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H.E. Ling Rinpoche teaching in Munich, April 25, 2026, hosted by Aryatara Institute. Photo by Harald Weichhart.
We are happy to share the upcoming European teaching tours of His Eminence Ling Rinpoche, His Eminence Khensur Jhado Rinpoche and Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche. Students are warmly invited to join these precious opportunities for study and practice across FPMT centers and other organizations.
His Eminence Ling Rinpoche
His Eminence Ling Rinpoche’s European tour began in April. You can view the full schedule of His Eminence Ling Rinpoche on the poster or on his website.
HE Ling Rinpoche, European Tour 2026
His Eminence Khensur Jhado Rinpoche
His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche will be offering teachings in Europe from September to November, including many FPMT centers. Below is the schedule of the European tour. You can see the schedule on the poster or visit each individual center’s website for full schedule details.
Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche
Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche will offer a teaching tour in Europe from May to August, including FPMT centers. Please see the full schedule and save the dates for any opportunities you can attend.
You can see the schedule on the poster or visit Serkong Rinpoche’s website for full schedule details.
Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche – European Tour 2026
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.
Director of the Maitri Charitable Trust Adriana Ferranti receiving blessings and appreciation for her work from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, January 2023.
Maitri Charitable Trust has been serving, since 1989, some of India’s poorest people and continues to be guided by its founder and longtime director, Adriana Ferranti. Adriana has spent decades at the helm of Maitri. Now 81, she carries on with unwavering commitment. She has spoken with Donna Lynn Brown many times in recent years, including in February 2026.
By Donna Lynn Brown
What is Maitri Charitable Trust? And what led Adriana Ferranti to establish it? Maitri is an FPMT charitable project located in India, managed by Adriana and overseen by an Indian board of trustees. It has a main site about five kilometers from Bodhgaya and provides services throughout the surrounding Gaya District in several areas, mainly basic health care, leprosy, tuberculosis, mother / child / young women care, education, and animal care.
At its main site, Maitri treats leprosy and tuberculosis, which persist in that part of India, by operating a free hospital and clinic. Leprosy in the area is often under-diagnosed and under-treated by the government, giving Maitri an important role. Homeless patients also sometimes live there. At both its main site and through mobile clinics, Maitri distributes free leprosy and TB relief medications and materials to people living in their homes, and provides vaccines, such as for tetanus and rabies. It also offers other basic medical care along with supplemental nourishment—vitamins, milk, staple foods, formula—for expectant mothers, newborns, and young children, provides information on HIV and other issues, educates girls about their bodies and supplies menstrual products, and provides supports for some kinds of disabilities. Examples include eyewear and special footwear for people with deformities from leprosy. Its mobile clinics reach poor areas lacking primary health cents; they sometimes offer ambulance services as well as direct care. Maitri also helps poverty-stricken families survive Bodhgaya’s cold winters, distributing food, supplements, and blankets to hundreds of people every year, and giving warm clothes and blankets to students at its school. It is also well-known in the area for taking in stray, abandoned, and injured animals, some of whom are dropped off anonymously while others are rescued when staff are informed an animal is in need. Maitri sterilizes animals, gives them veterinary care, and cares for them at its site. Dozens live there at any given time, mainly dogs but also other animals like goats.
Director Adriana Ferranti with women receiving support from MAITRI.
Maitri operates a school is in the village of Fulchatar, about 15 kilometers from Bodhgaya. It is a collaboration with villagers; they built and maintain the building, and Maitri provides teachers, books, and supplies. The school has about 125 students in grades one through four, most from so-called “untouchable” castes. Other schools are too far for these young children to walk to; after grade four, they are able to attend government schools. Maitri’s school teaches the government curriculum as well as moral values. The teachers report that when students later attend other schools, they are ahead of their peers, and young adults who have attended the school as children have found good jobs, such as in the police. Villagers support the school because of its success.
Adriana oversees all this from the porch of her aging mud-brick home at Maitri’s site. Armed with two phones and backed by Kanchan, her trusted second in command, she takes care of the hospital and clinics, 24 staff (many of whom travel around villages providing health care), 70 or 80 mostly disabled dogs, and various other animals. She also raises funds to pay Maitri’s expenses and battles India’s complex bureaucracy. The work never stops—but it seems to keep her healthy. Her reward is seeing young children receiving an education who otherwise would not, sick and disabled people benefiting from treatments and supports that governments do not provide, undernourished mothers and babies getting supplements and care, girls receiving hygiene information and supplies, remote villages getting basic and emergency medical care, poor families being helped with food and blankets, information being disseminated on HIV, TB, leprosy, women’s health, and immunization, and injured and abandoned animals getting food, veterinary care, blessings, and a home.
Blanket distribution at MAITRI Charitable Trust, Bihar, India, January 2018. Photo by Phil Hunt.
What brought Adriana to this life? She grew up amid the scarcities of post-war Italy, shaped by her family’s values of duty and hard work. By the 1960s and 1970s, though, Italy’s new-found wealth offered abundant consumption and enjoyments. She indulged, but soon realized that these pleasures gave little true happiness. She became, from age 30, a seeker. Mystical experiences followed, but these did not answer her questions, particularly a crucial one: why things happen. One day, she came across a booklet called “Reincarnation and Karma” by Yogananda. “Finding out about karma was an incredible liberation,” Adriana says. “Karma explains why. And makes clear that it all depends on me. My difficulties are caused by my own actions. To get out, I had to act.” Yet when she visited Italy’s emerging Hindu centers, none called out to her—and then she encountered Tibetan Buddhism. In 1979, she went to Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (ILTK) in Pomaia where she met Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. She knew she was home. “Rinpoche revealed himself to me—it was incredible,” she smiles. But she still hadn’t found a role in life that expressed who she felt she was.
Lama Zopa with Adriana Ferranti and MAITRI staff, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, February 2019. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
In 1980, she happened to see a documentary on Africa that showed a priest dressing the sores of a leprosy patient. “I knew,” she reports. “I knew instantly, like a lightning bolt. A revelation. This was my role, my path, who I was.” She took a course in leprosy management, but to serve leprosy patients in any area of India, she needed a visa and government authorization. Rinpoche suggested working in the Gaya/ Bodh Gaya region. In 1989, newly equipped with authorization, she began offering leprosy services from Kathmandu while waiting for an Indian visa; she set up in Gaya in 1990 once her visa came through. By 1998, she had procured her current site. Land and buildings were soon blessed by Rinpoche, and a forest planted to improve the environment. “The work came naturally to me,” she recounts, “so I was happy, but it was incredibly difficult…I was on my own, doing everything, even driving the jeep for mobile clinics. It was a hard life, but I had a sense of purpose.”
