Aerial view of the new long retreat rooms at IVY.

In January 2025, Institut Vajra Yogini (IVY), France, will host its 39th Annual Vajrayogini Retreat, guided this year by Jhampa Shaneman. This retreat, open to all who have received the Vajrayogini initiation, marks a special moment in fulfilling Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes.

in 2019 Lama Zopa Rinpoche expressed his vision for more people to engage in the three-year Vajrayogini retreat. IVY then brought up their wish to create retreat rooms in which people could do this long retreat, up to three years. Rinpoche immediately pledged US$120,000 to help them complete this project. Due to the kindness of a benefactor, half of this was raised in 2020 and Lama Zopa Rinpoche personally offered the rest of the pledge through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund the following year.

 These four individual long-term retreat rooms—each equipped with a private bathroom, individually-controlled air conditioning, and space for study and practice—are designed to provide ideal conditions for practitioners undertaking extended three-year Vajrayogini retreats.

View from one of the new long retreat rooms at IVY.

View of a new long retreat room at IVY.

IVY shares, “As we welcome the energy of retreatants this January, we rejoice in the manifestation of Rinpoche’s wishes and the opportunity to dedicate these rooms to practitioners embarking on deep and transformative retreats.

“We celebrate this milestone as a profound moment for the entire FPMT community! We offer heartfelt gratitude to Lama Zopa Rinpoche for his guidance, generosity, and dedication, which continue to inspire and support practitioners at Institut Vajra Yogini and worldwide.”

To inquire about long-term Vajrayogini retreats at IVY, or to register for the January Vajrayogini Retreat, please visit their website. 

With grateful thanks to IVY President Julia Lefebvre for providing details for this report. 

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

His Holiness the Dalai Lama smiling at guests gathered for a long life ceremony for His Holiness, Dharamsala, India, June 24, 2022. Photo by Tenzin Choejor, courtesy of DalaiLama.com.

Today, on July 6, 2024, the world celebrates His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 89th birthday! We’ve collected several resources for students to use in their celebration of His Holiness and in their ongoing Buddhist study. FPMT International Office wishes His Holiness a very auspicious 89th birthday and sincerely requests His Holiness to live for a very long time and to continue bringing his universal message of compassion to the world. We were so pleased to hear the news that his recent knee replacement surgery in New York was a success, and that His Holiness is expected to make a full recovery. 

Great Festival Celebrating His Holiness

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered extensive advice on prayers and practices to do for His Holiness’s birthday, remarking that by doing these prayers and practices, students also benefit their own Dharma practice. You can find Rinpoche’s collected advice in the booklet How to Do the Great Festival of His Holiness’ Birthday in the Best Possible Way.

Long Life Prayers

The PDF booklet Prayers for the Long Life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibet contains prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for Tibet.

Praises and Requests

“Praises and Requests to His Holiness the Dalai Lama” is a collection of praises of, comments about, and requests for His Holiness by Lama Zopa Rinpoche found in the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive Online Advice Book.

Online Teachings by His Holiness

Teachings by His Holiness are usually live streamed, and also available for viewing later as video recordings. The DalaiLama.com also has links to live web streams, scheduled events, summaries of events, and more. 

Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) Practice Materials

His Holiness is respectfully held as a manifestation of Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara), the buddha of compassion, by his disciples. At their request, His Holiness had composed these two Chenrezig guru yogas centering on the inseparability of the guru and Chenrezig: 

• Staircase to Potala Pure Land Guru Yoga – A Practice of Avalokiteśvara – a short Chenrezig guru yoga that references the Compassion Buddha’s pure land, was composed by His Holiness for our ease of practice. 

Additional prayers to Chenrezig recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found under Chenrezig Practices and Mantras, including the following:

• Prayer to Chenrezig, Compassionate-Eye-Looking One Lama Zopa Rinpoche, in his English translation of this prayer, advises: “If you keep Compassion Buddha, who is enriched with supreme power, in your mind, you will be protected from all dangers.” The prayer realistically addresses the actual dangers we encounter in our daily lives, from which we need Chenrezig’s protection: our own plethora of delusions, and their karmic consequences, such as death, rebirth, sickness and poverty. The composition is by the seventh-century Dharma King of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, who is revered as a manifestation of Chenrezig, in a lineage which continues today in the person of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Translation by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, 1999; this edition, 2021. 

