Projects

Thousands of monks from the great monasteries, including eighteen Kopan monks, are currently participating in the annual Winter Jang Debate at Drepung Monastery, India.

Monks from various Gelug monasteries are currently participating in an extensive twenty-two day debate on Buddhist logic at Drepung Monastery, India, known as the Winter Jang Debate. There are two sessions daily: prayers for world peace, and debate.

This annual debate dates back to the time of Lama Tsongkhapa and was continued each year until 1959. In 1981 the present and former abbots of the three great monasteries met to revive this debate. However, due to costs the monasteries were only able to sponsor about 200 monks to attend. Seeing the incredible importance of this tradition of bringing together the best scholars to hone their understanding of the Buddha’s highest teachings, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, through the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund, became the primary sponsor for this debate. Now thousands of monks participate. 

Eighteen monks from Kopan House, Tsawa Khangtsen, are participating in this year’s Winter Jang Debate at Drepung Monastery.

Eighteen monks from Kopan House, Tsawa Khangtsen, are among the thousands of participants attending this year. We offer all of the monks participating our best wishes for a transformative and fruitful event. 

Tremendous thanks to the many donors who support the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund and enable FPMT to sponsor this powerful annual debate. This is something incredible in which to rejoice. You are welcome to participate in this offering at any time.

You can learn more about the beneficial activities of the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund or the many Charitable Projects of FPMT.

Jangtse Chöje Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Bodhgaya on January 2, 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

A long life puja was offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on behalf of Sera Je Monastery on the Maitreya Project land in Bodhgaya on January 2, 2017. The puja was to thank Rinpoche for twenty-six years of support offered through the Sera Je Food Fund, which provides three vegetarian meals every day to the monks studying at Sera Je Monastery.

During the puja, the head of monastic discipline, who had been at Sera Je Monastery since before the Sera Je Food Fund was established, spontaneously praised Rinpoche for about thirty minutes, noting all the ways Rinpoche had helped the monastery. He explained what it was like at the monastery before food was regularly offered and how the monks have benefited after the fund’s creation. He said Rinpoche has cared for all the thousands of monks for the last twenty-six years like a mother does for her child.

Sangha participating in the long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Thousands of monks attended the puja as well as Jangtse Chöje; the new abbot of Sera Je Monastery; the past abbot of Sera Je Monastery; the past abbot of Namgyal Monastery, Jhado Rinpoche; and the past abbot of Gyurme Monastery, Khensur Geshe Tashi Tsering. 

The abbot of Sera Je Monastery making offerings to Lama Zopa Rinpoche

The Sera Je Food Fund has provided millions of meals since 1991. It currently offers approximately 700,000 meals per year, 2,900 meals per day. There are, on average, 1,600 monks benefiting from the food fund.

Please rejoice in the offering of this puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s long life and in Sera Je Food Fund’s twenty-six years of food offerings to the monks of Sera Je Monastery. 

You can learn more about the Sera Je Food Fund, read an overview of the food offered daily, or support this project with a donation of any amount.

Students enjoying midday meal provided by the Social Services Fund

The Central School for Tibetans, Cauvery Valley Project (CVP), located in Bylakuppe, South India, was established in 1971 to serve the children of refugees living at Dickey Larsoe Tibetan Settlement. Twenty-four staff help educate 217 elementary, middle, and secondary students. 

Morning assembly and group prayer

The Social Services Fund has been sponsoring midday meals for the children of CVP for the last few years. In a letter of thanks from the school, the Parent’s Representative Committee wrote, “The diet that the children are enjoying these days is very nutritious…. We have never forgotten your kind help and support and to the school and the children. We always have felt that without your kind financial support and good will, our situation would have been very different.” 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche also sponsored the complete renovation of the school’s kitchen in 2013. 

Students performing cultural dance together

The school has not only established an impressive academic program with an emphasis on preserving the student’s Tibetan cultural heritage, but also offers extracurricular activities such as sports, arts, and crafts. The principal reports that, “Overall, the school has exalted status in the community and among the local settlers.” 

