FPMT Community News

Francesa Fantauzzi, Centro Muni Gyana, Palermo, Italy, 2021. Photo by Francesa Fantauzzi.

Centro Muni Gyana, the FPMT center in Palermo, Italy, is hoping to inspire more Dharma centers to offer programs in sign language. Center director Marco Farina shares the story:

Our center was founded in 1990, thanks to the determination of our founder Rodolfo Bajardi and his wife Elia Manto. We have recently begun numerous social and inclusivity initiatives with the motivation to take responsibility to free not only ourselves but all beings from suffering.

We are working on a new initiative: a Dharma course offered in Italian sign language (LIS), the visual language used by deaf people in Italy. Dharma LIS is a new Dharma project in Palermo, realized with the support of the Italian Buddhist Union and 8×1000 contributions from Italian taxpayers. Our goal is to initiate communication with more people and make Buddhist teachings accessible to all.

We would like to thank our LIS interpreter, Francesca Fantauzzi, who became involved in this initiative thanks to one of our members. Francesca is helping us with our first course offered in LIS. The first video will be on the four noble truths. The entire course will be offered for free on YouTube.

We would also like to thank Fabrizio Pallotti, Italian translator of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for his support. Fabrizio offered Francesca a short Dharma course and taught Francesca about its translation into the Italian culture before Francesca began translating the Dharma into LIS. We hope our new initiative inspires other centers to offer the Dharma in LIS thereby making Dharma more accessible.

Watch the four-minute promotional video “Dharma LIS – Promozione Corso di Dharma in Lingua Italiana dei Segni” (“Dharma LIS – Dharma Course Promotion in Italian Sign Language”) on the Muni Gyana YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/sVzMGJuKlOc

To learn more about Centro Muni Gyana, visit their website:
https://centromunigyana.it/

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Geshema Ngawang Chokyi, India

Yeshin Norbu Center, the FPMT center in Stockholm, Sweden, recently hosted an online teaching with Geshema Ngawang Chokyi, who graduated with the first group of geshemas in 2016 and has a special connection to FPMT. In addition, many years ago, Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked Geshema Chokyi to teach in the West. Zarina Osmonalieva, spiritual program coordinator at Yeshin Norbu, shares how the center helped fulfill this wish of Rinpoche:

In the summer of 2019, the team of Yeshin Norbu had the honor of having an audience with Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Riga, Latvia. Rinpoche advised us to invite Geshema Ngawang Chokyi to teach the Dharma in Sweden. We learned that Geshema was one of a handful of Tibetan nuns who had received the prestigious geshe degree and spent a year studying tantra at Gyuto Monastery. We also learned that she was Lama Yeshe’s niece. The thought of hosting Geshema at our center felt very inspiring, and we followed Rinpoche’s advice by sending an invitation to Geshema, which she kindly accepted.

In the beginning of April 2020, Geshema, who was in India, collected all the necessary documents and was on her way to apply for a Swedish visa. At that time, the quickly escalating pandemic forced us to pause and reconsider our plans. We decided that it might be wisest to postpone her visit. Shortly thereafter, India introduced its first lockdown.

In May this year, Lola Odessey, a graduate of the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program who has a special connection to Geshema, suggested that we organize an online teaching while waiting for the world to reopen. What a wonderful idea! Saka Dawa was approaching, and we thought that this was a wonderful opportunity to request Geshema to teach the twelve deeds of Buddha Shakyamuni.

Geshema Chokyi gave her teaching from Jangchub Choeling Nunnery in Mundgod, South India, which she joined in 1992 upon her arrival from Tibet. Jangchub Choeling Nunnery is her permanent residence, where she teaches Dharma to other nuns.

Screen shot of Geshema Chokyi teaching with Lola Odessey translating, June 2021. Photo courtesy of Yeshin Norbu.

Geshema blessed us with a teaching that was clear and concise, easy to follow, and filled with warmth. She made the story of Buddha Shakyamuni into something relatable, and, at the same time, utterly inspirational for us to continue on the path. She kindly offered to answer questions at the end of the talk, which gave participants a precious chance to share some of their queries and hear her perspective.

Lola Odessey joined us from Institut Vajra Yogini in France and did a fantastic job of translating. We were delighted to see that the event was attended by not only members of Yeshin Norbu in Sweden but also by people from other places in Europe.  

Needless to say, we hope that this was the first of many more teachings by Geshema Chokyi, and we are very happy and grateful to all who made this come true.

Learn more about Yeshin Norbu Center:
http://yeshenorbu.se/

Read the Mandala July-December 2019 interview with Geshema Ngawang Chokyi: “If I May Be Able to Benefit Others, I Should Try”

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Maitripa College commencement held in the Maitripa College Jokhang and broadcast on Zoom, Portland, Oregon, US, May 2021. Photo by Laura Miller.

Maitripa College is a Buddhist institution of higher education affiliated with the FPMT in Portland, Oregon, US. Yangsi Rinpoche, Maitripa College president and faculty member, began teaching a four-year advanced Buddhist studies program at Maitripa Institute in January 2006. Maitripa became a college in July 2008, after receiving legal authority to offer graduate degrees in Buddhist Studies in Oregon. Currently, the college offers a Master of Arts degree in Buddhist Studies and a Master of Divinity degree. Dean of Education Namdrol Miranda Adams shares how the college has adapted during the COVID pandemic.

