Heart Teachings by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche

Heart Teachings by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche Heart Teachings by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche preserves & shares Rinpoche's authentic wisdom legacy.

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

“To expect to receive siddhis without devotion is like thinking that if we squeeze rocks hard enough, we will get oil. I...
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/

Wishing you a happy and auspicious Guru Rinpoche Day! We’d like to share one of the awe-inspiring stories of Lama Tharch...
03/28/2026

Wishing you a happy and auspicious Guru Rinpoche Day! We’d like to share one of the awe-inspiring stories of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche’s unique upbringing in a ngakpa yogi family in Tibet. Rinpoche’s revered father, Lama Chime Dorje, was the ninth family lineage holder and head of the Repkong Ngakmang, the largest monastery of yogis in Tibet, famous and revered for both their not-so-ordinary accomplishments, as well as for their realization of supreme siddhis.

“My father was a famous and renowned lama named Repkong Lama Chime Dorje. He displayed many miraculous activities, performing amazing things stemming from his realization. He could really demonstrate that the elements are not solid and fixed, even though we ordinary beings believe they are. I remember one time when I was about thirteen or fourteen, my father and I traveled to visit Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche at Lama Ling, about a morning’s horse ride from our house. As a prominent lama’s son, I was pretty fancy. I dressed really well and had a very fine horse named Sak-truk. I had an expensive and beautiful saddle, ornamented with silver and gold. I also had a sword that matched the saddle. I loved this sword so much and was very proud of it. Its sheath was silver, adorned with large pieces of turquoise and coral, and decorated with gold. The handle had red silk tassels. We arrived at Lama Ling and tied up our horses outside at a post with grass and water for them to enjoy. Before going up to see Kyabje Rinpoche, we stopped at the guesthouse to be served food and drink. I hung my sword, my prized possession, on a hook on the wall in the room…”

For the complete telling of the incredible short story of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche getting irritated with his father for destroying his prized sword, later realizing the profound spiritual significance of the event, and why the sword ended up hanging on the wall of Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche’s dharma protector room, we hope you’ll visit the Heart Teachings blog here:

https://www.heartteachings.com/blogs/blog/a-sword-rolled-like-paper

Photo: Lama Tharchin Rinpoche with takdrol tied in his topknot. Pema Osel Ling.

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