Please rejoice in the offering of meals to these school children! Helping the children of Tibetan refugees receive quality education is a high priority for FPMT, and through this offering of food, the school can use precious and scarce resources for continuing to develop and implement quality academic programs for the students. 

If you would like to support the Social Services Fund and help ensure grants such as this can continue, you can read more about the charitable projects this fund supports or donate any amount to the fund itself. 

Light offerings at Boudhanath Stupa at night, with Khen Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, December 2016. Photo by Ven. Sherab.

One of the regular activities of the FPMT Puja Fund is offering white wash, four giant saffron flower petals and the best quality cloth (shambu) to the umbrellas at the pinnacles of Bouddhanath and Swayambunath stupas in Nepal on the full moon and also on Buddha Days when merit is multiplied 100 million times.

Highest quality shambu for the top of Boudhanath Stupa.

Due to damage from the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the Puja Fund has been unable to make these regular offerings. Please rejoice that the Boudhanath Stupa has undergone extensive restoration and repairs since the earthquake. In November a grand blessing occurred, where lamas of the four traditions came to re-consecrate the stupa. After the ceremony FPMT was able to continue with these most precious offerings. Lama Zopa Rinpoche wanted to be sure that this first offering since the earthquake was made with the highest possible quality materials and Kopan Monastery very kindly sourced the shambu. 

Stupas, one of the most ancient icons in Buddhist art, are powerful symbols of the mind’s limitless potential. In other words, they represent the mind of enlightenment. The Boudhanath Stupa is one of the largest stupa in the world and dominates the Kathmandu skyline. 

From the Sutra of the Mudra of Developing the Power of Devotion:

     The minute you see a holy object you create infinite merits,
     So no question, if you actually make prostrations,
     Offerings and so forth, you create far greater merit. 

We are very happy to be able to continue this offering to Boudhanath and Swayambunath stupas. Offering these to holy objects on behalf of all FPMT centers, projects and services, is one way of creating an incredible amount of merit and in this way helps the FPMT organization achieve its goals which stretch far into the future for the benefit of all.

If you would like to be part of this monthly offering, please consider offering any amount to the Puja Fund. 

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. 

The Puja Fund was established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to provide resources for pujas and offerings 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 at the Root Institute next to the large prayer wheel. Photo by Bill Kane.

In May 2015 Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised Mahamudra Centre in New Zealand to build a large prayer wheel similar in design and size as the one constructed at Root Institute in Bodhgaya. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, through the Holy Object Fund, offered US$30,000 toward the construction of this new prayer wheel. The Mahamudra team estimates completing this project in approximately one year. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained that he would  like to sponsor the building of 100,000 prayer wheels for world peace. Wherever a large prayer wheel is built, it becomes a great blessing for that country.

A prayer wheel is a cylindrical wheel on a spindle made from metal. Inside the prayer wheel are many million or billions of the mantras, printed on paper or microfilm. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has commented that the presence of a prayer wheel creates peace and harmony in the area. You can read more from Rinpoche about the benefits of making prayer wheels. 

“Even for the person who turns this precious wheel, any sentient being who sees, hears, remembers, or touches him or her completes the merits, purifies defilements, and achieves enlightenment.” — The Tantra of the Circle of Six Thousand

The inconceivable merit of building a prayer wheel is not limited to those who physically build it. Those who support the project financially, materially, or through prayer also receive the merit of its creation. 

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. 

Residents and staff of the Jampaling Elder’s Home in Dharamsala.

Jampaling Elder’s Home, situated in Dharamshala, is about 15 minutes walking distance from the main temple of His Holiness the Dalai Lama with many prayer wheels lining the way. The resident Tibetan elders are able to attend all the teachings of His Holiness at the main temple. This home was set up to look after the elders who are scattered in different Tibetan settlements without appropriate facilities and also for destitute ex-army members without any family. It also houses elderly who are unable to earn a living due to old age and who have no one to rely on. This facility provides food, shelter and medical services to residents.

