Charitable Activities

Each of the five prayer wheels will live in these beautiful painted houses. The prayer wheels will turn from downward flowing water, blessing all the water with mantras as it passes.

Last month we reported that a grant was issued from the Prayer Wheel Fund to the Mani Chungyur, Stupa and Water Park, a project being built in Namche Bazaar, Nepal to be used for five prayer wheels which are turned by flowing water, thus blessing all of the water used throughout the entire park.

We are pleased to report that, due to this grant, all of the prayer wheels houses, mechanical turbines, and paintings have been completed. Once all of the parts are assembled, the prayer wheels can be fixed in the housing units and repainted to original form. This next step may take few more months but we are pleased to report so much progress has already been made due to the grant issued by the Prayer Wheel Fund. 

Locals gather for a puja at the site of the new water park.

“The benefit of turning the Dharma wheel is that negative karma and disturbing thought obscurations accumulated over beginningless rebirths are purified without effort. Even other mantras are without doubt completed.” — Lama Zopa Rinpoche quoting Lord Buddha in “The Benefits of Prayer Wheels” 

If you would like to contribute to the building of holy objects around the world, you are welcome to offer any amount to the Holy Objects Fund which contributes to the creation of stupas, prayer wheels and statues. 

The nuns rooms at Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery had to be completely rebuilt following earthquake destruction.

Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery (also known as Bigu Nunnery), located in a remote area of Nepal, is still rebuilding following devastation from the April 2015 earthquake. All of the buildings at the nunnery were destroyed and there was no safe housing for the seventy-five nuns. Additionally, there was no accessible health care facility or place for the nuns to study as all roads were blocked due earthquake destruction. The Nepal Earthquake Support Fund offered immediate aid to the nunnery following this destruction, to help with food and health care needs while the nuns occupied their temporary shelter in Khatmandu. 

Some of the nuns of Tashi Chime Gatsal who were displaced following earthquake destruction.

These nuns have been offering two 100 million mani retreats every year. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has been supporting this through the Practice and Retreat Fund for over seven years and a very kind benefactor has sponsored one of their retreats this year as well. 

The sponsorship of 100 million mani retreats is one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization. The nuns completed the first 100 million mani recitations while in temporary housing in Khatmandu, but they have now returned to the nunnery and will complete the second part of the retreat there. Sixty-five nuns are engaged in the mani retreat approximately six hours per day. They dedicate their practice to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, for all of Rinpoche’s Dharma wishes to be successful, and for the entire FPMT organization and projects to bring the most benefit to all sentient being. 

The damage to Tashi Chime Gatsal Nunnery was severe and the entire nunnery needs to be rebuilt.

By sponsoring the retreat, FPMT directly supports the nuns through funding the cost of their daily meals. The nunnery is further supported by this grant because any funds not used directly for the cost of the retreat can be used for the overall development of the nunnery. Additionally, the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund has offered another grant for the rebuilding of a new kitchen for the nuns. This is an immediate need as the nuns need a proper kitchen facility to support the nuns who are in retreat as well as those who are not. 

The nunnery has a long way to go before it is rebuilt in proper condition. In addition to the kitchen, they are now building the nuns rooms and a puja hall for group practice. This work will be essential for reestablishing a safe and conducive environment in which the nuns can live, study, and practice Dharma. 

The Practice and Retreat Fund provides grants and sponsorships for students engaged in retreats such as 108 nyung nä retreats, 100 million mani retreats, recitations of sutras and long term retreat. 

Rabagayling Tibetan Settlement community gathering for a 100 million mani retreat in their new community hall, sponsored by the Social Services Fund.

The completed community hall at Rabagayling Tibetan Settlement in South India.

In July we reported that a new community hall at Rabagayling Tibetan Settlement in South India was completed. The Social Services Fund provided a grant for this new building which will be used by by 2,710 refugees. 

We are delighted to share that in August this community commenced a 100 Million Mani Retreat in the new building! One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for FPMT is for 100,000 of these beneficial retreats to be completed. Rinpoche sent the following message to the community upon hearing about this retreat beginning:

“I was very happy to hear this news, this mani retreat is most needed, most important, not for only for the people attending  but for all  sentient beings, even the ants and slugs and all sentient beings. It is for peace and happiness and peerless happiness enlightenment -Sangye: the total cessation of all the obscurations and completion of all the realizations.”