We concluded our fifteenth year of operations with a joyful commencement ceremony in May 2021, our first in-person activity held at our physical location in over a year. For our four new graduates, as for everyone in our community and the world, it has been a year like no other.

In March 2020, we pivoted our entire operation into an online model for the foreseeable future. This was done in response to emergency orders from the State of Oregon due to the emerging COVID crisis. From the outset, our college was faced with two main challenges. First, how would we survive when two of our primary income streams—investment income and donations—became completely unavailable? How would we care for our teachers and staff members, who in turn care for our students and community? Where would the money come from? Second, would our students stay? Would they still feel it valuable to attend classes, practices, and community events now that those activities were being held in virtual reality?

Maitripa College commencement held in the Maitripa College jokhang and broadcast on Zoom, Portland, Oregon, US, May 2021. Photo by Laura Miller.

We happily discovered that our community’s generosity, resiliency, and dedication exceeded our expectations. Our teachers and staff members took twenty to forty percent pay cuts across the board, according to their capacities, so everyone could remain employed by the college during this time of great uncertainty. The reduced expenses that this brought—along with emergency benefits from state and local governments—allowed us to ensure our employees were cared for while also ending the year in a good financial position.

Our students did decide to continue their studies and even reported a “seamless” transition to online learning. This was a delightful surprise to our staff, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen, and to the students, who continued to learn and grow together.

Our spring term enrollment was up by about twenty percent and our programs and classes continue to be well attended. New and continuing students enrolled in our two degree programs. Our continuing education students and our students who join classes as auditors are enthusiastically looking forward to beginning the 2021-2022 academic year. Classes begin in August and will be offered through online and in-person delivery methods.

Yangsi Rinpoche teaching a Maitripa College class on Zoom, Portland, Oregon, US, April 2020. Photo by Namdrol Miranda Adams.

We will continue to offer the majority of our classes and programs online this summer. Prospective students among our FPMT family worldwide are warmly invited to join the Discovering Buddhism modules we will be offering online this summer. We will offer at least one more academic semester partially online, including philosophy and meditation classes with Yangsi Rinpoche, starting in August. We will begin to slowly shift back to more in-person classes as conditions and comfort levels improve and restrictions loosen.

We are so grateful for our resilient minds and spirits that have carried us through the pandemic thus far. We appreciate the access we have had to the basic requirements of life—including food, shelter, and medicines—that have sustained us during this time. We thank our teachers and the teachings for showing us the way. The destruction COVID brought throughout the world has been unimaginable. We look at the great suffering that this crisis has laid bare before us with clear eyes and compassion. The pandemic has strengthened our intentions to develop and provide a Buddhist education that can help us alleviate suffering, in both conventional and ultimate terms, as our wonderful students aspire to do every day.

Maitripa College staff meeting on Zoom, April 2020. Photo by Alfredo Pineiro.

To learn more about Maitripa College, visit their website:
https://maitripa.org/

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

In September 1982, H.H. Dalai Lama visited a retreat center that Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinopche had just set up in Bubión, a small town near the Alpujarra mountains near Granada, Spain. At the end of His Holiness’s teaching he named the center O Sel Ling. Photo by Pablo Giralt de Arquer, courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

In September 1982, His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in Rome, Italy, to begin a month-long tour of Europe at the invitation of FPMT and other groups. His Holiness the Dalai Lama met with His Holiness Pope John Paul II, then traveled to Barcelona, Granada, and Bubión in Spain; Toulouse, Lavaur, Paris, and Strasbourg in France; Milan, Pisa, and Pomaia in Italy; and finally six cities in Germany. Four FPMT centers hosted His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the tour. They were Centro Nagarjuna in both Barcelona and Bubión, near Granada; Institut Vajra Yogini and Nalanda Monastery in France; and Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy.

The American nun Thubten Yeshe, who photographed the tour, shared her impressions of it with the first issue of Wisdom (the FPMT magazine that preceded Mandala). Here’s part of the story from the Wisdom article “A Man of Peace on Tour”:

This was a journey to the West that would inspire people on a spiritual level, and forge cultural ties with the people of Europe. This was the 1982 European tour of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the message was clear, from one stop to the next: we are all human beings, seeking happiness and an end to pain; we have the capacity, and the responsibility, to realize these goals for ourselves and others.

That inspiration was manifest throughout the trip in people’s responses to His Holiness. The old and dying clinging to him at a hospice near Pisa. Smiling pictures and double page spreads in Spain’s major dailies. Thousands cramming into the already overcrowded city halls. A peace award from a group of Italian school children. The radiant smiles of reclusive Catholic monks after hours of shared insights with this Buddhist monk. “This has been the most important and moving day of my life,” said the mayor of a major European city to His Holiness after a private interview.

