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Khenrinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi presiding over the celebration ceremony for eleven new geshemas from Kopan Njunnery. Photo thanks to Kopan Nunnery.
On February 3, 2025, eleven nuns from Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery (Kopan Nunnery) in Nepal successfully completed over 20 years of rigorous Buddhist studies and achieved the geshema degree. They all participated in a special celebration ceremony.
The new geshemas during the ceremony at Kopan Nunnery, February 3, 2025. Photo thanks to Kopan Nunnery.
The geshema degree is the same course of study as the geshe degree, with the feminine “ma” added just to delineate gender. The path to becoming a geshema begins after completing 17 years of monastic study. Those that qualify and desire to move onto the geshema degree path must then complete four years of rigorous oral and written examinations, including a successful thesis defense.
Prior to an historic change in 2012, nuns did not have access to the four-year geshe degree path as monks did. The first to achieve the title of geshema was the German nun Geshema Kelsang Wangmo, who completed her degree at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD) in McLeod Ganj, India, a year prior in 2011. A nuns committee meeting was held in 2012, followed with the announcement by the Tibetan Administration’s Department of Religion and Culture that the full degree was now available to nuns.
Please join us in rejoicing in this momentous achievement by all eleven nuns who have worked so hard toward this goal for the benefit of all.
If you have a story to share from the FPMT global community, or news for rejoicing from an FPMT center, project, or service, we are always very happy to receive it.
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche, 2023. Photo by Harald Weichhart.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama offered the complete cycle of the Pure Visions Bearing the Seal of Secrecy of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama (Sangwa Gyachen) in 2005 at Thekchen Choeling Temple in Dharamsala. Among those who received the complete transmission was the past abbot of Namgyal Monastery, H. E. Jhado Rinpoche. Namgyal Monastery is the personal monastery of His Holiness in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala. To commemorate the twentieth anniversary and in celebration of His Holiness’s 90th birthday, H.E. Jhado Rinpoche will be transmitting the complete cycle of Sangwa Gyachen with initiations, transmissions, and commentaries from March 16-April 3, 2025 in the main temple.
His Holiness is the greatest source of inspiration for the FPMT organization. Lama Zopa Rinpoche said, “[I would like] for FPMT to offer service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as much as possible and to be able to fulfill His Holiness’ wishes. This is the highest priority for the organization.”
All interested and wishing to attend should contact Namgyal Monastery Office in advance and please refer to the attached poster for information on commitments associated with these teachings.
To support His Holiness’ wish to keep the continuity of this lineage of the 5th Dalai’s Pure Visions cycle, FPMT Education Services is publishing the two practice texts required for this momentous event.
- The Great Compassionate One Embodying the Three Roots
- The Body Maṇḍala Rite of the Display of the Combined Peaceful and Wrathful Kagye
We will share details on how to obtain these materials as soon as they become available.
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.
Group photo of the 2024 Kopan Course participants. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery.
170 participants from 44 countries participated in Kopan Monastery’s yearly month-long lamrim course, known affectionately as the November Course, which was held November 8 through December 8, 2024. Those in attendance ranged in age from a few 18-year-old first-timers to an 88-year-old long-time student. During the course, 41 participants took refuge with Khenrinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi, who taught in the afternoons for the first time. His teachings centered on the Eight Verses of Mind Training, offering practical guidance for participants.
Francisca, Thubten Pende, Ven. Joan Nicell, Ani Karin, Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi, Lama Thubten Rigsel Rinpoche, and Ven. Tenpa Choden having lunch during the picnic. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery.
One of FPMT’s first Western students, Tubten Pende (aka Jim Dougherty), enriched the course significantly, sharing stories from the early days of the organization, and his experiences with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche since 1972.
As usual, many received the Vajrasattva initiation from Khenrinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi, and five have already begun the three-month Vajrasattva Retreat at Kopan. The retreat concluded with the traditional picnic, made even more special by the creativity of participants. Several offered Dharma-inspired performances to the sangha and teachers, as well as poetry. Kopan offered three Cham dances, performed by Kopan monks, which added a meaningful cultural element to the event.
