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Basic need supplies are offered to the worst hit areas by Kopan monks and nuns, May 2015
Ven. Roger Kunsang released this recent update:
First, I would like to extend a very big THANK YOU to everyone for moving on this emergency relief effort so quickly by offering to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund, which we set up through FPMT International Office. It has already meant a lot to so many villages. This has made a HUGE difference. When you are freezing cold, have no home, are out in the open, in the mountains with hardly any food and water left – even for these very hearty people – it is too much.
Villagers are doing their best to survive under extremely difficult circumstances, May 2105. Photo by Cherok Lama.
Young girl stands next to a collapsed home in Thame, Solu Khumbu district, Nepal, April 28, 2015. Photo by Jimmy Grant.
There are dead people around you: people you once knew, some close relatives, your mother, etc. Then having to deal with the ground still shaking from time to time and not knowing if it will get stronger or just pass. There was always the rumor that another big earthquake was coming, which freaked people out even more. They couldn’t be convinced that this can’t be predicted. And then, no one knows what’s happening about anything.
Even as we were leaving from the Kathmandu Airport, Rinpoche met a friend who worked there. The man explained to Rinpoche that his whole village had been destroyed. His family and home – gone. He said his family has nothing; no food, no shelter, and it is very cold. The look on his face, the tone of his voice … it is difficult not to cry at yet again another heavy story and desperate plea for help coming Rinpoche’s way. Rinpoche said immediately he would help! No hesitation.
Today, the Kopan Relief Team is in this man’s village, doing what they can. This time there are Kopan nuns helping also. It is reported over 10,000 people a day are leaving Kathmandu Valley for their villages. They say they have to go back to help their elders as in most villages iIt is only the elderly and the young who remain. Those who can work are in Kathmandu or the Middle East. Working people have to go back to take care of the elderly and the children.
Emergency relief supplies arriving in Thame, Solu Khumbu district, Nepal, May 1, 2015. Photo courtesy of Tara Melwani on Facebook.
They say it will take another 10 to 20 years to earn enough money to rebuild as none have any hope the government will help them. And of course, there is no such thing as insurance, so all is lost. One stone in the mountains averages 2,000 Nepalese rupees (about 19 US dollars) or could go as high as 3,000 to 4,000 rupees. Very expensive! All the houses are built with local stone that is hand-chipped into shape.
A collapsed house in Thame, Solu Khumbu district, Nepal, April 28, 2015. Photo by Jimmy Grant.
Talking to some of these people really breaks your heart. They had very little before, and now, a lot less. So on a mundane level, you are really helping immensely. Thank you!
Regarding the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund this is the short- and long-term strategy of how we can help.
Short-term efforts involve getting basic needs to as many people as possible.
Short-Term and Immediate Need
We have the short-term and immediate urgent needs of the people in mind. This is food, water, medicine, and shelter. We are trying to support the efforts of the local people to look after themselves as the aid coming in from overseas isn’t reaching them in the short-term.
Kopan Monastery monks help distribute drinking water, Kathmandu, Nepal, April 2015. Photo via Facbook, Kopan Monastery School.
They have to depend on their own efforts. So we are supporting Kopan monks and nuns going out every day with basic necessities for the worst hit areas. We are also supporting Losang Namgyal Rinpoche (one of the Kopan monks) who is the head lama of the Tamang people. (Tamang is the largest ethnic group in Nepal, farmers scattered across the hills throughout Nepal.) Losang Namgyal Rinpoche is organizing and improvising in many ways to get the essentials to these villages that have been damaged badly.
Emergency aid for Thame waiting to be flown to Lukla and then helicoptered to Thame, Nepal, May 1, 2015. Photo courtesy of Tara Melwani on Facebook.
It is really hard getting this done, so we are supporting his efforts by giving some funds to buy essentials. Then, there is the area where Lama Zopa Rinpoche was born, Thame, and some very small communities in the same area. The budget for this is estimated at US$46,000. This could change depending on helicopter costs associated with getting the food up there.
FPMT is helping Losang Namgyal Rinpoche get basic needs to villagers.
Long-Term Needs and Rebuilding
And then there are the long-term needs of rebuilding homes and nunneries/monasteries. This will be where most of the funds the will go as the damage is extensive, but we can only commit to those who we are immediately responsible for: Kopan Nunnery and Monastery, Tsum Nunnery and Monastery, Himalayan Buddhist Meditation Centre, Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery in Chailsa, and Lawudo Retreat Centre.