Cover of Wisdom Vol. 1, May 1983

Sightseeing tours and walkabouts did not seem to be the way the Dalai Lama thought best to spend his time, and they were frequently rushed and cut short. However, in small intimate meetings with Christian monks, educators, philosophers, and scientists he was most at ease, animated, and deeply interested. These were moments of listening and often a profound sharing of wisdom. At the monastery of Sant’Anselmo in Rome, meeting with a group of monks—Eastern and Western Europeans, Americans, Asians—discussing monastic life and the ways the Church in Eastern Europe had found to co-exist with Communist governments. An interview with the speakers from the Universal Education conference in Pomaia in which His Holiness did the interviewing—looking for Western educational wisdom that he could apply to the Tibetan situation.

It was almost restful to arrive at the four FPMT centers in southern Europe after the hurly-burly of the rest of the tour. His Holiness spent a day at Nagarjuna’s retreat center, which clings to the side of a mountain reminiscent of dry Himalayan peaks where the monasteries and retreats are indistinguishable from the rocky landscape. The Dalai Lama of Tibet seemed at home in this calm place … .

Read this article as a scanned PDF from Wisdom, May 1983:
“A Man of Peace on Tour from Wisdom”

You can read more about His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 1982 tour of Europe in chapter 20, “1982: The Celebration of the Enlightened Experience,” of the Lama Yeshe biography Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe.

To keep up with all the activities of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, visit DalaiLama.com.

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Geneva, Switzerland, 2016. Photo by Olivier Adam.

Tibetans around the world, along with an international community of students of Tibetan Buddhism, celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 86th birthday on July 6. 

FPMT International Office enthusiastically joins the world in rejoicing in His Holiness’s beneficial life and we offer prayers for his continued long life among us. 

Supporting the wishes of His Holiness is a primary aim of the FPMT organization as described in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Vision for FPMT. Rinpoche has explained that “[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.” Rinpoche has further said, “This is the quickest and most vast way of benefiting sentient beings.”

Since its inception, the FPMT organization has turned to His Holiness the Dalai Lama for inspiration and guidance, as well as worked to actualize His Holiness’s vision and create the cause for his long life.

The finalization of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s offering of the Maitreya Project land in Bodhgaya to His Holiness the Dalai Lama was a highlight of last year. The donation of about thirty acres (twelve hectares) of prime land in Bodhgaya will help fulfill His Holiness’s wish to build an international institute that will share the wisdom of the Nalanda tradition in order to create happiness and peace in the world. (You can read more about this in Ven. Roger Kunsang’s message in the FPMT Annual Review 2020.)

In February 2021, His Holiness the Dalai Lama offered a teaching at the request of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the FPMT organization on Changkya Rölpai Dorjé’s Recognizing My Mother: An Experiential Song of the View. Rinpoche offered the introduction and dedication for the online event. After the dedication, His Holiness declared, “Zopa Rinpoche and I have known each other a long time. We are trusted friends. You and your teacher Lama Thubten Yeshe founded many centers around the world to help others. Rinpoche, you have done your best, thank you. Please be determined to keep up your efforts. What you have achieved cannot be overlooked. Thank you and Tashi Delek.”

The FPMT organization regularly participates in the offering of a long life puja to His Holiness. Rinpoche has also given extensive advice on prayers and practices to be done on His Holiness’s birthday and arranged 1,000 Buddhas to be offered to His Holiness on behalf of the FPMT organization.

At 86 years, His Holiness continues to be relevant and tuned into the needs of people around the world, engaging in discussions with young people and participating in dialogues on peace, the environment, science and the mind, and interfaith understanding. During the coronavirus pandemic, His Holiness is offering live webcasts of teachings to continue to connect with students and bring the teachings of the Buddha to the world.

On behalf of all sentient beings in desperate need of your compassionate guidance and presence in this world—please, please live a very long time, Your Holiness!

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

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

Jamyang staff doing recitations together: (from left) Paul Wells, operations manager; Geshe Namdak, resident teacher; Maria de Lurdes Mesquita, resident volunteer; and Ven. Fabienne Pradelle, director, London, 2021. Photo by Kamlo Chen-Duffy.

FPMT centers, projects, and services around the world engage in virtuous practices on the great Buddhist holy days, even during the pandemic lockdowns of the past year.

Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London, UK, shared an update on the practices that they did during Saka Dawa and earlier this year during the Day of Miracles in February.

Kamlo Chen-Duffy, the spiritual program coordinator at Jamyang London, said that about eighteen students did recitations from their homes during fifteen days of Saka Dawa. Together they accumulated:

• 29 recitations of the Vajra Cutter Sutra
• 7 recitations of the complete Golden Light Sutra
  
• 89 recitations of the Confession chapter of the Golden Light Sutra
  
• 27 recitations of Chanting the Names of Manjushri
  
• 402 recitations of the Heart Sutra
• 1 recitation of the Sanghata Sutra
  
• 13 recitations of the King of Prayers

In addition, Geshe Namdak also recited from the Kangyur in Tibetan.

“We also used this time to fund raise for the second part of our Honouring the Lineage project to install new statues of the lineage gurus in our gompa,” Kamlo wrote. “Last year we installed statues of Lama Tsongkhapa and his heart sons, along with statues of Shakyamuni Buddha, Guru Rinpoche, Atisha, and a protector statue. The second part of the project is the installation of statues of Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani, Nagarjuna, and Asanga.”