Since then, Adriana has overseen Maitri’s health and education programs and services while caring for dozens of abandoned and injured animals, and, at Rinpoche’s request, putting in place nine stupas along with other elements that provide blessings and imprints to patients, staff, animals, and the surrounding area. Money has come from various sources, including, at times, Rinpoche, although fundraising has always been challenging. She reports. “Just by sheer faith is how I carried on. There was never any security. But I thought that as long as I was doing what I had to do, the funds would be provided. That’s what seems to have happened, since I am still here!”
Adriana is one of a handful of people in FPMT who devote their lives to social engagement. She has been working in this difficult part of India for almost four decades. It is her Dharma practice—often a practice of patience in the face of problems: legal issues concerning Maitri’s land; troubles with officials, permits, and visas; money shortages; challenges training and retaining staff; the headache of service provision during the pandemic; theft and corruption; and hazards specific to being a woman running an NGO in India. And each death of a rescued animal breaks her heart. Now, her priority is to ensure that Maitri is in good shape for the present and future. As well as overseeing its services and expanding them where feasible, she is renovating and upgrading some existing buildings (including a multi-faith temple) and constructing a new house to replace the one that is crumbling. As Bodhgaya’s urban expansion begins to surround Maitri’s oasis of shade and greenery, she is determined to keep it a refuge for humans and animals.
Adriana Ferranti, MAITRI Charitable Trust Director, 2026. Photo Credit Donna Brown
And she is committed. Like a mother with a child, she reports, “walking away is not an option.” She doesn’t feel her age, and with a visa good until 2030, she has no plans to retire. As for later, she says firmly, “If Maitri is meant to continue, someone will come.” Asked who might suit the role, she responds, “They should be able to live in India without visa problems. One of the biggest problems is visas. So an Indian citizen or OCI (Overseas citizen of India) would be ideal. But the main thing is that they can’t see it as just a job where you go home at five o’clock. It’s a vocation. Living on the site, overseeing everything, being patient with difficulties, showing love and concern for the staff, the patients, the animals… Maitri is a service to all beings, so the bodhisattva aspiration is at its heart.”
Written by Donna Lynn Brown. Donna is a former Associate Editor of Mandala magazine. She first encountered Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT at a November course at Kopan Monastery in 1996. Donna completed a Ph.D in which she researched and wrote about FPMT’s social engagement and its intersection with traditional Buddhist teachings.
We welcome the submission of news stories from those within the FPMT community. This can be a story about something you have personally completed or accomplished, about someone else who has done so, or about the FPMT center, project, or service of which you are a part. Ideal submissions will give readers reasons to rejoice, share ideas, and create connections between those in the international community. Have something to share? Please let us know!
For more information about Maitri Charitable Trust and to donate directly to their work, please visit their website.
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.
One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization was to hold 100 Million Mani retreats.
“This is one of my dreams, to have 100 Million Mani Retreats each year and for it to continue forever, even after I die, even after the people living now die. Those who are working, offering service now—to continue even after they die; to continue for as long as the country exists.” — Lama Zopa Rinpoche
The 2026 GLOBAL MANI RETREAT is scheduled to commence on the first day of Saka Dawa month (Sunday, May 17, 2026), and conclude on the final Buddha Day for this year, Lhabab Duchen (Sunday, November 1, 2026). This retreat will be something unprecedented for our global FPMT family. By coming together in fellowship and harmony, we pray to extract the very essence of this precious human rebirth, and dedicate all our efforts for the happiness of all dear sentient beings and for all our holy gurus to remain until the state of enlightenment is achieved.
Please join our Facebook Group to keep up on all updates and opportunities related to this retreat and check back often to the Global MANI Retreat webpage for the latest information.
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.
Geshe Tenzin Zopa with students. Photo courtesy of FPMT Mexico.
Geshe Tenzin Zopa’s first-ever visit to Mexico — and to Latin America— from March 6-14, 2026, was organized by the Mexican centers and study groups. Ramón Lara, FPMT Mexico National Coordinator and FPMT Latin America Regional Coordinator, shares about this inspiring visit.
In the weeks leading up to Geshe Tenzin Zopa’s arrival in Mexico, the country was experiencing a series of violent events that had generated widespread concern and uncertainty across different regions. In response, the various FPMT Mexico centers and study groups came together to reflect on the situation and assess the circumstances. As a collective decision, they shared openly with Geshe Zopa what was happening and made clear that, should he choose to continue with his visit, all necessary measures would be implemented to ensure his safety.
His response was immediate and deeply moving. With characteristic humility and determination, Geshe Zopa expressed: “I felt more than ever before the importance of my humble support through Dharma teachings, prayers, and merit dedication to the country and its people.”
The visit was made possible through the joint effort of the entire FPMT Mexico family. Even centers and groups that were not direct hosts played an active role, contributing to the coordination between all FPMT Mexico centers and study groups — including the Rinchen Zangpo Center and the Bengungyal Study Group.
Geshe Zopa’s arrival coincided with Chotrul Duchen, the “Day of Miracles,” one of the most auspicious days in the Tibetan calendar — making this not only his first visit to Mexico, but his first visit to all of Latin America. During his first weekend at Khamlungpa Center in Guadalajara, in one of his opening meetings with Mexican students, Geshe Zopa shared that it was Lama Zopa Rinpoche who had repeatedly expressed how fond he was of the Mexican people, assuring Geshe Zopa that he would find a warmth here that would remind him of the people of Tibet.
Geshe Tenzin Zopa welcomed on his arrival in Mexico. Photo from FPMT Mexico Facebook
Over those first days, Geshe Zopa offered the Refuge Ceremony and the Vajrasattva Initiation, bringing together students from various regions of Mexico and abroad. Around 60 participants attended.
Throughout the week, a series of public teachings were co-organized with Nying Je Kunkya Study Group, on topics including How to Be Your Own Therapist, Mental Training in Difficult Times, and How to Develop Compassion and Infinite Love. These gatherings drew large numbers of participants, filling Khamlungpa Center’s space and reflecting the deep interest in Dharma within the local community. The teachings offered practical tools for integrating the Dharma into everyday life — particularly in times of uncertainty — with a consistent emphasis on working with the mind, cultivating compassion, and maintaining a steady daily practice.