To further explore the practice of Chenrezig, visit the FPMT website for more information and materials.

On behalf of all sentient beings in desperate need of your perfect example of universal love and unending compassion for others—
please, please live a very long time, Your Holiness!

For more on His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his beneficial activities, please visit DalaiLama.com.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking to an assembly of Tibetan young people inside the main temple, Dharamsala, HP, India, June 3, 2024. Photo by Tenzin Choejor, courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

“I would like for FPMT to offer service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as much as possible and to be able to fulfill His Holiness’ wishes.,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche stressed continuously. “This is the highest priority for the organization.”

The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama recently released a statement concerning His Holiness’s schedule and health: 

This is to inform all concerned that no engagements, including public audiences will be scheduled from June 20 onwards until further notice. His Holiness the Dalai Lama is scheduled to travel to the United States for medical treatment on his knees. Upon his return to Dharamsala, regular engagements will resume.

We are inviting students of His Holiness to recite, individually or as part of group practice, the Medicine Buddha mantra for the successful treatment of His Holiness’s upcoming procedure. 

You can download three versions of the Medicine Buddha mantras in one practice booklet using one-click download: The Precious Long Dharani of Medicine Buddha, the long mantra, and the short mantra. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained, “The Medicine Buddha encompasses all the buddhas. This means that when we practice the seven-limb prayer and make offerings with the seven limbs, we receive the same merit as we would if we had made offerings to all the buddhas. Similarly, when we recite the mantra of Medicine Buddha, we collect unbelievable merit just as when we offer the seven-limb practice to Medicine Buddha.”

Students of His Holiness around the world are joining together to offer Medicine Buddha mantras at this time. In addition, Tibetans from Herbertpur, Lakhanwala, Khera, and Baluwal in India gathered in the Lakhanwala Community Hall on June 6, 2024 and recited Medicine Buddha mantras for His Holiness. 

All Medicine Buddha Practices available to you:

• A Brief Meditation-Recitation on Guru Medicine Buddha | PDF | Audio
• A Very Short Medicine Buddha Practice | PDF
• Medicine Buddha Sadhana | PDF
• Medicine Buddha Mantras | PDF | Audio
• Medicine Buddha Pujas
  * Extensive Medicine Buddha Puja: The Wish Granting Sovereign | PDF
  * Medicine Buddha Puja: The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel
  A simple puja (set of prayers) that can be performed by anyone with faith in the Buddha | English | Sinhalese

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

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Bodhgaya, 2022. Photo courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

On May 24, 2023, FPMT has the incredibly precious opportunity to offer a long life puja to His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Namgyal Monastery, Mcleod Ganj, India. All are welcome to attend in person or also join online. The puja starts at 08.00 a.m. (Indian standard time). If you are joining in person, please leave enough time to get your pass.

The Kopan monks and nuns have been working so hard to perfect the actual puja, as they will be offering the chanting and it will be based on Lama Chopa Long life puja. We will share the text with you soon so that everyone can be familiar and able to join the prayers.

The 1,000 statues of Shakyamuni Buddha which will be offered to His Holiness are well underway being created, as well as the two life-sized Namgyalma and Padmasambhava statues. These statues are being filled, gold gilded, and the faces are being painted in preparation for the offering. During the actual puja we will have more than 400 of the 1,000 statues to offer, and the remaining statues will be offered to His Holiness as soon as they are completed.

Thank you so much to everyone who has offered toward the statues and puja so far. There is still an opportunity to participate by offering statues and other offerings in the puja.

This puja is extremely poignant at this time, For many years Lama Zopa Rinpoche had made the request to offer a long life puja to His Holiness the Dalai Lama— who in actuality is Chenrezig Buddha—on behalf of FPMT.  Now we have the opportunity to fulfill this request and unbelievably moved to offer this puja on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s behalf. Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi will be offering all the symbolic long-life items during the puja, and Khen Rinpoche and Venerable Roger Kunsang will offer the mandala and body, speech, and mind to His Holiness. The puja also falls on the forty-second day of Rinpoche having showed the aspect of passing.

We very much hope that everyone can attend this heartfelt long life offering to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in person or online, to join this puja on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s behalf and in order to fulfill one of Rinpoche’s recent heart wishes.

