Study & Practice News

Lama Zopa Rinpoche writing out the syllable AH, Bendigo, Australia, 2018. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

A mantra is a series of syllables, most often in Sanskrit, that is the subject of recitation, meditation, or other spiritual practice. The term “mantra” means “mind protection,” because mantras function to protect the mind from ordinary impure appearances as they evoke the energy of a particular buddha or bodhisattva.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught extensively on the power of mantra and offered us volumes of advice on specific mantras to utilize for various internal and external conditions and virtuous objectives. Our Mantras Page contains a complete list of the mantras we have available for download. 

Namgyalma mantra

Among the dozens of mantras available to you is the Name Mantra that Multiplies Virtue by a Hundred Thousand. About this mantra, Lama Zopa Rinpoche stated, “We need to recite this name mantra not simply with the inner attitude of the mind going to the Dharma but with a bodhicitta motivation. This name mantra multiplies whatever virtue we do everyday by a hundred thousand. Recite it after that virtue has been accumulated; or if the roots of virtue have not been destroyed by anger, recite it at the end of the day.” You can use one-click download to access this mantra.

We invite you to explore all that our Mantras Page has to offer you and your practice. Additionally, please feel very free to peruse all that is available on our Prayer and Practice Materials Page. 

 Also available from Wisdom Publications is The Power of Mantra: Vital Practices for Transformation, in which Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides students through understanding the power and benefit of mantras. Rinpoche explains many popular mantras, giving specific instructions for practicing them, including Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Manjushri, Tara, Medicine Buddha, Vajrasattva, and more.

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

We are pleased to share that two essential FPMT booklets are now available as eBooks (epub and mobi) for those who prefer these formats. 

In 2022 we updated the PDF of How to Make My Lives Wish-Fulfilling: The Method to Transform a Suffering Life into Happiness (Including Enlightenment), the essential daily practice complied by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for his students and anyone else wishing to start their day, and all their activities, with a perfect Dharma intention and bodhichitta motivation.

This month eBook versions of this precious text have been updated to match the PDF.

Additionally, one of the texts that students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche have been reciting for Rinpoche’s swift return, Chanting the Names of Noble Manjushri, is now available in eBook formats as well.

Chanting the Names of Noble Manjushri consists of over 160 verses and mantra sentences, condensing an enormous tantric lore. It is categorized as a tantra, but can be read by anyone without restrictions. This praise of Manjushri was taught by Buddha Shakyamuni at the request of Vajrapani. It is a central text in all Tibetan traditions and is often recited and memorized by students. His Holiness the Dalai Lama advised that students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche recite this text as much as possible for Rinpoche’s swift return. 

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

Image of Kalachakra given out  during a Kalachakra initiation give by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Washington D.C., 2011. Courtesy of Jonang Shambala, Italy.

We are pleased to release our first publication on Kalachakra, The Kālacakra Six-Session Guru Yoga together with An Extensive Review of the Three Vows and An Extensive Aspirational Prayer.

This booklet presenting a translation of A Grove of Wish-Fulfilling Pārijāta Trees: The Way to Practice Guru Yoga Based on Bhagavān Glorious Kālacakra in Connection with Six-Session Yoga compiled by Ling Rinpoche includes his work on a guru yoga, An Extensive Review of the Three Vows as a supplement as well as An Extensive Aspirational Prayer, a prayer that summarizes the two stages of the path of Kalachakra, composed by Lodro Chokyong Gyatso.  It originated with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who for the sake of his own practice, requested Ling Rinpoche to compose a guru yoga based on Kalachakra, and gave advice regarding the “meaning and order of arrangement.” This clear and accessible translation was undertaken by Ven. Tenzin Gyurme, with Ven Joan Nicell.

Several FPMT centers hold regular practices and retreats on Kalachakra and we hope this publication will be of immense use and benefit to these centers and their students.  