This facility can support 156 residents but currently has 131 with more joining over the winter months. Among the residents are fourteen elderly nuns and sixteen elderly monks. Thirteen local staff are utilized including a nurse, cooks, caretakers, a maintenance person, and the director.

Residents include fourteen elderly nuns and sixteen elderly monks.

The Social Services Fund was very pleased to sponsor a new recreation room for the residents. The previous recreation room was located on the third floor of the building which was extremely difficult for the elderly residents to access. The home’s management explained, “The purpose of constructing the hall is to improve the facility and to create a friendly environment where the elders can engage in various recreational activities during their leisure time, and most importantly to watch His Holiness the Dalai Lama teaching on the television and to keep up on Tibet related news.”

Additional needs for the residential home are to hire an additional caretaker, make repairs to the facility, accommodate special dietary needs, and provide pocket money for residents. The Social Services Fund is very pleased to be able to support Jampaling Elder’s Home with these improvements and needs. Without such homes, many elderly first-wave Tibetan refugees have very little prospect of accommodation or support. In addition to financial support, Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked that FPMT support their Dharma studies as well. Access to geshes and Dharma teachers is particularly important and we will support the home in this way as well. 

Offering support in this way is one way that FPMT can help repay the kindness of the Tibetan people. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained that because of the Tibetan people, the “sun of Tibetan Buddhism has now risen in the West.”

FPMT Charitable Projects is honored to support the eldest and most destitute Tibetan refugees. You can show your support by making a donation to the Social Services Fund. 

Approximately 1,600 monks benefit from the Sere Je Food Fund every year.

As 2016 comes to a close, we’d like to invite you to rejoice in another year of offering food to all of the monks studying at Sera Je Monastery through the Sera Je Food Fund. 

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. 

You can watch a short video about the Sera Je Food Fund as an overview of this incredible project:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=copRgB9eaSo

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 adequate nutrition. 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. 

Monks of Sera Je Monastery enjoying a meal provided by the Sera Je Food Fund. Photo by Losan Piatti.

Please rejoice in this incredible service which has been offered since 1991. 

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. 

Participants in the 2016 Gelug exam.

On Friday, December 23 Tibetan Buddhists of the Gelug tradition celebrate Lama Tsongkhapa Day, or Ganden Ngamchoe, a celebration of the anniversary of Lama Tsongkhapa’s parinirvana.

Lama Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) was a Tibetan Buddhist master whose studies and meditations in all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism resulted in the founding of the Gelugpa lineage. 

The Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund was established by FPMT in 1997 at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The purpose of the fund is invest in the preservation of the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism by supporting the teachers of tomorrow. 

The Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund has three main activities:

• Supporting the most senior teachers of the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition
• Supporting the annual Gelug exam
• Supporting the annual winter debate in India and Nepal

The great lamas of the Tsongkhapa tradition preserve the teachings and practices that have been passed from teacher to disciple in an unbroken line beginning with Lama Tsongkhapa himself. This fund is able to offer a small monthly stipend (ranging from $10 – $30 a month) to 150 of the main teachers of the eight great monasteries of the Lama Tsongkhapa tradition.

Statue of Lama Tsongkhapa at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Tom Truty.

Each year the foremost scholars from Sera, Ganden, Drepung, Gyume, Gyuto, Tashi Lhunpo and Rato monasteries come together for the annual Gelug exam and the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund is able to cover basic expenses, such as food and travel, for the 600+ monks who take this exam.

The annual winter debate dates back to the time of Lama Tsongkhapa and was continued each year until 1959. In 1981 the present and former Abbots of the three great monasteries met to revive the annual winter debate, however due to costs the monasteries were only able to sponsor about 200 monks to attend the annual winter debate. Seeing the incredible importance of the winter debate, where the best scholars gather to hone their understanding of the Buddha’s highest teachings, FPMT undertook the responsibility to cover all the costs for the monks of Sera Je Monastery to attend the debate each year.