Please rejoice in this incredible retreat undertaking. This new building was needed to accommodate the community engaging in group practices such as this, and we’re so pleased that they are quickly utilizing it for such auspicious activities. 

If you are inspired by grants such as this, you are welcome to contribute to the Social Service Fund and help ensure that work like this can continue. 

Teenage Tenzin Ösel Hita with the monks at Sera Je Monastery.

We’d like to invite you to rejoice in twenty-five years of the Sera Je Food Fund offerings meals to the monks of Sera Je Monstery! 

The Sera Je Food Fund began in 1991 when Tenzin Ösel Hita, the recognized incarnation of Lama Yeshe, entered Sera Je Monastery in southern India at age six. It is customary for a monk’s sponsor to make offerings to all Sangha on the day of officially entering the monastery and Lama Zopa Rinpoche wanted the offering to be of the greatest practical benefit to the monastery itself. After discussion with the abbot of Sera Je Monastery, it was determined that the most beneficial offering would be to create a food fund whereby all of the monks at Sera Je Monastery could be offered quality meals for free. In this way, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was not simply offering lunch on the day of  Ösel’s entrance to the monastery but, without precedent, taking on the responsibility of providing meals to every monk at Sera Je for the rest of their lives.

Initially, the fund offered money to each monk for lunch. At that time there were 1,300 monks and the annual cost was about US$25,000.

It became apparent that it would be much easier for the monks to have the meals cooked and offered, so in 1997, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered US$25,000 for a new kitchen and began paying the salary of seven fulltime cooks. At that time there were 1,900 monks and the annual cost was about US$175,000.

In 1997, six years after starting the fund, Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Sera Je Monastery. At that time, many of the older geshes, some with tears in their eyes, thanked Rinpoche and spoke of how the fund was benefiting the monastery. Monks could now attend all the morning debate sessions instead of taking time out to prepare meals. Additionally, the fund alleviated the great burden teachers carried while providing for students who had no resources.

In 1998, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Sera Je Food Fund took on the responsibility of offering dinner to each monk.

Sera Je monks help prepare meals for in the Sera Je Food Fund kitchen.

In 2003, in addition to offering lunch and dinner, breakfast began to be sponsored by the Sera Je Food Fund three months a year. 

In 2008, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Sera Je Food Fund took on the responsibility to offer three meals a day to all monks of Sera Je. Osel Labrang took over management on the ground, ensuring the quality of the food and managing all aspects of buying and preparing the food.

In 2012, In addition to offering all the meals to all the monks at Sera Je Monastery the Sera Je Food Fund also took on the responsibility to offer breakfast to the young monks who attend the Sera Je school. This has been the practice of the fund since 2012.

Since 1991 the Sera Je Food Fund has offered millions of meals. We currently offer approximately 700,000 meals per year, 2,900 meals per day. 

Healthy and hearty vegetarian soup is often offered, through the Sera Je Food Fund, as dinner to the monks of Sera Je Monastery.

There are, on average, 1,600 monks benefiting from the food fund and the annual cost is US$200,000.

In the Tibetan tradition, it is customary for monastics to support themselves. In addition to providing for their own housing, individual monks are responsible for purchasing and preparing all of their meals. As many of the monks are refugees from Tibet or from refugee families living in India, they have very little money for quality food and, consequently, were often malnourished and ill. Before the Sera Je Food Fund, most monks at the monastery never had a full stomach. Now, for the first time, they are well-nourished, and this makes a dramatic difference in the energy they are able to devote to their studies. Additionally, group preparation of meals and use of a communal kitchen allows more time for the monks to apply themselves to their studies without the added worry of cleaning up and preparing individual meals, monitoring their individual health for adequate protein and nutrition, etc.

Over 22,000 bananas are offered in a typical month to the monks of Sera Je Food Fund.

In one month, nearly 22,000 bananas, 120 bottles of soy sauce, and an incredible 5,500 pounds of flour, among many other ingredients including vegetables, rice, noodles, and tea, are utilized in preparation for this offering of daily vegetarian meals. 

Please rejoice in this incredible service which has been offered without interruption for twenty-five years and will continue far into the future. All are welcome to participate in this offering by donating  to the fund. 

On behalf of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT International Office would like to offer our heartfelt gratitude to all of the kind benefactors who have been contributing to this project over the years and supporting Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Vision.