Damage to the house where Lama Zopa Rinpoche was born in Thame. Photo by Cherok Lama.
The Chenrezig Gompa at Kopan Monastery was badly damaged. Photo by Ng Yi Zhen.
This is the plan so far as best as we can know. It could change as we hear more. These are the areas that we have been able to immediately help:
- Thame: Providing shelter and food as emergency relief, US$30,595.
- Helping the Tamang people across the affected regions with Losang Namgyal Rinpoche, US$10,000
- Kopan Monastery Emergency Relief Team: assisting the monastery provide relief (tents, food, clothing) to local and rural areas affected by the earthquake, US$5,000
All the above aid has come from the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund. Rinpoche has received many requests for help, but we have not accepted long-term requests outside of the above. We are trying to fulfill all requests for the short-term needs as they are a matter of life or death.
Delivering food and essentials can be quite difficult as everyone is in need and people come from everywhere when they hear of food and supplies are being offered.
Cherok Lama is also helping and he is in Thame area now, directly giving aid and helping organize relief efforts.
Thame Emergency Relief
We are also providing emergency relief to the people of Thame and surrounding villages. With the majority of homes destroyed or unsafe in Thame and the surrounding areas, people are sleeping in the open air, getting wet and cold. The immediate concern was to supply shelter to those who need it and food to ensure people’s safety in the short-term before helping them rebuild their community in the long- term. Other villages in the area are not in such dire need with respect to housing, as most homes are still standing and safe, but they will also struggle with food due to the normal supplies being affected and food not arriving as usual.
Food will therefore be provided to the following villages in the Upper Solu Khumbu area: Phurte, Samsing, Theso, Thamo, Mende, Thamtyong, Samde, Thomde, Pare, Humgo, Thame, Thame Gompa, Thameteng, Ytazang, Taranga and Chyanyakpa.
Each food package includes: 30 kg (66 pounds) rice, 5 kg (11 pounds) dahl, 5 kg (11 pounds) sugar, milk powder, 2 liters oil, 1 kg (2 pounds) tea, 2.5 kg (5.5 pounds) tsampa, 5 kg (11 pounds) flour.
FPMT, through the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund is offering US$30,595; Cherok Lama: US$10,000; and Himalayan Peoples Project: US$5,000, for a total amount of US$45,595.
Delivering food and the essentials is quite difficult as everyone is in need and people come from everywhere when they hear of food and supplies are being handed out. So managing that is hard as people go crazy sometimes due to hunger and cold.
Many are in need of medical attention in addition to basic necessities for survival.
Thank you again, EVERYONE!
If you would like to contribute to these efforts, you may offer to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund.
The view from Rinpoche’s cave in Lawudo two weeks before the earthquake, Nepal, April 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lawudo Gompa and Retreat Centre, located in the mountainous Solu Khumbu region of Nepal, is an essential part of FPMT. “Lawudo is the heart where FPMT started,” FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said. The cave at Lawudo is where Rinpoche’s previous incarnation Lawudo Lama Kunsang Yeshe meditated for 20 years. Many of the first Kopan monks came from the area and many FPMT students have meditated in the remote location.
Early reports from Lawudo describe considerable damage to the buildings there. On the top floor above the gompa, the side wall is badly cracked and pieces have fallen out. They fear the wall could fall down at anytime. In the dining room, half of the ceiling has fallen down due to the rocks that support the roof falling onto the ceiling. The side walls of the library have collapsed and the rocks supporting the roof have fallen through the ceiling. In the room of Ani Ngawang Samten, Rinpoche’s sister and manager of Lawudo, the rocks supporting the roof have fallen through the ceiling into the room. The cow shed side wall has collapsed as well as Nima’s house (Nima helps Ani Ngawang Samten maintain the center) and the buildings on both sides of the cave are badly cracked and pieces are falling out. In addition, walls have collapsed in the upper and lower retreat rooms.
Sangay Sherpa, Rinpoche’s brother who is the director of the center, has said that he has already booked a builder for the rebuilding, starting in a month. He plans to go to Lawudo soon himself and further assess the damage and begin collecting needed materials. The rebuilding of Lawudo will be supported by FPMT’s Nepal Earthquake Support Fund, which is funding both immediate emergency relief and the long-term rebuilding of FPMT centers and projects in Nepal.
