Announcements

FPMT International Office is continuing to follow the two approaches outlined below in terms of assessing and updating our safeguarding and grievance procedures, and responding to the concerns raised by the allegations regarding Dagri Rinpoche.

1. Approach of providing spiritual advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche to students of Dagri Rinpoche, based on the lamrim practice of guru devotion.

2. Approach of assessing and addressing any allegations in the context of worldly conventions.
This involves following normal procedures for investigating any allegations. FPMT International Office takes accusations of abuse very seriously, and are actively reviewing the existing procedures we have in place for managing allegations, grievances, and disputes, assessing any gaps that we may have, and improvements we can make.

Since our last update on May 24, 2019, we have followed these steps:

• We have continued to communicate with some of the alleged victims and also with numerous students and others, and are carefully reviewing all input and suggestions received.
• We have added some additional links and pathways to our Safeguarding and Problem Solving and our Ethical Policy pages on fpmt.org.
• We have become a member of a UK safeguarding charity called Thirtyone:eight and are reviewing their templates, audit tools, and resources on safeguarding to assess any gaps in our current procedures and to identify areas for improvement.
• We are exploring what options are available to commission a suitable professional body to conduct an independent review of our current polices and procedures, to identify any gaps or areas for improvement.
• We are assessing what options are available to allow us to increase awareness of, and ensure priority is given to, safeguarding and implementation of a clear grievance procedure in the FPMT network of centers, projects, and services around the world.

FPMT International Office remains committed to continue to improve our policies and procedures to ensure we have robust systems in place for protecting against abuse, and to provide a safe environment for teachers to teach and be supported. We continue to require and assist FPMT center, service, and project directors to stay up to date with, and implement, our policies and guidelines.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, France, May 2019. Photograph by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

The FPMT International Office e-News for June is out now!  This month we bring you:

• Updates about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Schedule
• FPMT Ethical Policy in More Languages
• New from Mandala Publications
• Registration Date for Kopan Monastery’s One Month Lamrim Retreat

…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.

FPMT International Office has received considerable correspondence regarding the alleged misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche and the decision to suspend Dagri Rinpoche from the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List. (See the timeline below for details.)

International Office acknowledges the very real suffering experienced by the women who have made allegations of misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche, and understand how difficult it is to speak out publically about this. We appreciate their courage in speaking out.

We also want to recognize Dagri Rinpoche’s service to the FPMT organization as a teacher for more than fifteen years. We have received no complaints about his actions over the past eight years.

International Office remains committed to helping local FPMT centers, projects, and services in creating a supportive and respectful environment for the students who study and practice there, and for the teachers who teach there. We continue to emphasize the FPMT Ethical Policy as a way to ensure these positive conditions.

The FPMT Ethical Policy is available for all to read on the FPMT website, and has been since it was first created in 2000. Allegations of misconduct are received with an open mind and a warm heart. In response to any complaint, the FPMT organization follows the guidelines described in Problem Solving within the FPMT Organization. We understand the importance of supporting and protecting teachers, and students, while any allegations are investigated.

Since 2011 (see our timeline below), International Office, relying on input from professionals and stakeholders, created and updated guidelines to support interactions between teachers, students, and staff, as a supplement to the FPMT Ethical Policy. Clauses within the Ethical Policy itself also have been updated on several occasions in order to capture and insist upon improved understanding of best practice.

In addition, the FPMT Ethical Policy and problem solving guidelines are regularly taken up and discussed at FPMT regional and national meetings, and at meetings of ordained FPMT Sangha. This is to keep the importance of abiding by the Ethical Policy in the minds of all in positions of authority within the FPMT organization.

There has been a lot of misunderstanding as to what the FPMT organization has done after becoming aware of Jakaira Perez Valdivia’s allegation. In order to clarify, and to prevent further misunderstanding, here is our timeline:

2011

• International Office was alerted by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama about an allegation of sexual assault made by a Western nun (Jakaira Perez Valdivia) against Dagri Rinpoche. The alleged assault did not take place at an FPMT center, and the communication from the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was the first we had heard about it. Therefore, FPMT International Office felt that the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was the appropriate body to investigate the allegation.
• The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama informed us that they had investigated the allegation and that it was resolved. They informed us that Dagri Rinpoche understood the seriousness of the allegations and committed to avoiding situations that could give rise to similar allegations in the future.
• Based on the outcome of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s investigation, International Office decided that Dagri Rinpoche should remain on the list of FPMT Tibetan teachers. We talked directly with Dagri Rinpoche to ensure that he understood the seriousness of this allegation.
• We alerted FPMT regional and national coordinators, who organize teacher tours, of the allegation of misconduct and the outcome of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s investigation. We asked the coordinators to alert centers that had invited or were planning to invite Dagri Rinpoche of this information.

