Dudjom Lingpa

Ngondro and Trekchö

~ DudjomTersarNgondro
I was able to create and maintain the disciplined practice.

I was in my mid-forties when my husband, our two very spirited children, moved to California from Ohio. It was a difficult move which left me upended on several fronts. During this turbulent time, I was given a book which addressed the meaning of life and the main tenets of Buddhist thought. It was so sensible and logical: there was nothing about, “having to take the teachings on faith”, which I heard many times in my Christian upbringing. Buddhism opened my mind to the vastness and beauty of a reality that I had no idea existed, and yet, was accessible. This gave me a path to follow in a difficult time.

Soon after I found a sangha and a teacher and became dedicated to pursuing Dharma. As I progressed on the path I started Ngondro. What an undertaking! My kids were needing more attention and between them, and a full time job, life was becoming more complicated. Even though I set aside time in the morning for practice, it was rather hit or miss. Yet, reading the Ngondro liturgy and explanations on how to practice, gave me comfort and confidence in my life, and the hope that one day I’d figure it out how to get more practice time in.
I was able to attend retreats over the years, which were so inspiring. I had the opportunity to receive teachings from some of the greatest masters alive. This gave me such an appreciation for the wisdom that has been preserved, and the hard work that was done by the lamas and lineage masters, for our benefit.
Then one day I “woke up” to find that I was 68 years old and realized I really had been just fooling around in my practice. Because of a serious situation in my sangha, my practice had become quite disrupted. I found myself a bit lost in the wilderness. Additionally, I had become more involved in the mundane world because of more demands at work. Despondency temporarily overcame me, when I realized by adding up, how much more I had to do to complete my Ngondro.
Soon after that, I went to a weekend teaching at Pema Osel Ling and found out about their Ngondro Program. I had heard a few online teachings from Lama Sonam Rinpoche and about 3 weeks later got to meet him at a Treasure Vase consecration. I was enamored by his joyful and humble presence and thought to myself, “this is the Lama for me.”
Because of Lama Sonam Rinpoche’s perfect teachings, the support of my mentor, and the Ngondro Program staff, and the monthly online accumulation meetings, I was able to create and maintain the disciplined practice I had been hoping for. Finally, at the age of 72, I completed all my accumulations. So, it’s never too late to invest in present and future lifetimes!
One bit of advice – try not to be intimidated by prostrations. 
I was truly astounded by the flexibility and strength I acquired, and not spiritually. As Rinpoche said to a young frustrated student, during one of online Question and Answer sessions, “They’re better than plastic surgery.”
Thank you a million times over to Lama Sonam Rinpoche and the Ngondro Program (Choying Wangmo, Stefan and Sonam) for sharing the teachings and your support and experience with this wonderful community of Ngondro practitioners that you have created.

Resharing Kristie’s heartfelt testimonial from 2023. She completed her Ngondro in 2022.

Kristie accomplished her Ngondro just in time so that she attend the 2023 Trekchod Retreat with Tulku Thadral Rinpoche.  If you are close to completing your Ngondro contact the Vajrayana Foundation office.


This year the hybrid Trekchö ~ Rushen Retreat will take place December 28, 2025 – January 6, 2026 with Tulku Thadral Rinpoche.  This rare 10-day retreat will focus exclusively on Rushen, the preliminary practices from “The Vajra Essence” (Neluk Rangjung) — the most extensive of Dudjom Lingpa’s five Dzogchen treatises. Tulku Thadral Rinpoche will teach this foundational section in depth, offering direct guidance on recognizing and resting in the nature of mind.

As Lama Sonam Rinpoche says:
Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche recognized Tulku Thadral Rinpoche and said many times how he is really different from other tulkus and will be of great benefit to sentient beings. All of the lamas see him as a precious jewel… He is a bodhisattva. [Read his biography here.]

Prerequisites:
Prior completion of Ngöndro is required. If you have not yet completed Ngöndro but feel a sincere and compelling connection to this retreat, please contact our office to share your background and request consideration. You must attend the full 10-day retreat.