Kopan course participants with Kopan monks following the Cham dances. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery.
The first Kopan course was offered in 1971 with a dozen students in attendance. Over the years, an average of 200 spiritual seekers from diverse backgrounds have received the immense blessings of this legendary course. Many of FPMT’s senior students first met Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche after walking up the beautiful and holy Kopan hill for the month-long retreat. This historic course is responsible for the lamas’ teachings spreading throughout the West as these students established FPMT centers around the world. Please join us in rejoicing in the 2024 course, and we look forward to sharing information on the 2025 course, as it becomes available.
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.
Complete Dharma hives ready for placement of a 3rd honey bee colony in Spring 2024. Flowers painted by Sonam Sherpa. Mantras painted by Ven. Tenzin Yonten. Photo thanks to Ven. Tenzin Yonten.
In May 2023, Nalanda Monastery, France, installed their first honey bee colonies at a secluded spot in the extensive grounds of Maitreya Pure Land, a property adjacent to Nalanda, encompassing 5.5 hectares (13.59 acres) of beautiful parkland which the monastery purchased in 2020.
Their primary objective with this activity, called the Bee Kind Project, is to provide a supportive environment for promoting a genetic line of honey bees resistant to some of the modern challenges that bees have to deal with. Late summer offers the monastery harvestable honey to enjoy and utilize.
“By providing a protected and supportive environment for honey bees, we not only create a deeper appreciation for other sentient beings and the natural world around us, but we also contribute to local ecology in a positive and practical way,” Nalanda explains on their website. “Through the support of strong honey bee populations, we can significantly address their decline caused by habitat loss, pesticides, climate change and invasive predators. Taking action to protect these vital pollinators is essential for a sustainable future in food security and biodiversity.”
All jars of a very limited harvest in our first year were offered to the incredibly kind sponsors who started the project. Photo thanks to Ven. Tenzin Yonten.
Nalanda Monastery focuses on animal welfare through various compassionate initiatives, including the Bee Kind Project. The Animal Care Project as a whole also provides essential nutritional and medical support for feral and lost cats in the area. In addition, it serves as a community resource for advice on injured wildlife, facilitating their care through on-site rehabilitation or advice from a small network, and eventual re-release back into the wild. Additionally, Nalanda creates nesting sites for local songbirds and ensures they have sufficient winter resources.
In this way, Nalanda has been able to contribute in definite ways to relieve the physical suffering of any animal that comes to the monastery for care, in addition to preventing their suffering in future lives through their spiritual care. By fostering a compassionate environment for all sentient beings, Nalanda Monastery can serve to enhance local biodiversity and promote a deeper appreciation for nature.
Ven. Tenzin Yonten introducing the world of honey bees to Ven. Tenzin Drolma and her family. Visitors are welcome to visit at any time during the Spring and Summer. Photo thanks to Ven. Tenzin Yonten.
We rejoice in these unique ways Nalanda is supporting sentient beings, and how their Bee Kind Project is contributing directly to local ecology through strong bee populations.
You can learn more about this and all of Nalanda’s animal care projects, and learn how to support their efforts.
Please explore more resources and inspiration for benefiting animals:
fpmt.org/education/prayers-and-practice-materials/benefiting-animals-practices-and-advice
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.
Red Moon Yard performing live.
Nearly thirty years ago, Marcos Fermoselle, native to Spain, met Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery. Marcos was a mountain climber and traveled to the Himalayas every year. During these travels he connected with Lama Lhundrup, who he would visit every six months. Lama Lhundrup facilitated a meeting with Rinpoche during one of Marcos’ visits and thus began a lifelong connection which developed over time. Marcos was struck by Rinpoche’s style of teaching—“so direct and clear.” “He helped me a lot,” recalls Marcos.
