In May 2009, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche gave a series of teachings on Yumka Dechen Gyalmo. Just before one teaching, the Rigpa sangha asked Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche if he would include an explanation about how to direct their practice for the long life of Sogyal Rinpoche. Rinpoche agreed, but felt that, for the sake of auspiciousness, it would better if he talked about long-life practice first.

At the end of Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche’s stay in Lerab Ling, twenty yogis and yoginis asked him how to do a Chimé Phakmé Nyingtik retreat. Rinpoche didn’t have much time, so it wasn’t possible to base his instructions on the longer sadhana, so instead he told them how to do a retreat based on the daily sadhana. And as he didn’t quite finish the teaching before he left Lerab Ling, he completed it from his bed in Paris, with a tape recorder as his sole audience.

One rainy summer’s afternoon in Lerab Ling, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche spoke about how and why in our tradition we should do long life practices then, at Sogyal Rinpoche’s request, went on to focus specifically on the Chimé Phakmé Nyingtik. The teaching turned out to be a crash course on how to do the Chimé Phakmé Nyingtik, including a brief yet complete instruction on kyerim practice. It is the shortest instruction Rinpoche has ever given on the subject and a very good starting point for beginners.

That day, the simultaneous translation into French was done by Stéphane Arguillère, and translation from French into English was done by Ane Samten Palmo.

Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche gave this teaching the day before Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche gave the Rigpa Sangha and many other students, the elaborate empowerment of Chimé Phakmé Nyingtik. 

Translated by Adam Pearcey. Originally published on Lotsawahouse. 

Translated by Adam Pearcey. Originally published on Lotsawahouse

Based on Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye's commentary to Khyentse Wangpo's Chimé Phakmé Nyingtik, these teachings were given during a three-year retreat at Bois Bas (near Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère) in the Dordogne, between 1994 and 1997. The retreat was guided by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche’s teachings were received by nine retreatants. Many thanks to Steve Cline for making the digital transfer from cassette.

In March 2015, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche went yet again on pilgrimage around some of the most important sacred sites of India; only this time as a facilitator for Sogyal Rinpoche and a group of Rigpa students.

It was a glorious morning and the last day of the pilgrimage, which we spent at the Anathapindika Grove, the very place where the Enlightened One spent the most time. So, of course, talking about the Dharma is considered to be especially auspicious, and Rinpoche did not miss the precious opportunity. There he tells with his usual directness what it means to actually practise, and how we must make sure we approach Dharma practice. A roving tour of the Dharma, past, present and future.

Late one evening, in the old stone building in Lerab Ling that had been transformed, almost magically, into a Tibetan shrine, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche gave Rigpa students some advice about how to perform ceremonies. He felt compelled to do this after he witnessed, towards the end of a drupchen, one of the nuns spilling a cup of hot tea all over Sogyal Rinpoche, in full ceremonial regalia. Sadly, none of the translators that day could satisfy Rinpoche, so this is one of the very rare talks Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche has given in English “…because it’s not a teaching, it’s not about Dharma, it’s just about Tibetan traditions” – and the importance of making haste slowly.

Rinpoche was in Paris, his favourite city, with nothing to do for a few days, when suddenly he announced he wanted to take the train to Antwerp. Once we’d arrived in Antwerp he told us he wanted to visit Amsterdam the following day, to take up an invitation from his old friend Ane Jinba, to visit the famous flower market and maybe also drop in on the Rigpa Amsterdam centre.

For the last practice on a pilgrimage that had taken us to Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, and finally Shravasti, we gathered on a lawn behind the ruins of the house where Buddha Shakyamuni had spent many rainy seasons. We wanted to offer a Yumkha Dechen Gyalmo tsok, but first had to hire some locals to make sure the monkeys didn’t make a mess of the offerings we’d arranged so beautifully! When we came to the accumulation of the dakini tsok prayer called Turning Back the Summon of the Dakinis, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche gave us some advice about how best to direct our minds as we recited the prayer. And once again, he stressed that ordinary people like us who have no realization, must rely on the power of deity, mantra, mudra and samadhi.

During drupchens, it’s Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche’s habit to give one teaching every day. He always follows the customary instructions for conducting drupchens, and usually addresses specific topics that will help participants practise as meaningful as possible. Sometimes, though, he steps back from the details to look at the bigger picture.

In a house opposite Shechen Monastery in Bauda, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche and his wife were sleeping peacefully when an emissary from Rigpa arrived to ask questions about how to do a ‘one hundred thousand tsok offering’. Rinpoche sat up instantly, wrapped himself in his bedclothes to keep warm, and began to speak... This short teaching was originally translated by Matthieu Ricard, but unfortunately the recording has been misplaced.

Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche gave this teaching over two evenings during a ten-day Chime Phakmé Nyingtik drupchen presided over by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and Chokling Rinpoche. The drupchen took place at Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche’s home in Bir, India, and one of its purposes was to consecrate the new temple he had built in his backyard. Some of the Taiwanese students who participated in the drupchen asked Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche to give them a short, essential instruction that would help them make the most of their Chimé Phakmé Nyingtik ‘daily practice’ [View pdf].

Would you tell us a bit about Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse?

‘Dzongsar’ is the name of a Sakyapa monastery in Kham, and ‘Khyentse’ was a monk at this monastery who became a lama. For generations, members of his family had been monks and they all lived in the monks’ quarters at Dzongsar Monastery.