Streaming:
Tulku Thadral Rinpoche is permitting qualified participants to attend by streaming in real time. There will be no recordings of the sessions to view at a later time. Rinpoche requests that streaming participants attend the full 10 days.

More Information and to Register for The Vajra Essence Retreat

Happy Dakini Day!

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

“I’m not accumulating any suffering as a result
of attachment to wordly ambitions or dreams.”
~ Khandro Kunzang Wangmo SkyDancer

Enjoy this 45min film, SkyDancer by Jody Kemmerer, about Traktung Dudjom Lingpa’s granddaughter, Khandro Kunzang Wangmo

Synopsis:
“Sky Dancer” is a film about the daily life and teachings of one of Tibetan Buddhism’s great female masters. In a world where ethnic and political tensions are driving people apart, we are transportec to a community where Chinese and Tibetan students study together and are treated as equals. Khandroma Kunzang Wangmo the matriarch and spiritual leader of a remote area on the Tibetan plateau is one of very few women ever to receive a position of power in Tibetan Buddhism. Even more rare, she is the descendant of two extremely significant and highly respected masters of Tibetan Buddhism. The film is an inside look at the daily life and journey of this extraordinary woman who is a living example of wisdom and compassion in a world that so often seems to be lacking genuine examples of both.”

 

Who is ~ Khandro Kunzang Wangmo, also known as Khandro Tare Lhamo, was the granddaughter of Dudjom Lingpa, a highly revered 19th-century Tibetan tertön (treasure revealer) and teacher. Khandro Kunzang Wangmo is remembered for her deep realization, spiritual leadership, and close connection to the Dudjom Lineage.

She was known to be a realized yogini, carrying forward the teachings of her grandfather, Dudjom Lingpa, and maintaining the transmission of His wisdom and practices. Her contributions to the preservation and continuation of the Nyingma tradition, especially through her dedication to the Dudjom Lineage, have had a lasting impact on Tibetan Buddhism.

Her life serves as an inspiration to practitioners within the lineage, especially for her embodiment of the profound teachings of Dzogchen and her influence in upholding the spiritual legacy of Dudjom Lingpa.

The Steps of the Gradual Path

~ DudjomTersarNgondro
Vajrayogini Thangka by Lama Pema Dorje

In light of the upcoming Dudjom Lingpa Vajrayogini Empowerment which Tulku Thadral Rinpoche will administer during the Vajrayana Foundation 2024 Annual Ngondro Retreat,  we reshare this teaching by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche which we first posted here in 2015. The Source: of this teaching is from the Vajrayana Foundation Spring Retreat 1989 Brochure.

This is the first of what will be an Annual Retreat given by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. Rinpoche has expressed his vision for these retreats as follows:

“In the West there are many Dharma practitioners and many teachers, but I feel that the students lack a real overview of the body of the Dharma teachings from beginning to end. In order to serve the Vajrayana teachings, I would like to open the road to understanding Dharma in its entirety. Since I will be staying in America for a long time, I would like to provide an opportunity for those willing and able, to practice this path to completion. I hope some will be able to teach this doctrine themselves, thus preserving and advancing the Dharma in the West in its original, pristine form.  

The Vajrayana path has four levels of practice connected with the four initiations. The first initiation is the Vase initiation, connected with the Development stage practices: meditating on the deity of the three roots – Lama, Yidam and Dakini. The practices consist of drawing the deity to oneself, accomplishing the deity by realizing the ordinary and supreme essence blessings, and then performing the four Buddha activities. The purpose of Development stage practice is to destroy belief in and grasping at ordinary appearances by realizing emptiness of appearance. The result is that one realizes Buddhahood in the Nirmanakaya Buddhafield.    

The second initiation is the Secret initiation, connected with the practice of the Six Yogas: Tummo, Dream, Bardo, Phowa, Illusory Body and Clear Light. The nerves and channels are freed from blockages. The practices destroy grasping and attachment to ordinary speech and energy, using breathing and physical exercises. The result is realizing Buddhahood in the Sambhogakaya Buddhafield.  

