FPMT News Around the World

Exterior of Dorje Pamo Monastery, 2016. Photo courtesy of Ven. Chantal Carrerot.

Monastère Dorje Pamo is a new probationary nunnery in the South of France, situated close to FPMT centers Institut Vajra Yogini and Nalanda Monastery.

Monastère Dorje Pamo is modeled on the previous Dorje Pamo, which was founded by Lama Yeshe in the early ’80s and was the first facility for Western FPMT nuns. The original Dorje Pamo was housed in a large building belonging to Institut Vajra Yogini and was supported by a group of up to a dozen young nuns of diverse nationalities.

After a few years, the building was returned to Institut Vajra Yogini and the community of nuns dissolved. Many of the nuns were called upon to help with the management and teaching in various FPMT centers.

FPMT nuns living near the future Monastère Dorje Pamo, France, February 2017. Photo by Véronique Alber Latour.

“In 2016, we were blessed to receive the donation of a large house surrounded by six hectares [15 acres] of land, orchards, meadows, woods, and even a small lake,” shared Ven. Chantal Carrerot, coodinartor of the new Monastère Dorje Pamo. “We finally had a home for our monastery! Naturally, and following the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, we have revived its original name, Monastère Dorje Pamo. The house has the potential to accommodate fifteen or more nuns.”

“Today, the project is gaining momentum,” Ven Chantal continued. “We have worked with an architect to transform the building over several years. The plans have been drawn up and the estimates for renovations have been completed.”

“We are grateful to the kind benefactors who have donated enough funds to start the first round of renovations, which will begin in March 2018. This phase involves renovating the nuns quarters and creating a temple. The first nuns are expected to move in at the end of summer. However, there is still a lot to do and we are still looking for funding to complete the gompa and the library next to it.

“Monastic communities that provide a proper environment where Buddhists nuns can live according to their vows, where they can practice together, where new nuns can be educated, and where all can be taken care of, are very rare in the world, even more so in the Western world. That a few such projects are coming forward at this time in various places in the FPMT is a source of great rejoicing!”

To learn more about Monastère Dorje Pamo, visit their website:
http://monasteredorjepamo.org/en/

Mandala 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 on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

Practice in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Thubten Kunga Center, Deerfield Beach, Florida, US, February 2018. Photo by Martha Lucia Gonzalez.

On the afternoon of February 14, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, US. Fourteen students and three teachers were killed. A further fourteen people were wounded.

In the days after the shooting, Thubten Kunga Center, an FPMT center located near the tragedy, held a Medicine Buddha puja and read the “King of Prayers,” which is often recited to benefit those who have recently died.

Practitioners at the center lit a total of eighteen candles: one for each of the victims and one for the young man that carried out the shooting.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche always advises to make strong prayers to Medicine Buddha for anyone who is dying, sick, injured, or who has already died from violence such as that which occurred in Florida or elsewhere.

The short mantra of Medicine Buddha is:

TADYATHĀ / OṂ BHAIṢHAJYE BHAIṢHAJYE / MAHĀBHAIṢHAJYE [BHAIṢHAJYE] /
RĀJA SAMUDGATE SVĀHĀ

Find the long and short Medicine Buddha mantras with their common pronunciations on FPMT.org.

Read The Benefits of Medicine Buddha Mantra and Practice by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Mandala 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 on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.

“Happy Losar” card by Raven Jones, 2018

Currently a prisoner at Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino (ICIO) in the United States, Raven Jones has been sharing his print copies of Mandala with fellow inmates. This small group of Dharma students recently offered two Losar (Tibetan new year) cards to FPMT in celebration of the year of the Earth Dog 2145. One was sent directly to Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the other to Mandala. This year, Losar takes place on February 16.

Along with the card to Mandala came a note of gratitude, containing the mantra of Amitabha:

Thank you so very much for all you do!!! So, during this year of the Earth Dog, have a great New Year! Losar Tashi Delek! OM AMI DEWA HRI!

Raven Jones holds the unique distinction of being the only FPMT Masters Program student to complete the six-year study program entirely from prison.

Learn more about the work of the Liberation Prison Project, an FPMT project that supports Dharma students in prison, on FPMT.org.

Read a full interview with Raven Jones in “Liberation through Education,” part of the Mandala October-December 2014 issue.