You can learn more about the Sera Je Food Fund or support this project with a donation of any amount. 

Group photo from the fourth meditation course held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1973. Photo by Christine Lopez.

At the end of last year we reported on the extensive rebuilding needed at Kopan Monastery and Nunnery following the devastating April 2015 earthquake in Nepal. 

Chenrezig Gompa prior to the earthquake damage.

Kopan Monastery is FPMT’s most precious destinations as the very first FPMT teachings happend there with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the early seventies.  Since the early days of the organization, this Chenrezig Gompa has been a place for new and old students to connect or reconnect to the Dharma. The gompa was severely damaged in the earthquake. In response to the damage, engineers from Taiwan flew to Kopan to professionally evaluate the structural damages to buildings. Based on their advice, the entire Chenrezig gompa was pulled down and is being rebuilt. The foundation has now been laid and construction has begun.  

There are more buildings at Kopan that still need to be completely rebuilt or extensively  repaired due to the earthquake and these repairs will be happening soon.

The foundation of the new Chenrezig Gompa being rebuilt at Kopan Monastery.

Kopan Nunnery is currently the largest Tibetan nunnery in Nepal with 400 nuns. The nunnery provides full scholarship for the nuns, which includes education, accommodation, health care and food.

One of the ways the nunnery supports itself is by making incense. The building used for making the incense (which was a newly completed building at the time of the earthquake),  was completely damaged and had to be rebuilt following the earthquake destruction. 

All of this rebuilding is due to the generosity of donors who so kindly contribute to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund and there is still extensive need for rebuilding at Kopan Monastery and Nunnery as well as Lawudo and we will continue to support  this in whatever way we can.

Thanks to all who have contributed to this fund and to those who feel moved to do so in the future. With everyone’s help, these most precious FPMT institutions can be rebuilt soon so the Sangha, teachers, and students who depend on them can benefit for many, many years to come. 

All are welcome to donate to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund. 
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/

You can learn more about Lawudo Gompa and the history of Lawudo. 
http://www.lawudo.com/About

Artist rendition of the Mani Chungyur, Stupa and Water Park in Namche Bazar.

The Holy Objects Fund recently offered a US$50,000 grant to the Mani Chungyur, Stupa and Water Park, a project being built in Namche Bazaar, Nepal, located in the Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone (SNPBZ). The grant will be used for five prayer wheels which are turned by flowing water, thus blessing all of the water used throughout the entire park. This project is also a restoration of original prayer wheels and artwork and will become a tourist attraction that is beneficial for the visitors. 

Five prayer wheels will be restored and installed in the new park.

Sagarmatha National Park (SNP) is one of the major tourist destinations for expedition and trekking in Nepal. Since the 1950s, and especially since the 1970s, highly skilled mountaineers and causal tourists have visited the “top of the world,” in order to summit or just get a glance of Mount Everest. To honor this special area, the government of Nepal created in Sagarmatha National Park in 1976. Later the SNP was extended by a buffer zone, and Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone was created.

This area will become Mani Chungyur, Stupa and Water Park.

The SNPBZ headquarters has many lodges, trekking and mountaineering equipment shops. The village also has three small museums, a stupa, monastery and many well stocked stores. This new development will bring tourist money into the area and help revitalize its history.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has advised the coordinators on the prayer wheels, stressing the importance of using high quality materials and filling them with the appropriate texts and mantras. Rinpoche also explained that there are “infinite, infinite benefits” to constructing holy objects correctly. 

Five prayer wheels will turn from downward flowing water, blessing all the water with mantras as it passes.

Please rejoice in the development of the new Mani Chungyur, Stupa and Water Park which will bring so much benefit to residents of Namche Bazaar and tourists alike due to the incredible power of the prayer wheels. 

If you would like to contribute to the building of holy objects around the world, you are welcome to offer any amount to the Holy Objects Fund which contributes to the creation of stupas, prayer wheels and statues. 

Sera Je Monastery monks performing pujas sponsored by the Puja Fund.

Each year on Chokhor Duchen (commemorating Lord Buddha’s first teaching) the Puja Fund sponsors pujas and offerings all over the world dedicated to success of the entire FPMT organization. The practices are offered by up to 15,650 monks and nuns. This year Chokhor Duchen was celebrated on August 6. 