During the Day of Miracles in February 2021, about thirteen students from Jamyang did recitation practice in their homes and dedicated the merit for the long life of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

They did the following practices:

• 27 recitations of Vajra Cutter Sutra
  
• 4 recitations of the Golden Light Sutra
• 13 recitations of the Confession chapter of the Golden Light Sutra
  
• 3 times chanting the Names of Manjushri
  
• 341 times chanting the Heart Sutra
  

Once completed, they sent a heartfelt letter to Rinpoche, composed as a seven-limb prayer, that listed their accomplishments and their dedication of the merit of their recitations.

Please rejoice in and dedicate these practices as well as all the beneficial practice done worldwide during all the merit multiplying days as well as everyday!

Learn more about Jamyang Buddhist Centre and their Honouring the Lineage project.

Read Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice on practices to do during merit multiplying days, which include the Buddhist holy days and eclipses.

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Sand Mandala Festival at Mahamudra Centre for Universal Unity, Colville, New Zealand, March 2021. Photo by Jennifer Coyne.

Mahamudra Centre for Universal Unity, the FPMT center in Colville, New Zealand, welcomed school children and other community members to their center for a big ten-day celebration. Jennifer Coyne, spiritual program coordinator, shares the story.

We celebrated our forty-year anniversary in 2021 with a Chenrezig Sand Mandala Festival! We invited two Tibetan monks who live in New Zealand to come to our center to create the sand mandala. The making of a sand mandala is a practice that uses tiny grains of colored sand to represent the celestial abode of a particular Buddha. There are many different mandalas. The monks created the mandala of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion. It was chosen to radiate the enlightened, healing, compassionate energy of Chenrezig into this world.

Dissolving the sand mandala at Mahamudra Centre for Universal Unity, Colville, New Zealand, March 2021. Photo by Jennifer Coyne.

Our community came together for an opening ceremony to request permission from the local protectors and deities in the environment.  The monks then began constructing the mandala by using a metal funnel, tapping it with a deer antler horn to allow a stream of sand to trickle out. Each detail has a profound meaning and very specific pattern, which the monks had studied and memorized at a tantric college in South India. The mandala took ten days to create, and the process was incredible to watch.

Merely seeing this mandala plants a seed of compassion in the mindstream, and so we were delighted to welcome many visitors. Many locals and tourists who had never visited us before dropped in for our Sand Mandala Festival. We estimate approximately one hundred people viewed the mandala or joined the prayers and guided meditations.

The two monks led the morning and evening prayers, and our resident nuns Ven. Nangsel and Ven. Khadro led the guided meditations. One of the monks brought some extra tools so that visitors could try to create their own mandala. We quickly realized how much skill is required to construct a sand mandala.

A highlight for us was the school tour. Elizabeth, a teacher at Colville School, brought her class of students to view the mandala and try their hand at making their own mandalas. The students were around six years old. Elizabeth has a long-time connection with our center. She often joins us for our community meditations and has volunteered her time here in the past.

Mahamudra Centre for Universal Unity community, Colville, New Zealand, March 2021. Photo by Jennifer Coyne.

We had a closing ceremony to dedicate the merit after the monks had finished the mandala. Geshe Jamyang, one of the monks who created the sand mandala, reminded us of the importance of dedication. It allows the merit or positive energy to continue to flow and expand even long after the mandala has been dissolved. The mandala was so beautiful; it seemed a shame to dissolve it. Geshe Jamyang reminded us that just as our bodies are born, slowly decay, and then die, and just as a seed slowly blooms into a flower, everything material is subject to impermanence.

We poured the blessed sand into the ocean so we could offer the blessings to all sentient beings. Since all of the planet’s water bodies are interconnected, offering blessed sand to a single water body means that the blessings will radiate through the whole planet. The blessed sand will nourish and protect the well-being of the environment and all the beings who dwell in it. Gathered together at the water’s edge, our community said our final prayers while visualizing the blessings going out into the world. We especially visualized those blessings going to those who need it most.

Watch the seven-minute video “Chenrezig Sand Mandala at Mahamudra Centre” to see the process from beginning to end:
https://youtu.be/lht2wcqI2LI

We were honored to welcome Geshe Jamyang and Ven. Karma to our center to create the mandala.  Geshe Jamyang is the resident teacher at Tashi Choepel Ling in Tauranga, and Ven. Karma resides at Jam Tse Dhargyey Ling in Whangarei. They grew up together in Tibet, studied together at Sera Je Monastic University, and have both been living in New Zealand for more than ten years. They often come together to create sand mandalas at locations throughout New Zealand, usually in art galleries or public spaces. They were excited to create a sand mandala in a gompa, and we were excited to welcome them back to our center!

To learn more about Mahamudra Centre for Universal Responsibility, visit their website:
https://mahamudra.org.nz/

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, May 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

We hope you enjoy our June FPMT International Office e-News! 

This month we bring you:

• Highlights of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Thought Transformation Teachings
• New Live with Compassion Posters
• Pilot of a New FPMT Education Program
• New FPMT Practice Materials

And more, including the usual array of fabulous photos.