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

Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing a small kitten before leaving Sera Je Monastery, Bylakuppe, India, November 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche traveled to Sera Je Monastic University in South India in November 2017. Ven. Gyalten Lekden, an International Mahayana Institute (IMI) monk who is in the geshe studies program at Sera Je, shared this report of Rinpoche’s visit:

After a few years’ hiatus, we were blessed to welcome Lama Zopa Rinpoche back to Sera Je in November 2017. Rinpoche had begun a series of oral transmissions some years ago, transmissions of a five-volume collection of texts and practices related to the lineage of Most Secret Hayagriva that serves as the protector of Sera Je Monastery. As is Rinpoche’s inimitable style, he tailored his teachings to meet the needs of the attendees. There was a strong emphasis on mind-training as well as the importance of distinguishing Dharma from non-Dharma through recognizing and working to abandon the eight worldly dharmas. Since the audience was composed primarily of monks, Rinpoche also wove in the benefits of properly holding the monastic vows, and how serving the monastery is just as important as traditional study.

Everyone present was overjoyed and grateful to be able to have Rinpoche pierce through the dark clouds of our habitual misconceptions, and lay bare what is most important for our lives. Then, serving as a constant paradigm for those of us who desperately need the cooling camphor of Rinpoche’s blessed instruction to quell the blazing flames of our self-grasping, self-cherishing minds, Rinpoche announced that he was donating all of the offerings he had received during the teaching to Sera Monastery’s construction of a new sewage draining system and sidewalk on the main road leading into the monastery.

Long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Drati Khangtsen, Sera Je Monastery, Bylakuppe, India, December 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

As always, while at Sera Je, Rinpoche did not ever take a break. He was in constant meetings with various monastery officials, lamas, revered guests, and devotees, demonstrating for us an impeccable model of ceaseless vigilance in working to support and benefit others. Sera Je IMI House requested Rinpoche visit, and they invited me and the other foreign monks, as well as all of the out-of-town guests, to join. During his already busy schedule, he took time to not only grant us the blessing of his holy presence at IMI House, but he also stayed for quite a while and offered excellent and practical advice to those who had gathered.

As this year’s teachings concluded, while hosting the other members of the organizing committee and me for lunch, Rinpoche began to discuss teachings for future years. He is committed to completing the transmission, but he also sees the benefit of offering practical instruction to the monks. He also shared plans on how he wishes to continue combining those two aspects of instruction.

It is important to express a quick word of gratitude to Drati Khangtsen, and its tireless community of monks, without whom these teachings would not ever be possible. They did all the work of cleaning and preparing the temple, serving the tea, and helping prepare and serve meals to all of the guests, and so forth. Although this year’s schedule was quite short, everyone was ecstatic to be able to be satiated by Rinpoche’s nectar-like speech and advice. We anxiously await his return in 2018.

View a gallery of images taken during Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s visit to Sera Je Monastery in November 2017.

More information, photos, and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage on FPMT.org. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT via email, sign up to FPMT News.

Attendees of the Foundation Service Seminar near Madrid, Spain, December 2017. Photo courtesy of Paloma Fernandez.

In December 2017, a Foundation Service Seminar (FSS) was held near Madrid. Organized and facilitated by Spain national coordinator Paloma Fernandez and senior facilitator and center director François Lecointre, this was the first FSS to be held entirely in Spanish. Paloma shares news from the event:

Last December, we had our first Foundation Service Seminar in Spain, the first time that the seminar has been done in Spanish.

Thirty-eight people came from many different parts of Spain, and one person traveled all the way from London, to participate in the event. People arrived by all means: planes, trains, and buses. Many of them used five vacation days to attend this seminar and dedicate their time to the FPMT and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

François Lecointre, a senior FSS registered facilitator and director of Institut Vajra Yogini, offered his time, his experience, his knowledge, his kindness, and love to all the participants. (And to me, as I was co-facilitating the seminar for the first time!)

We started every day after breakfast. Each day offered different learning activities, which typically ran until 10 p.m. each night. It was a quite intense schedule, but nobody complained. It was a great experience!

A group activity during the Foundation Service Seminar near Madrid, Spain, December 2017. Photo courtesy of Paloma Fernandez.