Lawudo is also very near Thame, where Lama Zopa Rinpoche was born. Rinpoche feels a strong connection with the area and is supporting disaster relief efforts there. Through FPMT’s Nepal Earthquake Support Fund and in coordination with Cherok Lama Sherpa and the Himalayan Peoples Project-Nepal, an emergency aid shipment of tents for nearly 200 families in the region arrived last week. Next, food shipments will be sent up to the area, which is at an elevation of 3,800 meters (12,5000 feet) and only accessible by foot or helicopter.
Tent shelters provided by emergency relief set up at Thame, Nepal, May 2015. Photo courtesy of Himalayan Peoples Project-Nepal
You can view Thame and the surrounding area on Google Maps or in a video created by Google Maps of the region, released in March 2015. National Geographic has posted photos of the destruction at Thame.
For more news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
You can receive an email daily digest of news from FPMT.org, including our updates from Nepal, by signing up at this address:
https://fpmt.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=97e3ebb09472d09e0e699efd3&id=b248a1a45e
Mandala brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche departing from Kopan Monastery, Nepal, May 4, 2015. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.
After completing the Most Secret Hayagriva initiation late at night on May 3, Lama Zopa Rinpoche departed from Kopan Monastery in Nepal on May 4 to begin a worldwide teaching tour. Rinpoche travels first to New Zealand’s Mahamudra Centre, where he is scheduled to teach May 9-10.
The Most Secret Hayagriva initiation at Kopan Monastery had been scheduled for April 27-30. Even after the devastating earthquake of April 25, Rinpoche decided to offer the initiation, which was given in the main gompa at Kopan Monastery, beginning on the evening of May 2.
Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi offering the mandala to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the beginning of the Most Secret Hayagriva initiation, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, May 2, 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Kopan Monastery monks continue to lead emergency relief efforts, going out to offer aid packages to people in villages outside of Kathmandu. They are coordinating their efforts with Losang Namgyal Rinpoche‘s organization and together hundreds of families are receiving emergency aid in a direct and organized way.
On May 1, the first shipment of aid arrived in Thame, the birthplace of Lama Zopa Rinpoche located near Lawudo Gompa in the remote Solu Khumbu district. Five Kopan monks traveled with the supplies, which were flown to Lukla and then helicoptered to Thame. The monks helped organize the distribution of tents for 190 families. Most structures in the area received significant damage making them uninhabitable.
Emergency relief supplies arriving in Thame, Solu Khumbu district, Nepal. May 1, 2015. Photo courtesy of Tara Melwani on Facebook.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered US$50,000 through FPMT’s Nepal Earthquake Support Fund for emergency relief in Thame. Cherok Lama Sherpa, who is also from the area, is raising money and contributing to this relief effort as well. A second shipment of food is being organized and will be delivered as soon as possible. Cherok Lama Sherpa will be arriving in the area this week to personally offer help and view the destruction.
Relief supplies being distributed in Thame, Nepal, May 1, 2015. Photo courtesy of Tara Melwani on Facebook.
For the latest updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
More frequent updates and news can be found on FPMT’s Facebook page.
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering prayers, blessings and teaching in the new gompa at Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery, also know as the Kopan Nunnery, Nepal, April 30, 2015. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher. This was an important event for the nunnery to have Rinpoche enter their newly completed gompa, especially in light of the trauma of the earthquake and aftershocks.
Ven. Joan Nicell, a Canadian nun currently living at Kopan Monastery, shared this report of events at Kopan Monastery and Nunnery after the April 25 earthquake in Nepal. This report wraps up a week of blog posts on FPMT.org covering the earthquake and its aftermath.
Day 1
At noon on April 25, 2015 the earth swayed and shook at Kopan Monastery and across Nepal. The earthquake registered 7.8 on the Richter scale. At Kopan 40 or so frightened foreign visitors left their lunch and stumbled out of the dining room to the open ground of the stupa garden. More than 100 monks, who were also eating lunch on their Saturday off, soon joined them. Lama Zopa Rinpoche was carried on a bamboo chair down the two flights of stairs from his room above the main temple to the garden. Rinpoche took the opportunity to give an impromptu teaching on impermanence. Meanwhile, several monks and lay people returned to Rinpoche’s room to sop up the water from the many overturned offering bowls and pick up the statues and text that had been thrown from the altars.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche leading prayers the day of the earthquake, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, April 25, 2015. Photo by Ven. Sangpo Sherpa.