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page. French and Spanish speakers will find the FPMT International Office News translated each month in the “Bienvenue” and “Bienvenidos” tabs on the FPMT homepage.

The FPMT International Office e-News comes from your FPMT International Office. Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email box.

Ladakhi Lama at Root Institute for Wisdom Culture, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India. Photo by Paolo Regis (@paoloregisphotography).

We are saddened to share the news that Ven. Thupten Tsewang (also known as Ladakhi Lama and Baling Lama), born in Ladakh, India, passed away at the age of 92, at Kalpataru Buddha Vihar, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, on April 25, 2021, of natural causes.

Ladakhi Lama had been an attendant to Indian Buddhist master Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen Rinpoche (1894–1977). In his later years he was a part-time resident at Root Institute for Wisdom Culture in Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India.

Geshe Ngawang Rabga, the FPMT resident geshe at Root Institute from 2016–2020, wrote a kind remembrance of Gen-la, as Ladakhi Lama was sometimes called, to share with the international FPMT community:

“Gen-la was very respectable and close to me. His demise has saddened me deeply. He lived his life as a fully ordained monk and received Dharma teachings from many great masters like His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche. Therefore, he made his life a meaningful one. I truly appreciate the life he lived. I pray from my heart that he returns in his next life as a great teacher of the Buddhadharma in general, and especially of the teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa.”

In his younger days, before he ordained, Ladakhi Lama worked as a radio broadcaster at All India Radio in Ladakh. Ven. Tenzin Paldron, center director at Root Institute from 2015–2019, and Annie McGhee, who volunteered at the center, remembered him as an avid reader of The Times of India. “Lama loved to read the newspaper on a daily basis and was very well versed in political affairs in India and loved to discuss politics with the guests that visited,” Ven. Paldron said. Annie added, “He loved a good debate and engaged in many animated discussions over meals at the dining table.”

Ladakhi Lama, Ven. Tenzin Paldron, and Geshe Ngawang Rabga at Root Institute for Wisdom Culture, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India. Photo courtesy of Root Institute.

Ladakhi Lama met Khunu Lama in Varanasi in 1954, and Khunu Lama ordained him shortly after their meeting. After six years of being a devoted disciple, he became Khunu Lama’s attendant in 1960. Ven. Paldron said, “He often regaled many of us in the dining hall with stories of the times he spent serving high lamas like Khunu Lama and Denma Locho Rinpoche, and of the rich and varied experiences that he had living as an ordained monk in various temples.”

Annie recalled, “One story which really moved me was when Ladakhi Lama was making lunch—probably rice and dhal—and Khunu Lama told him, ‘Stop cooking now; we have to practice.’ So they had half-cooked rice for lunch! If only we had that dedication and commitment to study and practice the Dharma in the most beneficial way and not waste time on trivialities like food.”

Ladakhi Lama lived in various places, such as Mumbai and Nagpur, before going to Bodhgaya, which is where he met Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Rinpoche requested that Ladakhi Lama stay at Root Institute. “When I became director of Root Institute in June 2015, the first task given to me by Rinpoche was, ‘Take good care of Ladakhi Lama,’” Ven. Paldron said.

He became a much valued presence at Root Institute. “He was like a fatherly figure to us in many ways, often giving us teachings and advice, including making predictions such as who would get ordained,” Ven. Paldron said.

Vicki Taylor, another volunteer at the center, said, “Gen-la was a quiet and friendly presence for several years, bringing humor and cheer to our guests—especially in the dining hall. Despite his advanced age, Gen-la retained the fresh perspective and cheeky sweetness of a child, and I’m sure this gentle presence radiating Dharma contentment benefited many people.”

Indian monk Ven. Tashi Choedup first met Ladakhi Lama at Root Institute in 2017 and had many fond memories of him to share:

“Newly ordained myself, I hadn’t met many Indian ordained Sangha, Himalayan or otherwise; Lama was one of the first. His welcoming nature, warmth, love, and our ability to communicate in Hindi helped us establish a connection from our very first meeting. Lama was generous, sharing stories from his life experiences during our mealtimes. No matter how brief a guest’s visit to Root Institute was, all were touched by Lama’s infectious smile and kindness.

“Lama took me to my first ever Sangha dana ceremony and to many more such gatherings in Bodhgaya thereafter. I fondly remember making a trip to Patna Museum with Lama to pay respects to Buddha relics there.

“I also had the fortune of living in the room next to Lama’s and had the blessing of waking up to Lama’s prayers as early as 3 A.M. every morning. Although we only knew each other for a few years, Lama inspired me to practice Dharma more diligently and gave me the confidence to live an ordained life until the very end.

“Of Lama’s many qualities, one that was always visible was his giving nature. He was always giving away whatever money, food, or resources he had with him. He would never keep anything for himself—except maybe for the packets of Yippee instant noodles, his favorite.”

Ven. Tashi Choedup and Ladakhi Lama at Root Institute for Wisdom Culture, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, November 2019. Photo by Ven. Thubten Munsel.