We all worked with great focus, analyzing different aspects of our service. We had people from nine different centers, one study group, one community project, and one from Universal Education. It was very enriching to have so many different experiences and points of view to share and to learn from.

As well as the dynamic group exercises, we also had a number of beautiful meditations, great presentations, and very stimulating discussions. We also watched very inspiring videos from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe, and Tenzin Ösel Hita.

The main highlight for most of us was, as Lama Yeshe used to say, the “family feeling” that was present during all the seminars. It was so great to be able to share five days and nights with the FPMT family and to experience what it means to be the “ambassadors” of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

One question that came from many participants was: “When is the next one?” So I have the feeling that this is the sign that the first FSS in Spain was a great success!

Foundation Service Seminar events are happening this year in Mexico in early February; at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, UK, in August; and at Milarepa Center, USA, in September. For more information on the Foundation Service Seminar and to find out how to register for future events, visit the FPMT Service Seminar webpage.

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

Mahayana Children’s Programme with Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Photo courtesy of FPMT Mongolia.

The Mahayana Children’s Programme, a program of FPMT Mongolia, is now celebrating its tenth anniversary. To mark the occasion, FPMT Mongolia director Ianzinha Bartanova shared a video of the children, recorded in Ulaanbaatar, the nation’s capital. Ianzinha writes the following about the video and the Mahayana Children’s Programme:

In the video below the youngest group of the Mahayana Children’s Programme participants, ranging in age from six to eight years, happily recite mantras in Mongolian and dedicate all merit from their practice to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s long life.

Before they commence the mantra recitation, the children generate the correct motivation as follows: “I will do these recitations in order to be beneficial to my country, and all the six-realm sentient beings, and for my family, and myself to be happy, and to have good qualities such as perseverance, patience, responsibility, and friendliness.”

Currently practicing memorization, the children wholeheartedly enjoy the recitation of the following mantras and prayers: Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Manjushri, Vajrapani, the prostration mantra, Tara, Medicine Buddha, Vajrasattva, the mantra to bless offerings, and Migtsema.

As the children have a deep appreciation for the importance of dedication in practice, they concluded with these wishes: “Due to these merits collected, may I and my family be happy! May the most precious and kind Lama Zopa Rinpoche have a long and healthy life, and may Rinpoche lead us in all future lives!”

On behalf of all FPMT Mongolia staff and students, we would like to join with the children and dedicate all our merits accumulated during 2017 for Rinpoche’s long, healthy, and stable life. We rejoice in all meritorious actions done by the FPMT family, and from the bottom of our hearts, we wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!

Learn more about the work of FPMT in Mongolia: http://www.fpmtmongolia.org

Learn more about the Mahayana Children’s Programme:
http://www.fpmtmongolia.org/mahayana-childrens-programme

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.

Buddha statue prior to offering gold-leaf at the Guru bumtsog, Hobart, Tasmania, June 2016. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Brennan.

In June 2017, FPMT in Australia (FPMTA) and Chag Tong Chen Tong Tibetan Buddhist Centre (CTCT) organized 100,000 tsog offerings to Guru Rinpoche, also known as a “Guru bumtsog.” More than 160 students from twenty or so Australian FPMT centers, projects, and services traveled to Hobart, Tasmania, to take part in the powerful and joyous multi-day event.

In a new Mandala online feature, “The Power of Guru Rinpoche: The Heart-Opening Guru Bumtsog Experience,” Stephanie Brennan, FPMTA National Education/Tour Coordinator, shares her personal account of the Guru bumtsog experience.

“… After chai and cake were served, the first puja session began. With eighteen Sangha present from all over Australia, the gompa was filled with maroon and saffron robes. Sitting in front were two geshes—Geshe Tenzin Zopa, who led the puja, and Geshe Phuntsok Tsultrim, the resident geshe at Chenrezig Institute, Queensland. Also in front was Lama Jimay from Tasmania, who ably assisted with the hook drum,” Stephanie writes.

“In the first session, we started by chanting the full verses of the ‘Prayer to Guru Rinpoche That Spontaneously Fulfills All Wishes’ to a poignant and melodic tune. This was followed by the tsog offering prayer and Guru Rinpoche mantra, which were repeated many times. These repetitions were accompanied by cymbals and drums with a very stirring beat. As the pace of these repetitions was fast, it took a little while for everyone to get their head around the Tibetan syllables, but soon everyone settled into a kind of rhythm, with Geshe Tenzin Zopa’s clear voice leading us forward.