The tour continued in Mexico City, where the Thubten Kunkyab Study Group welcomed Geshe Zopa on March 14, 2026. On this occasion, he offered the teaching of CorrectDevotion to the Guru in Daily Life, exploring the teacher-student relationship from a practical and contemporary perspective. Approximately 100 people attended. Geshe Zopa highlighted the importance of integrating the Dharma into all aspects of life — beginning with the cultivation of self-love grounded in understanding, extending to compassion for others, and leading to a genuine responsibility to transform our everyday actions. His warm, accessible, and heartfelt style deeply inspired those present, motivating many to share and embody the Dharma more actively in their daily interactions, challenges, and service to others.
Geshe Tenzin Zopa’s visit left a meaningful and lasting imprint on the FPMT Mexico community. Participants expressed deep gratitude for the rare opportunity to receive teachings directly from one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s close disciples. Beyond the events themselves, his presence strengthened the bonds within Mexico’s Dharma family and renewed many practitioners’ commitment to living with compassion, wisdom, and conscious intention.
We are delighted to share that recordings of select teachings from this precious visit are now available on the FPMT Mexico YouTube channel. It is our heartfelt wish that these teachings continue to reach far and wide, so that more and more people may find inspiration, and benefit from Geshe Zopa’s wisdom and compassion.
With grateful thanks to Ramón Lara for this story! We welcome the submission of news stories from those within the FPMT community. This can be a story about something you have personally completed or accomplished, about someone else who has done so, or about the FPMT center, project, or service of which you are a part. Ideal submissions will give readers reasons to rejoice, share ideas, and create connections between those in the international community. Have something to share? Please let us know!
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.
Offerings in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s room, Kopan Monastery, April 13, 2026. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.
This month’s newsletter brings you news, opportunities, and reasons to rejoice.
Around the world, on April 13, activities were organized in centers, monastic institutions, and in the homes of individual students in observation of the third-year anniversary of Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away.
In addition to news and stories from around the world, as well as opportunities and resources for your practice, we also share timely and essential advice from Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. We are also delighted to share news of the upcoming launch of a Global MANI Retreat bringing together our FPMT community on a scale we have not attempted before, promoting even greater harmony, cohesion, and understanding between us all.
Please continue to read the full newsletter.
Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.
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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.
Harvey Horrocks and Peter Kedge with Lama Yeshe at the Pisa airport, Italy, 1983.
We recently received the news that long-time student and FPMT pioneer, Harvey Horrocks, has suffered a stroke and is recovering. As inspiration and with prayers for Harvey’s full recovery, we thought to highlight his extraordinary contribution to FPMT including his Road to Kopan story and details of his fifty years of service.
Harvey Horrocks, an English engineer whose life became an unlikely thread connecting Rolls-Royce aircraft workshops and the founding of one of Britain’s first Tibetan Buddhist centers, has dedicated his life to spreading the Dharma and serving the wishes of our Lamas. It was Lama Yeshe himself who called him “an English bodhisattva” — a description that captures, in three words, the spirit of an extraordinary life of service.
Born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, into a prosperous Midlands family — his father, a senior engineer, and later, Director, at Rolls-Royce Aero Engine Division, his mother a steadfast and loving presence throughout his life — Harvey grew up in a spacious house and grounds including tennis court, in Radcliffe-on-Trent, near Nottingham, with his parents and sister.
From an early age he was drawn to making things. Sent away at age seven to board at Oundle, one of the UK’s elite Public Schools. Alongside his success in squash, where he played for the First Team, Harvey found his greatest satisfaction in the workshop. That instinct followed him home and into a lifelong love of cars, which he would modify and tune for performance including his beloved Lotus 7. It was the disposition of an engineer: precise, practical, and quietly exhilarated by the physical world.
He read engineering at the University of Sheffield and trained under the Rolls-Royce University Apprenticeship scheme — a year in industry, three years at university, a final year back on the shop floor. But seated at his desk in Rolls-Royce’s vast engineering offices, watching the tea trolley make its rounds and tracing the trajectory his career was expected to follow, Harvey understood, with unusual clarity for a young man, that this was not a ladder he had any interest in climbing.
Harvey Horrocks, Nepal, nr. Everest Base Camp, 1972 Photo: Peter Kedge
In his mid-twenties, Harvey and three fellow apprentices — among them his dear friend Peter Kedge — drove a Land Rover from England to Nepal taking six months and covering many miles and adventures. Originally intending to make it to Australia, the four spent six months with the United Mission to Nepal helping build a boarding school north of Pokhara. The Land Rover itself never made it to Australia but by that time, the team had made a connection with Kopan – a connection which has endured to the present day. What began as an adventure, quietly became the opening of a spiritual journey.
Harvey eventually reached Australia via Singapore, crossed the Nullarbor Desert to Sydney, and stayed two years working as an engineer. During this time, he also gained his pilot’s licence.
It was through Peter that Harvey really encountered the Dharma. Peter was by then helping Lama Yeshe establish Tushita Retreat Center in McLeodganj, India, and urged Harvey to come to Nepal.
In 1974, Harvey attended the sixth course at Kopan Monastery, outside Kathmandu, and was moved in ways he had not anticipated by the teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. At the course’s end, hearing there was to be a high-altitude retreat, he volunteered to serve as attendant to those who would go — certain he could not endure four months alone in the mountains. Then Lama Yeshe asked him, simply and in passing, whether he was going to do the retreat. The question was sufficient. Harvey knew he had to go.
He completed four and a half months of Vajrasattva practice — enduring a broken tooth managed only with oil of cloves — without a single moment of boredom, and with a deepened understanding of the mind’s stubborn, circling power, even when one can see exactly what it is doing.
Harvey returned to England in December 1974. Before leaving, Harvey with Peter asked Lama Yeshe for his blessing to establish a Dharma center there, and Lama Yeshe arranged for the pair to meet and take advice from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
In London working from a flat, then lodging with two British Tibetan Buddhist nuns in Bromley, Harvey organized Geshe Rabten’s first teaching visit to England — a ten-day residential course attended by over a hundred people, with Gonsar Rinpoche translating and Alan Wallace leading discussion groups.
In 1975, Harvey searched with Peter for a suitable property all over the UK. On their list of possible properties was Conishead Priory in Cumbria, vacant for four and a half years. They sent photographs to Lama Yeshe. Lama sent back a postcard: “Proceed immediately to buy.” Three or four weeks before Lama Yeshe was due to arrive in England to give a course, negotiations were underway when the owner of Conishead Priory called Harvey on a Friday and said: “Take it now, or not at all.” By Monday it was purchased for £70,000 (seventy thousand pounds): seventy acres, a mile of beach, mature woodlands, and a large 200 room Victorian building that had stood silent since 1971. Harvey and his colleagues had ten days to make it habitable before the Lamas arrived. Twelve people stayed on through the winter. Manjushri Institute was open, and Harvey was to serve as its director.
