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Thirteen-Deity Yamantaka sand mandala constructed by the Kopan tantric monks. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
The circular representations of universes inhabited by particular deities are known as mandalas in Tibetan Buddhism. There are many types, but the sand mandala is the most difficult to create. Millions of colored sand grains are meticulously arranged, using a metal funnel to place them in an outline drawing of the mandala. After its completion, the mandala is traditionally dismantled with an appropriate puja. This process symbolizes the impermanent nature of all phenomena.
Kopan Monastery has a tantric college that follows the tradition of Gyurme Tantric College in South India. Kopan’s tantric monks are trained in making sand mandalas, among other ritual activites.
Kopan’s Geshe Lhundrup Sherab speaks in this short video about sand mandalas and the customs followed at Kopan Monastery. He explains that there are two types of sand mandalas. One is flat and two-dimensional, and one stands up as a three-dimensional mandala. At Kopan, the monks create three-dimensional mandalas, which Geshe Sherab explains is the best way to accumulate merit and purify negativities. The Kopan tantric monks have two sand mandalas that they construct each year: Thirteen-Deities of Yamantaka and Guhyasamaja.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering a khata to the Guhyasamaja sand mandala in the Tantric College gompa of Kopan Monastery before a fire puja, November 2015. Photo by Ven. Losang Sherab.
The Thirteen-Deities of Yamantaka sand mandala is created on the merit-multiplying day of Lhabab Duchen, which commemorates Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s return to Earth from the God Realm of the Thirty-Three after teaching Dharma for several months to the gods there, including his mother, Mayadevi, who had died a week after Buddha’s birth and been reborn there. The Guhyasamja sand mandala is created on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, the day commemorating Tsongkhapa’s parinirvana, again, taking the opportunity to collect extensive merit due to the power of this holy day.
Watch “A Brief Introduction to the Practice of Making a Sand Mandala”:
https://youtu.be/qkQ7MSEi7IM
This year at Kopan, the Thirteen-Deities of Yamantaka was completed the day before Lhabab Duchen, and this video includes footage of the monks working on it, dismantling it, and offering it into the river to benefit all beings abiding there—truly an inspiration to observe! You can read more about all the auspicious activities that occurred on Lhabab Duchen at Kopan Monastery, including the sand mandala.
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 our last announcement on November 13, we stated we would publish “a summary report on the fact-finding assessment” into the claims of misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche “after we complete our remaining work with FaithTrust Institute.”
We received a DRAFT of the Summary Report last month (October 2020), and we had hoped and expected to have the opportunity to contribute to the draft with FaithTrust Institute (FTI). However, FTI has recently informed us that they consider their work for FPMT Inc. to be completed.
Therefore, as we had committed and in a spirit of complete and utter transparency, FPMT Inc. is releasing the complete, unedited draft of FTI’s Summary Report to you now.
It is essential to note that FPMT does not agree with some of the points included by FTI in their Draft Summary Report.
We will be providing a further update explaining and clarifying our main concerns about this Summary Report. These comments will in no way call into question all that we acknowledged in our previous statement. We will also update about the work we are already doing, and still need to do, to fulfil the recommendations.
We want to take this opportunity to apologise again to the victims for the suffering experienced.
DRAFT Summary Report from FaithTrust Institute
Find links to past updates.
A warm welcome to our November FPMT International Office e-News.
This month we bring you news about:
- Studying Masters and Basic Program is Preliminary Practice
- The Big Love Festival
- New and Updated Practice Materials
- Statement Regarding Conclusion of Dagri RInpoche Investigation
….and more.
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.
This is an update to our previous announcements concerning our fact-finding assessment undertaken in response to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche.
As part of that assessment, the FPMT Inc. Board has received the confidential report of the independent investigation it commissioned from FaithTrust Institute* in October 2019.
Understanding the seriousness of these allegations against a teacher who has many devoted students within the FPMT organization who have greatly benefitted from his Dharma teachings and guidance, we have taken time to carefully assess and digest the report.
The allegations against Dagri Rinpoche investigated by FaithTrust Institute date back to 2008. They include complaints from women of groping, sexual harassment and sexual assault, both within FPMT centers and elsewhere. Some women reported they were assaulted for years. Some were ordained nuns.