“Sangha members played the ritual instruments, and the gompa became warm and energized. As I looked at the large thangka of Guru Rinpoche above the tsog offerings, it felt to me that evoking the spirit of Guru Rinpoche and knowing that this puja had been blessed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche beforehand, particularly to clear obstacles, made everything in the gompa seem timeless, vivid, and very clear. …”

Read Stephanie Brennan’s article “The Power of Guru Rinpoche: The Heart-Opening Australian Guru Bumtsog Experience” in its entirety:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/online-features/the-power-of-guru-rinpoche-the-heart-opening-australian-guru-bumtsog-experience

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.

Mountain view from Oseling Retreat Center, October 2017. Photo courtesy of Oseling Retreat Center.

Oseling Retreat Center, in the Andalusia region of Spain, has undertaken a new project. In response to advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the center has begun work on the planning, construction, and fund-raising aspects for a new nunnery that will provide a home and learning facility for European nuns. Center director Anne Wenaas describes the project for Mandala: 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised Oseling Retreat Center in Spain to establish a nunnery within its grounds. In keeping with Rinpoche’s vision, construction has recently commenced on a project that promises to provide a “powerhouse of Dharma practice” for European nuns.

It is of great importance for all the nuns to have a place to live, so that they can observe a monastic life and dedicate their lives to study, contemplation, and meditation. The living costs for each nun will be very low, only food and maintenance will be needed.

Oseling is situated in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range about forty kilometers (twenty-five miles) from the coast and within traveling distance of the city of Granada. The center is quite high up the mountains, forming a large portion of the top of a mountain within the National Park.

If you are familiar with Oseling, the location of the nunnery will be just below the Tara statue, a wonderful place with a wide view of the whole valley. Construction of the nunnery has recently begun.

Architect’s drawing of the proposed nunnery at Oseling. Image courtesy of Oseling Retreat Center.

This is a very beneficial project, and practitioners at the center will all have a great and unique opportunity to help realize Rinpoche’s ambition. They encourage everyone to participate and hope to quickly raise the funds necessary to finish construction.

It is the center’s hope that Tara’s prayer will inspire the future community of nuns:

“There are many who desire Enlightenment in a man’s body, but none who works for the benefit of the 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.”

Developments of the construction project will be shared via the Oseling Facebook page.

For more information or to offer support, please contact Oseling via their email: oficina@oseling.com

More information, photos, and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage on FPMT.org. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT via email, sign up to FPMT News.

View from the Lawudo Gompa, Solu Khumbu, Nepal, January 2017. Photos by Laura Miller.

Lawudo Retreat Centre, located in the Solu Khumbu district of Nepal, is where FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s previous incarnation meditated and not far from the village where Rinpoche was born. Mandala editor Laura Miller visited Lawudo in early 2017 and shared this reflection on her experience there.

Visiting Lawudo, high in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal, had been a wish of mine for nearly eight years. And on New Year’s day 2017, my tired legs trudged up the final steep path and carried me into the yard in front of the Lawudo Gompa. Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s sister, Ani Ngawang Samten, stood there as I approached. Tears formed in my eyes when I took her hands, which seemed so soft to me despite five decades of tireless work looking after the holy retreat site. All I could say to her was how happy I was to finally be there. The previous year, my sense of personal accomplishment had sunk to a difficult low. But there I was, standing just under 13,000 feet [4,000 meters], in a place surrounded by gorgeous mountains and graced by highly accomplished practitioners. Just being there, I had achieved something that felt profoundly worthwhile and a little adventurous.

Before starting my trek to Lawudo, I’d read The Lawudo Lama, an invaluable book by Ven. Jamyang Wangmo that tells the story of the inspiring lives of Lawudo Lama Kunzang Yeshe and his reincarnation Lama Zopa Rinpoche, as well as offers a detailed description of the religious and cultural history of the Mount Everest region, where Lawudo is situated. As my Sherpa guide Nursang and I walked over several days up the trail from the airstrip in Lukla to Namche Bazaar to Thame, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthplace, and finally to Lawudo, the mani stones, prayer wheels, stupas, and gompas created endless opportunities for receiving blessings, rejoicing, and contemplating how generations of Sherpas, who populate the area, had made Dharma practice integral to daily life.