The annual support offered by the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund is currently estimated at $USD65,000 and support is welcome from anyone interested in investing in the Gelug teachers of tomorrow.  

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. 

There are many practices students can do to create merit on December 23, Lama Tsongkhapa Day. FPMT Education Services has put together a resource page to which all are welcome to refer. 

Ngari Khangtsen’s new temple which was recently finished thanks to sponsorship from the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund.

Ngari Khangtsen recently completed a project that was over two years in the making, a new temple for the monks. The Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund was pleased to offer a grant of support as one of the main sponsors of this project.  The opening ceremony was led by Jangtse Choje Rinpoche on Lhabab Duchen. Ven. Roger Kunsang, assistant to Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the CEO of FPMT, Inc., received a lovely letter of thanks from the khangtsen which included the following: “[This celebration] happened with Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT support and we thank you so much to each and everyone who contributed. We also thank you for your leadership running the main office of FPMT and caring for those who really need support. Geshe Ngawang Sangye la also express his heartfelt thanks to Rinpoche and yourself. We dedicate all the merit to the life of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and to successful FPMT activity all around the world.” 

Jangtse Choje Rinpoche leading the opening ceremony at the new Ngari Khangtsen temple.

Each khangtsen (hostel in Tibetan) is linked to a region in Tibet and has to accommodate the monks that originate from a particular area.  The khangtsen functions independently from the main monastery with each house having the responsibility to provide the living necessities for their own monks including housing, medical care, and educational needs. Each khangtsen has its own prayer hall where all the monks gather to do prayers, pujas, and practices. Ngari Khangtsen was originally founded in Western Tibet. In 1970 it was reestablished at Sera Je Monastery in South India. Currently Sera Je’s Ngari Khangtsen has over 140 monks who are mostly ethnic Tibetans from the Himalayan regions of India, Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. 

Opening ceremony at the new Ngari Khangtsen temple on Lhabab Duchen. The new temple will be able to accommodate all the monks of this khangtsen.

The monks explained, “We had outgrown the old 1983 prayer/ assembly hall made to house a maximum of 50 persons. In the new quarters, there is room for a brand new spacious prayer hall. Today, we have over 150 monks ranging from the very young to the very old. And we have definitely outgrown the old prayer hall. On hot summer days, the hall just does not accommodate enough oxygen for the number of praying and reciting participants!”

Ngari Khangtsen is very dear to FPMT. Khensur Jampa Tegchok, former abbot of Sera Je Monastery and Nalanda Monastery and resident geshe of many FPMT centers over the years, lived in Ngari Khangtsen while receiving his education at Sera Je Monastery. FPMT also supports school children of Ngari Institute of Buddhist Dialectics by offering daily meals. This school was started by the monks of Ngari Khangtsen.  

Please rejoice that this temple project was brought to fruition and will benefit all of the monks of Ngari Khangtsen now and in the future. 

You can learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monks and nuns. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the long life puja he was offered on the last day of Kopan Monastery’s November course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

The 2016 one-month “November course” at Kopan Monastery came to an end in early December with a birthday celebration and a long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche. 

Cake being offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche by November course participants while young monks sing ”Happy Birthday,” Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday celebration was a fun and auspicious occasion. While cutting cake, Rinpoche explained how to think while doing this, that the knife is cutting all the delusions and self-cherishing. With every cake presented to him, Rinpoche did extensive offering prayers. Kopan’s young monks sang “Happy Birthday” to him as well, and put cheerful displays and messages wishing him a happy birthday around the monastery. It was Rinpoche’s 72nd Tibetan birthday (71st Western birthday).

Offering tsog at the long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the last day of the Kopan November course. The five dakinis are also shown. Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

On the last day of the course, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was offered a long life puja with the five dakinis on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. The purpose of the long life puja is for students to purify the mistakes that occur in relation to their teacher, and to create the causes and conditions to continue to receive benefit from that teacher for a very long time. Lama Zopa Rinpoche also mentions regularly that offering long life pujas is a cause for one’s own long life. 

