Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche (February 28, 1939 – April 4, 1987) was a Buddhist meditation master and holder of both the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages, the eleventh Trungpa tülku, a tertön, supreme abbot of the Surmang monasteries, scholar, teacher, poet, artist, and originator of a radical re-presentation of Shambhala vision.
(...)
On September 28 1986, Trungpa, in failing health due to the auto accident in his youth and to years of heavy alcohol use, suffered cardiac arrest[20], subsequent to which his condition deteriorated further, requiring intensive care at the hospital, then at his home, and finally back at the hospital in mid-March 1987, where he died on April 4 from the effects of cirrhosis of the liver. His wife Diana Mukpo asserted in 2006 that: "Although he had many of the classic health problems that develop from heavy drinking, it was in fact more likely the diabetes and high blood pressure that led to abnormal blood sugar levels and then the cardiac arrest".[21] However, when asked in a November 2008 interview, "What was he ill with? What did he die of?," his doctor Mitchell Levy replied, "He had chronic liver disease related to his alcohol intake over many years."[22] One of his nursing attendants reports that in his last months, he suffered from the classic symptoms of terminal alcoholism and cirrhosis, yet continued drinking heavily. She adds, "At the same time there was a power about him and an equanimity to his presence that was phenomenal, that I don't know how to explain."[23]
He is reported to have remained in a state of samādhi for five days after his death, his body not immediately decaying and his heart remaining warm.[24] His body was packed in salt and laid into a wooden box that was conveyed to Karmê Chöling. A number of observers have reported that his cremation there on May 26, 1987 was accompanied by various atmospheric effects and other signs traditionally viewed as marks of enlightenment. These included the appearance of rainbows, of eagles circling,[25][26] and of a cloud in the shape of an Ashe.[27][28]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%B6gyam_Trungpa
http://www.viddler.com/explore/wideeyecreative/videos/2/
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2993&Itemid=0
http://www.nfb.ca/film/tulku_trailer/
http://sealevel.ns.ca/ctr/
