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Tarthang Rinpoche & the Nyingma Mandala

Rinpoche was born in Golok, Eastern Tibet, in 1935, and is one of the last surviving Tibetan lamas to receive a comprehensive traditional education in Old Tibet. Rinpoche studied with over forty Tibetan Buddhist masters who were among the greatest Buddhist luminaries of the twentieth century. After leaving Tibet in 1958, Rinpoche taught from 1962 to 1968 at Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India, where he also established Dharma Mudranalaya, one of the first printing presses to print sacred Tibetan texts. In 1969, Rinpoche became the first lama of the Nyingma lineage to settle in the United States.

In California, Rinpoche founded the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center (TNMC) as the nucleus of his activities. He established Padma Ling as the residential headquarters of TNMC, and in 1972 founded the Nyingma Institute. Among his many unique accomplishments, Rinpoche is the founder of the Odiyan Buddhist Retreat Center in California. Ratna Ling Retreat Center was established in 2004 as an adjunct to Odiyan and offers public retreats inspired by Buddhist practice and principles.

In India, Rinpoche founded the Nyingma Monlam Chenmo World Peace Ceremony held annually at Bodh Gaya. Since 1989, he has freely distributed more than six million sacred texts to lamas, monks, and nuns of the Tibetan community. This unprecedented free distribution of Dharma texts has helped to catalyze the development of over 3000 libraries, large and small, throughout the Himalayas.

Rinpoche has dedicated his life to the work of preserving, protecting, and distributing the Tibetan Buddhist heritage. All his books and projects are efforts to manifest the sacred forms of Kaya, Vaca, Citta, Guna, and Karma—enlightened embodiment, speech, mind, qualities, and actions—for the sake of the entire world. Rinpoche continues to preserve and distribute sacred Tibetan texts, to write books for Western audiences, and to energetically direct large, innovative, and inspiring Dharma projects.

Under the direction of Rinpoche’s daughter, Tsering Palmo Gellek, SINI is home to a number of programs that support the preservation and transmission of the Dharma. Through Rinpoche’s blessings, Tsering Gellek’s leadership, the efforts of many volunteers and staff, SINI continues to grow and celebrate human potential by building bridges of goodness.

A Higher Purpose

How did ordinary people achieve such extraordinary accomplishments?
At its heart, A Higher Purpose explores what becomes possible when people align their lives with something greater than themselves. Dedication and an extraordinary vision have created something remarkable: opportunities for transformative work with results that seem almost impossible.

Under the guidance of their teacher Tarthang Tulku, volunteers have undertaken vast projects supporting Buddhist culture in Asia and extending its spirit to the West – from printing millions of books to establishing centers of practice across four continents.

Visually stunning and grounded in the lived experiences of those who brought this vision to life, A Higher Purpose is a powerful meditation on devotion, the transcendence of limits, and the resilience of the human spirit. It stands as a living testament to how one individual’s clarity of purpose—rooted in compassion and unwavering resolve—can awaken the hearts and hands of many, transforming adversity into enduring acts of beauty, wisdom, and hope that will inspire generations to come.

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