A full Kalachakra initiation, on the basis of the sand mandala, is currently underway in Mongolia with Jhado Rinpoche conferring the actual Kalachakra initiation starting on Aug 17, 2024.

We also want to take this opportunity to announce three important materials currently in process:

• A revision of Six-Session Guru Yoga by Phabongkha Dechen Nyingpo.
• A full translation of the extensive Kalachakra Mind Sadhana by the 7th Dalai Lama, The Excellent Vase of All Siddhis: The Mind Maṇḍala Sādhana of Śrī Kālacakra, complete with the extensive protection circle practice. This text is complemented by the Request to the Lineage Gurus and the rite for entering a nearing-retreat.

• A translation of the fire puja text, The Approximation Compensating Pacifying Burnt Offering Ritual of Śrī Kālacakra Arranged According to the Recitation Rite of the Kālacakra Ritual Monks of Namgyal Monastery.

Download The Kālacakra Six-Session Guru Yoga together with An Extensive Review of the Three Vows and An Extensive Aspirational Prayer:
https://shop.fpmt.org/the-kalachakra-six-session-guru-yoga-together-with-an-extensive-review-of-the-three-vows-and-an-extensive-aspirational-prayer.html

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

Image of White Manjushri courtesy of Lama Yeshe Ling Tibetan Buddhist Group.

We are pleased to share that an English translation by Ven. Tenzin Namjong of the White Manjushri sadhana, The Meditation-Recitation of White Manjushri , is now available for free download in the FPMT Foundation Store. This translation was a request of Lama Zopa Rinpoche from 2020.

The buddhas manifest in multiple forms to meet the diverse needs of living beings. It is believed that the buddha of wisdom in the aspect of White Manjushri is especially powerful for helping us develop and strengthen our intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, and insight.

This White Manjushri sadhana may be used by anyone. However, as usual, those who do not have the requisite tantric empowerments and permissions should omit generating as the deity.

To learn more about this sadhana and to download your copy, please visit the FPMT Foundation Store. 

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

Shakyamuni Buddha by Jane Seidlitz.

Chokhor Duchen, one of the four annual holy days of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, takes place this year on July 9 or July 10 depending on the various Tibetan calendars. Both days are fine.  On these holy days of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, the power of any meritorious action is multiplied by 100 million, as taught in the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.

Known in English as “Turning the Wheel of Dharma,” Chokhor Duchen commemorates the anniversary of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s first teaching. It is said that for seven weeks after his enlightenment, the Buddha did not teach. Afterward, Indra and Brahma offered a dharmachakra and a conch shell, and requested Guru Shakyamuni Buddha to teach. Accepting, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma for the first time at Sarnath in his teaching on the four noble truths.

Practice Advice

Specific practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for merit-multiplying days can be found on the fpmt.org website on our “Practice on the Four Great Holy Days” page.

Specific practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for merit-multiplying days include:

• Taking the eight Mahayana precepts—students can receive the lineage of these precepts from a specially produced video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche granting them
• Reciting the Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels

In addition, Rinpoche recommended doing Shakyamuni Buddha Puja. A beautiful and deeply inspirational puja, the text was recently reformatted with hyperlinks for smooth navigation so that individuals can easily do the core practice and any additional ones as their time allows.

You can also find advice for merit-multiplying days in French and practice materials for merit-multiplying days in other language.

Fulfilling His Holiness’s Wishes for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Swift Return

Image of Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the altar in Kopan Monastery Gompa. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Tsomo.

Chokor Duchen is a wonderful opportunity to help fulfill His Holiness’ advice to amplify the causes for Rinpoche’s swift return. After recitation of the recommended prayers, make sure to dedicate for Rinpoche’s swift return on this special day when prayers are multiplied by 100 million.

On this special day, ordained Sangha of the IMI will take turns all day to lead a Chanting the Names of Manjushri marathon for Rinpoche’s quick return. This will be offered over Zoom, so please check the IMI website for the latest information. Please know that this will be happening all day, and joining in at any time is encouraged!