You can follow important news about His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the official website of His Holiness:
https://www.dalailama.com/news

It takes Sangha many hours each day to offer water bowls as part of the extensive offerings at Kachoe Dechen Ling.

Since 1999, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has arranged to have continual extensive offerings of water bowls and lights offered twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year to create merit for the FPMT organization. Since this began over two decades ago, these offerings have been increasing and are now happening in various parts of the world. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained, “We are not aware of the limitless skies of benefits we achieve from the practice of offering, what we can achieve and enjoy from life to life. Even while you are in samsara, you enjoy good rebirths, wealth, and every happiness. Even just the samsaric perfections are amazing, without adding all those incredible realizations that allow us to offer deep benefit to sentient beings, liberating them from oceans of samsaric suffering and its cause, delusion and karma.”

Rinpoche personally incorporates all of these actual physically made offerings in his daily practices and when doing food offerings he sometimes leads an extensive practice where all of the offerings are visualized and multiplied and then mentally offered to Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and all the holy objects around the world.  

Rinpoche advises students, whenever making offerings in our practice, that we can also remember all the other arranged offerings in Kachoe Dechen Ling, CA, US; Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, WA, US; and also in all the FPMT centers around the world, by using these actual offerings as a basis and then visualizing and multiplying them. In this way, we can join in the merit from those having made these extensive offerings every day.

Extensive offerings at Kachoe Dechen Ling, CA, US.

Please Rejoice in Some of the Extensive Offerings Around the World

• Thousands of light offerings, hundreds of water bowls, and a garden full of flower offerings at Kachoe Dechen Ling, CA, US. 
• Thousands of light offerings, hundreds of water bowls, and a garden full of flower offerings at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, WA, US.  
• Thousands of light offerings, hundreds of water bowls, and gardens full of flowers offerings at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India.
• Thousands of lights, hundreds of water bowls and gardens full of flower offering at Kopan Monastery, Nepal. 
•  100,000 lights continually offered at Amitabha Buddhist Centre (ABC), Singapore.
•  100,001 lights continually offered at Chokyi Gyaltsen Center, Malaysia.
• Thousands of water bowl offerings, extensive light offerings at Ganden Do Ngag Shedrub Ling Center, Mongolia. These offerings are made daily by a group of very dedicated elderly volunteers.
• Continually burning butter lamp in front of precious stupa with Trulshik Rinpoche’s holy body in Chailsa, Nepal.
• Continually burning butter lamp in front of Guru Lhakang, Thubten Choeling, Chailsa, Nepal

Please rejoice and remember all these extensive offerings that happen every moment of every day!

Water bowls and extensive offerings at Ganden Do Ngag Shedrub Ling Center, Mongolia, offered by a dedicated group of elderly volunteers.

The Actual Offering Prayer

Through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund Rinpoche supports a number of Sangha to make many of these offerings daily, as well as covering the cost of electricity for the extensive light offerings at Kachoe Dechen Ling, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Kopan Monastery in 2021, and Root Institute, as well as the butter for the continual light offerings in Nepal and also occasionally the meals to the kind volunteers of  Ganden Do Ngag Shedrub Ling Center, Mongolia.

Extensive offerings at Kopan Monastery, Nepal.

You can learn more about the many beneficial activities of the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund or other Charitable Projects of FPMT.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the long life puja offered to him on April 19, 2021, at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Please join the entire FPMT community by rejoicing in the recent  long life puja which was offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, on behalf of FPMT centers, projects, services, study groups, and students on April 19.

This was the second of the official annual long life pujas organized in accordance with the advice of Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme).

This was a White Tara Long Life Puja and was preceded by seven days of practices led by Khadro-la and Kopan Lama Gyupas and senior monks and nuns.

The long life puja is an important offering ceremony for purifying mistakes that occur in relation to one’s teacher and to creates the causes and conditions to continue to receive benefit from that teacher for a very long time. For this reason, the FPMT organizes at least one official long life puja for Rinpoche every year. Long life practices also create the cause for one’s own long life.