Using a standard for civil legal proceedings based on a preponderance of the evidence, FaithTrust Institute concluded from witness interviews, statements and corroborating evidence that Dagri Rinpoche did engage in a pattern of intentional and inappropriate sexual behavior that persisted over many years towards women who were in his company due to his position as a trusted incarnate lama and teacher.
Despite multiple requests, Dagri Rinpoche did not meaningfully engage with FaithTrust Institute’s investigation. However, when he received a detailed summary of multiple victim statements from FaithTrust Institute, he emailed a written response asking for forgiveness.
Therefore, we accept that, according to the standard applied by FaithTrust Institute, Dagri Rinpoche committed sexual misconduct, which also qualifies as spiritual abuse given his position as a spiritual teacher.
We have unanimously determined that the temporary suspension of Dagri Rinpoche from the list of registered FPMT teachers (from which FPMT centers can choose to invite to provide Dharma teachings) is now permanent. That suspension, and now permanent removal from the list, means that FPMT centers, projects, and services, cannot invite Dagri Rinpoche to give Dharma teachings at the center.
Given FPMT’s policies and procedures in place when two allegations were brought to FPMT Inc. during the relevant time, we responded to the best of our ability. We would now respond in a more robust way to any allegation of abuse by someone teaching in the FPMT organization. We always want to improve our policies and procedures, and are grateful for the learning brought during this fact-finding assessment. We are deeply sorry for the suffering experienced due to any gaps in our previous procedures.
We thank FaithTrust Institute for its work. We are grateful for the brave victims who requested and assisted with the investigation.
FPMT Inc. is responsible for providing policies and guidelines for implementation by its affiliated centers, projects, and services around the world, which are separate independent legal entities. We operate within an organizational structure whereby individual FPMT centers are responsible for events at that affiliate and for investigating any allegations of misconduct.
We have already started working to implement recommendations for improving our policies and guidelines based on recommendations made by thirtyone:eight (the UK-based safeguarding charity) and will also now work to explore and implement additional recommendations from FaithTrust Institute.
We will be publishing additional updates and a summary report on the fact-finding assessment, together with the steps we are taking in further improving existing policy and guidelines to help affiliates protect from abuse. These updates will be posted after we complete our remaining work with FaithTrust Institute to clarify and finalise some of the report details and to ensure that the request for anonymity for the victims is maintained.
This ongoing work will help to insure that FPMT students, Sangha, and listed teachers maintain healthy boundaries within which all may spiritually benefit and flourish.
*FaithTrust Institute is a multifaith, multicultural education, training and investigative organization that has assisted Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations to skillfully respond to claims that healthy boundaries between leaders and their spiritual communities have been breached.
Find links to past updates.
Vens. Losang Gyaltsen and Lobsang Tendar, the previous and current Nalanda Monastery directors, receive the keys to the Gachepel property from previous property owner, Didier Leyrisse, Lavaur, France, October 2020. Photo by Ven. Losang Chodrak.
On October 12, 2020, Nalanda Monastery, the FPMT monastery in the South of France, celebrated a significant step in their project to develop a retreat location called Maitreya Pure Land. The nearby property, known as Gachepel, was handed over to the monastery in a symbolic moment.
Nalanda’s Facebook page narrated the photo they posted of the occasion: “The happy moment of receiving the key from the owner of Gachepel, the neighboring property. We managed to acquire it (with your enormous help) with a plan to transform it into a retreat place for both monastic and lay people. Maitreya Pure Land is a big step and also a big responsibility for Nalanda. Thank you all who made it possible! Let’s rejoice and pray that this project will be most beneficial for all sentient beings.”
Geshe Tenzin Losel (Graham Woodhouse), Ven. Losang Gyaltsen, and lay people offering prayers at Maitreya Pure Land, Lavaur, France, October 2020. Photo by Ven. Künkhyen.
Maitreya Pure Land was inaugurated on October 24, 2020. The celebratory event included a visit to the new land, a community vegetarian lunch, speeches, prayers, and a ribbon cutting ceremony.
