After Sogyal Rinpoche’s passing, the Rigpa sangha gathered with Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche and his monks at Bodhgaya, the most important and powerful Buddhist sacred place, and brought the kudung of Sogyal Rinpoche. Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche felt it would be a good idea for people to gather and practise together Vajrasattva through a Minling Dorsem drupchen to purify our link with Sogyal Rinpoche. Some of Rigpa’s main people asked then Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche to compose a prayer for the swift rebirth of Sogyal Rinpoche. Once it had been translated, Eszter went to see Rinpoche twice to ask for the reading transmission of the prayer. Rinpoche responded that it would be better if he’d give it to everyone in the main temple the next day, together with an explanation of the meaning of the prayer he wrote.

Early one morning at his home in Bir, Rinpoche shared this short instruction with one of his friends; an instruction that sounded very much like his ‘heart advice’. Rinpoche explained how we tend to receive so many different teachings that, often, we don't know where we should start, or which practice we should focus on. This is especially the case, he said, for people such as ourselves who don’t know the Dharma very well, or who know it, but are too lazy to apply it. If you feel like you might be one of those people, then Rinpoche’s answer here, in his own words, ‘the fruit of 67 years of investigation’, may be just what you need.

Late one night, Rinpoche paused as he walked past the upper cave at Yangleshö, sat down at the entrance of the cave to say some prayers and then, to inspire modern pilgrims, spontaneously began to recount, in his inimitable manner, the history of ‘the Asura cave’.

During one of Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche’s visits to Antwerp, some of his Brussels-based friends asked Brussels Rigpa if they could use the centre for a day-long tsok practice. Naturally, the Brussels Sangha were delighted and immediately agreed. And, naturally, they were also determined to make the most of Rinpoche’s visit. So they asked him to teach them about The Essence of the Vajrayana.

During a Pema Khandro drupchen at Lerab Ling, having tirelessly illuminated more than fifteen annual drupchens with practice advice, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche decided it was time to point out where western Vajrayana practitioners fall short.

Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche is, and always has been, a great patron of the Buddhist arts. Of course, these days, it’s become fashionable either to invest large sums of money in antique, historical artefacts, or to use new technologies to reproduce many images and statues quickly and in large quantities. In spite of both these trends, Rinpoche himself continues to follow in the footsteps of the great lamas of the past, by employing the best artists and craftspeople he can find, then guiding their work based on his own deep knowledge and experience of the teachings.

I was asked to comment on Kyabjé Dudjom Rinpoche’s Short Practice of Sengé Dongma. It is a practice for averting obstacles associated with Sengé Dongma. I don’t have anything special to say about this particular practice.

One sunny, summer morning in Lerab Ling, Rinpoche – who was, as always, intent on remaining absolutely faithful to the practice methods of the great masters of the past – read the prescribed section of the Drupchen Digest that’s traditionally recited during a drupchen. A Drupchen Digest is a compilation of quotations that have been gathered and categorized according to where they should be read during the ritual practice; and its purpose is to inspire participants at different stages of the practice.

One hot summer’s evening during a Vajrakilaya drupchen at Lerab Ling, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche spoke about both Vajrakilaya and how to apply the basic principles of kyerim to Vajrakilaya practice. Sogyal Rinpoche was present and Chokyi Nyima (Richard Baron) provided an excellent on-the-spot live translation. This was the teaching that went on to become an integral part of how kyerim is now taught to all Rigpa's Vajrayana students.

During a private interview in Lerab Ling, Rinpoche was asked about the eight great bodhisattvas who are also known as the ‘eight close sons’ of the Buddha.

Rinpoche who was in Paris on his way to India, was requested to go the Rigpa centre there to teach on the Tendrel Nyesel. Even though Rinpoche is not particularly familiar with this particular terma, he gave an extremely accessible teaching, essential for anyone who wishes to do this practice, even if for those who at the beginning of their exploration of the Vajrayana teachings.

Rinpoche recorded this explanation himself during a visit to Paris after Sogyal Rinpoche requested the teaching for a group of practitioners who had gathered in Lerab Ling.

In May 2009, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche returned to Berlin. During his visit, Rinpoche was touched by the sheer number of people who died there in 1945, and felt it is important to practise for all the spirits of the departed that must still be there. Apart from elaborate sur practices, Rinpoche offered to come back with lamas and monks to do the most elaborate kind of Vajrayana practice in Berlin, a drupchen, which was made possible by the generous support of Sogyal Rinpoche and the Rigpa sangha in the unique Berlin Rigpa Centre. One morning, before doing Gesar practices, Rinpoche said these few words.

An hour after his customary daily “pep talk” during a Chime Phakmé Nyingtik drupchen, Rinpoche seized the opportunity to point out to all the practitioners gathered in Lerab Ling’s majestic temple – Palri Pema Ösel Dargyé Ling – just how important it is for Vajrayana practitioners to perform the mudra that accompanies the Inexpressible Ultimate Confession (Yeshe Kuchok).

One evening during a Padma Khandro drupchen in Lerab Ling, Rinpoche gave this rare and exceptional explanation of the Wangdu prayer, which, he told us, he had received from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche more than fifty years before, but had never shared. Although he wasn’t feeling well, he said, “… I offered this explanation the moment I thought of giving it, because who knows how I’ll feel tomorrow? By then, I might not fancy the idea of sharing these very special instructions with anyone”