Ven. Roger Kunsang offering a mandala to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the April 19 long life puja at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Khadro-la participating in the April 19 long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

We are delighted to share this video (youtu.be/c0qhiGPf1do) of Rinpoche from the long life puja on April 19. In this 46 minute clip, Rinpoche is offering advice to all FPMT students and centers in English and thanking those who participated in the long life puja including everyone offering service to FPMT. During this advice and thanks Rinpoche shares the following in honor of Lama Yeshe at 22:42 in this video:

“Who started the organization is Lama Yeshe, most rare and difficult to mention the holy name. He started the organization in Dharamsala, Tushita. I think we did fulfill Lama Yeshe’s wishes. The whole organization from year to year to year, development was so hard. It came up gradually, like an airplane taking off, very slowly—it developed like that. We did fulfill Lama’s wishes, not only studying lamrim but Masters Program, Basic Program, all of that—so we really did fulfill Lama Yeshe’s wishes as an organization. And also by serving His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this is so good, and this is the quality of the organization.”

Participants during the long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on April 19 at Kopan Monastery.

We offer thanks to all who contributed to the Long Life Puja Fund, those who offered prayers at the time of the puja, and those who rejoiced that this puja has happened—all of this collective good energy and intention contributes to creating the cause for Lama Zopa Rinpoche to be among us for a long time.

“To understand why a long life puja is essential, we must understand the value of the Guru. He is our guide in this life, the bardo, and future lives. He is immensely important. It is not a case where if we ask him to live he will, and vice-versa, but that to offer such a ceremony purifies our own broken samayas.”  —Geshe Lama Konchog

You can see more photos of this special White Tara Long Life Puja in the most recent photo gallery of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s activities:
fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/gallery/nepal-march-april-2021 

The Long Life Puja Fund always contributes to long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You can also learn about the many Charitable Projects of FPMT and discover the many ways the various funds and projects are benefiting others.

Khadro-la and Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi offering a dharmachakra to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, during a long life puja for Rinpoche, Kopan Monastery, December 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Please rejoice that we have the opportunity to offer the second official long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche. This puja will be offered on behalf of FPMT centers, projects, services, study groups, and students at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, on April 19.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la on the December 25 long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

This is the second of the long life pujas organized in accordance with the advice of Khadro-la, Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Dronme.

This second long life puja will be another White Tara Long Life Puja, which will be preceded by seven days of practices, led by Khadro-la. Khadro-la began these preparations on April 12 at Kopan Monastery with the senior monks and Lama Gyupas. These seven days of practices are done in order to make the long life puja as powerful as possible. Each day sessions of White Tara practice are offered and many recitations of White Tara and Tara mantras are recited to eliminate obstacles to Rinpoche’s long life.

They also are reciting a special mantra that combines the White Tara mantra with Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s name mantra:

Please enjoy this short video of highlights from the first long life puja offered in December 2020: 
https://youtu.be/-juSPvEPU3g

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.

By maintaining harmony, following Rinpoche’s advice, and offering long life pujas, FPMT students are generating the merit needed for our precious guru will stay in the world with us for a long time. Rinpoche also regularly mentions that offering long life pujas is a cause for one’s own long life.

All are welcome to participate in this auspicious event by offering prayers from your heart on the day of the puja and also the seven days prior, or you are also welcome to offer any amount toward the puja.

The Long Life Puja Fund always contributes to long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You can also learn about the many Charitable Projects of FPMT and discover the many ways the various funds and projects are benefiting others.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Lawudo cave, 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

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.

Lawudo is a greatly blessed place of holy beings and called the Magnificent Cave of Attainments. This refers to a stomach-shaped cave, known to the locals as Lawudo. The Lawudo Lama went to this place and dug out the earth to find the beautifully shaped cave with various auspicious signs. The Lawudo Lama declared that it was a self-created cave given to him by Padmasambhava himself and such a cave was mentioned in a very secret terma (text) of Padmasambhava.

The Lawudo Lama spent thirteen years on one seat inside the cave, without going anywhere, meditating day and night with great energy. He also gave transmissions, commentaries and long-life initiations to his disciples from Khumbu. The Lawudo Lama predicted the exact day of his passing and passed away in meditation inside the cave.

