The teaching that follows took place during a pilgrimage of the sacred Buddhist sites in India, at the point when the group had just reached Kushinagar, the place of Buddha’s parinirvana. Inspired by the immense significance of this place, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche abandoned his usual reserve and spoke openly about the Dzogchen teachings, in particular the state of final fruition that is possible through this very special path.

Despite the pandemic and all its restrictions, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche and his monks were able to successfully hold a series of drupchens at the holy sites of India towards the end of 2021. Continuing this ‘winning streak’, Rinpoche then brought a large contingent of lamas and monks from Chokling Monastery to Sri Lanka, to hold a drupchen of Tukdrup Barche Kunsel at the sacred mountain of Sri Pada (Adams Peak). A number of foreign students were also able to travel to Sri Lanka to join the drupchen and for their benefit, Rinpoche shared these introductory words about the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and about the special significance of Sri Pada for the different Buddhist traditions.

At the end of a Vajrakilaya drupchen at Tsering Jong, in Bir, in which the practitioners combined three Vajrakilaya practices as Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche explains in this teaching, Rinpoche gave the traditional talk before the Marmé Mönlam, the light offering aspiration that concludes a drupchen. In his speech Rinpoche reminds the attendance of the extraordinary power what they have just done, and inspire them to dedicate the merit by indicating aspirations to make at this point. Since the same principles apply at the end of every drupchen, before the Marmé Mönlam, Rinpoche wished that we share these few words.

While teaching the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, as he explained the section on the paramita of generosity, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche felt it was important to relate it more closely to western people, and he gave this very useful instruction.

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’.

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.

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 has an indefatigable interest in all things Dharma, especially anything to do with the Nyingmapas. And amongst the vast body of teachings called the Ngagyur Nyingma, the fabulous tales and wisdom associated with the myth of the great warrior Gesar strike a special chord for him.