A Ticket to Becoming a Pandita History of the Do Gyud Dzod Lama Tharchin Rinpoche 13th Dechö Anam Thubten Rinpoche
This groundbreaking program on the history of the Do Gyud Dzö inaugurates a long-term study of this extraordinary multivolume masterwork composed by Choying Tobden Dorje, the 19th-century yogi-scholar from Repkong, Tibet, the ancestral home of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche.
Lama Tharchin Rinpoche held a vision to foster balance between study and practice in retreat. After establishing a traditional three-year retreat, he had the foresight to create a shedra, a Buddhist College in the West, where this body of knowledge would be transmitted under the direction of Lama Gyaltsen Rinpoche and Anam Thubten Rinpoche, over a long period of time, just as it had been for centuries. Both were among a group of revered lamas who were directly involved in Lama Tharchin Rinpoche's vision to revitalize the Do Gyud Dzod.
From the single copy available in Tibet at the time, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche set in motion his lifelong heart's legacy. With the outstanding support of Alak Zenkar Rinpoche, this copy was acquired, and the project to compile, edit, and translate the complete volumes was begun.
"Studying the Do Gyud Dzod provides a panoramic view of the entire system of sutras and tantras, as well as the ten sciences: inner sciences, logic, medicine, arts, poetry, astrology, and so forth. It is the ticket to becoming an authentic Pandita, just like the great Panditas of the past." — Anam Thubten
This day-long program is a rare and historic opportunity to make a connection with a teaching tradition of immeasurable depth.
In Celebration of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche’s thirteenth Dechö
A Ticket to Becoming a Paṇḍita
The History of the Do Gyud Dzö
The Treasury of the Sūtra and Tantra by Choying Tobden Dorje
Anam Thubten Rinpoche
Online and at Dhumatala, Point Richmond, CA
Saturday, August 1, 10 am to 5 om Pacific
A celebratory lunch will be offered onsite.
Register in advance!
Chakung Jigme Wangdrak Rinpoche and Anam Thubten in Brazil
From Rio de Janeiro to Kuritiba and to the heart of Khadro Ling
Dungse Chakung Jigme Wangdrak Rinpoche’s first visit to Brazil, with Anam Thubten Rinpoche.
October 19 to November 2, 2026
Hosted by Lhamen Foundation
The schedule of events will be posted here
Creation Phase Meditation & Sādhana Yearlong Program
Creation Phase Meditation and Sādhana
Teachings and Guidance on the Gradual Path of Vajryana
with Lama Freddie (Drubpon Pema Rigdzin)
Who is this program for?
Have you received many Vajrayāna empowerments but have not been equipped with the understanding of how to pursue what you’ve been authorized to practice? Are you longing for authentic and sustained guidance geared toward progress? Is the wish to dive deeper pulsing within you, but you have not been able to create the space for personal retreats?
This year-long program is tailored for dedicated practitioners who have completed their preliminary practices (ngöndro) in any lineage or tradition and wish to continue training in the gradual path through the phases of creation in accordance with the teachings of the Nyingma School.
Repkong, Tibet Pilgrimage, Summer 2027
Save the date! Pilgrimage to Repkong, Tibet, Summer 2027
Healing Cho Changbu Gyatsa Dudjom Lingpa
This Chöd healing ceremony draws from the profound Troma Nagmo cycle, a treasure teaching revealed by the great tertön Dudjom Lingpa.
Traktung Düdjom Lingpa was a young hidden yogi when he revealed the Troma Nagmo treasure cycle in the Mar Chu Valley of Golok, eastern Tibet, in the early 1860s. A budding tertön, he had traveled from the Serta region to stay with the prominent Gili family. As his capacities as a healer became known among the local nomadic communities, he came to be called Gili Tertön. Those with karmic affinity who followed in his footsteps wandered in caves and mountains to practice his treasure teachings, and one by one, they all attained the highest levels of awakening.
This cycle holds the quintessence path of Dzogchen, yet within it are also concise healing chöd rituals and practices that work at the most foundational levels of human experience. Among them, the Changbu Gyatsa is a potent healing chöd ritual that severs and heals the deepest roots of suffering: what we carry unresolved in our bodies, illness, grief, trauma, and stress, giving space to set the ground for a suitable vessel for awakening to blossom. As Düdjom Lingpa himself prophesied, this cycle is a timely ambrosia for the chaos and suffering of our age.
At the heart of this ceremony lie one hundred handprints, each one a living imprint. Arranged as the five desirable objects, these karmic imprints become an offering, freed into the vast, luminous presence of the wisdom Ḍākinī Tröma Nagmo, Krodikālī. She is fierce in form and boundless in compassion, meeting our confusions with love that expects nothing but openness.
