Heart Teachings by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche

07/28/2026

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 29th, is the Tibetan lunar calendar 13th Dechö, the anniversary of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche's passing into Parinirvana. Before he passed, Rinpoche asked me to continue to care for his teachings — to be their custodian after he was gone. In the years since, I've been extremely fortunate to devote my life’s work to preserving his teachings – collecting his videos, audio recordings, writings, art, and photos; and transcribing, editing, archiving, and sharing them through Heart Teachings and the Lama Tharchin Rinpoche Heritage Foundation.

Rinpoche taught that a lama's Parinirvana is the most powerful time to receive their blessings, and that during a lama’s Dechö, we should especially turn to Vajrasattva practice. After the passing of his own root teacher, Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche focused on Dorsem Lama Chöpa (The Chariot of Great Merit, Ritual of Offering to the Lama) — Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche's Vajrasattva guru yoga — as his personal gong-dzok or fulfilling of his lama's enlightened intent after the lama’s passing. Rinpoche described this practice as a guru yoga for merging our mind with our lama's all-pervasive wisdom mind: thuk-yi-say, always the heart of our practice, but especially important after our lama’s passing.

As I reviewed and edited the Dorsem Lama Chöpa teaching Lama Tharchin Rinpoche gave during the 2001 Summer Retreat at Pema Ösel Ling, it struck me that while on one level he is giving guidance on Mahayoga deity practice, Rinpoche infuses the teaching throughout from the perspective of the highest Dzogchen view. This was always Rinpoche’s way of presenting any teaching. Here, he points directly to the nature of Vajrasattva:

"Vajrasattva was never born, never aged, and is never going to die. Who is that Vajrasattva? It's your mind. Your mind is Vajrasattva. [When you know this,] then freedom is right there, automatically… Something that was never born, never aging, never dying: that's called freedom. And that freedom, your mind, is Buddha."

For me personally, caring for these teachings and archives has become such a nourishing and sustaining part of my practice. Each time I sit with Rinpoche's words, the sound of his voice, his physical appearance, his infectious sense of humor, his unique way of presenting the teachings, I feel his immediate wisdom presence — and I understand a little more of what thuk-yi-say means: the lama's wisdom mind and our own, merging, not separate. It is the greatest gift of this work, and I offer it with deep gratitude to Rinpoche.

You can view the Dorsem Lama Chöpa 2001 teaching on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFayU3JHvOo&t=3s

For more information about joining the Dechö events, visit our blog:
https://www.heartteachings.com/blogs/blog

Thank you to Eric Colombel, our dedicated team at the Lama Tharchin Rinpoche Heritage Foundation, the Vajrayana Foundation, Lama Sonam Rinpoche, Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo, all our Heart Teachings members, and all of you who are supporting this work, preserving Rinpoche's teachings and keeping his wisdom legacy alive and blossoming in our hearts.

- Pema Dechen

Photo: Lama Tharchin Rinpoche at Paro Taktsang, Bhutan, 2012

07/24/2026

07/24/2026

07/21/2026

Honoring Lama Tharchin Rinpoche — 13th Dechö Anniversary

Thirteen years ago, on July 22, 2013 — the Full Moon Day of the Sixth Lunar Month — our sublime guide Repkong Lama Tsedrup Tharchin Rinpoche passed into parinirvana. On this solar anniversary, we remember and honor him: a great master of the Dudjom Tersar, the tenth holder of the Repkong Ngakpa yogi lineage, and the founder of the Vajrayana Foundation and Pema Ösel Ling.

As Rinpoche taught, for realized masters, there is no true coming or going — wherever there is faith and devotion, the lama's blessing is always present. The days surrounding parinirvana are especially precious for practice, when we can receive that blessing most directly.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 22, at 5:00 PM Pacific, Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo hosts a Ka-Ter Dorsem (Vajrasattva) practice in Rinpoche's honor — the fifth and culminating evening of nightly Ka-Ter Dorsem leading up to the anniversary. The practice will include Dudjom Rinpoche's Calling the Lama from Afar, chanted by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche himself in a treasured recording of his voice. (see links below)

Vajrasattva holds special meaning at the time of parinirvana. Following the vajra advice of his own root teacher, Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche offered this practice as the heart method for keeping our lama's wisdom presence inseparable from our own minds.

Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo, who was enthroned as a lama by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche in 1992 and founded the Jnanasukha Foundation in 2002, has also created a contemplative offering for this 13th Solar Parinirvana Day — Receiving the Blessings of Repkong Lama Tsedrup Tharchin Rinpoche — offering a quiet space to connect with Rinpoche's essence through photographs, quotations, and contemplative imagery. In her words: "Rinpoche's legacy lives and breathes in everyone connected to him — past, present, and future. May each of these images support your ever-deepening connection." A video version is available on her new Wisdom Bliss Media YouTube channel, which now holds several offerings dedicated to Rinpoche.

As part of our Heart Teachings offering for the event, we're making available Rinpoche's 2000 teaching series on Calling the Lama from Afar for streaming, along with his recitation recording for download. You'll find them among the resources on Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo's Parinirvana access page.