Harvey managed the practical and administrative life of the community, establishing a daily rhythm of teachings, pujas, and work practice, and ensuring that every resident — however long the working day — had access to the Dharma. A journalist from the Daily Express visited the Priory and was so struck by what he found that the story ran on the front page.
In 1978, Lama Yeshe unveiled the revolutionary Geshe Studies Program at Manjushri Institute with the help of Geshe Jampa Gyatso. As FPMT activity began to spread around the world and the demand for quality teachers became apparent, Lama Yeshe hoped to ensure that his own students could obtain an excellent education, qualifying them as legitimate sources for Buddhist teachings.
In 1979, Geshe Tegchock gave his first talk at Manjushri Institute, with Lama Zopa Rinpoche conferring a Chenrezig empowerment, followed by Lama Yeshe’s Tara Cittamani empowerment and six days of commentary reviewed by Jon Landaw. Of 120 people attending, 105 stayed on for the retreat. Students who had completed the first Geshe Studies Program examinations received congratulations and gifts from the Lamas in recognition of their hard work and dedication.
Lama Yeshe with Ondy Willson, Brenda, Harvey Horrocks and kids, at the Chapel Cafè of Manjushri Institute, 1980. Photo courtesy Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Big Love p. 845
After another demanding year at Manjushri Institute, Harvey returned to Kopan for the Tara Cittamani initiation. He later recalled that the intensity of activity at Manjushri Institute had left him completely exhausted. Lama Yeshe called him in and asked for a full account of what had been happening, listening as Harvey described the situation in detail. As the conversation went on, Harvey found himself overwhelmed and began to cry. At that point, Lama responded with great kindness, reaching out, taking his hand, and gently explaining that it was not possible to support so many people without a proper financial structure in place. He later addressed this issue directly with the residents at the Institute. Over time, Lama continued to speak with Harvey on several occasions, including during his stay in the Lake District, helping him to understand the full responsibility of leading such a vast undertaking and how to grow into his role as director. Lama recognized how busy the Institute had become and how difficult it was for Harvey to come to terms with the scale of what he had taken on.
Some of Manjushri’s students had become increasingly frustrated with the way the center was being run under Harvey’s direction, and a brainstorming weekend was organized, bringing together many of the stakeholders. During that time, Lama Yeshe was teaching in the chapel. At one point, his tone grew unexpectedly firm as he addressed the situation directly. He challenged the group’s reliance on collective decision-making, pointing out the difficulties it had led to, and urged them to reflect on its consequences. He then made it clear that, if they truly wished to support Manjushri Institute, they should go to Harvey and ask how they could be of help. Lama reminded everyone that he had appointed Harvey as director, and that this decision should be respected, with the community offering him their full support in that role.
Harvey was then appointed to lead the Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Pomaia, Italy, at a moment of urgent need. Pulled out of retreat by a telegram from Lama Yeshe — “Urgent. Harvey Horrocks: Emergency stop please come immediately ILTK to be director stop…” — he arrived in 1981. Lama assured the community: “I send you an English bodhisattva”, Massimo Andreazzo, who was at ILTK at the time, simply remembered Harvey as “the perfect person.”
Lama Yeshe with Jon, Harvey, Pende, George at the Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, 1982. Photo courtesy Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Big Love p.1092
At ILTK, Harvey hosted the European Regional meeting, for which Lama Yeshe sent a detailed letter crystallizing the respective responsibilities of the CPMT and of individual centers. High on the agenda was organizing His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s European tour. In 1982, while Harvey was director, His Holiness made his first visit to ILTK — a landmark occasion that also included the historic first meeting between the Dalai Lama and Pope John Paul II. In 1983, Lama Yeshe appointed Harvey to serve on the first FPMT Board of Directors.
Later Harvey settled in San Jose, California. His father, facing financial difficulty, illness, and the loss of medications he had relied on for decades, took his own life on Harvey’s birthday in 1984— a few weeks before Lama Yeshe also passed. Harvey believed the choice of date was not made in anger, but to ensure that he would be with his mother when it happened. His father had, in his final months, told Harvey’s mother that he thought Harvey had become a nice young man. Harvey always considered this significant praise, given the rather austere man his father was.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Lhundrup, Paul Bourke, Yeshe Khadro, Nick Ribush, Harvey Horrocks, Marcel Bertels, Jeff Nye, Jacie Keeley, Doren Harper. First FPMT board created by Lama Yeshe (including not in the photo Massimo Corona, Trisha Donnelly, Shan Tate). Kopan 1984 . Photo courtesy Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Big Love p.1121
In 1987, Harvey was appointed director of the FPMT International Office, and in that same year, he launched the newsletter The Blissful Rays of the Mandala, precursor to Mandala magazine (established in 1995 by Ven. Robina Courtin). He served the International Office in an exemplary way. Through his extraordinary merit, Harvey was also able to raise substantial funds for the International Office: a single benefactor offered $100,000 a year for five years, enabling the office to expand, offer healthcare benefits to staff, and establish an education fund providing scholarships to students of the Master’s Program in Italy.
Ven. Robina shares: “I’ll never forget when we got a big donation at International Office when it was at Land of Medicine Buddha in the mid-1990s, when I worked for Mandala, and Harvey Horrocks was the CEO: Rinpoche told us that ‘this is the result of Harvey’s mandala offerings.’ Wow.”
In his editorial in the first issue of Mandala, October 1987, Harvey set out a vision whose clarity and scope remain remarkable:
The work of the Foundation is to preserve the Mahayana tradition. It is all the people, in the different centers, who do this work. The method is to take the living seed, the inspiration of the pure lineage received from our teachers, and to give these seeds the right conditions for germination and growth. So, this in turn creates the need for the city centers where people can come to have personal contact with the teachings.
We need publishing activities to reach those other people who are unable to come to the centers as well as to produce support material for study. Then we need the residential centers where there is the chance for serious study to be undertaken over a long period of time in a suitable environment.
We need monasteries for both monks and nuns to enable even deeper studies to be made, supported by the monastic discipline. (The measure of when the Dharma has been established in a country is dependent upon the presence of the Sangha community.)
We need retreat centers to provide perfect conditions for making serious meditational retreats, which allows the real flowering.
Finally, we need universal education as the product of all our study, contemplation and meditation. In this way, our teachers begin to present the Dharma to the people of all ages, from our own, contemporary cultures, in a manner which is “psychologically feasible.” Schools for Buddhist children, as well as for those looking for improved education, are obviously an essential element. School education ready for reincarnate lamas is something we can no longer see as just a theoretical aspect of the responsibility of the Foundation… . In the future, with the aim of representing all the different aspects of the work of the Foundation, we clearly and definitely need news and participation from you in order to have a balanced representation of the FPMT. If you think about it, it is easy to see how the goal of the Foundation cannot be met by just operating one center alone. The different parts of our mandala are all vital for us to have success.
