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Skilled staff and excellent teachers are ready to receive the students for these two extraordinary, residential, full-time FPMT Basic Programs! Alongside each of these BPs, an FPMT Masters Program will be running, facilitating exclusive and stimulating interaction between the students of the two in-depth programs.
Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa’s peaceful grounds.
The FPMT Basic Program becomes more interesting and beneficial the more intensively and extensively it is studied. Having sufficient time to get a good understanding of the BP texts and commentaries, with meditation, retreats, reviews and discussions included for each subject; and the final review and three-month lamrim retreat offered as part of the program is the most complete and recommended way to engage with this program. It follows Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s design and advice in detail and is a rare and wonderful chance to seriously deepen one’s study and practice.
Tranquil setting of Nalanda Monastery, France.
These are once in a decade opportunities, not to be taken for granted! All suitable students are encouraged to apply.
More information can be found on the FPMT Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery: https://nalanda-monastery.eu/basic-program/
More information can be found on the FPMT Basic Program at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa: https://www.iltk.org/en/basic-program-buddhismo/corso-residenziale/
Lama Zopa Rinpoche circumambulating the stupa at O.Sel.Ling, Spain, May 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave teachings on how to make offerings and circumambulate holy objects at the sacred stupa at Boudhanath, Nepal, during the pandemic and in a letter to students in Russia who make holy objects. We are pleased to make these teachings available in the booklet form in Create Skies of Merit by Making Offerings and Circumambulating Stupas.
This 32-page booklet explains the benefits of making offerings to and circumambulating stupas as well as how to think when making offerings and how to collect extensive merit.
Rinpoche emphasizes the importance of, first, offering to all sentient beings based on the example of making a flower offering:
“First, we make charity of this flower to every hell being, every hungry ghost, every animal—think of just the ants: scientists say there are about 13,000 different types of ants.”
Rinpoche then teaches the importance of making an offering on behalf of all sentient beings:
“When we offer on behalf of all sentient beings, it includes your father, mother, brother, sister, any friends, your enemy, anyone, including whoever has died. Doing puja for those who’ve been born in the lower realms can liberate them; they can get a higher rebirth and meet the Dharma—they get so much benefit.”
When we think this way, all sentient beings collect merit, whether they are our friends, enemies, or strangers.
Rinpoche also explains how the practice of circumambulating stupas with body, speech, and mind are done. We do not circumambulate stupas just for our own sake, but we go around the holy objects to benefit all sentient beings.
When it comes to the action of speech while doing circumambulation, Rinpoche advises not to waste time gossiping while circumambulating the holy object, but instead recite different mantras and prayers. Circumambulating with our mind means that we do it with devotion to our guru and compassion to all sentient beings as well as do visualizations that the light purifies all sentient beings.
Whenever we have an opportunity to circumambulate holy objects, it is wonderful to apply these simple yet powerful pith instructions by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in order to collect extensive merit.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche shopping for flower offerings, Boudhanath, Nepal, July 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Additional Audio and PDF Resources
This practice was composed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to create the most extensive merit possible when making any kind of offering. This is one of Rinpoche’s heart practices for the accumulation of merit.
Rinpoche gave this advice on how to collect “the most unbelievable merit” when making offerings, originally in relation to offerings to the Boudha Stupa located in Kathmandu, Nepal.
This booklet explains the benefits of offering flowers to holy objects as well as describes how to do flower offerings including the recitation of the flower offering mantra which makes flower offerings vast, transforming them into ten million or more flower offerings.
Clouds of Offerings Mantra – MP3 Download
This audio contains recitation of Clouds of Offering Mantra by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. This mantra is not only for blessing, it also has the power to multiply the offerings. There are numberless buddhas and by reciting this mantra each buddha receives skies of offerings.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche created this offering card as a welcoming and explanatory sign for anyone visiting the gardens of his house in Aptos, California, USA. Rinpoche has said that anyone can use this where there are many flower and water bowl offerings.
Padmasambhava’s Instruction on Offerings to Stupas
King Trisong Detsen requested Guru Rinpoche to give a teaching on the benefits of prostrating to, circumambulating, making offerings, and offering service to stupas. Padmasambhava gave a detailed explanation of the particular benefits and results of different types of offerings, such as the set of offerings and offerings included in the long mandala offering.