In Kopan Nunnery the nuns quickly gathered in the open field between the many new buildings. One nun sleeping in her room above the old gompa watched in fear as her room shook and books and pots crashed to the ground. One of the deer on the roof of the old gompa fell and smashed to pieces on the gompa steps. The other deer and the Dharma wheel remained hanging precariously over the edge of the roof. Lay people from the surrounding houses soon began to join the nuns, many with small children.
Spilled water bowls in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s room, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, April 25, 2015. Photo by Ven. Sangpo Sherpa.
The aftershocks continued throughout the afternoon, often not more than 20 minutes between each one. Screams from the frightened people crowded into every available open area could be heard with each tremor. News began to arrive via phone of deaths and injuries throughout the country accompanied by warnings to remain outside. At Kopan, as evening approached, several small tents were quickly set up for Rinpoche, the geshes, older monks and Western nuns. A larger dormitory-like tent was erected for some of the foreign visitors. The younger monks and foreigners slept on camping mats under the open sky, while the youngest of the monks were sent to sleep in the gompa. The Kopan nuns spent the night wrapped in blankets and cloaks under the sky.
Tents set up after the earthquake, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, April 2015. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.
Day 2
The next morning at Kopan was surreal, with Rinpoche sitting, apparently very relaxed and even sleeping, in the shade of a big tree surrounded by cross-legged foreigners doing their own prayers and practices for the earthquake victims. Young monks ran around, as young boys do, excited to have a day off. At 1 p.m. when the second big tremor hit (over 6 on the Richter scale), the atmosphere turned somber again as everyone quietly gathered around Rinpoche. Prayers were recited for those who had died and been injured. The monks set up more tents at Kopan and the nuns erected plastic tarps at the nunnery as everyone prepared for another night outside. Bright orange and blue plastic tarps could be seen popping up in every open space in the valley below Kopan.
Kopan monks involved in efforts to clean up areas to prevent the spread of disease after the earthquake, Kathmandu, Nepal, May 1, 2015. Photo from Kopan Monastery School on Facebook.
Day 3-7
As the days are passing and news from around the country continues to worsen, “Kopan Helping Hands” is organizing truckloads of food and water to distribute to needy people in the city. The monks are also volunteering to clean up some of the tent cities that dot the city. Evening prayers with Rinpoche are an unscheduled but regular part of the day, most often in the garden but, when raining, in the main temple.
Ven. Nawang Thinley and other Kopan monks offering emergency relief, Nepal, April 30, 2015. Photo courtesy Nawang Thinley on Facebook.
Damage to Kopan Monastery
Cracked walls at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, April 2015. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.
One of the buildings with the biggest damage is the Chenrezig Gompa, the temple where all the introductory courses for foreigners are normally held. The building appears to have shifted away from the embankment resulting in large cracks in the stairwell and outer walls. Both inside and outside large pieces of plaster have shattered on the floor revealing the bricks beneath. Fortunately the statues in the altar, many of them an important part of Kopan’s history, were not damaged.
The nearby accommodation block was also seriously damaged with a gaping hole in the back of one room and deep cracks in the walls in all the lower rooms and toilets.
One of the older brick buildings that houses the monks has extensive cracks beneath the cement beams in every room but is structurally sound. The nearby large accommodation block also has many cracks, especially in the rooms on the second floor. A brick railing around the rooftop room crashed to the ground; fortunately no one was injured.
The library and bookstore floors are covered in books that spilled to the floor. A week after the quake, it was deemed safe enough for a group of guests, nuns, and monks to begin the work of putting them back on the shelves.
A collapsed brick wall at Kopan Nunnery, Nepal, April 25, 2015. Photo by Ven. Sangpo Sherpa.
Damage to Kopan Nunnery
The old gompa has been badly damaged. The walls around the building are cracked, a deer and the Dharma wheel remain dangling from the roof, some of the decorative cement victory banners fell to the ground, and windows are broken. Much of the boundary wall that surrounds the nunnery land collapsed, making it easy for anyone to enter the property. The interior walls of the new gompa have ugly cracks spoiling the beautiful artwork of the wall paintings. Externally the back wall has been damaged. The walls of the new, not yet finished, dining room also have many cracks. The new accommodation block also sustained some damage. It is not yet clear whether or not the old accommodation block has sustained structural damage. Strangely the old kitchen remained unharmed.
