The Teacup and the Skullcup is made up of edited transcripts from two seminars that Chögyam Trungpa gave near the beginning of his North American teaching career in 1974—one in Barnet, Vermont, and one in Boston—called "Zen and Tantra." Although Trungpa Rinpoche belonged to the tantra tradition, he acknowledged the strength and discipline gained from Zen influence. Through these talks you can see his respect for the Zen tradition and how it led to his using certain Zen forms for his public meditation hall rituals. He discusses the differences in style, feeling, and emphasis that distinguish the two paths and shows what each one might learn from the other.

Also included are Trungpa Rinpoche's commentary on the Ten Oxherding Pictures and an essay he composed in memory of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, a close friend with whom he continually exchanged ideas for furthering buddhadharma in America.