Download Create Skies of Merit by Making Offerings and Circumambulating Stupas for your own practice: https://shop.fpmt.org/stupa-offering-circumambulation-pdf.html
Through comprehensive study programs and practice materials, FPMT Education Services nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
We are pleased to share news about the Wisdom Publications release of The Swift Path: A Meditation Manual on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment by Panchen Losang Yeshe and translated by Szegee Toh into English. This book is the third title in the Wisdom Culture Series published by Wisdom Publications in association with FPMT. Under the guidance of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the series provides English-language readers with key works for the study and cultivation of the Mahayana Buddhist path, especially works of masters within the lineage of Lama Tsongkhapa and the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. “Wisdom culture,” an expression frequently used by Lama Yeshe, is a Dharma culture rooted in wisdom and compassion. The Wisdom Culture Series is intended to support this vision by transmitting the timeless wisdom of the Dharma through authoritative and accessible publications.
Origin of the Translation Project
Six years ago, Lama Zopa Rinpoche led the fifth Light of the Path retreat in North Carolina, US. During this retreat Rinpoche recommended a student, Diana Carroll, to study and practice The Swift Path by the eighteenth-century master Losang Yeshe, the Second Panchen Lama. The Swift Path was composed as a supplement to The Easy Path written by the First Panchen Lama, Losang Chokyi Gyaltsen, who was tutor to the Fifth Dalai Lama. The Swift Path is a meditation manual on the lamrim, or stages of the path to enlightenment, and is included in the set of texts known as the “Eight Great Lamrims”.
As there was no translation of this text in English, Diana Carroll contacted FPMT International Office and offered to sponsor the translation with the funds that she had received due to the kindness of her late father, George Carroll. FPMT Education Services approached Szegee Toh about the project. Szegee is a graduate from the FPMT Masters Program class of 2004, and has since served as interpreter and teaching assistant in the FPMT Masters Programs held at Istituto Lama Tsong Khapa, Italy, as well as Nalanda Monastery, France. Several of her text translations are used in the FPMT study programs.
We are delighted that Szegee’s precise and elegant translation is now available. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has recommended this lamrim text to a number of students and it is very useful to use as a meditation manual.
You can order The Swift Path from Wisdom Publications: https://wisdomexperience.org/product/the-swift-path/
Rinpoche blessing and reciting mantras for two goats that had just been saved from the butcher and live at Animal Liberation Sanctuary, Khachoe Ghakyil Ling (Kopan Nunnery), July 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche compiled a list of mantras and buddhas’ names that are powerful for benefiting animals. We are pleased to make this available in booklet form in Wish-fulfillment for all Animals: Their Happiness and
Rinpoche requested, “These things are so easy to do and have great meaning, and the advice has pure reference, so the intelligent ones should do the practice.”
We also offer the following audio resources:
Recitations for Animals: This audio contains recitations by Lama Zopa Rinpoche suitable for animals to hear throughout their lives – when they are in good health, or when they are sick or dying. Hearing each mantra and text creates an imprint and blessing in the mind that brings the result of good rebirths, liberation from samsara, and ultimately, full enlightenment. Lama Zopa Rinpoche advises that playing them for any animal will bring immense benefit.
The Five Powerful Mantras for Liberating Sentient Beings from the Lower Realms: This album contains Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s oral transmission (*lung) of the five powerful mantras: the Kunrig Mantra, the Stainless Pinnacle Essence Mantra, the Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghapasha Mantra, the Namgyalma mantras (long and short), and the Buddha Mitrugpa Mantra.
Animal blessing, Ganden Tendar Ling, Moscow, Russia, May 2017. Photo by Renat Alyaudinov.
Shakyamuni Buddha turning the wheel of Dharma for the first time, Land of Medicine Buddha, Wish Fulfilling Temple mural, Soquel, California, USA.
FPMT is now present in 36 countries and in order to meet the study and practice needs of non-English speaking FPMT students, many practice resources, texts, study programs, and teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche are now translated by volunteers. We wanted to take the opportunity to share some of the resources currently available.
FPMT Materials
Many essential FPMT study and practice materials are available in various languages.
