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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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Boudhanath, Nepal, September 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
We are pleased to bring you the latest issue of our monthly e-News.
In this issue you will find stories and updates including:
- The Continuation of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Thought Transformation Teachings
- How to Celebrate Lhabab Duchen this year on October 27
- Support of Medical Care, Food, and Living Expenses for Those in Need
- New Practices and Materials Available in 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.
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, August 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
We invite you to read our September FPMT International Office e-News, out now!
Our news to enjoy and rejoice about:
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Recent Activities
- New Free Book by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- Recent Offerings Made to Holy Objects
…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.
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 in front of Boudhanath Stupa, Nepal, June 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
We hope you enjoy our August edition of the monthly FPMT International Office e-News!
We bring you news about:
- New Photo Album for Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- Our New Education Program
- New Practice Materials
- Recent Charitable Giving
…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.
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, 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.
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.
Rinpoche beginning to write the Prajnaparamita in gold (after a break of 10 years).
Welcome to the May FPMT International Office e-News! This month we bring you news about:
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice and Thanks
- Support and Merit-Making During Saka Dawa
- New Free Book From Our Lamas
- Academy Focused on Buddhist Mind Science
…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.
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 the Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
We hope you enjoy our April FPMT International Office e-News. This month we bring you:
- Our 2020 Annual Review: Transforming Challenges into the Path
- Details of the second long life puja this year for Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- Five Powerful Mantras Now Available in Audio
- New Protecting from Abuse Training Course
…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.
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 in a Heruka holy place where he had invited young monks for a picnic and offered tsog, Nepal, February 2021. Photo by Geshe Thubten Jangchub.
We hope you enjoy the March FPMT International Office e-News. This month we bring you:
- New Lama Zopa Rinpoche Advice and Photo Albums
- The Latest Issue of Mandala magazine!
- Prayer to Pacify Epidemic Disease – now on Audio
- Staff Changes at International Office
…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.
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 a wonderful art book, Murals of Tibet, recently offered to him, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, February 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
The February FPMT International Office e-News is out now! This month we bring you news about:
- New Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- The Recent Teaching by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- Rejoicing about Vast Offerings to the Sangha
- The Foundation Store Offering Items for Free
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.
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.