Inder Kant, who met Ladakhi Lama in 2016 in Bodhgaya, commented on his kindness and humor as well as his profound generosity, recalling a story about visiting a very sick 102-year-old lama at a Tibetan monastery in Bodhgaya with Ladakhi Lama. “We gave the lama some food we had brought for him,” Inder said. “Ladakhi Lama used to visit the elderly lama, looking after him. The lama’s room was messy so Ladakhi Lama and I cleaned the room and made his bed with a new bed sheet. It was overwhelming to see the kindness of Ladakhi Lama.”

Ven. Paldron recounted another quality of Ladakhi Lama: “He was not afraid to challenge someone’s authority, no matter what their position was, if Lama thought they were behaving unethically or inappropriately. He shared various stories of how he had confronted bullies—including some lamas in temples—to make sure that the vulnerable and needy were treated fairly and justly. Lama did not care about his reputation or what would happen to him. If something needed to be corrected, he spoke out against it very fiercely.”

Ladakhi Lama was also very knowledgeable about the history of Bodhgaya and the Mahabodhi Stupa, as well as the significance of many of the small and large stupas around the main temple. He also knew all the main pilgrimage sites.

“In early October 2016, I arrived at Root Institute to volunteer for the winter season,” Annie McGhee said. “I had longed to go to Vikramashila, the home monastery of Lama Atisha. This pilgrimage site is in northeastern Bihar, a region unsafe to travel to as a single woman. I had made many prayers to go and had mentioned this to two friends. One morning I was standing in the breakfast queue when Ladakhi Lama came up to me and said, ‘You want to go to Vikramashila? OK, I will take you.’ I was overjoyed but a little concerned for Lama because it would be a long journey with rough conditions.

“A few of us from Root Institute made the trip together, traveling for ten hours one way by Jeep. At the entrance we stopped to take it all in, as it was a large and important monastic university in its time. Lama remarked, ‘Here is what is left of stupas that would have held the 108 arhats who resided at Vikramashila.’ He was quiet and reflective at other places but led us in many practices and prayers at some of the holy sites.”

Ladakhi Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the Mahabodhi Stupa, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, 2015. Photo by Andy Melnic.

Sharing her favorite memory of Ladakhi Lama, Vicki Taylor said, “Lama Zopa Rinpoche had requested from Gen-la the oral transmission of Gampopa’s classic lamrim text The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, which he himself had received from Khunu Lama. The transmission took more than one session, and a few of us were gathered in the Root Institute’s small gompa, about to start a subsequent session. When Rinpoche arrived, he showed great respect to Gen-la by trying to prostrate to him before we resumed. Gen-la could not bear to see Rinpoche struggle to prostrate to him, due to Rinpoche’s manifesting signs of a stroke and especially because of Gen-la’s deep respect and appreciation for Rinpoche. So Rinpoche was trying to prostrate, and Gen-la was trying to hold one of his arms to prevent him, all the while politely imploring Rinpoche not to prostrate. I remember the two of them, in a sort of ‘battle of politeness,’ intent on showing great respect to each other. It was beautiful to see.”

The practice of bodhicitta was very close to Ladakhi Lama’s heart. At Root Institute, he also gave the transmission of the verses from Jewel Lamp: A Praise of Bodhicitta, written by Khunu Lama.

Because it was his wish to go to Tushita Pure Land once he departed his body, a butter lamp is being offered in honor of Ladakhi Lama at Tushita Meditation Center, the FPMT center in Dharamsala, India, over the forty-nine day period along with daily prayers and dedications. May all of Lama’s wishes be fulfilled and may he quickly return to guide us on the path to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings.

For more on practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at time of death and other resources to support yourself and loved ones at time of death, please visit fpmt.org/death/.

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

A view of the new O.Sel.Ling Nunnery building at O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros, Spain

“There are many who desire enlightenment in a man’s body, but none who work for the benefit of sentient beings in the body of a woman. Therefore, until samsara is empty, I shall work for the benefit of sentient beings in a female body.” — Arya Tara

A new FPMT nunnery is being created at O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros, an FPMT retreat center in Spain. Ven. Joan Nicell, who is part of the nunnery advisory board, shares this update on progress of the nunnery:

Thanks to the hard work and tremendous generosity of a great many people, the project to build a nunnery on the land of O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros in southern Spain has finally materialized. A million thanks to all the people who helped and supported this project! In particular, our gratitude goes to the director of O.Sel.Ling, Anne Wenaas, who has worked tirelessly to realize this project and has also enabled O.Sel.Ling to contribute financially to its development, and to the late Isabel Arocena, a long time FPMT student, whose generosity allowed the building to be quickly finished just in time for Lama Zopa Rinpoche to bless the nunnery during his visit to O.Sel.Ling in May 2019.

O.Sel.Ling is situated in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range about forty kilometers (twenty-five miles) from the Mediterranean coast, and within easy traveling distance of Granada. The retreat center covers a large portion of the top of a mountain within a national park and has a spacious view over the wide valley below out to the distant sea.

Scenery around O.Sel.Ling, Spain

The new nunnery building is located on the side of the hill just below the large Tara statue. It consists of a gompa, eleven single rooms, a combined library and sitting room, a shared kitchen and dining room, and a large open terrace.