Audio and Video
Due to the kindness and hard work of some dedicated nuns and translators, FPMT is also able to offer recorded teachings in both audio and video in multiple languages. While almost all teachings are translated into Italian and Spanish, there are also many teachings available in French, Russian, and Chinese. Several teachings have also been translated into Portuguese, Indonesian and German. Tibetans will find teachings in a dedicated section on our website.
The best way to access these videos is via the FPMT Rinpoche Available Now page. Each teaching event detail page has tabs for the respective language. You can also search tags to find all pages which have various language videos in them, for example, “fpmt.org/tag/italian-videos” for Italian, “fpmt.org/tag/french-videos” for French, etc.
You can also subscribe directly to YouTube on the following channels:
Suscribirse al canal de YouTube FPMT Español y activar notificaciones para recibir avisos cuando se suba un nuevo video.
Iscriversi al canale YouTube FPMT Italiano per essere avvisati quando vengono caricati nuovi video.
Abonnez-vous à la chaîne YouTube FPMT Français pour être informé de la mise en ligne de nouvelles vidéos.
Inscreva-se no canal YouTube FPMT Portuguese e ative notificações para ser avisado de todos os novos vídeos.
Through comprehensive study programs and practice materials, FPMT Education Services nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche leading incense puja on Kopan Hill on the third day of Losar, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
The Fifteen Days of Miracles—from the first day of the Tibetan new year (Losar, February 21, 2023) until the fifteenth (March 7, 2023)—commemorate 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, which is the actual day of Chotrul Duchen.
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. This year there will be a Monlam Chenmo at a monastery in Swayambhu which Kopan Sangha will be attending.
All fifteen days are merit multiplying days, when the merit of virtuous actions performed on these days is multiplied by 100 million, according to the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.
Advice Specifically for Losar, the Anniversary of Lama Yeshe’s Passing Away
Lama Yeshe, Switzerland, 1978. Photo by Ueli Minder, courtesy of the 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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche translated and commented on a short Tibetan text, Advice for the Anniversary of the Guru’s Passing Away, that explains the importance of making offerings on the anniversary of the passing away of one’s guru. It sets out the benefits of making offerings, how to make the offerings with six remembrances, and how to offer and dedicate the roots of virtue collected.
Since one of the very best ways to make offerings to the guru is to offer extensive Lama Chopa with tsog, Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests FPMT centers to do this practice on Losar in honor of the anniversary of Lama Yeshe’s passing away. Doing so brings about the greatest purification of negative karma and collects the most incredible merit.
This Losar marks thirty-nine years since the passing away of Lama Yeshe. Rinpoche also recommends that centers host annual events 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.
The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive has made available the 1984 edition of Wisdom Magazine (the precursor of Mandala magazine), which was a tribute to Lama Yeshe published shortly after his passing.
Advice for the Fifteen Days of Miracles
Students can find Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice for merit multiplying days, including the Fifteen Days of Miracles, collected online. (Advice for merit multiplying days can also be found in French.)
(Rinpoche offers additional advice for FPMT centers celebrating special days throughout the year in the Affiliates Area.)
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.
Please keep in mind: In accordance with the advice of Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, Lama Zopa Rinpoche observes all the auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar by Indian Standard time, instead of any other local time.
Creating Merit during the Fifteen Days of Miracles
Sangha offering puja at Kopan Monastery, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
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, the following pujas and offerings will be made by ten thousand Sangha, who are undertaking the practices and dedicating them to all the FPMT centers, projects, and services; all students, volunteers; those who offer service to the FPMT organization in any way; and to all beings:
- Gyudmed Tantric College will recite the Prajnaparamita (three versions)
- Gyuto Tantric College will offer Namgyäl Tong Chö and Zangcho
- Sera Je and Mey monasteries will offer Druk Chu Ma, Namgyäl Tong Chö, and Zangcho
- Gaden Jangtse and Shartse Monastery will offer Medicine Buddha puja, Druk Chu Ma, and Zangcho
- Drepung Gomang, Loseling Monastery will offer Namgyäl Tsechog puja, Druk Chu Ma, and Zangcho
In addition, the following auspicious activities are sponsored:
- Offerings are made to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus and to Sangha in FPMT international Sangha communities.
- Robes are offered to the Buddha statue in Bodhgaya, and new parasols and whitewash are offered to Bouddha and Swayambhu stupas.