Trisha Donnelly (seated left) with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche , Pierro Cerri, Heil Huston, Marcel Bertels, Claudio Cipullo, Yeshe Khadro, Robina Courtin, Harvey Horrocks, Massimo Corona and Jeff Nye, at His Holiness’ residence India, 1984 or 85. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Harvey stands for his sincerity, professionalism, and a life completely devoted to the Dharma and offered in service to benefit all sentient beings. He has dedicated himself to helping realize the vast vision of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. His life continues to be a source of inspiration and gratitude for those whose lives he touched—the communities he helped bring into being, and the present and future generations of students who benefit from what he helped to create.
Details compiled by Fabiana Lotito from an excellent two-part interview Judy Weitzner conducted in 2017, as well as from Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe, and from archived articles from Mandala magazine and Blissful Rays of the Mandala. Input and details on the history were also shared by Peter Kedge and Nicholas Ribush.
Read more about Harvey’s mandala offerings and his philosophy of service, in his own words, in the article “Patience Rewarded” (p. 30), Mandala, August–September 2006.
Are you an early student of FPMT who was there at the beginning? Do you have a story to share about how you met Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche or the impact they have had on your life? Have you personally achieved or actualized a request, advice, practice accomplishment, or project given to you by Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche? We want to hear from you!
Please explore all of the resources we have compiled related to FPMT history. We look forward to all of your creative ideas on how to bring this year-long celebration to your own local activities and personal practices! Please use the hashtag #50YearsFPMT in your social media posts so we can all be connected in this way.
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.
Michelle Le Dimna at Boudha Stupa, 1978. Photo courtesy of Michelle Le Dimna.
Michelle Le Dimna arrived in Kopan for the 1978 November Course and stayed in Nepal and India, following teachings and doing retreat, until February 1985. Michelle has spent about 40 years translating Dharma books into French and is an FPMT registered teacher. She was instrumental in organizing relic tours in France and Belgium and helped with fundraising for the Maitreya Project.
As a continuation of our yearlong celebration of the FPMT organization turning 50 in December 2025, we are delighted to share Michelle’s story as one of the early students of FPMT!
My Kopan Story (1977-1984)
By Michelle Le Dimna
Circumstances: I left France in September 1977 for two weeks on a Trans-Siberian journey and a three-day sea crossing before arriving in Yokohama, where my brother and his girlfriend (fervent practitioners of karate, as I was, somehow, of aikido) were waiting for me—we had not seen each other for three years and had only spoken on the phone a few times. My husband and I had separated a few months before, and when I left for Japan, he left for Darjeeling and Nepal, following his recent discovery of Tibetan Buddhism at the famous Dashang Kagyu Ling, “Temple of a Thousand Buddhas” in France.
A year later, he came to Japan to convince me to come to Nepal for two reasons: he thought we could come together again, and he wanted me to meet the Lamas and attend the November Kopan Course. My gratitude toward him remains very strong. I promised to leave Japan and this life that I was truly enjoying; he then returned to France for a few months of work.
We met in Kathmandu a few days before the start of the November course. But my husband had fallen in love with someone else; she arrived in Kopan a few days later. That is how it began. In a way, these were the best possible conditions for encountering the lamrim.
Lama Yeshe and Rinpoche at the 11th Kopan Meditation Course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1978. Photo by Murray Wright, courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
The culture shock was quite strong, but not overwhelming. I had traveled by hitchhiking for years and was used to precarious conditions. At the same time, I felt a deep fascination with discovering a new world.
I found myself in Norbulingka, in a dormitory on the ground floor of a high brick building, sleeping on a string mat with only a sleeping bag, in a dusty room. I especially remember the open toilets: six holes in the ground, separated by simple curtains, with a vast view over the northwest valley (the side where the stupas are now), and dozens of colorful budgies flying around. I was completely under their spell. We had some water for daily washing, but about once a week we would go to the spring to bathe. The Nepali women did not appreciate Western habits, and sometimes tensions arose.
The teachings occurred in a long tent leaning against the hillside, facing the Kathmandu Valley. In the early morning, we would drink soy tea while looking out over a sea of clouds, from which the tops of the hills and bamboo trees emerged. The beauty was so intense it brought tears. It remains with me to this day. We sat in silence, simply contemplating. That made all the difference.
What I remember most from my first days in Kopan is a group of Italian monks chatting noisily, wearing sunglasses—they looked like friendly mafiosi. I thought, “If monks can behave like this here, then I will feel at ease in this monastery.”
My English was limited, so I stayed mostly with French speakers. At that time, many Europeans—Dutch, German, Italian—spoke French fluently. I improved my English mainly by listening to the teachings. My Dharma vocabulary became quite rich, but everyday language remained more difficult.
I do not clearly remember my first impressions of the Lamas. I might not have connected easily with Lama Zopa Rinpoche at first, yet I was deeply touched by some of his teachings—so precise and so compassionate toward both animals and people. At times, I felt impatient or even irritated, and I was not alone in that. Then, when it became too much, Lama Yeshe would appear, almost like a circus figure. Suddenly there was joy, lightness, creativity, great love, and an overwhelming sense of compassion.
When Lama Yeshe spoke about “not killing,” I felt devastated because I had had abortions. It remains one of the most painful experiences of my life. I asked to see him and told him everything, crying continuously. He said, “Look, you know Milarepa. He killed many people out of anger, but he became enlightened in one life. He purified. You can purify. Everyone can purify any karma.” He was practical and grounded, always encouraging. For him, nothing was impossible. At the same time, he did not support self-pity; he encouraged us to take responsibility for our actions.
Students celebrating at the end of the 1978 Kopan November Course. Photo courtesy of Michelle Le Dimna.
This was a period of rethinking my whole life. I had followed the spirit of the seventies—“liberation,” “sex, drugs, and rock and roll,” as Ven. Robina Courtin used to say—and I began to see how much suffering I had created for myself and for others. This was not easy to face. At the same time, the teachings offered a way forward, and I could begin again.
Lama Yeshe would appear unexpectedly and often asked about my husband. After some time, I felt irritated and wondered why. Later, I understood that he always knew what he was doing.
After the course, I stayed in Bodhgaya. In May 1979, I did a two-week Chenrezig retreat in Lawudo with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, followed by a three-month Dorje Sempa retreat in Tushita Center, Dharamsala, that Summer. Later, I traveled to Afghanistan to obtain a new visa for India. It was just before the Russian invasion. Many Indian residents—mostly Sikhs—were leaving, and most shops were already closed. The atmosphere felt very unusual. After that, I returned to Bodhgaya, where I spent winters doing prostrations.