You can download this collection of prayers and make them available to students at your center, or share in your newsletters: A Collection of Prayers for the Swift Return of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche with advice from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Pujas and Offerings on Chokhor Duchen

The FPMT Puja Fund is arranging an extensive array of pujas on Chokhor Duchen, dedicated to Rinpoche’s swift return such as  Kangyur recitation and up to 10,000 recitations of Chanting the Names of Manjushri. Rinpoche mentioned many times that he wishes for, “the pujas being sponsored and offered on each of the four Buddha days to continue forever, or for as long as the monasteries and nunneries exist.” We will share additional information about these activities in an upcoming blog, and support is always welcome for these powerful practices. 

*In 2024, Chokhor Duchen is celebrated on either July 9 or July 10 depending on regional interpretations of the lunar calendar and the specific methods used to calculate the date. Kopan Monastery will, for example, celebrate Chokor Duchen on the 9th, while the Liberation Prison Project Calendar, that many centers follow, has scheduled it for the 10th.

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.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, June 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche often spoke about solar and lunar eclipses, which are considered auspicious for practice and provide opportunities for accumulating merit by multiple folds. As stated in the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic, the karmic results of actions are multiplied by 700,000 times on lunar eclipses, and 100 million times on solar eclipses. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche pointed out that the multiplying effect of eclipses occurs regardless of whether the eclipse is partial or full. Rinpoche advised, however, that the merit-multiplying effect does not last the whole calendar day and as such, merit-making activities should be carried out during the occurrence of the eclipse. Therefore, to use the opportunity for practice, students should check for the timing of the eclipse in their own location. Such information may be found at timeanddate.com and similar websites.  

Please refer to our Practice during Solar and Lunar Eclipses page for advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche about which prayers and practices are most beneficial on this occasion. 

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.

We hope you have now received a link to FPMT International Office’s 2023 Annual Review, Repaying the Kindness, Looking to the Future, and have enjoyed reading about and rejoicing in the many accomplishments from the past year. Today we would like to bring your attention to the Study, Practice, and Resources section of this report.

FPMT Education Services offers a wide range of programs and materials to support introductory to advanced Buddhist study and practice. This includes our FPMT Education Programs, available in FPMT centers and online; prayers and practice materials and books offered in digital formats; and our translations of key Buddhist texts, created by translators and editors around the world.

Education Programs

• Introductory: Piloted Buddhist Mind Science (BMS) 
• Foundational: Piloted Exploring Buddhism (EB) 
• In-Depth: For both the FPMT Basic Program (BP) and the FPMT Masters Program (MP) the Guidelines for Implementation were re-written; MP translations were commissioned for Middle Way; and the MP Study Manual for Ornament was updated.

Translations & Materials

• Twenty-six education resources for our students worldwide were completed in 2023. Check them out, you don’t want to miss these new publications! Find them at Foundation Store New Arrivals.

Online Learning Center (OLC)

• At the FPMT Online Learning Center the Long Retreat Preparation page was enriched with a teaching given at Nalanda Monastery by Venerable Charles, a highly regarded Nyung Na retreat leader and experienced meditator. This page offers FPMT Basic Program and FPMT Masters Program students support for the three-month and year-long retreats that are part of their program completion requirements.

Distribution

• Compared to the previous year, in 2023 there was 19% increase of PDF downloads and ebooks. We are happy that more students use the Foundation Store to find Dharma materials.
• FPMT Education materials are also distributed by Amazon (Kindle), Apple, Google, Music, Spotify, and others. Some titles are available in print as well.

We invite you to read all about our study, practice, and resources accomplishments of 2023:
fpmt.org/fpmt/annual-review-2023/#study-and-practice

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.

