Creating Wisdom Form, Making Tormas with Lama Tharchin Rinpoche

Along with being recognized as a highly realized Dzogchen lineage holder and meditation teacher of the Dudjom Tersar tradition of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism with rare experience and realization in the complete Nyingma paths of mahayoga, anuyoga, and atiyoga, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche was a highly revered master of sacred ritual arts. While many of Rinpoche’s students know that his father “gave him to Dudjom Rinpoche” to practice and study at an early age, they may not know that as part of his extensive training, Rinpoche studied the Mindroling style of art, music, and ritual with Kushab Gyurme Dorje, the head of ritual instruction at Lama Ling, Dudjom Rinpoche’s monastery in Kongpo, Tibet.

 In this newly-produced video filmed in the Pema Ösel Ling three-year retreat center in Spring 2012, a year before his passing, Rinpoche guides the practitioner through the meaning and role of tormas in Vajrayana Buddhism. He leads us step-by-step through the process of making tormas, from preparing the dough, constructing the torma, and understanding its proper placement on the shrine. Rinpoche creates the principal tormas of the Dudjom Tersar, including the Kartor, Gektor, Lha Gya Tor-Chik, Damchen Chitor, Cheddo, and Tenma. This instruction represents a valuable documentation of this increasingly rare authentic lineage of ritual mastery, and is an important contribution to the Dudjom lineage.

You can view the full video on YouTube or Vimeo.

For an explanation from Rinpoche on the meaning of tormas, download a PDF of Tormas in Tibetan Buddhism.

(We're sorry, we do not currently have Rinpoche's tormas available for sale.)

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