FPMT eNews

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with flower offering at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, August 26, 2022. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Our September e-News is now available!

This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing, including:

• Recent teachings and advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• Thanks to all for their prayers for Ven. Roger
• News about stunning images of the Sixteen Arhats now available to all
• Rejoicing in eleven years of Nyung Na retreats at Institut Vajra Yogini
• New blogs and stories from FPMT.org
• Newly available materials to support your Dharma study and practice
• Opportunities and changes within the organization

and much more!

Please read this month’s e-news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Singapore, July 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

We are pleased to share our August 2022 e-news with you! This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing, including:

• News about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings in Singapore
• Newly published teachings and advice
• Rejoicing in support offered to children in India and Nepal
• Information about scholarships available for the next FPMT Masters programs
• Opportunities and changes within the FPMT organization
• Highlights from the Foundation Store

And much more!

Please read this month’s e-news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.

Rinpoche in the garden at Kopan Monastery, Kopan Monastery, Boudhanath, Nepal; Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang. 

We are pleased to share our July 2022 e-news with you! This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing, including:

• An update on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s health and practices offered for Rinpoche’s long life
• An overview and new photo album of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent activities
• Links to new teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• Social Service grants offered in support of elderly Tibetans as well as vulnerable animals
• New resources for your Dharma study and practice
• Opportunities and changes within the FPMT organization

And much more!

Please read this month’s e-news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, May 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

We are pleased to share our June 2022 e-news with you! This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing, including:

• News of Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at the Kopan November course
• Links to new teachings from Rinpoche
• Rejoicing in an incredibly meritorious array of pujas and prayers offered this Saka Dawa
• An update on the first Foundation Service Seminar in Australia
• Newly available materials from the Foundation Store
• Opportunities and changes within the organization

And much more! 

Please read this month’s e-news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with senior monks and nuns doing Tara puja at Tara Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, April 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Welcome to the May 2022 edition of our e-news! This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing including:

• An important update on prayers to do for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s health
• New teachings and advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• An opportunity for free books for FPMT centers from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive
• Newly available materials from the FPMT Foundation Store
• Opportunities and changes within the organization

And much more!

Please enjoy this month’s e-news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with a picture of Lama Tsongkhapa that Rinpoche likes very much, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, February 2022. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Welcome to the April 2022 edition of our e-news! This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing including:

• News of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent activities
• Links to new video teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• Rejoicing in our 2021 Annual Review which is now available
• News about offering food to the monks of Gyudmed Monastery
• Opportunities and changes within the FPMT organization

And much more! 

Please enjoy this month’s e-news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Pokhara, Nepal, December 2021.

Welcome to the March 2022 edition of our e-news! This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing including:

• An update on the long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on March 11
• Teachings and excerpts from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• Rejoicing in new holy objects created for the success of FPMT and all beings
• A list of new resources available in the Foundation Store
• News about opportunities and changes within the organization

And much more!

Please enjoy this month’s e-news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Chandragiri Hill Resort, Nepal, November 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

We are pleased to share our February e-News with you! 

This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing including:

• A long life puja being offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on March 11
• Teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• Resources for your practice on Losar and Fifteen Days of Miracles
• Information about this year’s Merit Box collection
• New FPMT Masters Program offered in two locations 
• Opportunities and changes within the FPMT organization

And much more!

Please enjoy this month’s e-news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

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, Pokhara, Nepal, December 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Best wishes for an auspicious new year from FPMT International Office!

We are happy to bring you our first e-News of 2022. This issue offers news, updates, and causes for rejoicing including:

• Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent activities and a new photo album
• Continued progress on a stupa being built in Hunsur, India
• New prayers, practices, and MP3s available from FPMT Education Services
• Opportunities and changes within the FPMT organization

and much more!

Please enjoy this month’s e-news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

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, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, November 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

With our warmest season’s greetings, FPMT International Office invites you to enjoy our December e-News. 

This issue offers news, updates, and causes for rejoicing including:

• News about the Light of the Path Retreat 2022
• Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice on how anger and patience relate to each other
• 1,000 statues of Shakyamuni Buddha offered to His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• How to find our study and practice materials more easily

and much more! 