- The following sutras are printed: Golden Light Sutra, Arya Sanghata Sutra, Vajra Cutter Sutra, Sutra of Great Liberation and Amitayus Long Life Sutra.
- Over 1,500 animals are liberated
- Tsa-tsas and stupas are made, filled, and consecrated
Please take a moment to rejoice in all these incredible practices and offerings that have been arranged. You can also participate in any of these pujas and offerings by contributing any amount.
Liberation 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 and practice materials, FPMT Education Services nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Kopan monks making light offerings on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, December 10, 2020, Kopan Monastery. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Ganden Ngamchoe, literally “Ganden Offering of the Twenty-Fifth Day,” is also known as Lama Tsongkhapa Day. It is a celebration of the anniversary of the parinirvana of Lama Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), the founder of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This auspicious and holy day is celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of the tenth month of the Tibetan calendar, which is December 18 this year.
Thangka of Lama Tsongkhapa.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche encourages FPMT students to engage in a variety of practices on Ganden Ngamchoe to celebrate and create merit, including making light offerings. Rinpoche has advised, “Light offering is very important, in particular, by making light offerings you are able to dispel the darkness of ignorance and develop Dharma wisdom. Any light offering can dispel darkness, it doesn’t have to be just a butter lamp. You can offer electric lights and even the sun.”
Many FPMT centers are offering celebrations on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, both on site and online. For students unable to attend a celebration at an FPMT center or join an online celebration, the main practice recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche is Lama Chopa with extensive light offerings if possible. If one is unable to arrange Lama Chopa, Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga is also recommended. In addition, recitation of any or all of the Lama Tsongkhapa-related prayers and texts is encouraged.
Rinpoche has also given detailed advice about practices to do at FPMT centers, projects, and services. Please see the page “Practices for Ganden Ngamchoe, Lama Tsongkhapa Day” for details on these practices. Here are some of the prayers and practices recommended by Rinpoche for a celebration of Lama Tsongkhapa Day, which can also be done by students as they are able:
English
- 1000 Offerings to Lama Tsongkhapa
- Extensive Offering Practice
- The Glorious One of the Three Worlds (Päl dän sa sum ma)
- A Hymn of Experience
- Destiny Fulfilled
- Prayer for the Flourishing of Tsongkhapa’s Teachings
- Lama Tsongkhapa’s Secret Biography
- Dependent Arising: A Praise to the Buddha
Tibetan
- The Thousand Offerings to Lama Tsongkhapa
- Päl dän sa sum ma (The Glorious One of the Three Worlds)
- Lama Tsongkhapa’s Secret Biography
French materials, including “Prière pour le développement de Lama Tsongkhapa” and “Hymne au Bouddha Shakyamouni pour son enseignement sur la production dépendante,” are available through Les Éditions Mahayana. You can also find more practice materials related to Lama Tsongkhapa, including practices in Spanish and other languages, in the Foundation Store.
*In accordance with the advice of Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, Lama Zopa Rinpoche observes all the auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar by Indian Standard time, instead of any other local time.
You can read more about Lama Tsongkhapa Day and find a full catalogue of FPMT prayers, practices, and advice materials on FPMT.org.
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.
The great yogi Thangtong Gyalpo, a thangka in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s house, Aptos, California, US.
As many communities worldwide are entering flu season, we wanted to share some practice materials specific to supporting and protecting our health. Here are some available for download through the Foundation Store:
- The Dharani of the Goddess Parnashavari: Parnashavari, or Loma Gyonma in Tibetan, is a goddess of the kriya tantra class whose practice protects from contagious diseases. The deity is relied on to help dispel epidemics. The recitation of this dharani-mantra, together with the short praise and dedication, is simple way to engage in Parnashavari’s practice, for the benefit of oneself and others.
- Loma Gyonma Mantra (audio): This audio features Geshe Gelek Chodha, resident teacher at Kadampa Center, reciting Loma Gyonma (Parnashavari) mantra.
- Loma Gyonma Meditation: The meditation of the Yellow Leaf-Wearing Female Solitary Ascetic (Parnashavari), helps pacify diseases.