How to Help
Kopan Monastery and Nunnery will need financial help to repair damaged buildings and perhaps even tear down and rebuild the more badly damaged ones. For more up-to-date information check out their websites.
After today, we will post updates from Nepal after the earthquake to FPMT.org less frequently. For those interested in finding more FPMT-related news from Nepal, follow FPMT on Facebook.
Helping prepare the emergency relief aid for Thame, May 1, 2015. Photo by Tara Melwani. The emergency relief is sponsored, in part, by FPMT’s Nepal Earthquake Support Fund. Five Kopan monks traveled with the suppies to manage their distribution, which an eyewitness on the ground described as “orderly.”
For updates and news from Kopan Monastery and Nunnery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
You can receive an email daily digest of news from FPMT.org, including our updates from Nepal, by signing up at this address:
https://fpmt.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=97e3ebb09472d09e0e699efd3&id=b248a1a45e
Emergency relief supplies headed to Thame at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 1, 2015.
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Kopan monks delivering supplies to families in need in the Kathmandu area, Nepal, 30 April 2015. Photo courtesy Kopan Apso on Facebook.
30 April 2015, 10 p.m. Kathmandu time
From Ven. Roger:
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching was in the gompa due to the rain. Rinpoche taught that the earthquake fear is similar to what we create in Chöd, and that the earthquake came from karma and from our self-cherishing mind. Rinpoche also taught, when someone gets angry at us, we should think this is from our self-cherishing attitude, otherwise we put the blame outside on others; whatever bad things happen to us we should put the blame on our self-cherishing attitude, instead of pointing the finger outside at others. Usually we make friends with our self-grasping and self-cherishing mind and it becomes very hard like stone, Rinpoche said. The three jewels come from sentient beings, all the Buddha came from all the sentient beings.
We are sleeping outside in tents, according to Rinpoche’s observation that this is safer. Day seems OK, but at night, there is still some danger of another aftershock. You still feel minor aftershocks and many people are still nervous. Some shops started to open today which is good because people can buy food.
We received reports and photos from Lawudo Gompa and Retreat Centre today that the quake did do some major damage to the retreat cabins, library and dining area.
Kopan monks loading supplies on to truck for distribution, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, April 30, 2015. Photo courtesy of Kopan Apso Facebook page.
Kopan monks delivered rice and some essentials to local hospitals there were running out of food. [You can read more about the monks tireless work on FPMT.org.]
We have a plane leaving tomorrow loaded with tent material for Thame. Then we have rented a big Russian helicopter to bring food up to Thame. But it’s in a queue, so the helicopter cannot go immediately — there is quite a delay.
Rinpoche is right now doing the Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead [which you can find on FPMT.org] with the Kopan monks. Every evening Rinpoche with monks do prayers for the dead and sick and injured
Ganden Yiga Chozing Buddhist Meditation Centre, the FPMT center in Pokhara, Nepal, is the only FPMT center or project in Nepal to not receive any damage. All others have serious damage.
Our Nepal Earthquake Support Fund will be used to assist with rebuilding as well as helping with initial emergency needs. Thank you everyone for your kind donations so far to the fund! We are already using it with the US$50,000 of aid going to Thame. You can make a donation at: https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
Some of the supplies Charok Lama is coordinating for relief efforts in Solu Khumu, Nepal
Rinpoche, through the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund, has also offered $30,000 to Charok Lama Sherpa, who is coordinating another $50,000 of aid to be taken up to the Solu Khumbu region close to Lawudo. Charok Lama is also from this area and will be traveling soon from Sera Je Monastery in India, where he is studying, to Nepal.
For the latest updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
You can receive an email daily digest of news from FPMT.org, including our updates from Nepal, by signing up at this address:
https://fpmt.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=97e3ebb09472d09e0e699efd3&id=b248a1a45e
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found onRinpoche’s webpage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Sangey Sherpa, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s brother and director of Lawudo Gompa and Retreat Centre, and Ven. Nyima Tashi with supplies that are being flown up to Thame, which is near Lawudo in the Solu Khumbu district, Kathmandu, Nepal, April 29, 2015
29 April 2015, 1 p.m. Kathmandu
From Ven. Roger Kunsang:
Emergency relief volunteers, some will be traveling to Thame with food and shelter for families there, Kopan Monastery, April 29, 2015. Photo by Tara Melwani.