In spring 1980, a one-month Cittamani Tara retreat was held in Kopan under Lama Yeshe’s guidance. He had already given the initiation and commentary. The retreat took place in a long, simple building with a tin roof on the northeast side of the hill. There were about twenty participants.
Everyone took great care arranging their altar, seat, and texts, with a sense of quiet joy. When everything was ready, Lama Yeshe entered to give a short introduction. He looked at us very directly and said, “Remember, the best protection is emptiness,” and then he left.
About ten minutes later, a sudden storm came directly over the building. The tin roof began to lift, and everything inside was thrown into chaos. It was frightening, as the metal sheets could have caused serious injury. At the same time, Lama Yeshe’s words stayed in my mind. I did not know how to apply them, yet something shifted, and I found myself laughing. The situation was simply too much.
I attended two more November courses, in 1980 and 1982, and my memories of them are now intertwined.
Zong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe shortly before Lama’s death, California, 1984. Photo by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, courtesy of LYWA.
In winter 1983, I was in Bodhgaya. Ling Rinpoche had just passed away, and Lama Yeshe was seriously ill in California. Each evening, we gathered at the stupa with Piero Cerri to recite the Lama Chopa. When news came of Lama Yeshe’s passing, I was away renewing my visa. When I returned, Piero had left me a telegram with the news.
My mother arrived soon after for a one-month visit, and we went to Dharamsala for the forty-nine days following his passing. On our way to Tushita for a puja, I badly twisted my ankle. Fortunately, Dr. Drolma in McLeod Ganj treated it effectively, though it was quite painful. We missed the puja.
I returned to Kopan around mid-April. A continuous, twenty-four-hour Dorje Sempa practice was taking place in several locations worldwide. I rented a small house from farmers below the hill. Very few people were in Kopan at that time. We took turns each hour. I especially valued the night sessions, when everything was quiet. It felt like maintaining a presence, a continuity. Lama Yeshe’s presence felt very close.
When the monsoon began, frogs leapt at every step. The paths were slippery, and I often fell, returning home covered in mud. Yet there was joy in this. I could almost hear Lama Yeshe laughing.
When Lama Zopa Rinpoche returned, I met with him at length. For the first time, I felt completely open to whatever he might suggest. He advised me to do a one-month retreat in Namo Buddha, Kathmandu, followed by a three-month retreat in Lawudo. I prepared with trust, even though there were no clear arrangements and no way to communicate in advance.
Michelle Le Dimna fire puja at Kopan Monastery at the end of her three month retreat at Lawudo. Helped by young Daja Wangchuk. Photo courtesy of Michelle Le Drimna.
I traveled to Dhulikhel and walked up to Namo Buddha. The site is a major pilgrimage place, with large brick buildings surrounding an ancient stupa. It commemorates the offering of a previous life of Buddha Shakyamuni to a starving tigress and her cubs. I found a simple room and stayed there. After that, I went to Lawudo, as mentioned earlier. When I returned to Kopan at the end of December, 1984, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was there. He invited me for a meal and asked in detail about life in Lawudo.
You can read about Michelle’s visit to Solu Khumbu in 1984-1985 and her three-month winter retreat in Lawudo.
With grateful thanks to Michelle Le Dimna for sharing this story of how she found her way to Kopan, and for her forty-year contribution to translating Dharma texts into French, teaching Dharma, and many other projects!
Are you an early student of FPMT who was there at the beginning? Do you have a story to share about how you met Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche or the impact they have had on your life? Have you personally achieved or actualized a request, advice, practice accomplishment, or project given to you by Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche? We want to hear from you!
Please explore all of the resources we have compiled related to FPMT history. We look forward to all of your creative ideas on how to bring this year-long celebration to your own local activities and personal practices! Please use the hashtag #50YearsFPMT in your social media posts so we can all be connected in this way.
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.
Sangha at the Third Gelug Monlam, 2026, at Nalanda Monastery. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery.
The Third Gelug Monlam Festival was held at Nalanda Monastery in France from 28 Feb to 4 March, 2026. Lama Zopa Rinpoche had expressed the wish to bring this special tradition to the West, and the first festival was held at Nalanda in 2024.
Thirty-six monks and nuns from across the globe came together in unity to celebrate the Third Gelug Monlam Festival at Nalanda Monastery, including His Eminence Kyabje Sharpa Choeje Rinpoche Jetsun Ngawang Jorden Pal Sangpo from Sera Mey Monastery, with his attendants Geshe Ngawang Nyima and Ven. Lobang Tenphe; Geshe Tsultrim Sherab, chanting leader (umze) from Kopan Monastery.
Others in attendance included: Geshe Lharampa Losang Jamphel, Abbot of Nalanda Monastery; Geshe Gyaltsen, resident teacher at Nalanda; Geshe Dakpa Tsondü, resident teacher at Kalachakra center in Paris; Geshe Tenzin Losel, teacher and translator at Nalanda; Geshe Tenzin Norbu, Nalanda Monastery’s Spiritual Program Coordinator; Ven. Tenzin Penpa from Gyutö Monastery; Senior FPMT nun Ven. Robina Courtin; director of Nalanda Monastery, Ven. Thubten Sherab; director of Jamyang London, Ven. Thubten Drolma; and director of Dorje Pamo Monastery, Ven. Chantal Dekyi.
The Monlam Chenmo holds a central place in the Gelug tradition, first established by the great Lama Je Tsongkhapa himself. Among his four great deeds, founding the Great Prayer Festival at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa is considered the third. In 1613, the Fourth Panchen Lama, Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen, led the Monlam Chenmo in Lhasa and introduced the tradition of the Geshe Lharampa examination — a ceremony that remains the most important moment of the festival to this day.
After the escape from Tibet in 1959, the festival was reestablished in India, where it is now celebrated annually at the three great monasteries of Sera, Ganden, and Drepung. Lama Zopa Rinpoche long held the desire and sincere wish to see the Monlam take root in the West, and Nalanda Monastery — the first Gelug monastery in the West — has made that wish a reality. The First Gelug Monlam was held there in 2024, followed by the second in 2025, making this the third consecutive year of this growing and precious tradition.
It is moving to consider the Western and Eastern Sangha gathering together in a European monastery for such a significant festival — a living testament to the extraordinary legacy of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s dedication to bringing the Dharma to the West.