About the event, Nalanda Monastery wrote on Facebook, “Very happy moments! Maitreya Pure Land, our new retreat land, was recently inaugurated in the presence of Emmanuel Joulié, the mayor of Labastide-Saint-Georges, Gomde Rinpoche, Nalanda Monastery’s abbot Geshe Lobsang Jamphel, Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen, Geshe Graham Woodhouse, and a great community of monks, nuns, and lay practitioners. All together we had about 100 visitors. The rainy days miraculously stopped and we were granted a beautiful sunny day. We all came together in the courtyard of our new retreat place and performed Lama Chöpa with Tsog Offering as well as ‘Praises to the 21 Taras.’
“Ven. Lobsang Tendar, Nalanda’s new director, expressed his gratitude, saying, ‘We are very very fortunate to have this beautiful property now. I hope it will benefit all sentient beings. Thanks to all sponsors who have contributed. Also, thanks to our teachers and holy beings: without their blessings nothing would happen.'”
Watch “Vision for Maitreya Pure Land – Retreat Place near Nalanda,” created by Ven. Thubten Zoksang, on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/RqZg93_8VXo
In October 2018, Nalanda Monastery learned of the possibility of purchasing Gachepel, a neighboring property which had been a family home for two hundred years, in a private sale from the owner. The agreed upon price was 1.2 million € (US$1,340,000).
The first donation, US$100,000, and the property’s new name, Maitreya Pure Land, were given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche when he visited Gachepel in June 2019. Later, Nalanda Monastery’s then director Vens. Losang Gyaltsen and current director Lobsang Tendar went on a fundraising tour. Nalanda Monastery successfully completed their fundraising campaign on March 19, 2020.
Gomde Rinpoche, Geshe Lobsang Jamphel, Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen, and Mayor Emmanuel Joulié at Maitreya Pure Land, Lavaur, France, October 2020. Photo by Ven. Künkhyen.
Rinpoche said, “It would be excellent for those who have studied at Nalanda, both monastics and lay, to do semi-isolated retreats [at Maitreya Pure Land] in order to realize the teachings. Therefore, by acquiring Gachepel, Nalanda can provide a retreat center allowing monastic and lay practitioners to integrate and realize the Buddha’s teachings.
“The results from achieving this goal are many. Notably more Western practitioners will become qualified and experienced teachers, being able to benefit the Dharma and sentient beings. Also Gachepel will help to ensure the preservation of the complete Tibetan Buddhist tradition in the West.”
For more information about Nalanda Monastery, visit their website:
https://nalanda-monastery.eu/index.php/en/
For more information about Maitreya Pure Land, visit their website:
https://maitreya.nalanda-monastery.eu/
US$100,000 was offered toward the purchase of new retreat land for Nalanda Monastery in France. This land will be used to facilitate lamrim retreats. Rinpoche commented that it would be excellent for those who have studied at Nalanda, both monastics and lay people, to do semi-isolated retreats at this new retreat land in order to realize the teachings.
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 Yeshe carrying a cheesecake mandala at Deer Park Buddhist Center, Madison, WI, US, 1978. Photo by Morgan Groves, courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Big Love Festival graphic by Michaela Kirchem.
Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW), an international FPMT project, will celebrate nearly forty years of Universal Education with the online Big Love Festival from Monday, November 23, to Saturday, November 28, 2020. FDCW’s programs are based on Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom—a secular system of inner learning that cultivates and explores universal values such as humility, kindness, courage, compassion, and empathy—which is one of FPMT’s Five Pillars of Service. The Big Love Festival brings together fifteen speakers from a wide range of Universal Education projects to share how they have brought Universal Education into people’s lives in very practical ways. FDCW’s Executive Director, Victoria Coleman, shares the story.
Lama Thubten Yeshe first shared his vision for a Universal Education in the mid-1970s, and since then his unique and innovative approach has inspired many individuals and projects offered in schools, universities, hospices, workplaces, healthcare, youth groups, and community centers around the world. In an interview in 1983, Lama Yeshe described his radical idea in more depth. He said, “We have to get rid of people’s old concepts and give them a new imagination; a new, broad way of looking at themselves and the world. That’s what I mean by ‘universal.'”