What to Expect:
This session includes explanations, guided meditation, and a ritual in which you are welcome to lie down, relax, and open yourself to the healer within the great wisdom mother.
No prior experience with Chöd, Tibetan Buddhism, or meditation is required.
"If you visualize through these key points, the recipient of your offering, the Mamo Dakini, will be pleased. The recipients of your charities, the demons, will all be appeased as well. You will free yourself from inner and outer obstacles and hindrances and produce the ultimate great merit." — Dudjom Lingpa
How to Die Professionally
How to Die Professionally: Hybrid- in-person and Online, with Drubpon Pema Rigdzin (Lama Freddie).
Death is a topic most of us are not trained to meet with grace, and yet it is the one appointment none of us will miss. Like life itself, death is not a single moment but an ongoing progression, a transition that can be approached with awareness, preparation, and presence.
The Vajrayāna tradition offers a profound roadmap for this journey. For practitioners with devotion and some degree of training, the moment of death can become the greatest opportunity for awakening, what Lama Tharchin Rinpoche called dying professionally.
Whether you are supporting a loved one, working in care or medicine, simply wishing to live more fully by befriending impermanence, or understanding the profound methods on the path of Vajrayāna, this day is for you.
How do we prepare for this threshold? And how does that preparation become a source of support for others?
The first part grounds us in the relative and secular foundations of end-of-life care: ethical sensibilities, practical preparedness, and contemplative grounding. Through open dialogue, we explore how to meet our fears honestly and prepare with genuine confidence.
The second part goes deeper into the wisdom methods of the Vajrayāna tradition. Through inquiry and exploration of real-life scenarios, we strengthen our understanding of dharma, steady our confidence, and arrive at greater clarity in the moment of transition.
Open to all. A recording will be available for later review and study.
Lama Freddie is an Interfaith Spiritual Care Provider at Stanford Healthcare and a former Chaplain with the Hospice of Santa Cruz. He has trained in Tibetan Buddhism for over thirty years and completed extensive Vajrayāna retreats, including two traditional three-year retreats under the guidance of Lama Tharchin Rinpoche. Lama Freddie is the Retreat Teacher (Drubpon) for the Three-Year Retreat Drub Nyiy Döjö Gatsal, founded by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche in 1992, a lead ritual chanter (umdze), and a mentor in the Ngondro Program of the Vajrayāna Foundation. An acupuncturist and a physical therapist in his native country of Brazil and a keen researcher of ancestral forms of healing, Lama Freddie’s activities have expanded to serve communities in the US and worldwide through authentic dharma and unique healing methods. He is the co-founder of Lhamen Foundation.
(flier art by Pema Tintin Tsehring)
Eating The Sky Chülen Practice
Eating the sky
Chülen Rejuvenation Practice
Sunday, April 19, 2026, 10 am to 1 pm PDT
In Person at the Wisdom Center of Santa Cruz and ONLINE
Our spring practice will be devoted to the contemplative rejuvenation practice known as “Eating the Sky.” Rooted in Vajrayāna traditions, Eating the Sky is grounded in an ancient understanding that the body and mind are woven from the same fabric as existence itself. The five elements - earth, water, fire, wind, and space - are not only outer forces but also organic processes within us that shape our vitality, perception, and body. When these elements fall out of balance, “dis-ease” is the natural result.
The practice of chülen consists of methods aimed at extracting nourishment, or essences, through alchemical processes, ritual, and contemplation. Amongst the different modalities of chülen, extracting the essence of space is considered the most sublime and has been practiced for centuries by yogis in retreat and in Tibetan Traditional Medicine as a treatment for rejuvenation.
Across Tibetan contemplative and medical lineages, including Sowa Rigpa, healing begins by restoring harmony at this elemental level. Where medicine works through substances and behavior, practices such as Eating the Sky turn inward—using breath, visualization, and awareness to receive the elements in their most subtle yet most nourishing form. The practice emphasizes receptivity rather than effort, which invites the body to replenish and the mind to settle on its own basis.
Instructions will be given from the Tsokkyi Thukthik treasure cycle of the Dudjom Tersar lineage, where this practice is held as a support for sustained meditation and longevity. Over the course of the three-hour practice, guidance will be offered on posture, breath, and visualization, interwoven with spacious periods of contemplation.
The Verses of the Eight Noble and Auspicious Ones
The Verses of the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones
Teaching and Practice
Tashi Gyepa, or the Verses of the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones is profound prayer composed by the great Nyingma scholar, Jamgön Mipham.