- The Vajra Speech of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo: The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease”: Lama Zopa Rinpoche commented on this practice, “One time in Tibet, an epidemic disease happened in Sakya and so many people died. Then the Bonpos and tantric practitioners, ngagpas, did many pujas but nothing helped. So then, I guess, he made prayers to stop all this epidemic disease in Sakya. Then everything completely stopped after he did this prayer. So this prayer is also good for this epidemic disease [Covid-19] now to stop it. It is good to recite it to stop it in the world.”
- Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo’s Prayers (audio): This album by Lama Zopa Rinpoche features the oral transmission of several of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo’s prayers. Thangtong Gyalpo (1385 – 1464) was not just a great yogi, but a skilled engineer and artist, famous for helping the people of Tibet in very practical ways. He is said to have built 58 iron bridges, 60 wooden bridges, 118 ferry crossings, 120 assembly halls and temples, 111 stupas, and many hundreds of large and small statues, as well as creating innumerable paintings.
- Vajrapani Hayagriva Garuda: The practice of the Three-fold Wrathful One for protection.
- The Arya Wisdom Mantra of Six Syllables: From the text: “The Destroyer Qualified Gone-Beyond One said to the Venerable Ananda: The wisdom mantra of six syllables protects, completely saves, completely protects, and completely guards from being stricken by diseases of the brain, diseases of the eyes, diseases of the ears, diseases of the teeth, diseases of the nose, diseases of the tongue, diseases of the heart, diseases of the stomach, diseases of the back, diseases of the ribs, diseases of the urinary system, diseases of the calves, diseases of the feet, diseases of the limbs, diseases of the secondary limbs, indigestion, swelling, obstructions of the womb; sicknesses that arise from wind, that arise from bile, that arise from phlegm, and those that arise from a combination of these; extremely serious contagious diseases; contagious diseases of one day, two days, three days, and four days; momentary contagious diseases; contagious diseases of the day, and contagious diseases of the night.”
- We also would like to direct students to Medicine Buddha practices and other resources related to healing.
The practices listed above are not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment from a doctor or health care professional. Always contact your health care professional regarding any medical advice.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
We are happy to share that the popular free book, Lamrim Year, published by Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, now has a companion website! The free Lamrim Year Companion website is designed to help you access Lamrim Year’s daily meditations wherever you are, from your computer or mobile device. You can sign up today: lamrimyear.com
Lamrim Year is an essential guide for meditators who want to develop their mind in the graduated path to enlightenment (lamrim). This unique study program provides a 365-day outline of the graduated path in a clear, practical format that is suitable for both individual and group practice. The daily quotes and text have been selected from four decades of teachings by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and offer a taste of their teaching style and scope.
When you sign up, the site will help keep track of your progress and bring you to your next day’s meditation each time you return to the site.
The Lamrim Year Companion site:
- tracks your progress as you go through each lamrim topic
- supports additional study on each lamrim topic by emailing teachings, resource links, and inspiring quotes and images
- provides a digital notepad to record personal notes and insights on each day
- connects you to the full scope of related Lamrim Year resources on the LYWA website
At the end of each section in the lamrim outline you will receive an email with teachings and resources related to the topic you are studying, along with inspiring quotes and images, to help support you in your practice.
Learn more about Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive on their website:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/index.php
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la doing puja on Lhabab Duchen at Swayambunath, Nepal, October 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lhabab Duchen, one of the four great holy days of the Buddhist calendar, takes place this year on November 15.
Lhabab Duchen celebrates Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s return to Earth from the God Realm of the Thirty-Three after teaching Dharma for several months to the gods, including his mother, Mayadevi, who had died a week after Buddha’s birth and been reborn there. As a merit multiplying day, the karmic results of actions done on this day are multiplied 100 million times. This amazing result is taught in the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.
Practices for Merit Multiplying Days
Specific practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for these special 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, which was edited from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation video series, recorded in May 2020 at Kopan Monastery.
- Reciting the Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels
A longer list of recommended practices can be found at “Practices for Merit Multiplying Days and Eclipses.” Find advice for merit-multiplying days in French and practice materials for merit-multiplying days in other languages.
In accordance with the advice of Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, Lama Zopa Rinpoche observes all the auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar by Indian Standard time, instead of any other local time.
Offerings on Lhabab Duchen
Every merit multiplying day, the Puja Fund sponsors a large number of pujas and practices performed by thousands of sangha. During this Lhabab Duchen, the Puja Fund will offer on behalf of the entire FPMT organization and all students, benefactors, and beings:
- Recitation of the Prajnaparamita Sutra by Gyudmed Tantric College.