The Big Love Festival is not only a celebration of what has been achieved but also an opportunity to gather ideas and inspiration to shape the next forty years of Universal Education in response to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, and social and economic inequality and injustice.
The list of speakers includes Tenzin Ösel Hita, Ven. Robina Courtin, Professor Jan Willis, and many more.
FDCW’s honorary president, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, will open the festival on Monday, November 23. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, patron of FDCW, has sent a written message on the occasion of the Big Love Festival. FDCW is delighted to be able to share this message with festival participants at the opening of the festival.
Big Love Festival, graphic by Michaela Kirchem.
The festival is open to all who are interested in creating a better, wiser, and more compassionate world. All sessions take place online and can be joined live and for free. FDCW is looking to make recordings of sessions available. Please register for the festival to receive regular updates.
FDCW was established in 2005 and provides training, programs, and resources inspired by the values and vision of Universal Education. FDCW’s programs are grounded in Buddhist teachings and presented in secular language using modern learning methods both online and in person. The focus is putting secular ethics into practice in everyday life.
Over the years FDCW’s programs have reached many thousands of people through a dedicated and growing network of 86 facilitators across 22 countries.
To learn more about the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom, visit the FDCW website: https://www.compassionandwisdom.org
To register for the Big Love Festival, visit the webpage:
https://www.compassionandwisdom.org/big-love-festival-2020
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 Dalai Lama at the Mindscience of Reality Symposium, organized by Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa and Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy, September 2017. Photo by Olivier Adam.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama will join a live online event celebrating the publication of Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Volume 2: The Mind. Wisdom Publications is hosting the live book launch on Friday, November 13, at 9 a.m. India Standard Time (UTC +5:30); Thursday, November 12, at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (UTC -5; for more time zones, please see Time Zone Converter).
The Mind is the second volume in the Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics series, focusing on the science of mind. The series is the English translation of a compilation of texts drawn from the Kangyur and Tengyur, which discusses the physical world, mind science, and Buddhist philosophy. Described as a heart-project of His Holiness, a committee of Tibetan geshes created this compendium, which was published in Tibetan in 2014 as four volumes. Translations of these volumes are being made into Chinese, English, Italian, and other languages.
In this second volume, readers are introduced to Buddhist conceptions of mind and consciousness and then led through traditional presentations of mental phenomena to reveal a Buddhist vision of the inner world with implications for the contemporary disciplines of cognitive science, psychology, emotion research, and philosophy of mind.
In addition to His Holiness, the book launch features the following guests: Daniel Aitken, CEO & Publisher, Wisdom Publications; Geshe Thupten Jinpa, series editor; Dechen Rochard, translator; and John D. Dunne, author of contextual essays and translator.
“What could be more central to Buddhism than the mind? As the opening verse of the Dhammapada says, ‘mind is the basis for everything,’” writes José Ignacio Cabezón, Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. “This groundbreaking volume introduces the reader to the most important Buddhist ideas about the mind—its nature, types, workings, and the techniques that Buddhists through the centuries have used to transform it. A truly indispensable sourcebook.”
For more information and to sign up to watch His Holiness the Dalai Lama live, please visit the The Mind book launch page on WisdomExperience.org.
You can read an excerpt of His Holiness’s introduction to the first volume of the Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics series, The Physical World, published by Wisdom Publications in November 2017, from Mandala January–June 2018: “A Gift of Insight: Buddhist Mind Science and Philosophy.”
Find more live online teachings and talks with His Holiness at DalaiLama.com/live.
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.
Some of the FPMT North America Regional Meeting participants on Zoom, September 2020. Photo by Drolkar McCallum.
At the end of September 2020, Drolkar McCallum, regional coordinator for FPMT North America and office manager for the International Mahayana Institute—FPMT’s international community of nuns and monks—held a successful and highly enjoyable regional meeting. Drolkar offered her reflections.
This was the first time that we had the North American regional meeting online, but our two-hour Zoom meeting went better than expected. With the help of two dakinis—Beth Dart to troubleshoot Zoom and Jennifer Kim to take notes—I could concentrate on what the participants were saying, while battling my unstable internet connection. (At the end of the short midway break, I had to ask Beth if everyone was back yet as I couldn’t see anyone!)
