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.”

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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