Drupchen 2001 Teachings

© 2001 Lama Tharchin Rinpoche & Vajrayana Foundation, © 2026 Lama Tharchin Rinpoche Heritage Foundation & Heart Teachings by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche 

Recorded at Pema Ösel Ling, Collection of Seven Treasures (Terkha Dun Dü) Drupchen, Corralitos, California; June 22-30, 2001

Language: Rinpoche teaches in English

Available Formats: 2 MP3 audio downloads

Running Times: Teaching 1: 54 min; Teaching 2: 51 min

Stream for free on SoundCloud (Drupchen 2026).

Lama Tharchin Rinpoche Teaching 1

In this talk, given during the 2001 Terkha Dun Dü (Collection of Seven Treasures) Drupchen retreat at Pema Ösel Ling, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche explains the view a practitioner is meant to hold before moving into mantra recitation. Using the image of gold hidden in ore, and a story about chickens too habituated to confinement to recognize their own freedom, he explains why deity practice is necessary: our nature is already enlightened, but habit keeps us from trusting it. He then gives a line-by-line commentary on four verses from the sadhana — the verses that introduce the mantra section — describing all appearance as the mandala of the lama and deities, present yet without inherent existence, like a moon reflected in water. He closes by emphasizing that what makes this practice effective is not philosophical understanding but genuine faith and devotion.

“snang srid gzhal yas bla ma lha / thams cad phyag rgya'i dkyil 'khor che / dper na chu zla 'ja' tshon lhar / snang la rang bzhin me par bsgom The world of all possible phenomena is the immeasurable mansion, the lama and the deities - / everything is the supreme symbolic mandala; / meditate on this as being apparent yet lacking any inherent self-nature, / like the reflection of the moon in water or a rainbow.”

Lama Tharchin Rinpoche Teaching 2

This second talk, given during the 2001 Terkha Dun Dü (Collection of Seven Treasures) Drupchen retreat, is an open question-and-answer session rather than a structured teaching. Lama Tharchin Rinpoche spends most of the session unpacking a single couplet from the inner offering liturgy — "I offer the world of all possible phenomena as the four mudras. / Let these dissolve in nondual union." — using it as a doorway into a wide-ranging explanation of how Vajrayana refuses to divide experience into pure and impure, and how the four kayas describe the structure of awakened mind itself. He closes by answering a student's question about how to recognize one's own connection to a particular deity, describing the signs — dreams, early familiarity, what he calls "karmic glue" and "karmic wind" — that point a practitioner toward their yidam.

“snang srid phyag rgya bzhi ru mchod / gnyis su med par thim gyur cig / I offer the world of all possible phenomena as the four mudras. / Let these dissolve in nondual union.”