The Heart Sutra is the most widely known sutra of the Mahayana tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It is part of the Prajnaparamita Sutras, which is a collection of about 40 sutras composed between 100 BCE and 500 CE. The Heart Sutra is a presentation of profound wisdom on the nature of emptiness. Reading and reciting the Heart Sutra is a powerful way to create the conditions for having a direct realization of emptiness.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explained that the only thing that can directly cut ignorance, which is the root of suffering and samsara, is wisdom realizing emptiness. There are many teachings on emptiness, but these teachings are found condensed in the Heart Sutra.

We are happy to share the revised edition of the Heart Sutra Practices and Instructions for Retreat. Based on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings, this booklet presents experiential instructions on how to meditate on emptiness. Rinpoche provides a clear explanation of how to approach this subtle topic, how the experience of meditating on emptiness should feel, and how to avoid mistakes in your meditation. It contains necessary materials for completing a Heart Sutra retreat according to the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

This is the practice booklet that will be used in the Heart Sutra Retreat being held at Kopan Monastery from April 15-20, 2024. 

Students can find more links to Heart Sutra materials and resources below:

• The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra – MP3 Download
• The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra – eBook & PDF
• Watch the teaching in which Rinpoche gives the oral transmission of the Heart Sutra on video. (The oral transmission begins at 42:58.)
• FPMT Basic Program Online: Heart Sutra
• Essence Of The Heart Sutra by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, eBook & PDF
• Audio: Emptiness Explained – MP3 Download

• Audio: How to Meditate on Emptiness – MP3 Download

Please learn more about the Heart Sutra Retreat and commemoration being offered at Kopan Monastery in April 2024. 

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.

Shakyamuni Buddha. Image by Jane Seidlitz.

The Fifteen Days of Miracles—from the first day of the Tibetan new year, Losar, (this year on February 10, 2024) until the fifteenth, Chotrul Duchen (this year on February 24, 2024)—commemorates the special time when Guru Shakyamuni Buddha showed miraculous powers in order to subdue six tirthikas, or non-Buddhist teachers, who lacked faith in him, and to inspire more faith in his followers. It culminates on the full moon, the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar.

Please keep in mind: In accordance with the advice of Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, Lama Zopa Rinpoche observed all the auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar by Indian Standard time, instead of any other local time.

All fifteen days are merit multiplying days, when the merit of virtuous actions performed on each of these days is multiplied by 100 million, according to the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.

Advice for the Fifteen Days of Miracles

You can find Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice for merit multiplying days, including the Fifteen Days of Miracles, collected online. (Find also here advice and practice material for merit-multiplying days in French)

If the members of your community decide to recite the Sutra of Golden Light on these special days, we invite them to report their recitations on the Sutra of Golden Light reporting page.

Advice Specifically for Losar, the Anniversary of Lama Yeshe’s Passing Away

Lama Yeshe teaching at Chenrezig Institute, Australia,1979. Photo courtesy of Pearl Bailey (donor) and Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

For FPMT, Losar is a special time as it commemorates the anniversary of FPMT founder Lama Yeshe’s parinirvana at dawn of Losar in 1984.

Please refer to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice to offer extensive Lama Chopa with tsog. Please also see Rinpoche’s advice for a short Tibetan text translated and commented on by Rinpoche, Advice for the Anniversary of the Guru’s Passing Away, which explains the importance of making offerings on the anniversary of the passing away of one’s guru.

This Losar marks forty years since the passing away of Lama Yeshe. Rinpoche also requested that centers host annual events on Losar day to introduce new students to Lama Yeshe. These events might include students who knew Lama Yeshe sharing their favorite stories, watching videos of Lama teaching, or reading stories about Lama. 

Additionally, according to the wishes of Rinpoche, on the anniversary of Lama Yeshe’s passing each year (Losar), gold will be offered to the Lama Yeshe statue at Kopan Monastery. This has now been occurring for the last two years and will be ongoing, in order to honor Rinpoche’s request. FPMT affiliates which have statues of Lama Yeshe are also encouraged to offer gold in this way every year, or as you are able.