The Prajnaparamita (short, medium and long versions) was recited by the monks of Gyurme Tantric College, the entire Kangyur was recited by Kopan Nunnery, extensive offerings were presented to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus and holy objects in India and Tibet, among many other virtuous activities, prayers and pujas which were advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. 

You are welcome to participate in these offerings which take place every holy Buddha day, and rejoice that 15,650 monks and nuns will be doing these prayers, remembering that they are all “pores of the guru” and thus extensions of our teachers.

If you would like to make a donation toward the meritorious activities being sponsored by the Puja Fund on Chokor Duchen, you can do so by offering any amount you are able. 

The Puja Fund was established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to provide resources for continuous pujas dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to the success of all the FPMT centers, projects, services, students, benefactors and those serving the organization in any way. You can learn more about the Puja Fund, or FPMT’s other extensive charitable activity. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche making offerings to the Mahabodhi Stupa, Bodhgaya, India, February 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

At the end of the Medicine Buddha retreat at Rinchen Jangsem Ling in Malaysia in April, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, through the kindness of several benefactors, offered a US$10,000 grant to the center for a two storey Namgyälma stupa which will be built. This grant was issued through the FPMT Stupa Fund. This stupa will be dedicated to His Holiness the Dalai Lama all the holy beings who work for others in this world; all FPMT centers, projects, services, benefactors, volunteers, students and all the people in the world who do good things for others; and for those who do harm to meet the Dharma to understand karma in order to start to benefiting others. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche consecrating stupa at Mahamudra Centre, New Zealand, May 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

Stupas are powerful symbols of the mind’s limitless potential. In other words, they represent the mind of enlightenment. Building or sponsoring a stupa is a very powerful way to accumulate merit and purify negative karma. 

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization is for 100,000 large stupas to be built around the world. To date, over fifty have been built. 

The large Namgyälma stupa project at Rinchen Jangsem  Ling has not yet begun and we will keep all updated on its progress as it develops. 

If you would like to contribute to the building of holy objects around the world, you are welcome to offer any amount to the Holy Objects Fund which contributes to the creation of stupas, prayer wheels and statues. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche translated “Padmasambhava’s Instruction on Offerings to Stupas,” which details the benefits of prostrating to, circumambulating, making offerings, and offering service to stupas. Also available is, “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice for Circumambulation.”

Tara Home at Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, CA, USA.

Tara Home, located at Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, California, is a home for terminally ill people entering their last few months of life. Around-the-clock compassionate care is provided by trained volunteers.

Tara Home relies completely on donations to cover the monthly costs of rent, insurance, telephone, supplies, and paid caregivers when volunteers are not available. Care is prioritized for those who do not have family support, so procuring donations for needed care is essential.  

Residents of Tara Home are offered spiritual care as well as material care and comfort. Two large prayer wheels are located just outside the hospice so those in the home can easily access them, and resident Sangha offer prayers daily on location. This provides the residents with the ability to easily generate merit and receive blessings for their minds, even in the final stages of life when they may be physically weak and unable to exert much energy. 

Comfortable accommodation is provided at Tara Home for those in their final months of life.

The Social Services Fund recently offered a grant to Tara Home, to assist in their compassionate ongoing work. Please rejoice in this most essential work being done to care for those who need kindness and support as they pass on from this life. 

All are welcome to donate directly to Tara Home. 

The Social Services Fund was established to help children, the elderly, sick and the very poor by offering grants for schools, hospices, health clinics, soup kitchens, elderly homes, orphanages and much more.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing the animals of JAST in Thimbu.

Jangsa Animal Saving Trust (JAST), established in 2000 in Bhutan, is a non-profit charity founded on Buddhist principles of animal activism. JAST currently cares for hundreds of animals across ten provinces. Bulls, yaks, sheep, pigs, goats, ducks, dogs, and fish are saved from terrible conditions and death and then given proper care and nursing, and exposure to Buddhist teachers and ordained Sangha helping to create a a positive mental imprint on the animals to meet the Dharma in the future. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche recently visited one of these rescue houses in Thimbu where 60 dogs and 11 large pigs are taken care of. Rinpoche blessed the animals with mantras and prayers and also offered US$5,000 to JAST for their ongoing work. The sanctuary was set up with small dog houses and a large grassy area for exercise and play. Please enjoy this short video of Rinpoche blessing the dogs. 