So many people have been affected and many seriously. It’s an impossible job to help everyone at the same time.
The government with the support of many overseas and local organizations are prioritizing the worst-affected areas with what resources are available. One of the key issues is the remoteness and high altitude of many of the areas … and being cut off by landslides.
Rinpoche is focusing on Thame, his birthplace [near Lawudo Gompa in the Solu Khumbu district], and some of the other nearby areas to Lawudo, which is Rinpoche’s “local community,” so to speak.
In this area, there are about 100 families (our estimate so far, telephones are not working as yet, so communication is very difficult up there and still also hard in Kathmandu valley) who have lost their homes, and a few have been killed. They are living under plastic sheets huddled together as it is very cold and wet. There are still a few house standing, but people are too scared to go into them in case there is an aftershock. Food is running out.
Today we are organizing 100 food and shelter packages (basic food and a tent for each family). Each package is US$500, so a total of $50,000. This money is the first disbursement from FPMT’s Nepal Earthquake Support Fund.
Thank you for everyone’s support thus far. There is definitely more assistance required. So if you can help, it is greatly needed. And we are now able to directly offer immediate help.
We hope we can get a helicopter (all are commandeered by the government) to make several trips up to Thame, which is remote and at about 4,000 meters [13,100 feet]. This will help them get through the initial stage until, we hope, the bigger agencies and governments arrive with aid.
Kopan emergency relief volunteers, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, April 29, 2015. Photo by Tara Melwani.
Most of the Kopan monks and nuns are now out helping in the affected areas, especially trying to get water and basic food to people. Some of the Westerners who are staying here are with them helping. The monks and nuns at Kopan are often from remote areas and some are trying to get back to help the older people. A lot of remote areas just have older people living there as the young come into Kathmandu to find work or go overseas for work.
Some of the supplies going to Thame
There has been a lot of confusion and it’s very disorganized. That will improve. In the meantime, lives are lost and others are in need or hurt badly. Especially in difficult to reach mountainous regions, it’s really bad.
In the evenings Rinpoche with the Sangha are doing many prayers and pujas for those who have died and hurt as well as pujas to prevent further aftershocks.
One of the difficulties is getting people back to work. People are too scared to go into buildings in case there are more aftershocks. Shops don’t open and people can’t buy food and other necessities. Or the workers have left to help their families in outlying areas. Still soon they will be forced to open as people mostly live day to day. They have to work to buy food. Still many are living in tents in open areas.
People really got scared due to how violent the main two earthquakes were. Most people who died or were seriously hurt were killed or injured due to badly built buildings or very old buildings collapsing on them. I had a wall collapse on me while having a meeting. And I was lucky to receive just minor cuts and bruises, nothing really compared to many others.
Kopan Monastery and Nunnery have suffered a lot of damage. The engineers will come soon and let us know the extent and seriousness of the damage.
Today Rinpoche is moving back into the main monastery building. Hopefully that means no more serious aftershocks. And overhead there is the constant sound of helicopters shuttling back and forth with injured people or supplies. It’s constant as there are smaller light aircraft doing the same.
Monks receiving donations at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, April 29, 2015
A collapsed house in Thame, Solu Khumbu district, Nepal, April 28, 2015. Photo by Jimmy Grant.
Jimmy Grant visited Thame not long after the earthquake. Here is his eyewitness account of the area, shared in an email to his father:
Yesterday [April 28, 2015], I went to visit Thame, in the hope of contacting you and spending some time at the lodge. I was absolutely heartbroken by what I saw and what’s worse is that Thame, from what I have seen, has yet to receive any assistance from anyone. I started talking to a young boy named Mingma, who took me to his house. You can see him in one of the pictures attached. I also met the little girl you can see in another picture near her home. The lodge is still standing, but has some serious damage. I wouldn’t stand inside of it, that’s for sure. Oh and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s house is pretty well completely gone.
Young girl stands next to a collapsed home in Thame, Solu Khumbu district, Nepal, April 28, 2015. Photo by Jimmy Grant.