Marcos with Lama Zopa Rinpoche and his wife, Montse. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Two years ago Marcos approached Rinpoche for advice. He felt a calling to work on a musical project. Marcos had been playing guitar since he was a child, but now he wanted to pursue something more professionally. He asked Rinpoche if this would be good for him to do. Rinpoche told him, “Yes! You have to do it but only for the benefit of others. … If you get on stage and make a fool of yourself, that will be a great cleansing of negative karma. If it works out for you, do it with a good motivation.” With that, Marcos decided to start an altruistic band which would play songs with Dharma messages. The result is a band called Red Moon Yard, a Buddhist rock band.
Marcos’ band is now releasing its second album, “Intineri,” and on the first song on this album is called, “Lama’s Song.” This is a special song Marcos wrote for Rinpoche’s swift return, and for thanking Rinpoche for all he has done for his students. The video for the song was filmed in Madrid, in a museum he and his bandmates selected based on highest quality light and sound. In the background of the video, footage of Rinpoche teaching, and still images of Rinpoche are shown.
Image of the video of Red Moon Yard’s “Lama’s Song”
All proceeds from Red Moon Yard’s music will go to Dharma projects, and “Lama’s Song” proceeds are being offered directly to FPMT, in support of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s projects.
Please enjoy this very joyful song produced by Marcos and his band, and also join us in rejoicing in this very creative and unique way of spreading a positive Dharma message and also helping to fulfil Rinpoche’s wishes while sincerely requesting Rinpoche’s swift return.
“I miss him and want his swift return,” Marcos shared. When asked what Marcos is hoping to accomplish with this song, he says, “I think that depends on karma, I don`t have any expectations. I am already happy for what is happening. We are playing concerts, our songs are distributed by a good company, and I am asked about Dharma. I am very happy, whatever happens is fine with me.”
Please watch “Lama’s Song” by Red Moon Yard:
To learn more about Red Moon Yard and other music they have created: https://redmoonyard.band/en/
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.
Community members for the Center of White Mahakala Study Group in Romania, which received a Merit Box grant for their stupa and retreat cabin construction projects in 2024. Photo courtesy of CWMSG.
The Merit Box Project closed for good at the end of 2024. We invite rejoicing in the many students and friends around the world who contributed to the project, helping bring hundreds of Dharma activities to fruition—including stupas, statues and other holy objects, scholarships and supplies for retreat, new publications and translations of Dharma texts, social service community programs and important repairs and upgrades to FPMT center buildings and land; among many others.
In total 370 grants were awarded over 21 years, providing US$1,258,580 in funds to these projects. We deeply thank and rejoice in the incredible generosity shown, and in all the great work of the recipients of Merit Box grants in preserving and sharing the Dharma.
Maitripa College’s Tara Farms, the location for their future Maitripa Rabjungma Community Project for training Western nuns, a recipient of a 2024 Merit Box grant. Photo courtesy of Maitripa College.
Moving Forward: The New FPMT Community Support Fund
To keep this vital source of support available to local FPMT affiliates, we are transitioning now to the new FPMT Community Support Fund, which will fulfill the same purpose as the previous Merit Box Project. Through the FPMT Community Support Fund, local FPMT centers, projects, services and study groups, or any project that is working for the mission of FPMT, will be able to apply for grants, which will be awarded each year in March/April, including in 2025.
Any offerings that were collected and planned for the Merit Box Fund this year can now be directed to this new fund, and any offering made until February 28, 2025 will be used for this year’s grants. We hope this new FPMT Community Support Fund, like it’s predecessor, will inspire another 20 years of generosity and much-needed grants for local FPMT communities and projects, and beyond!
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Maitreya School, Bodhgaya, India, January 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Our January e-news is now available and brings you news, resources, and special announcements including::
- Teachings and advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe
- Practices to do for fires and earthquakes
- An update on the Stupa of Complete Victory
- Details of grants offered through the Lama Tsongkhapa Teachers Fund in 2024
- Changes and causes for rejoicing in the FPMT organization
- Resources for your study and practice
and much more!
Please read this month’s e-news in its entirety.
Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.
Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.
The grounds of Rinchen Jangsem Ling illuminated by 50,000 candle light offerings. December 8, 2024. Photo thanks to RJL.