During this visit Rinpoche commented, “Saving even one animal can create good karma for all sentient beings but Jangsa has saved thousand and thousands. The work of Jangsa is even greater than that of the powerful leaders of America or Russia. So please keep it up!” 

JAST members rescuing the distraught dogs from the side of the road.

In June, JAST responded to a report that sacks of more than 100 dogs were thrown along a highway close to Thimphu. Twenty of the dogs were dead when JAST arrived and the others were weak, injured, traumatized, and aggressive from the stress. Most of these dogs will be permanently moved to the Jangsa Animal Shelter in Serbithang, Thimphu. This service to these animals, who have been shown unbelievable cruelty, is incredible precious and kind. 

The dogs who lived through the traumatic ordeal were hungry, injured, and traumatized. Here they enjoy a meal.

Bulls under the care of JAST receiving blessings from Sangha.

Please rejoice in the compassionate activity of Jangsa Animal Saving Trust. These animals have no one to rely on and through this organization they are given care, attention, and Dharma imprints. 

The US$5,000 grant was made possible through the Animal Liberation Fund, and all are encouraged to donate directly to JAST, to help them continue this most valuable work. 

The 2,710 refugees of Rabagayling Tibetan Settlement were in need of a community space for members to practice and meet together.

Earlier this year we reported that a grant had been offered to Rabagayling Tibetan Settlement in South India for the building of a new community hall to be used by 2,710 refugees. 

Please rejoice that that construction on this building has been completed and members of the settlement will begin 100 million mani retreats there soon. 

The new community hall will be able to accommodate the members of Rabagayling Tibetan Settlement.

Due to a grant from the Social Services Fund, this new community hall will provide community space for the Rabagayling Tibetan Settlement.

Members of the elderly home at Rabagayling Tibetan Settlement are offered food through a grant from the Social Services Fund.

The new building will serve this Tibetan community for years to come and will be used for holding retreats as well as official functions, workshops, and training in Tibetan language and culture, which is critical for the preservation of the Tibetan heritage.

This settlement also has an elder care home. The Social Services Fund provides a grant for three nourishing meals daily for the twenty elderly Tibetan residents and four staff. Funding for 2016 was recently sent and the wish is to be able to offer this support each year. 

If you are inspired by grants such as this, you are welcome to contribute to the Social Service Fund and help ensure that work like this can continue. 

Top scholars from Sera, Ganden, Drepung, Gyume, Gyuto, Tashi Lhunpo and Rato monasteries arrive to participate in the annual Gelugpa exam.

Each year the foremost scholars from Sera, Ganden, Drepung, Gyume, Gyuto, Tashi Lhunpo and Rato monasteries come together for the annual Gelugpa exam and the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund covers the expenses of those who participate. 

“The continuity and spread of Buddhadharma throughout the world depends upon highly qualified teachers. The three great monasteries are the only place in the world where the entire, complete teachings of the Buddha are studied and practiced with deep logic.”
— Lama Zopa Rinpoche

This year, 677 monks participated in this debate and the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund offered a grant for the travel and food costs of all participants and facilitators.

677 monks participated in the Gelugpa exam this year.

FPMT would like to congratulate all the monks for their commitment and dedication to their studies. These scholars are the future of the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition and it is a high priority for FPMT to support them at this level of their education. Due to this grant each year, all qualified monks are able to participate in the debate, rather than being exempt due to prohibitive costs. This is an incredibly precious opportunity for the monks to engage in the long standing tradition of debate, but also an opportunity for the FPMT organization to help ensure that we have the best Buddhist teachers for future generations. 

Additionally, the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund also offers a monthly stipend to the current abbots, past abbots and main teachers of the Lama Tsongkhapa lineage as a way to invest in the the Mahayana tradition on which FPMT was founded. 

US$22,328 was needed from the fund for these offerings and an additional US$25,905 was granted in 2015 for the sponsorship of the annual winter jang debate, where the best scholars gather to hone their understanding of the Buddha’s highest teachings. 

These offerings are due to the kindness of many benefactors who make it possible. All are welcome to participate by donating any amount. 

Since its inception, the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund, an extension of the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund, has supported up to 150 senior teachers each year of the main monasteries, plus hundreds of monks attending the traditional winter debate and annual Gelugpa exam.