For the latest updates and news from Kopan Monastery and other FPMT centers and projects in Nepal affected by the earthquake, visit our “Updates from Nepal after the Earthquake” page:
https://fpmt.org/nepal-earthquake/
To learn more and offer support to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund visit:
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/
For “Prayers and Practice for Earthquake in Nepal,” see:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/prayers-and-practices-for-earthquake-in-nepal/
You can receive an email daily digest of news from FPMT.org, including our updates from Nepal, by signing up at this address:
https://fpmt.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=97e3ebb09472d09e0e699efd3&id=b248a1a45e
More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
An emergency relief team was established at Kopan Monastery immediately following the earthquake.
In light of the recent tragic earthquake in Nepal, Ven. Roger Kunsang has asked FPMT International Office to set up a fund so that FPMT can provide assistance. Donations to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund will be used to provide for the immediate and long-term needs of Kopan Monastery and Nunnery and other local FPMT centers resulting from the devastation caused by the Nepal earthquake.
Looking down from Kopan Monastery after earthquake, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Sangpo Sherpa.
These needs include food and shelter for more than 800 monks and nuns as well as structural repairs and renovations to buildings at the Monastery and Nunnery that are no longer safe to occupy as a result of the earthquake.
Tents around the stupa at Kopan Monastery following the earthquake.
In addition, Nepal Earthquake Support Fund will be used to offer immediate relief and support to other areas in the Himalayan region such as the village of Thame (Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthplace) where there has been an incredible amount of destruction. If sufficient funds are raised, grants may also be provided to other carefully vetted organizations providing earthquake relief efforts.
We will be providing updates on exactly how all donations from this fund are used. Already Lama Zopa Rinpoche has offered $3,500 for immediate relief in Thame for tents and food.
Thank you for your support to this fund. The damage and need is great and contributions like yours will help tremendously.
You can learn more about the prayers and practices that are recommended in response to this earthquake and for the many who have lost their lives.
Animals being circumambulated around the stupa at Kachoe Dechen Ling, CA, USA.
Benefiting animals in any way possible is a high priority for FPMT and one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the organization. The Animal Liberation Fund helps carry forth this work.
In 2014, approximately 77,100 animals were liberated by Sangha at Rinpoche’s house in USA. Not only were the animals saved from untimely death but they were also taken around an incredible amount of holy objects, mantras were recited and blown on them and they were carefully placed where they could live out the rest of their life. Please rejoice!
Additionally:
- US$2,000 was offered toward a large animal liberation in Hong Kong where over 14,500 animals where liberated
- Sangha at Rinpoche’s house in California engage in weekly blessing for the sentient beings in the Pacific Ocean with large Namgyälma mantra boards
- Weekly blessing and charity to at least 17 ant nests in Washington State, USA are offered
- US$3,000 was offered to MAITRI Charitable Trust in Gaya, India to help feed 45 goats and 25 chickens that had been saved from death.
Please rejoice in the different ways we were able to benefit animals in 2014. This is an incredible service to all sentient beings that FPMT sponsors every year.
Animal liberation practice is an incredible practice for anyone who has illnesses or is experiencing life obstacles. Anyone who donates to the Animal Liberation Fund is contributing directly to the saving of animals and dedications and prayers are made for all donors during the animal liberation practice.
You can learn more about the activities of the Animal Liberation Fund or about the many Charitable Projects of FPMT.
Blankets were offered to 30 children in a local Kushinagar orphanage by Maitreya Project Kushinagar. In December 500 blankets were offered to poor villagers.
An ambulance was offered to help very poor villagers in Kushinagar with basic medical help.
In early 2014 Lama Zopa Rinpoche, via the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund, offered a donation to Maitreya Project Kushinagar to be used toward the incredible humanitarian work they are now undertaking.
Some of the money was used for a much needed ambulance that helps villagers in very poor areas of Kushinagar with basic medical help. Other funds were used to distribute mosquito nets in the Summer to villagers to protect them from malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes, and was a big problem in the area during Summer months.
Mosquito nets were distributed to villagers to help with the spread of malaria.
Currently Maitreya Project Kushinagar is fundraising for a blanket drive so they can offer blankets to very poor villagers who suffer in the Winter. In December, the first 500 blankets were distributed. This past week, 30 blankets were distributed to a local orphanage which is home to children who were mostly picked up from the streets and very desperate. These children had no decent blankets to protect them from the Winter cold.