The grounds of Rinchen Jangsem Ling retreat center (RJL) in Triang, Malaysia, were illuminated by fifty thousand candle lights during its recent light offering ceremony on the evening of December 8, 2024. From late afternoon until dusk, hundreds of visitors from near and far participated in the event, lighting candles following RJL resident sangha Ven. Jampa sharing the benefits of making light offerings. Volunteers placed candle-holders around the holy objects forming the letters, “KLZR SR,” signifying the strong wish and dedication for Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Swift Return.
About offering lights, Lama Zopa Rinpoche said, “By making light offerings, you are able to dispel the darkness of ignorance and achieve wisdom. By offering light, you are never in darkness while you are circling in samsara. There will always be light. And offering light just one time to Buddha creates the karma to have great wealth for many hundreds or thousands of lifetimes.”
Daytime view of RJL grounds with stupa and large Twenty-One Tara thangka in view. Photo thanks to RJL.
Geshe Zopa making prayers at the 50,000 light offering event at RJL. Photo thanks to RJL.
Visitors also admired and received the benefit of seeing a very large Twenty-One Tara thangka on display. The thangka was auspiciously hosted on the foundation which will become, on the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the world’s largest three-story prayer wheel, which will contain within a pavilion at least one hundred trillion OM MANI PADME HUM mantras.
After sunset, Geshe Tenzin Zopa led the light-offering prayers in front of the Twenty-One Taras thangka. This was followed by circumambulation of RJL’s holy objects and a spectacular fireworks display to conclude the first part of the evening.
With high spirits, the retreaters then joined the overnight Tara practice where they recited Praises to the Twenty-One Taras through until the morning. The sadhana practice was divided into four sessions, two sets recited in Tibetan and English and two in Chinese. Geshe Zopa offered commentary and oral transmissions related to the practice.
The evening included purification practice that lasted through dawn. The retreatants then enjoyed breakfast together thanks to the RJL’s dedicated cooking team.
RJL shares, “Heartfelt thanks to Geshe Tenzin Zopa and all the volunteers who worked tirelessly to actualize their inaugural Fifty Thousand Light Offering and All Night Praises to Twenty-One Taras event that benefited so many. May Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche quickly return to guide us soon!”
With grateful thanks to Janet Lui for submitting this report on the light offering event.
Learn more about how to make light offerings and other offerings in the book Extensive Offering Practices by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, available in The Foundation Store.
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.
FPMT Mongolia Children’s Program, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Photo courtesy of FPMT Mongolia.
We are delighted to share a report from FPMT Mongolia’s Mahayana Children’s Program on the ways they were able to utilize a recent Merit Box grant.
FPMT Mongolia’s Mahayana Children’s Program began in 2007, aiming to engage children from 6–16 years of age every Saturday at the FPMT Mongolia Center in Ulaanbaatar. Each year approximately 80–100 children are enrolled and participate in learning activities focused on Dharma, traditional culture and practices, yoga, arts and crafts, and first aid/health education in order to further develop positive life-long coping strategies and positive stress-response skills.
The Mahayana Children’s Program has also been started at Lamp of the Path (LOP), the center’s local non-governmental organization (NGO). In the Ger district area, classes focus more on alternative informal education (based upon the 16 Guidelines) and positive social-emotional development activities for children who have access to fewer resources and are more “at risk” due to challenging family living situations.
Based on the wishes and vision of FPMT founders, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT Mongolia strives to provide integrated education and opportunities for learning so that people’s–including children and youth–minds and hearts can be transformed. The 16 Guidelines provide a concrete and practical way to do this while also building important skills for children and young people so that they are enabled and empowered to successfully navigate the road to adulthood.
Children with the new desks for the FPMT Mongolia Children’s Program, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Photo courtesy of FPMT Mongolia.
With a recent upgrade and expansion to the classroom used at LOP for the Children’s Program, FPMT Mongolia requested and was awarded a Merit Box grant in the Spring of 2024, specifically to support further development of the Lamp of the Path classroom and to also publish new children’s learning materials and training resources for use in this location and beyond based on the 16 Guidelines.