Rinpoche’s more recent advice includes building a Tibetan-style entrance gate, as well as adding Tibetan-style doors and windows, and constructing a beautiful traditional altar for the gompa. We are very lucky to have Peter Griffin, a skilled and experienced artist, working on actualizing this project. Hopefully we will have soon everything we need, including the necessary funds, to fulfill Rinpoche’s wish!

But, now, what the nunnery needs is nuns! Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said that the nunnery should be a place for older nuns to meditate and practice, and for new nuns to engage in studying the Dharma. As Rinpoche has been emphasizing in his recent video advice, in which he calls the Western Sangha in particular “heroes and heroines,” it is of great importance for non-Tibetan Sangha to have conducive places to live, where they can keep their morality pure and dedicate their lives to study, contemplation, and meditation.

Geshe Jampel, from Nalanda Monastery, doing pujas to the landlord spirits and so forth at the old ruins before starting the construction of the new nunnery building; almost all of the FPMT the Spanish nuns were present for the pujas as well as O.Sel.Ling volunteers and friends, O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros, Spain, 2017

Living together in a monastic setting gives Sangha the opportunity to be supported by other Sangha members. In addition, a supportive and caring community helps us deepen our practice. Living according to the Vinaya allows us to take refuge in the Buddhadharma and apply our practice in our daily lives. By nurturing and supporting the Sangha Jewel, we wish to create a community that inspires others to practice Dharma and take ordination for the benefit of all.

Ven. Thubten Khadro, who is currently teaching in New Zealand, was recently appointed as coordinator. She is planning to begin helping the nunnery remotely in August 2021 and hopes to actually go to O.Sel.Ling in May 2022. Rinpoche has also advised two young Russian nuns to come to live in the nunnery and they are currently working on getting the necessary visas. A German nun currently doing retreat in O.Sel.Ling has expressed interest in being part of this new community.

However, we believe it is very important to have some senior nuns join the community. In this way, the less experienced nuns will have the support of more experienced ones. For this reason, we would like to offer FPMT senior nuns the opportunity to come to live, practice, and study the Dharma in this beautiful place. We would be very happy to collaborate with you in creating a community of nuns that can serve as an inspiration for and be of benefit to all sentient beings.

With thanks from the O.Sel.Ling Nunnery Advisory Board: Ven. Sangye Khadro, Ven. Joan Nicell, Ven. Nerea Basurto, and Ven. Marga Echezarreta.

A view of the new O.Sel.Ling Nunnery building from below, O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros, Spain

If you are interested in being part of this new Sangha community or if you would like to offer support to completing the building project and furnishing the rooms so that the first nuns can move in, please email monasterio.oseling@gmail.com.

Learn more about O.Sel.Ling Centros de Retiros:
http://www.oseling.org/

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

A Medical University student teaching soup kitchen guests how to properly wash their hands, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, October 2020. Photo courtesy of Lamp of the Path.

In 2005, the FPMT center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, organized a nonprofit organization, Lamp of the Path, to take over the center’s social welfare activities. Community Service is one of FPMT’s Five Pillars of Service. Center director Ianzhina Bartanova shares about their current projects.

Lamp of the Path’s main soup kitchen has been closed almost continuously since the beginning of 2021. We were able to re-open for a short time, only to have to close again due to COVID restrictions. Nevertheless, we continued to offer support to one of the most vulnerable communities of Mongolia, the Mongolian Blind’s People’s Association.

Mongolian Blind People’s Association member and his sister receiving food support from Lamp of the Path, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, February 2021. Photo courtesy of Lamp of the Path.

In January 2021, we began helping families by providing food and essential coal supplies. Most of the seventy-five families we have helped live in a ger district. This means they have one felt tent to share with up to seven family members. The Mongolian government provides visually impaired citizens with a small monthly stipend of approximately US$105 per person.

One of our beneficiaries, Ms. Oyunbat, lives with her daughter and two nieces in one apartment. Her daughter is unemployed and looks after the children. Another beneficiary, Ms. Enkhtuya, is living with her son, daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren. Her son’s  income is unstable, and life is quite challenging for the entire family.

The visually impaired members who are employed often work at massage salons, sell handmade goods, or work at the Mongolian Blind People’s Association. Multiple lockdowns have made it impossible for them to earn any extra income. They haven’t received much assistance from the government—just a reduction in utility fees and a discount on the price of coal.

Things are even more challenging for elderly people and those who are living alone. Social workers have few opportunities to visit them due to social distancing rules. We are very delighted to be able to provide some help to this vulnerable community. The Mongolian Blind People’s Association expressed their heartfelt gratitude for our timely and essential support and shared about our efforts on their website.

Amgalan residents receiving food support from Lamp of the Path, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, January 2021. Photo courtesy Lamp of the Path.

Amgalan, another of our long-term nonprofit partners, offers shelter to former alcoholics and the homeless. We recently provided substantial food supplies to eighteen residents. We were pleased to learn that our partner 12th khoroo District will receive some help from the government. Lamp of the Path is located in the 12th khoroo District and we feel very connected to people living there.