Please rejoice in this amazing humanitarian work being offered by Maitreya Project Kushinagar. You can offer directly to this beneficial work.
You can learn more about the work of Maitreya Project Kushinagar as well as other beneficial activities being supported by the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund.
Sangha and students rented a truck and transported a large Namgyalma mantra board to bless beings in the ocean. Photo by Troy Stafford.
Sangha at Kachoe Dechen Ling offer a weekly blessing of all sentient beings in the ocean by submerging large Namgyälma mantra boards into the water. The Namgyälma mantra is embossed and by entering the ocean, it blesses all beings who come in contact with the water.
While the mantra board is in the water extensive prayers are made, including visualizing Chenrezig over the ocean with nectar coming from Chenrezig which blesses all beings in the ocean.
Sangha and students braved the cold Winter beach weather to bless beings in the ocean. Photo by Troy Stafford.
Other practices are offered, such as reciting the long Namgyälma mantra and generating strong compassion. As the the mantra is recited, nectar beams being emitted are visualized which purify the negative karma of every sentient being since beginningless rebirth. They all receive the blessings of Namgyälma.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has requested this practice be done each week by the Sangha in addition to the other animal liberation practices they do.
In November Sangha and local students (including Rinpoche’s dog Uma Jangsem) took the giant Namgyälma mantra board (5 x 7 ft) out for this practice. This particular board is a little more difficult to bring regularly due to the size of the board. To use it, they had to rent a truck and accompany it into the ocean. Since it is winter in California, the freezing water was quite intense! But still, some took the board out into the ocean, swimming beside it to stabilize it, while other students and Sangha did prayers on the sand.
Ven. Namgyal and others spent many months repairing the mantra board and making it strong enough to withstand the rough Pacific Ocean. Tremendous thanks to all who make this happen and please rejoice in this incredible practice that is benefitting so many beings in the ocean.
You can learn more about the Animal Liberation Fund, or about other Namgyälma mantra blessings and ideas for how you can use this powerful mantra to bless beings in water.
The death of these fish was certain but they were offered animal liberation practice by Cham Tse Ling in Hong Kong.
The Animal Liberation Fund was incredibly pleased to offer $2,000 toward a very large animal liberation which was organized by Hong Kong’s Cham Tse Ling Center. This center recently purchased $20,000 worth of fish and other animals that were intended to be killed, and liberated them. The number of animals in this liberation totaled 14,500!
This animal liberation was dedicated to all beings and specifically to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and all the holy kind gurus; all the donors of the Animal Liberation Fund; all those who have sent in their names requesting prayers; as
well as all the students, benefactors, and volunteers
of all FPMT centers, projects and services.
After the animal liberation, the dear animals were released back to their homes.
Complete animal liberation practice was offered to the animals who were taken around many holy objects and blessed with blessed water before being released. This is according to the specific advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche on how to offer charity the animals in the best way, ensuring their long term benefit.
Thank you so much to Ven. Pemba, Esther and all the students of Cham Tse Ling and please rejoice in this incredible practice. Saving 14,500 sentient beings, how incredible!
If you would like to offer any amount the Animal Liberation Fund, your donation will be used for large animal liberations such as this, as well as weekly animal liberations offered.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Sangha offering animal liberation practice at Kachoe Dechen Ling, Aptos, CA, USA. November 2013, Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
When Lama Zopa Rinpoche is at his residence in Calfornia, Kachoe Dechen Ling, he often joins in the weekly animal liberations that the Sangha do on behalf of all who are sick. These liberations include extensive prayers and practice, according to Rinpoche’s advice, with emphasizes taking the animals around holy objects (At Kachoe Dechen Ling they are taken around the stupa which, itself, has many smaller stupas and tsa-tsas lining every edge), and blessing them with mantras and water blessed by mantra before they are released.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Sangha offering animal liberation practice. November 2013, Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
In these photos, Lama Zopa Rinpoche is carrying worms that have been liberated (these worms would have been used as bait for catching fish). Rinpoche is carrying them with this right arm, which is still healing following Rinpoche’s stroke, so this practice also serves a form of exercise. The Sangha circumambulate, chant mantras and prayers and offer incense. The animal liberation practice is typically offered in the afternoon, but often when Rinpoche is in the house it can happen very late at night.
You can learn more about the Animal Liberation Fund and offer your support.