Teachers

Lama Tharchin Rinpoche was a Dzogchen (Great Perfection) master of Vajrayana Buddhism. He was the tenth lineage holder of the Repkong Ngakpas. This is a family lineage of yogis, or householders, and was the largest community of non-monastic practitioners in Tibet. Rinpoche was trained in His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche's monastery, engaged in five years of solitary retreat and then completed the three year retreat with three others under Dudjom Rinpoche.

In addition to Dudjom Rinpoche, his main teachers were Chatral Rinpoche, Lama Sherab Dorje Rinpoche, and Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche. Rinpoche left Tibet by foot with his family in 1960. He lived in Orissa, India and Kathmandu, Nepal before coming to America in 1984 for health reasons. While in America, Dudjom Rinpoche asked Lama Tharchin Rinpoche to turn the third wheel of Dharma, the teachings of Vajrayana Buddhism.

As a householder with two sons, Rinpoche had a wonderfully kind and wise approach to working with Western students. His gentleness and jewel-like qualities embodied a living expression of the wisdom and compassion of the Buddhadharma. He was so rare and precious, not only because of his great realization, but also for his vast knowledge of Tibetan ritual arts, music, and dance, as well as the philosophical basis of the Vajrayana teachings.

Lama Tharchin Rinpoche passed into Parinirvana on July 22nd, 2013.

Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche is a meditation master in the Dzogchen lineage of the Buddhist tradition with a particular passion for presenting these teachings in a practical and experiential way for a modern audience. He studied for nine years with his teacher, Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche, one of the greatest Dzogchen masters of the twentieth century. After completing his studies and receiving the khenpo degree, the highest degree of Buddhist study and practice, he spent several years teaching lamas, monks, and Western students at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling, a large monastery in Nepal. During that time, he received additional advanced instructions from the renowned teachers Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Thinley Norbu Rinpoche.

Since 1995, Rinpoche has lived in the United States. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is the founder and spiritual director of Pristine Mind Foundation. He conducts retreats and offers teachings throughout the United States and around the world, for a broad range of audiences, including business and technology professionals, parents, children, health-care providers, psychologists, spiritual seekers, and yoga practitioners. His teachings are also available online through live streams and recordings.

Orgyen Chowang Rinpoche is the author of Our Pristine Mind: A Practical Guide to Unconditional Happiness.

For more information, please visit pristinemind.org.

Lama Sonam Tsering Rinpoche is a Nyingma master of Tibetan Buddhism. At a very young age he began learning the scriptures with his father. From there, he began his training in the Dudjom Tersar lineage, the two stages of creation and completion, at His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche’s monastery, Dudul Rabten Ling. His studies included ritual arts, music, sacred dance, and retreats. He also served as a ritual master, chopön, for many years.

Under the guidance of His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, Lama Sonam Rinpoche completed his extensive Buddhist education at the Ngagyur Shedrup Dodjo Ling. He received the complete teachings, empowerments, and instructions on the Dudjom Tersar and other Nyingma traditions from many Lamas and Khenpos.

Following this, Chagdud Rinpoche invited him to the United States. Over the years, while serving as a resident Lama at Dechen Ling Buddhist Center, Chagdud Gompa, in Oregon he helped centers across the country. To fulfill the wishes of Chagdud Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche he brought the tradition of drubchen and Dudjom Tersar Lama dances to America for the first time. He also served His Holiness Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche by teaching the children at the Lotus School in upstate New York for many years. Later, His Holiness Dungse Thinley Norbu Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche both entrusted him to oversee and guide the Vajrayana Foundation, Pema Osel Ling, where he currently resides. He is also a founding teacher at Saraha Nyingma Buddhist Institute in Oregon.

Lama Sonam Rinpoche has an extraordinary way of conveying the wisdom and compassion of the Buddhadharma to young people and adults alike. He is a humble practitioner with boundless energy for the Dharma which he ceaselessly and joyfully applies for the benefit of all beings.

Dechen Yeshe Wangmo's Buddhist training began in 1978 when she met the 16th Karmapa and the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche. She completed the traditional three-year retreat in 1985 and was authorized to teach by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche in 1992. Yeshe Wangmo is an accomplished translator and was appointed to Kalu Rinpoche's International Translation Committee in 1986.

She is the founder of Jnanasukha, a nonprofit serving His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche's treasure lineage of the "Dakini Heart Essence," the Vajrayana lineage of the female buddhas. She is the director of Lotus Gate Sanctuary on the Big Island of Hawai'i.

She is also a certified Hakomi Therapist with seven years of training with Ron Kurtz, the creator of the Hakomi Method, and Donna Martin, an international trainer.

She is devoted to the correct understanding of the Vajrayana, the experience of it in meditation, and the embodiment of it in daily life.

A twenty-year resident of the Big Island of Hawai'i, she offers programs and retreats, Hakomi workshops, and individual sessions.