Based on the 2024 Merit Box award, the team was able to purchase 20 adjustable children’s floor desks, seating mats, and other materials for use in classes, complete a translation of the 16 Guidelines children’s resource book “Ready, Set, Happy” in Mongolian for use by the FPMT Mongolia team (and others as well), and cover part of the costs of printing the first 500 copies of the new book.
Please rejoice that this Mahayana Children’s Program was able to utilize their grant so well, to really offer so much with what they were awarded.
The FPMT Social Services fund has been supporting the activities of LOP since 2003. You read a recent report on these activities.
With thanks to Susan Roe, the center director of FPMT Mongolia, for sharing this update on their Mahayana Children’s Program.
FPMT Mongolia Children’s Program, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Photo courtesy of FPMT Mongolia.
Update: The Merit Box Project was permanently closed at the end of 2024, after more than two decades of fostering generosity and providing aid to local FPMT centers, projects, services, study groups, and other activities that align with the FPMT mission.
To continue offering the vital resource that the Merit Box Project provided to local FPMT communities, we have transitioned to the new FPMT Community Support Fund, which will fulfill the same purpose in giving aid to local FPMT communities and projects. Grants will be made through the FPMT Community Support Fund later this year, and any offerings planned for the Merit Box Fund can be made to this fund now and in the future. We will be sharing more information about this new fund in upcoming communications.
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.
Medicine Buddha Puja participants in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, with disabled disabled military, pilgrims and Tara Lanka community.
In September 2024, Sri Lankan-born, Australian-based nun Ven. Tenzin Lekdron led a pilgrimage tour in Sri Lanka to raise funds for the 5MB Project, a mission to build a five-story high Medicine Buddha statue in Sri Lanka, according to the instructions of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The Medicine Buddha prototype of the statue is now cast, gilded, painted and will be filled with mantras. The preparation is being supervised by Gen Tenpa Choden from Kopan Monastery.
Ven. Tenzin Lekdron met Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1998. After her ordination in 2016, she founded Tara Lanka Study Group in Sri Lanka and initiated dialogues, social services projects, translations of Mahayana sutras and Dharma texts into Singhalese, and organized group recitations of sutras by local monks and lay people around the country to create harmony and understanding between Theradava and Mahayana traditions in Sri Lanka.
Medicine Buddha statue prototype,
“When Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked for a five-story Medicine Buddha statue to be built in Sri Lanka it seemed such a fantastical idea as people in Sri Lanka have no knowledge of Medicine Buddha or the healing power of the practices,” Ven. Lekdron reflects. “At the time of Rinpoche’s passing, I felt it was time to attempt this huge task. Rinpoche’s advice must be followed. At that time I had a strong feeling that a prototype of the Medicine Buddha statue according to Rinpoche’s design has to be seen by as many people as possible. A strong feeling came that Gangarama temple, a prominent temple in Colombo would be a suitable location. An appointment was sought for me to meet with the chief monk to seek if there would be any interest. I asked to do a Great Medicine Buddha puja at his temple and if he would consider the prototype of Medicine Buddha to be displayed with public access. While he was very concerned about possible public outrage that a Mahayana nun is permitted to do pujas at this well known Theravada temple in a prestigious suburb of Colombo, the Medicine Buddha puja was held with 80 people in attendance. We were amazed. A door was opening.
“In the meantime the awareness about Medicine Buddha and the healing power of it’s practices needed to be understood by the Sri Lankan people. The existence of Mahayana and highest yoga tantra is little known. I felt a pilgrimage was the perfect vehicle for this. In my mind the pilgrims would be witnesses and a participants in the healing of trauma. We would do Medicine Buddha pujas side by side with Sinhala language being the dominant language, thus allowing dignity to the locals. Our tour would be immersive without being overwhelming to the pilgrims. The result was phenomenal in the healing it provided to the wounded soldiers and a former refugee Tamil lady, Maureen, attending the puja. It exceeded my expectations in fulfilling Rinpoche’s wishes for healing people’s hearts, a process which began many years ago. Now it was reaching a different level with the witnessing by visitors.”