- Medicine Buddha puja, Namgyalma long life puja and one thousand offerings to Namgyalma, Druk Chu Ma, and Zangcho by thousands of Sangha at Sera Je, Sera Mey, Gaden Jangtse, Gaden Shartse, Drepung Gomang and Loseling monasteries, and Gyuto Tantric College.
- Offerings to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus and to the 10,000 Sangha offering these pujas, as well as those in International Mahayana Institute Sangha communities.
- Offerings of robes to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, and saffron and umbrellas to the Boudhanath and Swayambunath stupas in Nepal.
Please join us in rejoicing in all of the meritorious activities happening within the FPMT organization and around the world on this auspicious merit-multiplying day!
Special thanks to the Liberation Prison Project for preparing a Tibetan calendar with information on holy days and other important dates.
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 unveiling the new Liberation Cloth, which has a specified number of mantras that have the power to purify negative karma at the time of death, to students at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, August 13, 2022. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
In Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching on The Four Causes of Unknowing and the Four Dharmakaya Relic Heart Mantras, given on April 9, 2020, Rinpoche recommended that all FPMT centers, projects, services and study groups have cloths covered with beneficial mantras available to help students, friends, and family at the time of death. In the teaching (page nine of the transcript), Rinpoche discusses the intended use of these cloths, which were not yet created. Thanks to generous help actualizing this project by Ven. Tenzin Drachom, we are now delighted to announce that these Liberation Cloths are now available!
Lama Zopa Rinpoche displaying the small version of the Liberation Cloth, Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, August 13, 2022. Photo courtesy of ABC FB page.
Printed on the cloth are mantras most useful for the time of death: the short Chenrezig mantra, Heart Mantra of Secret Relic, Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghapāśha Mantra, long and short Namgyalma mantras, mantra of the Sutra of Great Liberation. Rinpoche regularly advises, citing root texts, that covering the body with these mantras purifies negative karma, prevents rebirth in the lower realms and causes the sentient being to be reborn in the upper realms, to meet the Dharma, and to achieve enlightenment.
The cloth should be placed with the mantras face down on the body or away from it and can either be kept on the body during cremation or burial, or removed to be used again. Some use the Liberation Cloth for sick people but it is mainly for the dying and dead. If it is used for the sick, one must make sure it is not slept on, and kept on top of the body.
We invite you to watch this video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing the Liberation Cloth while at Kopan Monastery in July 2022 and explaining the benefits of each of the mantras printed on it.
Additionally, at the beginning of Rinpoche’s Thought Transformation Teaching #131: The Purpose of Living Life as a Couple, given on August 13, 2022 at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, Rinpoche discusses the new cloths and the intended uses for the various sizes as well as more details about the various mantras used in the design.
We invite you to rejoice at the availability of these new Liberation Cloths which will be so useful in assisting those we hold dear at the critical time of death.
How to Order
- America Region: Order from Land of Medicine Buddha
- Pacific Region: Order from Chenrezig Institute
- Singapore: Order from Amitabha Buddhist Centre (for local pickups only)
Information on how to order from other regions is forthcoming and we will keep you informed as new outlets become available.
Many centers, projects, and services have ordered Liberation Cloths. They should have received them by now so if you ever need a cloth for a dear one at the critical time of death, do check with your local, center, project, or service to see what they have available.
Additional Resources for Death & Dying
Many of these resources are newly available or recently revised and we highly encourage you to take full advantage of all of this invaluable advice and accessible materials which are so useful for helping others at the time of death, as well as preparing for one’s own death.