Procession for the Third Ge;ug Monlam at Nalanda Monastery, 2026. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery
“Thank you so, so much for having us,” shared Ven. Wangyal, a Western monk from the Jamyang London Buddhist Centre. “So happy we could come. The monastery is thriving.”
The Fourth Gelug Monlam at Nalanda Monastery has already been planned for February 16-21. 2027. The festival takes place during the sacred 15 Days of Miracles, culminating at the full moon with Chötrul Düchen — a period during which virtuous actions are said to be multiplied by 100 million times, making it an extraordinarily powerful time for prayer, purification, and accumulation of merit.
Everyone is warmly welcome to attend. Prestigious teachers will once again be in attendance, and the prayers will be dedicated to the swift return of Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche and the long and healthy life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
We offer grateful thanks to Ven. Thubten Sherab, director of Nalanda Monastery for sharing the details of this event.
We welcome the submission of news stories from those within the FPMT community. This can be a story about something you have personally completed or accomplished, about someone else who has done so, or about the FPMT center, project, or service of which you are a part. Ideal submissions will give readers reasons to rejoice, share ideas, and create connections between those in the international community. Have something to share? Please let us know!
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.
Monks making light offerings at Kopan Monastery in Nepal on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, December 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche strongly encouraged his students to pray for world peace as widely as possible. All are welcome to explore the collection of resources we recently shared, which offers advice on prayers and practices to follow when the world is in crisis and to help mitigate the threat of war. On March 31, 2026, His Holiness the Dalai Lama shared the following peace appeal:
I wholeheartedly endorse the powerful appeal for peace made by the Holy Father, Pope Leo, during his Palm Sunday Mass. His call for the laying down of arms and the renunciation of violence resonated profoundly with me, as it speaks to the very essence of what all major religions teach.
Indeed, whether we look to Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism or any of the world’s great spiritual traditions, the message is fundamentally the same: love, compassion, tolerance, and self-discipline. Violence finds no true home in any of these teachings. History has shown us time and again that violence only begets more violence and is never a lasting foundation for peace.
An enduring resolution to conflict, including the ones we see in the Middle East or between Russia and Ukraine, must be rooted in dialogue, diplomacy and mutual respect — approached with the understanding that, at the deepest level, we are all brothers and sisters.
I urge for and pray that the violence and conflicts may soon come to an end.
In alignment with the wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for world peace, and with Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice over the years on prayers and practices during times of crisis, FPMT centers around the world are offering opportunities to gather in person and online to pray for peace.
“These situations give very strong inspiration to practice because there is no other means to escape, whether immediate or ultimate escape, i.e., freedom from all suffering. Such circumstances, such terrifying circumstances, help make it easier for the mind to overcome delusions or the distractions of desire […] The strong practice of Dharma and the awareness of impermanence and death brings peace in your heart and no fear.” — Lama Zopa Rinpoche, 2001
Aerial view of the grounds of Rinchen Jangsem Ling, Malaysia on December 6. Photo courtesy of RJL Facebook page.
Today we are sharing some of the online initiatives beginning in March and April 2026 for those who wish to join, or who may be inspired to organize their own initiatives:
FPMT North America organizes Zoom weekly prayers each Thursday, 8:30–9:00 a.m. (PT), 11:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (EDT), which will include:
- Chanting the Names of Manjushri for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s auspicious return
- Tang Tong Gyalpo’s Prayer to Avert War, Epidemics, and Famine
- OM MANI PADME HUM mantras and His Holiness’ long-life prayer
Tse Chen Ling, California, USA offers online Prayers for Challenging Times on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays in April, 8:00–8:30 a.m. (PT), to help ease the suffering caused by the many conflicts and aggression in the world today. These sessions include:
- Praises to the Twenty-One Taras
- The King of Prayers
- OM MANI PADME HUM mantra recitation
Kalachakra Centre, France, offers a Monday evening practice dedicated to the recitation of the Sutra for Golden Light for world peace, led by Ven. Gyaltsen, from 7:00–7:30 p.m. (CEST). Each session begins with a meditation on compassion, cultivating this essential quality — a source of peace and happiness for ourselves and others. Kalachakra Centre also offers the 2 Minutes for World Peace initiative a simple daily moment of practice at 6:00 p.m. (CEST). Participants are invited to take two minutes to set an intention for peace, then record their participation in the shared spreadsheet.
Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore will gather in person on Saturday, 4 April 2026, 1:30–5:30 p.m. to recite the Golden Light Sutra for peace in every mind and to pacify wars and conflicts around the world — bringing immense purification, merit accumulation, and protection for individuals, as well as peace and happiness for Singapore and the world.
Buddha House, Magill, Australia, will gather as a community onSaturday, 4 April 2026, at 2:00 p.m. to recite the Golden Light Sutra for world peace, bringing peace, harmony, and healing to the world and protection to all beings.
Maitreya Instituut the Netherlands, offers weekly online Prayers for Peace & the World with Greg, Jan (Dutch) or Annelies 7:00–8:00 (CEST) following the prayers advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche — to stop all wars immediately, to prevent famine, disease and all the dangers, and to fill the whole world with perfect peace and bodhicitta in the hearts of all sentient beings, especially in the hearts of the world leaders.
If your center or study group is organizing a peace initiative not listed here–we’d love to hear about it!
Additionally, Sangha and students recite the following each month, dedicated to pacifying the elements and peace in the world:
- Extensive Medicine Buddha Puja offered five times
- Guhyasamaja Root Text recited four times
- Kshitigarbha Sutra recited one time
- Sutra of Golden Light recited eight times
- Arya Sanghata Sutra recited five times
- Vajra Cutter Sutra recited four times
Please explore all of the resources available to you which we hope will be useful and provide tangible actions to mitigate war and promote world peace.
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.
Photo college from the 2025 Annual Review gallery.
FPMT International Office is happy to share this year’s Annual Review, “Advancing Our Guru’s Vision of a World Guided by Compassion and Wisdom.”
As you will read in the many summaries included in the review, we continued to offer access to our lamas’ teachings; kept the international community connected and informed about news and advice; offered guidance and structure to FPMT centers, projects, and services; facilitated charitable giving to many beneficial initiatives dedicated to helping others and based on the wishes of Lama Zopa Rinpoche; and disseminated the Dharma to all who wish to receive it.
Please read FPMT International Office’s 2025 Annual Review and enjoy our extensive photo gallery.
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.
In addition to news and stories from around the world, and opportunities and resources for your practice, we also share timely and essential advice from Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, including practices to generate peace in the world and the importance of death education for all of us.
Please continue to read the full newsletter!
Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.
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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.
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FPMT European Meeting at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy. Photo courtesy of ILTK.