The Lawudo cave still has the relics stupa inside and the purkhang (cremation stupa of the Lawudo Lama) is a ten minute walk from the cave.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the Lawudo gompa, 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

In this life, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has done several retreats in the cave and often refers to his time there as a very special experience. His book, The Door To Satisfaction, was conceptualized while he was in Lawudo to oversee the building of the gompa. His plan was to build a monastery where Sherpa boys could get a traditional monastic education. However, this plan changed when it became clear that it was untenable to ferry large groups of young monks between Kopan and Lawudo. So now it is a precious hermitage for those who want to do retreat and stay in isolation.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with his sister, Ani Ngawang Samten, at Lawudo Retreat Centre, 2016. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and his brother Sangay and Sangay’s wife, Nyima. March 2021, Kathmanu, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Rinpoche’s older sister Ani Ngawang Samten, has overseen all of the development at Lawudo and has taken care of the students, teachers and retreaters who have visited Lawudo since the early days of FPMT. Back then, she carried stones and helped build the gompa at Lawudo. For four decades, she has cooked the food and made sure that visitors have what they need. Ven. Roger Kunsang, CEO of FPMT Inc. and Rinpoche’s assistant, has called her the “mother” of Lawudo. Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s brother, Sangay Sherpa, is the current director and has been working hard in maintaining and also developing Lawudo Retreat Centre.

Sangay reported in a recent update, “In my last visit to Lawudo I rebuilt the  previous Lawudo Lama Kunzang Yeshe’s, memorial stupa, which was totally damaged by the earthquake. Also, I have widened the space of the Lawudo cave. I built a concrete support wall behind the main monastery. All the ground work has been finished but the concrete work (stone work, iron, beam pillar work) are still remaining.” 

From the most recent Lawudo newsletter (with thanks to Frances Howland):

On October 16, 2020 the 86 year-old Tengboche Rinpoche passed away in Namche Bazaar. Many Sherpas from Kathmandu traveled to Khumbu for the 49 days of rituals and shortly afterward news of some people dying of respiratory illness in Khumbu appeared. Medics arrived by helicopter on October 23 to take swab samples of contact traced locals after a 65-year-old man, who was helicoptered to Kathmandu, tested positive and subsequently died. Following this, the Khumbu rural municipality decided to shut down the Everest region for outsiders.

However, since October the number of cases in Nepal has dramatically reduced. The first tranche of vaccines has just arrived, and health and other frontline workers have begun to be vaccinated.

During these past quiet months the cave has been re-decorated, a new entrance gate has been installed, and two big greenhouses are under construction, which will enable the Lawudo family to grow vegetables all year round. This will be especially useful as a food supplement in the winter.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with his brother, Sangay Sherpa, at Lawudo, 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Recently through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered substantial support for the work that Sangay is undertaking for the buildings and renovations at Lawudo, as well as for the repairs for the stupa. 

Rinpoche still has incredible plans for Lawudo such as building a seven foot Kalachakra statue that will be housed in a small temple that people can circumambulate. Rinpoche also wants to build a Zandog Palri, which is a three-dimensional building based on the Pure Land of Guru Rinpoche. These projects are slowly being worked on and we will update as they progress.

Thank you to Sangay Sherpa and Ani. Ngawang Samten, who have tirelessly worked at Lawudo Retreat Centre. Thanks are also offered to all who support Lawudo Retreat Centre in many ways, past, present, and future.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund enables Rinpoche’s compassionate service to others to flourish. All the offerings from the fund are used toward the creation of holy objects and extensive offerings around the world; sponsoring young tulkus, high lamas and Sangha in India, Nepal, Tibet and the West; supporting FPMT centers, projects and services; sponsoring Dharma retreats and events; funding animal liberations and blessings, and many other worthy projects. 

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

Long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, December 25, 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

On December 25, 2020 a White Tara Long Life Puja was offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on behalf of all FPMT centers, projects, services, and students. For seven days leading up to this puja Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la), Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, thirty-five senior monks, and fifteen senior nuns completed many hours of preparation practices at Kopan Monastery in order to make the long life puja as powerful as possible. There were two sessions of White Tara practice a day during which the forty-five to fifty individuals in attendance recited many White Tara and Tara mantras to eliminate obstacles to Rinpoche’s long life. They also recited a special mantra that combines the White Tara mantra with Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s name mantra:

Long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche. led by Khadro-la, Kopan Monastery, December 25, 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Please enjoy this short video of highlights from this most auspicious event:
https://youtu.be/-juSPvEPU3g

Another upcoming long life puja will be offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the third Tibetan month (actual date still to be determined). This will be an Amitayus Long Life Puja and will also be preceded by seven days of preparation practices at Kopan Monastery, led by Khadro-la.

