, I traveled around the world and then returned to Southeast Asia. Saw a dream of sleeping by the Adriatic Sea with a lousy pillow become the reality of nineteen days of wandering through Istanbul and Rome. Sold my house. Wanted little more in possessions than a small suitcase. Threw the I Ching and left a twelve-year teaching career, believing my life had become a search to understand a metaphor: The King introduces him to the Western Mountain... read more.