Within Chögyam Trungpa’s presentation of the Buddhist path, meditation functions as the central discipline through which the practitioner encounters mind directly. It is not treated as a technique for relaxation or self-improvement, but as a rigorous way of “getting used to” the mind’s nature through simple sitting. The shamatha–vipashyana approach he emphasized joins calm abiding with insight, so that stability and clarity develop together. In this way, meditation becomes the primary means of cultivating mindfulness of immediate experience and a broader awareness of habitual patterns and tendencies.

This meditative discipline is also the foundation for what he called warriorship, the path of cultivating fearlessness, gentleness, and openness. By remaining present with fear, confusion, and vulnerability on the cushion, one learns not to escape from neurosis but to relate to it directly. Such practice exposes ego’s strategies, including the tendency toward spiritual materialism, and gradually loosens identification with them. Meditation thus undercuts the project of ego-enhancement and allows “basic wakefulness” or basic sanity to manifest.

Furthermore, meditation serves as the ground for extending mindfulness and awareness into all aspects of life. Formal sitting is viewed as a training ground whose fruits are meant to permeate work, relationships, and social engagement. Through consistent practice, qualities such as uplifted energy and confidence—what he termed “windhorse”—are cultivated, supporting an awake and dignified way of living. This same stability and clarity also provide the necessary basis for more advanced Vajrayana practices and for a deeper realization of emptiness, egolessness, and inherent wisdom.

In this vision, meditation is both the gateway and the ongoing thread of the entire path: it reveals the nature of mind, dismantles ego’s defenses, and allows basic goodness and sanity to be discovered rather than manufactured.