2012

• Jakaira Perez Valdivia emailed International Office, asking us to provide her with an apology from Dagri Rinpoche as she had heard that Dagri Rinpoche was defaming her in FPMT centers. We looked into the matter and were able to respond that we found no evidence that Dagri Rinpoche had spoken negatively about her and that he had considered the matter closed since the meeting with the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

2013

• International Office was alerted of another student who had said she was inappropriately touched by Dagri Rinpoche in 2010. We contacted the student directly to learn more. The student—who wished, and continues to wish, to remain unnamed—decided to not make any public allegation nor take the matter further based on the outcome of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s investigation in 2011.

2018

• International Office reminded FPMT regional and national coordinators of the outcome of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s investigation into Dagri Rinpoche in 2011, as part of our going safeguarding process.

2019

• As of the beginning of May 2019, International Office had received no other complaints about the conduct of Dagri Rinpoche, nor heard any public allegations of misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche.
• On May 3, an American woman filed a police complaint in India, alleging that Dagri Rinpoche sexually harassed her during a flight from Delhi to Gaggal. The Indian police began an investigation. We verified this directly with the police station involved.
• In response to the May 3 allegation, International Office suspended Dagri Rinpoche from the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List.
• On May 14, International Office posted the public statement “Update Regarding Dagri Rinpoche.”
• On May 14, International Office posted “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice to Students of Dagri Rinpoche.” (This letter is advice specifically for students of Dagri Rinpoche, to help them.)
• We were informed that a Korean woman had made an allegation against Dagri Rinpoche on Facebook. On May 15, that woman, Youngsun Shin, reached out to us directly to inform us of her allegation of inappropriate physical contact by Dagri Rinpoche in Dharamsala in 2008.  We are in correspondence with Youngsun Shin.
• On May 24, International Office created the page “Updates Regarding Dagri Rinpoche,” where updates and links on this issue will be shared.
• On May 24, International Office posted “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Additional Advice to Students of Dagri Rinpoche.” (This is a second letter of advice specifically for students of Dagri Rinpoche.)

Next Steps

While we await the results of the Indian police investigation, we are continuing a correspondence with Jakaira Perez Valdivia.  We are also seeking professional assistance, and committed to continue to improve our current policies and procedures.

Statue of Red Tara in FPMT International Office, Portland, Oregon, US. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

The Board of Directors of FPMT, Inc., has three new members: Ven. Lhundub Chodron, Peggy Bennington, and Debra Ladner. 

Peggy Bennington was appointed to the board on March 5, 2019; Venerable Lhundub Chodron and Debra Ladner were appointed on May 5, 2019. They will serve three-year terms, which may be renewed.

“The board has been actively searching for new members for about a year. In particular we wanted to have people with long term knowledge of the FPMT organization, who also have professional skills and good knowledge of U.S. non-profit organizations,” Board of Directors Chair Andrew Haynes wrote in a recent announcement. “As with all new board members, the choices are ratified by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and approved by the current board members.”

“It is an exciting time for the board, and we are all looking forward to working with our enlarged team! I trust you will all join me in welcoming them to their new roles in offering service to the FPMT,” Andrew Haynes wrote. 

You can read more about the new, and existing, board of directors members on fpmt.org.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Madrid, Spain, May 2019. Photo by Alexis Roitmann

We invite you to read the May FPMT International Office e-News!

This month we bring you:

• Highlights of Recent Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• New Materials in German and Sinhalese
• Rejoicing about Volunteer Service in Mongolia

…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.

Dagri Rinpoche has for many years been one of the Tibetan teachers on FPMT’s Tibetan Teachers List.

The Indian police last week received a formal complaint from a woman who was on a commercial airline flight with Dagri Rinpoche in India, accusing Dagri Rinpoche of inappropriate behaviour during the flight. Furthermore, another woman recently made allegations about misconduct by Dagri Rinpoche 10 years ago, which she shared via a YouTube video.

FPMT International Office understands that best practice is to suspend a teacher from teaching while an investigation is ongoing, in order to protect students, and the teacher. The investigation into what happened on the flight is currently being conducted by the Indian police.

We have therefore temporarily suspended Dagri Rinpoche from the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List with immediate effect, pending the conclusion of the police investigation. This means that Dagri Rinpoche may not teach, or be invited to teach, in any FPMT center during this suspension.  FPMT teacher suspension does not indicate an assumption of guilt.

Dagri Rinpoche sent International Office this personal statement regarding the allegations.

Regarding the allegations made on YouTube, we have reached out directly to the woman who posted the video. In 2011, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Private Office informed us that they had received an allegation by this woman against Dagri Rinpoche. The Private Office informed us that they had investigated the allegations, and that they had resolved the matter with the woman. They informed us that Dagri Rinpoche understood the seriousness of the allegations and committed to avoid situations which could give rise to similar allegations in the future. 

Therefore, we maintained Dagri Rinpoche’s listing on the FPMT Tibetan Teachers List. However, we took our responsibility to students seriously, and alerted FPMT regional and national coordinators about the matter, asking them to inform any center which had invited or was planning to invite Dagri Rinpoche, so that they could consider their invitation in light of this information. We also took the opportunity to review FPMT policies and processes to see if any further amendments were needed to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and centers.

We sent a reminder about this to the coordinators last year, as we were told that talk was circulating about Dagri Rinpoche.