On March 14, 2026, a deeply meaningful and joyful occasion unfolded at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Pomaia, Italy. The center hosted the FPMT European Regional Meeting and celebrated the blessing of the new Stupa of Enlightenment’s throne, dedicated to Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. New Associate Editor Fabiana Lotito was in attendance and shares the story.
Morning: FPMT European Regional Meeting
The weekend began in the gompa, where the Institute’s resident geshes warmly welcomed representatives from FPMT centers and monasteries across Europe. Geshe Tenzin Tenphel and Geshe Jampa Gelek invited everyone to begin the meeting by developing a pure motivation.
Geshe Tenzin Tenphel, in particular, recalled the importance of serving in a Dharma center or monastery as a continuous opportunity to practice the Dharma and benefit numberless sentient beings. In the course of daily work, disagreements may arise, but by working with one’s own mind, these difficulties can be diminished, and harmonious relationships can grow. With a positive mind, the quality of the work and the environment improve, benefiting the visitors and students who, feeling welcome, are happy to return.
Geshe Tenzin Tenphel and Geshe Jampa Gelek at the FPMT European Meeting at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy. Photo courtesy of ILTK.
Geshe Jampa Gelek then reminded participants of the profound responsibility that comes with serving within the FPMT. He emphasized that it is thanks to the tireless work of FPMT — founded by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche — that the Dharma has flourished in the Western world. Those serving today carry the responsibility of continuing this precious work: benefiting others through our centers, monasteries, and projects, especially at a time when the Dharma is so deeply needed, and supporting one another in this shared effort.
The meeting, facilitated by Steph Hill, European Regional Coordinator, and Lisette Reek, SPC at Maitreya Instituut, was attended in person by 30 representatives from 10 centers and monasteries across Europe, with an additional 7 participants joining online — plus Peeyush Agarwal, FPMT Executive Director; Ven. Roger Kunsang, Senior Advisor, and Paula de Wys, member of the FPMT Inc. Board of Directors, welcomed participants and shared very positive news for the entire FPMT community to rejoice in together.
Afternoon: Blessing the Throne of The New Stupa of Enlightenment
In the afternoon, a very special puja was offered in the courtyard of the Institute. The Yaksha ritual – males and females – to consecrate the throne and fill it with all the precious substances. The ceremony was led by Geshe Tenzin Tenphel and Geshe Jampa Gelek and held with the strong prayers of the Sangha, the Institute’s director Valerio Tallarico, trustees, volunteers, and the representatives from FPMT European Centers. Their collective presence made this occasion all the more meaningful and joyful — as the Institute’s director highlighted in his speech.
Blessing of the throne of the new Stupa of Enlightenment, dedicated to Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy. Photo by Fabiana Lotito.
The entire community came together around the stupa dedicated to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s swift return, placed in his most beloved spot — directly in front of Lama Yeshe’s Stupa — where he would usually circumambulate during his visits to the Institute.
As the geshes began the puja, a strong wind arose, sweeping through the grounds and giving many present the profound sense that Rinpoche himself was near — surrounding and supporting the wider FPMT family in this auspicious moment.
During the puja, Geshe Tenzin Tenphel and Geshe Jampa Gelek filled the throne with precious substances: holy relics, cereals, sacred images, dried flowers, medicinal herbs, incense, crystals, precious stones, relics of holy beings, coins, and much more — all lovingly gathered by the communities of the Institute and the other FPMT European Centers. These precious substances increase the merit generated through the building of the stupa, multiplied by the countless molecules that form this holy monument.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Immeasurable Benefits of Stupas
Wherever a stupa is built will become a powerful place for healing and a cause for the success of whatever visitors to that place are seeking. —Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Zopa Rinpoche often highlighted the unbelievable benefits of the stupa. He taught that the main purpose of building stupas is to make the lives of all beings, young and old, meaningful. In the book, Benefits and Practices Related to Statues and Stupas, he explains: “Every day, when sentient beings see stupas and statues, this plants the seed of enlightenment…. It purifies their negative karma … It is so unbelievably powerful!” [Read more: Even Dreaming of a Stupa Plants the Seed of Enlightenment].
The Journey So Far
This sacred project began in 2025, when a representative group of the Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa received the blessing for the stupa directly from His Holiness the Dalai Lama during a visit to Dharamsala. His Holiness also offered holy relics for the stupa. Shortly thereafter, in November 2025, at the Institute, the work started with Geshe Tenzin Tenphel and Geshe Jampa Gelek offering Sa Chog rituals to require the permission to build the stupa, consecrate the land and remove any obstacles.
Geshe Tenzin Tenphel and Geshe Jampa Gelek with Stupa Onlus’ Volunteers Sherab and Rinchen, filling the stupa’s throne at ILTK.
The construction began with excavation, and since then, the dedication of the community has been extraordinary: volunteers have rolled tens of thousands of mantras and carefully prepared the fillings for nine treasure vases; monks from Nalanda Monastery in France have offered tsa-tsa statues for placement within the stupa; and the volunteers of Stupa Onlus have constructed the initial platform, which symbolizes the ten virtues of body, speech, and mind.
The project, overseen by Geshe Tenzin Tenphel and Geshe Jampa Gelek, has been managed by Stupa Onlus, which built the first stupa at the Institute of Lama Thubten Yeshe in 1985–1986 and has now built 8,250 new stupas and restored 73 in Ladakh.
Looking Ahead
Each step in the construction of the stupa is a powerful practice, generating merit and purifying karma for all involved. Auspicious milestones continue on June 5, with the consecration of the steps of the stupa and on July 29, with the consecration of the vases. The community is working with great joy and dedication toward a deeply meaningful completion date: December 3, 2026 — Lama Tsongkhapa Day, the 50th anniversary of Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, and Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s 80th birthday. On that most auspicious day, the full consecration of the stupa will take place.
A Renewed Commitment
Inspired by a unique weekend of prayers, shared experiences between centers, and the energy of the stupa, representatives from across Europe concluded the regional meeting strengthened in their shared purpose — to preserve what has been so preciously created by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Together, they renewed their commitment to continually benefit others through the FPMT European centers, finding new ways to make the Dharma accessible in our contemporary world so that more and more people may study, develop wisdom, and cultivate compassion. A responsibility that, in these turbulent times, feels more important than ever.
Written by FPMT International Office Associate Editor Fabiana Lotito. We welcome the submission of news stories from those within the FPMT community. This can be a story about something you have personally completed or accomplished, about someone else who has done so, or about the FPMT center, project, or service of which you are a part. Ideal submissions will give readers reasons to rejoice, share ideas, and create connections between those in the international community. Have something to share? Please let us know!
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.