Creating Merit for the FPMT Organization During the Fifteen Days of Miracles

Every merit multiplying day, the FPMT Puja Fund sponsors extensive pujas and offerings to be made on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. This Losar and during the fifteen days of miracles, ten thousand ordained sangha from all major monasteries will engage in various pujas and offerings, such as reciting the Prajnaparamita Sutra, offering one thousand Sets of offerings to Buddha Namgyalma, Medicine Buddha puja, Namgyalma long life ritual, and Sixty-four Offerings to Kalarupa. These practices are dedicated  to all the FPMT centers, projects, and services; all students, volunteers, those who offer service in FPMT; and to all beings.

Offerings are also made to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus and to sangha in FPMT international sangha communities. In addition, robes are offered to the Buddha statue in Bodhgaya, and new parasols and whitewash are offered to Boudha and Swayambu stupas.

Various sutras will be printed and over a thousand animals will be liberated.

Please join us in rejoicing in these incredible practices and offerings, especially remembering them on the actual days, when one’s merit is multiplied 100 million times. It is also possible to participate in any of these pujas and offerings by contributing any amount.

About the Fifteen Days of Miracles

The Fifteen Days of Miracles are a time for pilgrimage and intensive Dharma practice. During this period, many Tibetan monasteries hold a Great Prayer Festival—Monlam Chenmo—for several days or even weeks, during which the Sangha recite prayers from morning until evening. Kopan Monastery, who has been the main host of the Great Prayer Festival for FPMT since 1998, will be hosting it again this year.

Additionally, according to the wish of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Nalanda Monastery in France will be hosting a Gelug Monlam for the first time in the West from February 23 to 25. A Monlam Chenmo Prayer Book will be made available, and centers or students who wish to host their own Prayer Festival or recite some of those prayers during this period are welcome to do so. We will send out information on this prayer book as soon as it is available.

Liberation Tibetan Calendar

Special thanks to the Liberation Prison Project for preparing this year’s Tibetan calendar. A limited view of the calendar is always available on “Dharma Practice Dates” as a courtesy to FPMT students around the world.

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche prostrating at Vulture’s Peak, the site of Buddha’s first teaching, Rajgir, India, February 2, 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

The Four Verses pays homage to the buddhas in their corporeal and non-corporeal manifestations, and to the places where the historical Shakyamuni Buddha had displayed his twelve deeds or visited.

Seeing the immense benefit of reading and making offerings to the Four Verses, Lama Zopa Rinpoche recommended for FPMT centers to have it nicely framed for display on the altar, and also to give away printed copies of it to their students. 

All are welcome to download this printable card for display on one’s altar. 

This translation of the Four Verses was completed by Rinpoche in 2002 and updated by FPMT Education Services in 2023. The card was designed by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

The Foundation Store offers many beautiful digital cards and posters, many designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, which are available to download and display in appropriate areas on one’s altar or in one’s home. 

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche writing mantras on a patio umbrella in order to bless all those that sit underneath it, Aptos, California, US, June 2017. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

The FPMT.org website offers so many resources, including prayers and practices, for students wishing to begin or enrich their Dharma practice. Our Mantras Page offers a complete list of mantras available to you, as well as some information on how particular mantras are commonly used in various situations. 

A mantra is a series of syllables, most often in Sanskrit, that is the subject of recitation, meditation, or other spiritual practice. While mantras also exist in the sutras, most are recited in conjunction with the practice of a particular tantric meditational deity, whose qualities they also embody. The term “mantra” means “mind protection,” because mantras function to protect the mind from ordinary impure appearances. Thus, in the context of deity yoga, mantras are indispensable as they not only function as a vehicle for a practitioner to develop the attainments of a deity, but also aid in training the mind to view all phenomena, including all sound, as pure.

We invite you to explore all that our Mantras Page has to offer you and your practice. Additionally, please feel very free to peruse all that is available on our Prayer and Practice Materials Page. 

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.