He was tenth holder of the family lineage known as the Repkong Ngakpas.
[1] Tharchin Rinpoche was born in southern Tibet in the region of Kongpo.
[1] In 1960, he fled Tibet on foot, and lived with his family in India and Nepal for the next 24 years.
[1] In 1984 he moved to the United States and, after being asked by his teacher Dudjom Rinpoche to teach, founded the Vajrayana Foundation and began to teach Tibetan Buddhist dharma in America,[1] where he established a retreat center, Pema Ösel Ling, in Northern California.
[2] Tharchin Rinpoche suffered a sudden heart attack and died on July 22, 2013.