Twenty-nine participants representing FPMT International Office and seventeen centers, projects, services, and study groups from all over the United States and Canada came together with a few FPMT registered teachers to report on how they were all coping during the age of COVID-19. I was very impressed with their resilience, enthusiasm, and the way they quickly adapted to online activities to keep the Dharma flowing.
We were very happy that Ven. Roger Kunsang, FPMT International Office CEO, came to listen, but when he left early someone joked that he’d gone to watch the US presidential debate. I found out afterwards that his internet connection had given out.
Even though the meeting was online and much shorter than normal, there was an obvious delight in seeing each other once again and in rekindling that family feeling. I rejoice in my merit everyday to be able to work with this amazing group of people.
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.
MD Shahid and Binod packaging food at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, Bihar, India, June 2020. Photo by Samten Dolma Bhutia.
Root Institute for Wisdom Culture, the FPMT center in Bodhgaya, Bihar State, India, has been distributing daily staples and food in the local community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Community service is one of FPMT’s Five Pillars of Service.
The online story “Root Institute for Wisdom Culture Helping Local Communities in Need” is an inspiring account of team work, community building, and direct service as told by Root Institute center manager, Samten Dolma Bhutia, who is also managing the food distribution initiative.
“Root Institute had the wish to offer service during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in our state of Bihar, one of the poorest states in India with a high volume of migrant workers,” Samten writes. “The merit-multiplying month of Saka Dawa helped us set this course into action. By the blessing of Lama Zopa Rinpoche we began distributing food in May, funded by Root Institute. In June 2020, we received a donation from the Tzu Chi Foundation in Taiwan for food distribution around the Buddhist holy sites of Bodhgaya and Sarnath, and began distributing food on their behalf on June 5.”
Lucy Khujur and village representative Ravi helping with food distribution in Sukhandi Village, Bihar State, India, July 2020. Photo by Samten Dolma Bhutia.
As of their most recent food distribution on September 14, Root Institute staff have packed and distributed more than 1,400 bags of food in more than ten villages as well as the Veda Orphan Old Age Home in Bodhgaya.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche sent a message, “Benefits of Charity: Root Institute’s Food Distribution Program during COVID-19,” to Root Institute, rejoicing in their work:
“Thinking from the side of the beneficiaries, these are times of great hardships for them, and help has arrived in their utmost time of need. When we are extremely poor with nothing left to eat and when someone helps us in such a time of need, imagine how extremely happy and appreciative we feel. By this you know exactly what it’s like.”
Barachati Village, Bihar State, India, June 2020. Photo by Samten Dolma Bhutia.
Read the complete online story “Root Institute for Wisdom Culture Helping Local Communities in Need” and Rinpoche’s entire message:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/online-features/root-institute-for-wisdom-culture-helping-local-communities/
For more information about Root Institute for Wisdom Culture, visit their website:
https://www.rootinstitute.ngo
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.
Rinpoche outside the Kopan Monastery gompa, Nepal. September 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
In this month’s FPMT International Office e-News, out now, we bring you news about:
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings and Advice
- How We’re Supporting Schools in India and Nepal
- Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi’s Story
- Who’s Who in the FPMT Organization
….and more!
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.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Bodhgaya, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Neal Patrick.
Dharma students and the general public have the ongoing opportunity to watch and study with His Holiness the Dalai Lama via live webcast during the coronavirus pandemic.
The next live webcast of His Holiness will be a three-day teaching on October 2–4, 2020. His Holiness will teach on Lama Je Tsongkhapa’s Essence of True Eloquence (tangnye lekshey nyingpo) and Chandrakirti’s Entering the Middle Way (uma jukpa) beginning each day at 9 A.M. India Standard Time (UTC+5:30). (You can find your local time using a time zone converter.)
His Holiness is broadcasting from his residence in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India. This teaching is being given at the request of Taiwanese Buddhist students. People are requested to please follow social distancing rules while viewing the live webcast.
His Holiness’s teachings will be translated live into English, Chinese, Hindi, French, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Japanese, Mongolian, Korean, German, Portuguese, and Italian. Links for translations are available on dalailama.com/live.