We have received no complaints about Dagri Rinpoche since 2011. 

Our recent decision to suspend Dagri Rinpoche is consistent with the emphasis which the FPMT organization places on ethical behavior.

FPMT policies and guidelines are instituted to help individuals in positions of authority to uphold a safe, respectful environment in their local center, project, or service. These include:

• Abiding within the Law
• FPMT Ethical Policy
• Grievance procedure guideline
• Teacher Policy and guidelines, which help ensure that Dharma teachings are provided only by those who are qualified to teach Dharma (FPMT registered teachers)

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given this advice for Dagri Rinpoche’s students on how to relate to this situation from a Dharma perspective.

Find new updates and advice here.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching and giving initiations, Kopan Nunnery, Nepal, April 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

We hope you enjoy the April FPMT International Office e-News.

This month we bring you:

• Highlights of Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• How FPMT Invests in Education in Nepal
• An Offer from the Foundation Store

…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.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Nepal, December 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

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

This month we bring you:

• A beautiful portrait photo of Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• News about our Annual Review 2018!
• New Materials, including Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Recognizing the False I
• Updates from the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program

…and more!

Have this 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.

FPMT International Office is happy to announce FPMT Annual Review 2018: Live with Compassion. The new annual review is available to read as an eZine and a downloadable PDF.

International Office, also called Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s office, helps fulfill the vision of FPMT’s founders Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, assists with the actualization of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s vast vision for the FPMT organization, and supports 164 centers, projects, and services in 40 countries that comprise the international FPMT network. Each year, International Office shares our accomplishments and rejoices in what has been achieved. 

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you all numberless times for all your service, dedication, practice of holy Dharma with your body, speech, and mind, and for your devotion and good heart,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche writes in this year’s annual review. 

In addition to advice from Rinpoche, the FPMT Annual Review 2018 includes an update from FPMT CEO Ven. Roger Kunsang, an overview of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s tireless Dharma activities, and highlights from International Office’s departments. 

Please note: The FPMT Annual Review 2018 is available in digital format only, meaning it will not be printed and posted to FPMT centers, projects, and services. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche during a teaching organized by Gendun Drupa Center, Savièse, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

We invite you to read FPMT Annual Review 2018: Live with Compassion, now available online in eZine and PDF formats:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/annual-review/

See photo highlights from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s 2018:
https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/gallery/#2018

FPMT International Office is Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s office and works daily to achieve its mission of “preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice, and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha, and based on that experience, spread the Dharma to sentient beings.”

Mandala January-June 2019

The cover story from the January-June 2019 issue of Mandala magazine, “Sustaining the Pure Unbroken Lineage of Buddha’s Teachings in This World: The Legacy of the Sera Je Food Fund,” shares the history and success of the Sera Je Food Fund. Through the extraordinary generosity of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the supporters of the fund, an endowment was created large enough to support the long-term health of the Sera Je Food Fund. Interest from this endowment covers the entire cost of offering the monks at Sera Je Monastery three nutritious meals a day throughout the year.

You can read the complete article on the food fund, “Sustaining the Pure Unbroken Lineage of Buddha’s Teachings in This World: The Legacy of the Sera Je Food Fund,” in eZine format and as a PDF.

The latest print edition also includes the story “Buxa Chogar: Saving Tibetan Buddhism in Exile” by Robyn Brentan. The article looks at the extraordinary hardships the Tibetan monastic refugee community experienced as they dedicated themselves to preserving the authentic Dharma in exile. The kindness these refugee monastics demonstrated by going on to rebuild the monasteries in India and to teach Dharma to Westerners is beyond measure. In this issue’s online content, you can read stories from and about FPMT geshes, sharing some of their personal experiences of Buxa Chogar and exile.

Mandala magazine is published twice a year. Mandala January-June 2019 has been mailed to Friends of FPMT supporters and to the FPMT centers, projects, and services who offer the magazine as a benefit.

If you would like to have future issues of Mandala sent to you in the mail, sign up for Friends of FPMT at the Foundation Friends level or higher. Friends of FPMT can also read the full issue online or download it to their electronic reading devices. They can also choose to donate their print issue to an incarcerated person, facilitated by the Liberation Prison Project.

For those wishing to purchase a copy, the January-June 2019 issue is also available through the FPMT Foundation Store.

We hope you enjoy the January-June 2019 issue of Mandala magazine.

If you want to help Sangha, please learn more about FPMT Charitable Project’s Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries around the world. 

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 offered lunch to Dagri Rinpoche and his attendant, Ven. Tenzin Gyaltsen, Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India, January 2019. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Out now – the February FPMT International Office e-News!

• This month we bring you:
  Lama Zopa Rinpoche Schedule Updates
• Thanks from Rinpoche for the Sera Je Food Fund
• We’re Seeking New Friends!

…and more!

Have this 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.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Tenzin Phuntsok Rinpoche, Bodhgaya, India, December 2018. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

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

This month we bring you news about:

• Updates to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teaching Schedule
  
• Time to Empty Your Merit Box!
  
• 2019 LPP Calendar Available to Order
  
  

…and more!

Have this 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.