Please join in practice, wherever you are. 💛

To connect with Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo's offerings for the anniversary:
Receiving the Blessings of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche — a contemplative image journey (see the Resources page for links and practice materials): https://www.tharchinrinpoche2026.org/
Wisdom Bliss Media on YouTube, with new videos dedicated to Rinpoche: https://www.youtube.com/

And from Heart Teachings, Vajrasattva practice recordings, plus Rinpoche's own endorsement talk about Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo — both featured in the Spotlight section of our SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lamatharchinrinpoche

🙏 Make offerings to support Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo's work through the Jnanasukha Foundation's Enrich the Sky Treasury: https://jnsukha.org/enrich-the-sky-treasury

Please join the upcoming Parinirvana events: On July 29, the lunar anniversary (Full Moon Day of the Sixth Month), Vajrasattva Dorsem Lama Chöpa pujas will be held at Pema Ösel Ling. And on August 1, Anam Thubten Rinpoche will offer a day-long program, A Ticket to Becoming a Pandita, on the Do Gyud Dzod — the Complete Nyingma Tradition — one of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche's greatest heart projects, coming to fruition. More details to follow. See our blog for updates: https://www.heartteachings.com/blogs/blog/lama-tharchin-rinpoches-13th-decho-anniversary

May all beings connected with Rinpoche practice together on these sacred days, and may his wisdom presence remain forever inseparable from our hearts.

Photo: Lama Tharchin Rinpoche with Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo, Pa’auilo, Big Island of Hawaii, 1992 (Garab Dorje)

07/18/2026

Wishing you an auspicious Chökhor Düchen, celebrating the first turning of the wheel of Dharma by Shakyamuni Buddha.

In this excerpt from his "A Drop of Nectar" teaching, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche asks: why is the Great Perfection the highest technique? Because it goes directly to the creator of karma — the mind itself — where Buddha nature is always already present. Through the image of muddy water clearing when left undisturbed, Rinpoche points to the effortless way this nature reveals itself. He closes with his own sense of joy and wonder at having met such a teaching.

The complete two-part teaching is available on our YouTube channel through the end of August.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK1fmdeyHawm-pdeUBTzjU2S1DjAqmHuu

Visit our Heart Teachings Resources page to download "A Drop of Nectar" and other writings by Rinpoche:

https://www.heartteachings.com/pages/rinpoches-writings-transcripts

06/24/2026

“Accumulating virtue is good. It definitely brings relief from suffering and creates good karma. But there’s no way to call it liberation. Liberation is far away. Great Perfection never goes into the finer and finer details of phenomena because the original ground of being is already liberated. Without knowing that wisdom, without faith, without meditative experience, without realization, you’re far from liberation. But with the Great Perfection, the ultimate result is the nature of space. That’s called liberation.”

In celebration of the birth of Guru Rinpoche, according to the terma tradition, and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche’s birthday, the Tenth Day of the Fifth Lunar Month, we are offering two teachings given during the 2001 Collection of Seven Treasures Drupchen retreat at Pema Ösel Ling.

In this excerpt from Teaching 2, Rinpoche illuminates the difference between gradual accumulation and the direct recognition of Great Perfection, drawing on a story from his youth with Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche and Rongzom Mahapandita's striking teaching that liberation is not a matter of time at all.

You can listen to the full teaching on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lamatharchinrinpoche/sets/collection-of-seven-treasures

06/22/2026

"Since there is no being who was ever truly bound, bo***ge has never existed from the very beginning."

Happy Drupchen Summer Solstice! In honor of the occasion, we are offering Lama Tharchin Rinpoche’s teaching given during the 2001 Collection of Seven Treasures Drupchen retreat at Pema Ösel Ling.

In this video excerpt, Rinpoche shares a story about chickens too habituated to confinement to recognize their own freedom, and how we can use Mahayoga deity practice to trick our confused dualistic mind into building the habit of enlightened freedom.

You can listen to the full teaching on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lamatharchinrinpoche/20010624_ltr_collection-of

05/31/2026

Wishing you an auspicious Saga Dawa Düchen — celebrating the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvāṇa of Śākyamuni Buddha.

In October 2002, while receiving treatment at UCSF Medical Center and reflecting on the nature of impermanence and our original enlightened state, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche composed A Drop of Nectar from his hospital bed. He gave teachings on this poem at Orgyen Dorje Den in Alameda, California, in October 2003.

We're pleased to offer this excerpt from that teaching as a gift for this auspicious day — available now as part of our featured YouTube series streaming through June and July.

https://www.youtube.com/

You can download A Drop of Nectar and other writings by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche on our Heart Teachings Resources page:

https://www.heartteachings.com/pages/rinpoches-writings-transcripts

05/26/2026

“To expect to receive siddhis without devotion is like thinking that if we squeeze rocks hard enough, we will get oil. It’s just not possible. We depend upon faith, devotion, and trust to receive the blessings.”

- Lama Tharchin Rinpoche, from Meditation for Liberation teachings, January 2004

Wishing you a Saga Dawa Guru Rinpoche Day full of blessings!

Photo: Rinpoche in Hawaii with plumeria lei (Susie Iverson)

04/26/2026

“‘Whatever arises [from the ground] is dharmakaya’s creative expression…’ As we settle within the appreciation of equal purity of the realms of enlightenment and the realms of samsara, our clinging and judgment relax. As our minds relax and open, we gain release. Getting bound up in all our judgments and choices – this binds our mind. As we give up clinging, whether to our experience as ordinary sentient beings or to our meditative experiences on the spiritual path, we arrive at the result, the three bodies of enlightenment.”

In this clip, Rinpoche deepens the teaching, speaking directly about meditation, explaining how mantra and visualization shift our focus from ordinary phenomena to wisdom — gradually undoing the very habits that build samsara.

- From Teaching 3 of "Calling the Lama from Afar, Nalanda 2010" — a fitting offering on Guru Rinpoche Day. Wishing you a happy one!

You can watch the four-part series, streaming on YouTube through the end of May.

https://www.youtube.com/