The third initiation is the Wisdom initiation, connected with the path of Skillful Means. One experiences the four stages of bliss and the realization of the union of bliss and emptiness. The method of practice trains the mind and tigle (vital essence) and destroys grasping at impure perceptions. The result is Buddhahood at the Dharmakaya level.   

The fourth initiation is the Precious Word initiation. One meditates according to the two stages of Dzogchen, Thekchö and Tögal. In Thekchö, the practitioner realizes the separateness of mind and awareness, and the union of emptiness and awareness. The training consists of being introduced to the View of one’s own naked awareness and Buddha mind. After understanding  this one meditates on it. Then, one is taught to develop through Action. In Tögal, four stages of experience spontaneously arise. The purpose of Tögal is to attain the rainbow light body. At this time the subtle defilements are destroyed and in this life one attains Buddhahood in the Dharmakaya Buddhafield. This is the ultimate Dharma practice, resulting in the Swabhavakaya, which is the essence of the Dharmakaya.  

Each student will participate at their own level of practice connected with one of the four initiations. At the beginning of the retreat, the three Root initiations of Lama, Yidam and Dakini will be given, along with the oral transmissions (lung) and teachings. The daily schedule will consist of four sessions. During the first session we will do Ngondro (preliminary practices), Riwo Sangcho, Guru Rinpoche, Yeshe Tsogyal and Red Tara. During the second session I will give individual instruction. The third session will consist of teaching and practice in accordance with the individual student’s level. In the fourth session we will do sitting meditation, Vajrakilaya and Dharmapala.”

1996 Pema Osel LIng Summer Retreat

About Lama Tharchin Rinpcohe: 
Lama Tharchin Rinpoche was a beloved Dzogchen master of the Dudjom Tersar tradition of the Nyingma school of Vajrayana Buddhism and the tenth family lineage holder of the Repkong Ngakmang in Amdo, the largest community of yogi and lay tantric practitioners in Tibet. The Repkong ngakpas were revered throughout the region for their realization and ability to benefit others through the power of their tantric practice.

Born on the Tenth Day of the Fifth Month of the Fire Rat Year (June 29, 1936) to highly accomplished and esteemed yogi parents, Rinpoche trained from the age of eight under the close guidance of Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, completing five years of solitary retreat and a traditional three-year retreat by his early twenties. In addition to cultivating his own meditative experience and realization through Dharma practice, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche was highly respected for his accomplishments in textual study, ritual, torma making, mandala design, and sacred art, song, and dance.

In 1960, Rinpoche escaped Tibet, undertaking a dangerous six-week journey over the Himalayas on foot, guiding a small group of family and friends into India. Rinpoche continued to serve Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche in Tibetan refugee camps in Kalimpong and Orissa, India, as well as in Nepal, Taiwan, and eventually the United States. He continued mastering lineage traditions under the guidance of his root lamas, Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche, Chatral Rinpoche, Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, and Lama Sherab Rinpoche, as well as his other distinguished teachers.

After coming to the United States in 1984, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche was asked by Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche to teach Vajrayana and turn the third wheel of Dharma, planting the authentic seeds of Buddha’s teachings in the West. To establish a base for preserving and developing the Dudjom Tersar lineage for future generations, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche founded the Vajrayana Foundation in 1987 and Pema Ösel Ling retreat center in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains in 1991. Rinpoche passed into parinirvana on the Full Moon Day of the Sixth Month of the Water Snake Year (July 22, 2013), leaving the center under the guidance of Dudjom Sangye Pema Shepa Rinpoche and Lama Sonam Tsering Rinpoche. Lama Tharchin Rinpoche’s rich legacy continues to be preserved and distributed by the Lama Tharchin Rinpoche Heritage Foundation, Heart Teachings by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche, and the Vajrayana Foundation. 
Source: https://www.heartteachings.com/pages/about-us