First Thought Best Thought: 108 Poems

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.

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.

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.