Students not able to watch the live webcasts of His Holiness’s teachings can watch recordings of them online. They are available on dalailama.com/videos and the Dalai Lama Archive YouTube channel.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche watching His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s live webcast from Kopan Monastery, May 2020. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
His Holiness’s first live webcast, a two-day teaching on Nagarjuna’s Precious Garland, was given on May 16–17, 2020. The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote, “Today, for the first time, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave a teaching with no one sitting in front of him that was captured on video and webcast to the world.”
His Holiness began the webcast by remarking, “We are using this marvelous technology, which is quite amazing, for today’s teaching. The main reason is that many people whom I know—my friends and others who may have interest—and I used to have meetings. Due to the pandemic there are restrictions on meeting people. Therefore, we have this difficulty, so we are doing this teaching via webcast. Some people have requested I give some talk, and I thought it was a very good idea to do so.”
His Holiness will give a three-day teaching on November 5–7, 2020, on Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhicitta (jangchup semdrel), beginning each day at 9 A.M. India Standard Time (UTC+5:30). This teaching is being given at the request of Russian Buddhists.
Dates for online talks and teachings with His Holiness can be found as they are announced on the regularly updated schedule for His Holiness: dalailama.com/schedule.
For more on His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his beneficial activities, please 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.
Geshema Namdrol Phuntsok leading a discussion group at Kopan Nunnery, Kathmandu, Nepal, September 2020. Photo by Ani Lobsang Drolma.
Monks have held the Jang Guncho, the winter debate festival, for centuries. The first Nuns’ Jang Guncho took place in Dharamsala, India, in 1995. An annual event, the Nuns’ Jang Guncho is an opportunity for nunneries to gather together to train in and practice debate. The 2018 Nuns’ Jang Guncho took place at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery (Kopan Nunnery), an FPMT nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal. Ani Lobsang Drolma, from Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, shares about the Jang Guncho in 2020 and how its been affected by the pandemic.
In mid-August, Kopan Nunnery started the Jang Guncho, the month-long winter debate session. Most of the Kopan senior nuns, except for the staff, participated in this festival.
The famous event originated in Central Tibet in the monasteries and nunneries west of Lhasa. The focus is on logic, using the text Pramanavartika (Commentary on Valid Cognition) by Dharmakirti.
Geshema Namdol Phuntsok teaching debate by example with her students at Kopan Nunnery, Kathmandu, Nepal, September 2020. Photo by Ani Lobsang Drolma.
This inter-monastic debate festival has been held annually. Currently organized by the Tibetan Nuns Project, the Gelug nunneries in Nepal and India would usually gather together to debate with each other, with each institution taking turns hosting. Unfortunately this year plans to gather in India had to be canceled due to the pandemic. For months nuns haven’t left their nunneries as a precaution to prevent possible exposure to the virus.
The younger nuns, who are still in school subjects such as language, science, and math, continue with their studies and prayer memorization. Only the nuns who have graduated from these subjects and now study Buddhist philosophy participate in the festival. During this month, only Pramanavartika is studied in depth and debated. The schedule is intense, with two debate sessions daily, and ongoing memorization and discussion of logic in between.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Nunnery, Kathmandu, Nepal, September 2020. Photo by Ven. Thubten Choying.
The winter debate festival ended on September 15. The tsenphue dhamcha, a night group debate between the classes, was held that day from 4 p.m. until midnight. Lama Zopa Rinpoche and nunnery abbot Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, who are both staying at nearby Kopan Monastery, visited the nunnery to listen to the nuns debate and then left at dinner time. Rinpoche gave a precious teaching before he left, and he appear to be very happy with the nuns. The next day was the final day of the Yarne, the summer retreat.
Tsenphue Dhamcha at Kopan Nunnery, Kathmandu, Nepal, September 2020. Photo by Ven. Thubten Choying.
Now that both the Jang Guncho and the Yarne are finished the nuns are getting a holiday for a week. However, many nuns are busy with their Gelug college exam preparations. The rest of the nuns will have good break.
Watch a one-minute video of the Kopan nuns debating during the Jang Guncho:
https://youtu.be/sUKC1HPX1zc
For more information about Kopan Nunnery, visit their website:
http://www.khachonunnery.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.