After the puja, which was attended by 1,000 people, a picnic was offered for everyone, and lama dances and Sherpa dances were offered to Rinpoche. As is traditional, Rinpoche was presented a money offering at the end of the puja and Rinpoche chose to offer this toward the Sagarmatha Secondary School in Chailsa, Nepal. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche watches a lama dance at the picnic after his long life puja, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

In the final days of the course, Rinpoche offered refuge to November course participants who sought it, gave a long life initiation to Rowaling people at Rowaling Gompa in Bouddhanath, just outside Kathmandu, and made light offerings at Bouddhanath Stupa, which had recently been reconsecrated after being damaged in Nepal’s April 2015 earthquake. He also gave course participants a special short teaching on 14th-15th century Tibetan yogi and iron bridge maker Thangtong Gyalpo, showing them a relic related to him.

FPMT Education Services offers a number of long life prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche on FPMT.org, all of which can be used in personal practice. Rinpoche has suggested that “Bestowing Supreme Immortality” is particularly effective as it was composed by Rinpoche’s root guru, His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche.

Light offerings around stupas at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Read more about Kopan Monastery and its courses and activities:
http://www.kopanmonastery.com/

Donations to the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Long Life Puja Fund, which sponsors this yearly long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, are welcome.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Repairs and improvements are needed and underway at Lawudo Retreat Centre, Nepal.

The Lawudo Retreat Centre, situated high in the Himalayan mountains of eastern Nepal, holds particular significance for FPMT. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the reincarnation of the Lawudo Lama, Lama Kunzang Yeshe, who lived and practiced in Lawudo until his passing at age 81. The Lawudo Retreat Centre was built over several years and completed in 1972 under direction from Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The gompa was built so that young monks in the area could receive a good education with favorable conditions. Since that time, Rinpoche’s mother (who passed away in 1991), sister Anila Ngawang Samten, and brother Sangay Sherpa have cared for the Lawudo Lawudo Retreat Centre and welcomed pilgrims, retreatants and locals to this extremely blessed and remote place. 

Lawudo’s old gompa was severely damaged in the April 2015 earthquake.

The property suffered damage from the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks which struck in April 2015 and a considerable amount of repair and rebuilding has been needed in response. Additionally, other improvements and renovations have long been needed at the center and these projects are also being undertaken. For example, a new room is being built for Lama Zopa Rinpoche so when Rinpoche is visiting, he can be offered a proper accommodation complete with a bathroom.  The old gompa was also in need of renovation, and the mani prayer wheel house needed reconstruction. These improvements are underway as well. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s new room at Lawudo will be built on the ground floor and feature a built in bathroom.

The Nepal Earthquake Support Fund has been helping support the rebuilding and renovations needed at Lawudo, and there are still many repairs to be made. All are welcome to participate in the improvements needed on this very precious property. 

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

You can learn more about Lawudo Gompa and its history at Lawudo.com.

The Preserving the Lineage Fund was pleased to offer US$4,000 toward a March 2017 Monlam festival in Bhutan for 300 individuals representing all Buddhist traditions. 

Lama Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) is the founder of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Prayers, teachings, discussions, and meals will be shared among the participants in celebration of  Monlam which marks a period when Lord Buddha performed many miracles, beginning with Losar (the Tibetan New Year) on the first day and culminating on the fifteenth day, Chotrul Duchen (the Day of Miracles). Monlam Chenmo, or the Great Prayer Festival, was established by Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, in 1409. The first two weeks of the new year, Monlam, commemorate the time when the Buddha displayed his power by performing a number of miracles. Lama Tsongkhapa chose the Monlam Chenmo to coincide with the anniversary of incredible events in Shakyamuni Buddha’s life traditionally celebrated during the first two weeks of the lunar new year.

This Monlam celebration in Bhutan is particularly meaningful as it is bringing together all of the Buddhist traditions in a harmonious gathering.  

Please rejoice in this celebration of Lord Buddha’s many accomplishments and this coming together of Buddhist traditions. 

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.