Ven. Roger Kunsang offering body, speech, and mind mandala to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the long life puja held at Kopan Monastery, December 25, 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

All are welcome to participate in this upcoming puja by offering prayers from your heart on the day of the puja or offering any amount towards the puja. We also invite you to rejoice in the completion of the December 25 long life puja, with strong prayers of dedication for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s long life.

The Long Life Puja Fund always contributes to long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You can also learn about the many Charitable Projects of FPMT and discover the many ways the various funds and projects are benefiting others.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la enjoying tea after the Sixteen Arhats puja on Rinpoche’s seventy-fifth birthday, Kopan Monastery, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

There will be two official annual long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on behalf of FPMT centers, projects, services, and students this year. The first puja will be offered at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, beginning on December 25. It will be a special White Tara Long Life Puja. For seven days leading up to the actual puja on the 25^th Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la), with senior Kopan monks, will do many hours of preparation practices at Kopan Monastery in order to make the long life puja as powerful as possible.

The second long life puja will be an Amitayus Long Life Puja, and this will be offered to Rinpoche during the 3^rd Tibetan month (actual date still to be determined). It will also be preceded by seven days of preparation practices at Kopan Monastery, led by Khadro-la.

These pujas are similar to the extensive puja offered in July 2020 by Khadro-la. We are so incredibly grateful to Khadro-la for taking care of Rinpoche in this way, advising, guiding and actually offering these long life pujas so carefully and with so much preparation.

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.

By maintaining harmony, following the gurus advice and by offering long life pujas, students accumulate the merit needed for our precious guru to stay in the world with us for a long time. Having the continued guidance of the guru depends on the merit of the disciples. We need to create the cause for us to keep meeting with the precious guru in future lives until we attain the highest goal of enlightenment, for the benefit of all.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche also regularly mentions that offering long life pujas is a cause for one’s own long life.

All are welcome to participate in this auspicious event by offering prayers from your heart on the day of the puja, or offering any amount towards the puja.

The Long Life Puja Fund always contributes to long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You can also learn about the many Charitable Projects of FPMT and discover the many ways the various funds and projects are benefiting others.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Losang Namgyal Rinpoche visiting Namgyal Jyangchub Choeling and the new statues, September 2020. Photos courtesy of Jyangchub Choeling Facebook page.

Namgyal Jyangchub Choeling is a monastery in Boudha, Nepal, established in 2008 by Losang Namgyal Rinpoche who is also the present director. Losang Namgyal Rinpoche studied at Kopan Monastery and is a highly regarded lama of the Tamang people. Namgyal Jyangchub Choeling is a new Rime monastery in the Mahayana tradition, representing and respecting all the traditions of Buddhism. It will be a center of Buddhist study and spirituality for both the monastic Sangha and the lay community and it will also contain a clinic and be the coordination center for outreach Dharma and social work.

Offerings in Namgyal Jyangchub Choeling. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has offered grants toward different projects and holy objects, such as large stupas, prayerweels and gompas that Losang Namgyal Rinpoche is building in outlaying areas in Nepal. In 2020 Lama Zopa Rinpoche was also very happy to offer a large grant toward the building of four large Buddha statues that will be in the new gompa of Namgyal Jyangchub Choeling and in September Rinpoche visited the new gompa and blessed the statues, that are currently still being built.

“When you see a holy object you should think: All of these holy objects are my root guru who manifested this to liberate me from the lower realms. You should think of the kindness manifesting in every single holy object. Prostrate whenever you see any holy object because it causes you to achieve Buddha’s holy body, speech, mind, and all qualities.  Whenever you are in a place with many holy objects, put your hands together while turning your body toward the holy objects and think, I prostrate to all the gurus.” — Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Thank you to all the donors who make it possible to offer these grants and in this way offer substantial help for the continuation of Buddhism throughout Nepal.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund enables Rinpoche’s compassionate service to others to flourish. All the offerings from the fund are used toward the creation of holy objects and extensive offerings around the world; sponsoring young tulkus, high lamas and Sangha in India, Nepal, Tibet and the West; supporting FPMT centers, projects and services and sponsoring Dharma retreats and events.

Special White Tara long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, July 4, 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

On July 4, under the direction and guidance of Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la), a special White Tara long life puja was offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi and about one  hundred senior monks from the monastery and twenty nuns from the nunnery. Attendance at this puja was limited due to the current lockdown situation in Nepal.

