Lama Tharchin Rinpoche's 13th Dechö Anniversary

July 21, 2026

Recent Articles

Our precious guide and beloved teacher Lama Tharchin Rinpoche passed into parinirvana on July 22, 2013, the Full Moon Day of the Sixth Lunar Month. This year, we honor the thirteenth anniversary of his passing — the dechö — with the solar anniversary on July 22 and the lunar anniversary falling on July 29.

Repkong Lama Tsedrup Tharchin Rinpoche was 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. Thirteen years on, his blessings remain ever-present for all who turn to him with faith and devotion.

Why the time of parinirvana is so precious

Lama Tharchin Rinpoche often taught that, from the ultimate view, the passing of a realized master is not a loss but an opening. At the one-year anniversary of his own teacher Kyabje Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's parinirvana, he said:

"This first year anniversary of Kyabje Dungse Rinpoche's parinirvana is a very sad day from a relative point of view since Rinpoche's physical form is no longer present with us. But ultimately, since Rinpoche is a totally and perfectly fully enlightened Buddha, he has no coming or going, no living or passing away, so there is actually no difference between when Rinpoche's form was here in person and now that he has passed into parinirvana. Wherever there is faith and devotion, Rinpoche's presence is always there.

According to our Dzogchen Great Perfection tradition, when realized masters pass away, their mind blessings transform — we call this dé-jé in Tibetan... With parinirvana, sublime beings perform their different enlightened activities and that time becomes very special and valuable. Since we can receive their blessing more directly after they have passed away, it is a good time for practice."

Following Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's passing, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche taught that the parinirvana of our lama is the most powerful time to receive their blessings, and he pointed especially to Vajrasattva practice — in particular the Dorsem Lama Chopa, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche's special offering guru yoga of Vajrasattva. He considered this his personal gong-dzok — the fulfilling of his lama's enlightened intent after passing — and the surest way to merge our own mind with our lama's all-pervasive wisdom mind (t'huk yi say). These same days now offer us that opportunity with Lama Tharchin Rinpoche himself.

July 22 — Solar Anniversary, with Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo

On the solar anniversary, 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. This final session also includes Dudjom Rinpoche's Calling the Lama from Afar, chanted by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche himself in a treasured recording of his voice.

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 — 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 access page.

How to join and connect:

Event access, daily Zoom link, and resources: https://www.tharchinrinpoche2026.org/ (see the Resources page)
Wisdom Bliss Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WisdomBlissMedia
Make offerings to support Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo's work — Jnanasukha Foundation's Enrich the Sky Treasury: https://jnsukha.org/enrich-the-sky-treasury

July 29 — Lunar Anniversary, Pujas at Pema Ösel Ling

On the lunar anniversary (Sixth Month Full Moon Day), Wednesday, July 29, the Vajrayana Foundation will hold Dorsem Lama Chöpa Vajrasattva pujas beginning at 9 am Pacific, in Rinpoche's honor at Pema Ösel Ling, his beloved retreat center in the Santa Cruz mountains. Please visit the Vajrayana Foundation for details and to make offerings: https://www.vajrayana.org/s/

Aug 1 — Anam Thubten Rinpoche on the Do Gyud Dzod

On Saturday, August 1, Anam Thubten Rinpoche will offer a daylong teaching, A Ticket to Becoming a Pandita, on the Do Gyud Dzod — The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra. This encyclopedic nineteenth-century masterwork, compiled by the Repkong yogi-scholar Choying Tobden Dorje, presents the entire Buddhist path of the Nyingma early translation school, from the first steps through the highest teachings of the Great Perfection.

As the Lhamen Foundation, hosts of the teaching, describe it, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche — the tenth lineage holder of the Repkong Ngakpa — devoted himself to this ancestral treasure throughout his life:

"Rinpoche gave himself tirelessly to preserving this rare nineteenth-century jewel... For decades, great meritorious effort, resources, and intention have carried this body of knowledge forward. In the 1990s, among the few qualified masters Rinpoche designated to transmit this lineage was Anam Thubten Rinpoche."

At Lama Freddie's request, Anam Thubten Rinpoche now rekindles this flame of transmission, just as Rinpoche intended. All are warmly welcome, in person and online.

The teaching is hosted and sponsored by the Lhamen Foundation and will be held at Anam Thubten Rinpoche's Dharmata Foundation Dhumatala Temple, beginning at 10 am Pacific, in person and online. Learn more:

Anam Thubten Rinpoche / Dharmata Foundation: https://dharmata.org/, Instagram @anamthubten
Lhamen Foundation: https://lhamen.org/, Instagram @lhamenfoundation

A gift to come on the lunar dechö

We will offer a special Heart Teachings gift on the lunar dechö — more to be revealed on the day. Watch this space and visit us on Instagram and Facebook.

Vajrasattva practice resources

To support your own practice during these days, visit our SoundCloud page for Vajrasattva daily practice recordings, along with Rinpoche's own endorsement talk about Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo, both featured in the Spotlight section:

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lamatharchinrinpoche
For more from Rinpoche on the significance of parinirvana and Vajrasattva practice, see our 9th Dechö Anniversary post.

Practicing together

Please join all of us connected with Lama Tharchin Rinpoche in practicing together on these sacred days of the solar and lunar anniversaries. May his wisdom presence remain forever inseparable from our hearts.

Photos: Lama Tharchin Rinpoche and the Guru Rinpoche statue, Paleaku Gardens Peace Sanctuary, Captain Cook, Hawaii, 2009; Rinpoche with Lama Dechen Yeshe Wangmo, Pa'auilo, Big Island of Hawaii, 1992 (Garab Dorje); Rinpoche with Lama Sonam Tsering Rinpoche at Pema Osel Ling (Yvon Chausseblanche); Anam Thubten Rinpoche (Dharmata Foundation)