Sixteen pilgrims from Australia, Malaysia, and the USA, including four FPMT nuns, two Australian and two Tibetan, as well as Ven. Lekdron, participated in the journey. They visited the Sri Maha Bodhi tree, the sacred Tooth Temple and very importantly, rarely visited Mahayana sites such as Buduruwagala Temple.
Alan Marsh, who participated in the pilgrimage shared, “Over ten intense days and nights traveling together by bus we
quickly bonded and became friends, sharing long bus rides, experiencing cultural and climate shock and dealing with the many surprising and unexpected events that happened each day.
“As well as the extraordinary efforts of Ven. Lekdron, the tour could not have been the success it was without the hard work of several other people. Our Australian tour leader Jason kept the show on the road by taking care of all the day-to-day details needing attention: buying tickets to the sites, booking restaurants, paying local guides, providing first aid when needed, keeping us updated with last minute changes and above all, boosting our morale at trying times with his unwavering patience and good humor.
“Also traveling with us and providing valuable information from the front seat of the bus via microphone, was Sanath, a professional local tour guide from the local tour company used for the tour, sharing his extensive knowledge of the geography and history of the sites we visited. Also with us was Sanjay, Ven. Lekdron’s brother, a professional photographer and filmmaker who documented all aspects of the trip in photos and video. He plans to make a documentary movie of the tour.”
While they were in Anuradhapura, pilgrims had a major highlight when they offered a Medicine Buddha puja, whose audience of 2,000 people included fifty wounded Sinhalese army soldiers and a Tamil refugee. Pilgrimage participant Vicki Swartz shared, “A young Tamil woman named Maureen Ernest read two very personal, touching poems about how she moved from being a fearful child growing up in the 30-year civil war of the Tamils vs. the Sinhalese Military. She converted from Christianity (most Tamils are Hindu, some are Christian) to Buddhism through a personal journey of counseling and help from Ven. Lekdron (who would stop and translate into English what she was saying). Maureen said that while she may not be able to represent every Tamil, that on behalf of Tamils, she wanted to apologize to the military men and their families for the pain and suffering caused by the Tamils (the LTTE, the Tamil Tigers, the militant group fighting for the rights of Tamils, who felt oppressed, wanted their language to be recognized and taught in schools, and to have fair hiring practices for the coveted government positions, etc.) Then Sunil W., the author of a book on conflict resolution/social justice work, took the microphone, and modeled a reconciliation process; on behalf of the military men and the Singhalese, he accepted her apology, and offered her an apology for the pain and suffering she’d endured as a result of the actions of the military in the civil war. Many of us wept; it was so powerful.”
We invite you to read a recent report on the various stops made during the pilgrimage, with a very moving, more extended testimony of the Medicine Buddha puja and a summary of some of the other Dharma activities conducted by Tara Lanka Study Group in 2025. Please rejoice in this powerful and healing activity happening in Sri Lanka, thanks to the inspiration from Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
To learn more about the 5MB Project: 5mbsrilanka.org/5mb-project
Please learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization to have hundreds of thousands of holy objects around the world: fpmt.org/fpmt/vast-vision/#hobjects
We are pleased to share that the 2025 Liberation calendar is available now!
This year the calendar is available only as a printable PDF:
liberationcalendar.com
Learn more about the Liberation Prison Project and the work your purchase of this calendar supports:
liberationprisonproject.org
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, December 22, 2022. Boudhanath, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Warmest seasons greeting from FPMT International Office. Our December e-news is now available and brings you news, resources, and special announcements including:
- Seasonal teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe
- Powerful pujas and prayers offered on Lhabab Duchen
- Grants for animal blessings and rescue in 2024
- Recommended practices for Lama Tsongkhapa Day (December 25)
- Resources and opportunities for study and practices
- Changes and opportunities in the FPMT organization
and so much more!
Please read this month’s e-news in its entirety.
Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.
Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.