Please enjoy this month’s news in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

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, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, November 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Our November e-News is now available!

This issue is packed with news, updates, and causes for rejoicing including:

• Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent teaching events, activities, and new photo album
• His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s message for FDCW’s Compassion and Wisdom in Action conference
•  Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling’s ninth 100 Million Mani Retreat, Mongolia
• Teacher Development Service Seminar at Nalanda Monastery, France

and more!

Please enjoy the November e-News in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

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.

Foundation Service Seminar participants at Nalanda Monastery, France, September 2021. Photo by Ven. Zoksang.

The Foundation Service Seminar (FSS) is the “FPMT immersion retreat.” It provides essential information and nourishment for all serving, or wishing to serve, in the FPMT organization. The FSS Retreat is key to deeply understanding the FPMT organization and the attitude we seek to cultivate as we offer service in the organization. This experiential retreat helps us to actualize the advice that service is practice and to enjoy and rejoice when offering service. Séverine Savignan, who participated in the recent FSS at Nalanda Monastery near Lavaur, France, shares her thoughts on the experience:

Those of us who gathered for the Foundation Service Seminar in late September were fortunate to be able to retreat for a few days at Nalanda Monastery in France. With beautiful gardens surrounding us, a great group of thirty-seven participants settled into the monastery’s amazing gompa for five days of sessions. I’ve been living and studying here in Lavaur since 2019, and it was truly refreshing to be able to connect with other Dharma practitioners, coming from Brazil, Romania, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

While we all can look at the FPMT.org website to learn more about what the FPMT organization has to offer, attending the FSS in person helped me really understand in-depth what this international mandala is about. Facilitators Annelies van der Heijden and François Lecointre walked us through FPMT’s lineage, its foundation by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and the history of its development. We learned about Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for FPMT and the Five Pillars of Service (Dharma, Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom, social/community service, interfaith activities, and revenue generating activities). Participants had opportunities to reflect and talk to each other throughout these sessions, making it highly meaningful.     

FSS facilitator Annelies van der Heijden, Nalanda Monastery, France, September 2021. Photo by Ven. Zoksang.

I was quite surprised to discover the amount of resources that are available within the FPMT network to support our individual and collective practices. There are many study programs and secular materials available. In addition, there are many charitable projects around the world. Navigating all of these activities and resources is a bit like a maze. Our challenge will be using these resources wisely in order to support our respective projects. 

Lama Yeshe created a sense of “family feeling” within the FPMT organization, and it was a key point of the FSS to foster that community feeling and help us set the intention for perpetuating it. Another key point was Lama Yeshe’s vision for the preservation of the Dharma. All this was quite powerful on a personal level, and I think that all of the participants went back to their respective centers and projects with many ideas and points to reflect upon.    

FSS participants in a break out group discussion, Nalanda Monastery, September 2021. Photo by Marine Cecilia.

FSS participants playing an Inner Job Description game, Nalanda Monastery, September 2021. Photo by Marine Cecilia.

The format of the seminar was both focused and participatory. There was so much to learn about offering service within the FPMT mandala. We could have spent two more days covering all the details. We nonetheless had time to exchange ideas during tea breaks and lunch time.                     

This seminar reinforced my conviction that for any Dharma project to succeed, we need a clear motivation, a solid common foundation, and an appropriate structure for doing the work. Our role while offering service within the FPMT organization is to think on how we can help support and actualize the vision and wishes of our lamas, whatever our competencies are, and whatever time we can wisely and happily give.

We know that serving a center, a monastery, a project, or a study group requires a lot of energy. And indeed, as mentioned during the seminar, I shall not forget to relax, rejoice, and rest!

Ven. Palmo Detchen taking notes during the Foundation Service Seminar, Nalanda Monastery, France, September 2021. Photo by Ven. Zoksang.

Séverine Savignan is a French student based in Lavaur, France. While living in Singapore, she and her husband met the Dharma in 2015 at Amitabha Buddhist Centre. Now both Séverine and her husband study at Nalanda Monastery, while also raising a nine-year-old son. 

For more information on the Foundation Service Seminar and to find out how to register for future events, visit FPMT Service Seminars. 

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.