Lama Rigdzin

Lama Rigdzin (Skt. Guru Vidhyādhara; Tib. བླ་མ་རིག་འཛིན་, Wyl. bla ma rig 'dzin) is one of the Kagyé deities (appearing either in the centre or the south-western direction of the Kagyé mandala) who embodies the eight vidyadharas or the essence of Padmasambhava. The practice of Lama Rigdzin arose specifically for Guru Rinpoche.

Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche says:

Mahayoga teachings belong either to the tantra class (Tib. Gyüdé) and the sadhana class (Tib. Drupdé). In the sadhana class there are the sadhanas in which the Kagyé appear altogether and the sadhanas of the individual Kagyé deities. There are sadhanas such as Lama Rigdzin Düpa or Tukdrup Barché Künsel which are sadhanas of this particular Kagyé deity, Lama Rigdzin.

Lama Rigdzin is the lama practice. If you accomplish the practice of the lama, then you also accomplish the yidam, the dakini and the dharmapalas. Generally it is said that the root of all blessings is the lama, the root of all accomplishment is the yidam and the root of all activity is the dakini and the dharmapalas. These are the practices known as the 'three roots'. Even so, since they are all accomplished through the force of the lama’s compassion, if you accomplish the lama you accomplish the others as well.