- Helping Yourself and Others Die Happily: Instructions and Practices for the Time of Death
Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked that the practices found in this booklet be compiled to make it easy for us students to prepare for our own death, and also easy for us to help other people who are dying or dead. - Liberation Tools to Help the Dying and Deceased
This resource, previously known as the Liberation Box, is a collection of tools to help the dying and deceased has been assembled according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice. It contains powerful methods for ensuring a fortunate rebirth for those who are in the process of dying or have just died. - Practicing the Five Powers Near the Time of Death
As Rinpoche says in Dying Happily with the Five Powers, practicing “the five powers to be applied during life” serves as a preparation for our death. But as the time of our death approaches, we should specifically engage in the practice of “the five powers for near the time of death,” which are what Rinpoche explains in this booklet. - The Array of Sukhavati Pure Land: A Concise Mahayana Sutra – MP3 Download
This album contains Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s oral transmission (*lung) of The Array of Sukhavati Pure Land: A Concise Mahayana Sutra, a prayer that came from Buddha Amitabha. - Holy Objects to Place on the Body at the Time of Death
Contains four sets of holy objects to be placed on the body of the person or animal that is in the process of dying. Cut out one set and place it face down on the dying or deceased person’s chest. Leave it there until the body needs to be moved or washed. - Death & Dying: Practices and Resources homepage
This robust resource page has numerous essential practices related to the topic of death and dying, additional teachings and advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and community service resources.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education Services nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Dog at a large animal blessing event organized by FPMT center Ganden Tendar Ling, Moscow, September 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Did you know that October 4 is World Animal Day?
The annual tradition was established in 1931, making this year’s celebration the ninety-second official World Animal Day. According to the World Animal Day organizing website, the mission is to “raise the status of animals in order to improve welfare standards around the globe.” The UK-based Naturewatch Foundation has been the annual sponsor and organizer since 2003, and shares that World Animal Day has grown to be celebrated in a wide variety of ways by governments, charities, groups, and individuals, with events now taking place in about 100 countries.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has expressed that humans are especially called to care for all species of beings, “Where there is a mind, there are feelings such as pain, pleasure, and joy. No sentient being wants pain; instead all want happiness. Since we all share these feelings at some basic level, we as rational human beings have an obligation to contribute in whatever way we can to the happiness of other species and try our best to relieve their fears and sufferings.”
The bodhisattva attitude is to serve others—always having the wish to be useful to sentient beings for their happiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche continuously reminds us. If we want happiness for ourselves, we should be good human beings, and to be good human beings, we must commit to helping all sentient beings, particularly the most vulnerable among us.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing a cat during his visit to Singapore, July 2022. Photo by Lim Hock Leng.
Animal Liberation Resources Available
There are many ways we can help animals, including rescuing them from untimely death, caring for their health, and helping plant imprints that purify their karma, create merit and become the causes that can ripen their future enlightenment. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained the benefits of the practice of animal liberation, “By doing prayers and chanting powerful mantras for the animals, they receive a higher rebirth and liberation. This practice purifies immediately the oceans of samsaric suffering.”
FPMT Education Services has published a number of prayer and practice resources that are available to engage in animal liberation practice at home, including ebooks and PDFs, a printable liberation bug catcher tool designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and audio recordings. We invite you to explore these materials below in celebration of World Animal Day:
- Liberating Animals ebook
- Recitations for Animals audio album
- Charity to Ants PDF
- Animal Liberation Tools
- Liberating Animals from the Danger of Death PDF
- Advice page for benefiting animals
Animal Blessings, Liberations, and Rescue
The FPMT Animal Liberation Fund has supported ongoing animal liberations throughout the FPMT organization for many years, including weekly liberations and blessings performed by Sangha at the residences of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The Animal Liberation Fund and has also offered substantial support to projects that rescue and benefit animals like Kopan Monastery’s Animal Liberation Sanctuary, and others. You can read about some of the grants offered this year in support of animal care and rescue from untimely death.
Rinpoche has also strongly encouraged using the Namgyalma mantra to bless animals and beings living in the water around the world. This is now being done regularly in oceans and lakes in the United States, Singapore, Nepal, and other countries.
Kopan monk feeding a goat that was rescued from slaughter. Kopan Monastery, Nepal, March 2021. Photo by Geshe Thubten Chonyi.
Every day around the world millions of animals are killed and mistreated needlessly. As Rinpoche has reminded us, animals cannot speak out against their mistreatment, they cannot protest in the street against their conditions. Animals cannot create much merit on their own, but there are many ways we can help them. However you choose to celebrate World Animal Day on October 4, please rejoice in all the compassionate activities undertaken for the welfare of the sentient beings who, like us, want happiness and do not want suffering.
All are welcome to contribute to the Animal Liberation Fund to help ensure that our work sponsoring animal liberations around the world continues.