For three days prior to the actual puja, Khadro-la, with the help of six geshes, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, and about one hundred senior geshes and monks from Kopan Monastery, did special preparatory practices in the Kopan gompa for many hours. This was part of the White Tara long life puja, which comes from His Holiness Zong Rinpoche and is a very powerful puja from the lower tantra.

Khadro-la offering the special White Tara long life puja to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, July 4, 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

FPMT, through the Long Life Puja Fund, and Kopan Monastery sponsored this entire puja. All the extensive preparations were kindly taken care of by Kopan.

This particular long life puja was offered because Ven. Roger Kunsang had checked with Khadro-la about Rinpoche’s health and long life for the upcoming year, which is customary for him to do. Khadro-la indicated there were some obstacles to Rinpoche’s health and long life and this special long life puja was needed. In addition, Khadro-la advised on the need for three to four Most Secret Hayagriva tsog kong pujas to be offered at Kopan Monastery before the end of this year. One of these pujas has already been completed—this is a very extensive puja that takes most of an entire day, about fourteen hours, to offer.

Khadro-la leading preparations the day prior to the long life puja. 3.5 days of preparations were needed. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Large effigy of Lama Zopa Rinpoche made for the special long life puja by Kopan Lama Gyupas. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Khadro-la advised that the preparation for this long life puja needed to last at least three days to make it most powerful. During the preparation there was a large effigy of Rinpoche created by the Kopan Lama Gyupas with hand-made robes, hat, and glasses. The effigy was then taken out during the puja.

On the morning of the puja, further preparation occurred until Rinpoche was invited down to the gompa by Khadro-la and Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi.

Offering of tsog during the White Tara long life puja. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Thousand-Arm Chenrezig thangka offered by Ven. Roger Kunsang to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the White Tara long life puja.

Thousand-Arm Chenrezig thangka offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the White Tara long life puja. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

One very special offering that was made to Rinpoche during the puja was a new Thousand-Arm Chenrezig thangka to replace the one that Rinpoche carries with him everywhere. Ven. Roger sponsored the thangka on behalf of the organization and arranged for it to be painted about a year ago. Throughout the process Ven. Roger checked the art, quality and type of brocade, and other details with Rinpoche. Rinpoche was very pleased with the art.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la, Kopan Monastery, July 1, 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Following the long life puja Rinpoche and Khadro-la concluded that it was important to also offer Lama Chopa with tsog, starting with Calling the Guru from Afar. This lasted into the early evening.

Every day during the preparation period guided by Khadro-la, Rinpoche and Khadro-la had lunch together, discussing many important subjects. One item discussed at length was the four to six large fire pujas that Khadro-la had advised to do at specific holy places around Kathmandu Valley. These fire pujas will be arranged by different Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug monasteries, including Kopan Monastery. The fire pujas have to be done in different directions and happen simultaneously and are done to help subdue the effects of COVID-19 experienced in Nepal and around the world. These pujas will happen once permission is granted at the various locations; the delays have been due to the situation of lockdown.

Each morning during the preparations, Khadro-la visited Rinpoche for thirty minutes, discussing different signs or indications that she received the night before.

The long life puja itself was very powerful and successful. Rinpoche was very happy and also Khadro-la seemed very pleased.

Following the long life puja Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, Khadro-la and Rinpoche walked in the gardens of Kopan Monastery. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

On behalf of the entire FPMT organization, we offer the most heartfelt thanks to Khadro-la for taking care of Rinpoche in this way, guiding and offering the entire long life puja so carefully with so much preparation, as well as advising what other pujas are needed. We also want to take this opportunity to thank Ven. Roger Kunsang for offering tireless service to Rinpoche for thirty-five years and for making sure all of these important things happen. 

Tremendous thanks to all the centers and students who support the Long Life Puja Fund—please rejoice that your offerings helped sponsor this puja.

Heartfelt thanks are also offered to Kopan Monastery for helping to offer this puja so successfully with so many prayers and preparations. 

The Long Life Puja Fund always contributes to long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You can also learn about the many Charitable Projects of FPMT and discover the many ways the various funds and projects are benefiting others.

You can watch the video series Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation during the Time of COVID-19 and find links to videos in translation, transcripts, MP3s, additional practice advice, and more:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche-for-coronavirus/