In 2020, we began a new project in cooperation with government social workers. Every week, a social worker or someone from our group visited five poor families. We delivered food items from lists prepared by the social workers. When we didn’t receive any requests this year we inquired, and learned they are now receiving government help. We hope the government will expand their efforts and reach more people in need.

We visited hundreds of family households and observed that many are headed by single mothers. We have decided to focus on helping single mothers this year as much as we can.

When we briefly opened our soup kitchen, we observed our guests didn’t know how to properly wash their hands to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They would touch the tap water for a few seconds and then consider their hands clean. We invited medical students to offer an informative seminar, “Diseases Communicated through Unclean Hands.” The medical students spoke about diseases spread by unclean hands, conditions that require handwashing, and handwashing techniques. The audience had a lot of fun!

Guests enjoying a meal at the soup kitchen while adhering to mandatory social distancing, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, March 2021. Photo courtesy of Lamp of the Path.

We are also pleased to share that we have been able to retain our entire staff, and that they continue to receive their full salaries. This is a challenging time around the world, but it has shown us human beings have great potential to act with love and kindness. We can work together to bring great benefit to those in need. We are deeply grateful to all our supporters, and we wish them all the best!

We plan to further serve our community this year by continuing our collaborations with the Enerel Clinic, International School of Ulaanbaatar, Medical University, the Mongolian Blind People’s Association, government social workers serving the 12th and 23rd khoroos of Bayanzurkh District, and more.

To learn more about Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, visit their website:
http://www.fpmtmongolia.org/

The Social Services Fund was honored to offer US$29,400 to this incredible project this year. Since 2012, thanks to a generous donor and the support of many, we have offered over US$246,000 to the Lamp of the Path program.

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Volunteer training course class taught by Alexandra Mejia at Centro Nagarjuna Madrid, Spain, February 2019. Photo courtesy of Alexandra Mejia.

La Asociacion Potala Hospice (Potala Hospice Association) is one of FPMT’s hospice services offering service to the community during the COVID pandemic. Community Service is one of FPMT’s Five Pillars of Service. Alexandra Mejia, coordinator, shares the story.

La Asociacion Potala Hospice began its journey in December 2000, one month after a group of students had the opportunity to meet Lama Zopa Rinpoche on Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. Rinpoche told me it would be good to organize a group of people at Nagarjuna C.E.T. Madrid, an FPMT center, who were interested in the subject of death so we could accompany and support people who are dying. Rinpoche advises me to learn everything I could from the work done by Ven. Thubten Pende (Ken Hawter), founder of Karuna Hospice Service, an FPMT project in Queensland, Australia. This is how, under the inspiration and advice of our precious Lama Zopa Rinpoche, we began to meet once a week. In May 2003, we became a registered nonprofit organization in Spain. Our organization’s name was given to us by our dear Rinpoche.

La Asociacion Potala Hospice board members Jose Enrique Parra, Leticia Bonon, Alexandra Mejia, Andreu Stany, Iago Carbonell, and Isabel Picaso meeting on Zoom, April 2021. Photo by Alexandra Mejia.

In 2007, we signed a collaboration agreement with Hestia Hospital in Madrid to accompany patients in the palliative care unit. Since then, hundreds of people have become La Asociacion Potala Hospice volunteers and have completed one of the training courses we periodically offer. Our organization continues to grow. We formed a volunteer group in Valencia in November 2019 and a group in Barcelona in December 2020.

Our organization’s main function has been face-to-face volunteering. The volunteer plays an important role in hospitals, and their work is well-recognized, accepted, and appreciated among hospital staff. Illness from disease creates a situation that favors the emergence of questions in the human mind. The tedious hours spent hospitalized, the beginning of gradual and irrecoverable losses, the difficult encounter with fragility and dependence on others, the feelings of powerlessness that follow, and the senselessness of suffering raise questions connected with our spiritual dimension. Our physical needs to eat, sleep, drink, and breathe are normally satisfied by objects, but a person’s spiritual needs can only be satisfied by another human being. Our need for affection, contact, respect, reconciliation, and hope can never be satisfied by a machine, drug, or concept. Volunteers, through their presence and support, help the sick find hope.

Zoom volunteer training class on how to offer telephone support during COVID, May 2020. Photo by Iago Carbonell.

Our volunteers are people who, through their own motivation of solidarity, sought out training to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to accompany the patient at the end of life. When COVID broke out, our volunteers were engaged in this work in Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona, and we had plans to begin collaborating with new institutions. However, due to COVID, volunteering is not allowed in the hospitals in Spain. 

We reinvented our activities so we can continue with our main objective, which is to accompany people in their suffering through illnesses and death. In 2020, we maintained cohesion among our volunteers by training them to offer telephone support for people affected by COVID. We met weekly by Zoom during the months of April, May, and June. We wanted to maintain communication between ourselves and support each other, while also continuing to train ourselves through participation in workshops on the subject of death, dying, and accompaniment.

While hospitals are still closed to volunteers, we continue to help the community by offering workshops on death via Zoom to the FPMT Hispana community. We also increased our social media presence, launching a Facebook page and Instagram account to share helpful content.

To learn more about La Asociacion Potala Hospice, visit their website:
https://www.potalahospiceluzclara.org/en-au

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.