The repaired dining building at Lawudo

I can date the origin of my trip back to the time when I did a little volunteer work for Mandala magazine. While working on something for the former editor, I visited the website for Lawudo Retreat Centre. The thought “I want to go there” shot directly through my mind as I scrolled through photos of the cave where the Lawudo Lama meditated and of the Lawudo Gompa and the mountains and valley that surround them. During the past six years that I’ve worked as the editor of Mandala, I’ve read and re-read stories about Lawudo: the early years when Lama Yeshe and Rinpoche visited; the young boys who became the first Kopan monks; the experiences of Westerner students who traveled there to practice; and Ani Ngawang Samten, who still keeps it all going. When the earthquake devastated Nepal in 2015, I, along with many, many others, anxiously awaited news of what happened in Lawudo.

The roof of the Lawudo Gompa and the library building more distant, both having had repairs

Ani-la, Nursang, and Nima having leftover Sherpa stew for breakfast in the kitchen at Lawudo

Fortunately, Lawudo survived and everyone there was OK. When my opportunity came to visit, like so many before me, I spent many happy hours in Ani-la’s smoky kitchen. I intently ate her nourishing food and listened to her first-hand stories of the early days and to her concerns about the always tenuous water supply and what will happen to Lawudo when she can no longer take care of it. That said, Ani-la didn’t seem to care much to talk about the earthquake. The building that contains the kitchen, dining room, and her own room, received significant damage, as did several other buildings, including the gompa and library. She lived in a tent for months while repairs were being made. During my visit, it appeared that most of the major repairs had been done thanks to generous support from the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund.

13.5 feet tall Guru Rinpoche statue in the Lawudo Gompa, Nepal, January 2017

The story I enjoyed most from Ani-la recounted the fraught, weeks-long effort to bring the very large Guru Rinpoche statue up to Lawudo and into the gompa. There are no roads in the upper Solu Khumbu district. Humans and yaks carry all nature of things in this remote area; helicopters bring in larger goods and shipments. The beautiful Guru Rinpoche statue stands 13.5 feet [14 meters] tall, far too large to be carried very far. In fact, it is so tall that part of the ceiling of the gompa had to be removed in order for it to fit. My retelling of Ani-la’s story wouldn’t do it justice, but her account covered a succession of false starts, involving a very big helicopter, bad weather, drunken pilots, and the statue being stuck inside the helicopter until it wasn’t. The story ended with an auspicious rainbow surrounding the helicopter on its arrival at Mende, just below Lawudo, and the two dozen Sherpas who carried the precious holy object up the steep hill and into the gompa. The Padmasambhava Project for Peace covered the cost of inviting this impressive statue to Lawudo as well as its creation and that of nine other smaller statues of Guru Rinpoche that are now in the Lawudo Gompa.

My visit to Lawudo was short, just a taste. I had one afternoon to meditate in the Lawudo Lama’s cave. But like receiving even a short Dharma teaching from a Buddhist master, that experience had a deep and lasting effect. Thinking about it now, the dollars spent, the hard work of the hike up, the rough accommodations, and the misgivings about the elevation and the state of my body all seem so minuscule when I compare them to simply being able to be in that cave. I hope and dedicate that anyone else who wishes to go to Lawudo be able to do so and that I am able to return. I rejoice and am grateful for all who have supported the Lawudo Retreat Centre over the years and pray that it may continue on for a very long time.

Ven. Norbu, Laura, and Ani-la at Lawudo

The author thanks Effie Fletcher at Himalayan High Treks and Dharma Journeys Pilgrimages, and Amber Tamang at Three Jewels Adventures for their help with arrangements for the trek.

FPMT.org 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 teaching in Vienna, Austria, September 2017. Photo by Oliver Petermann.

In September of this year, Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Panchen Losang Chogyen Gelugzentrum (PLC) in Austria. This was Rinpoche’s first official visit and the first opportunity for Austrian students to attend teachings, receive an initiation, and to take refuge from Rinpoche. Center director Stefan Seidler shares a brief overview of Rinpoche’s time in Vienna:

In September, Lama Zopa Rinpoche arrived for the first time in Vienna. Many of us are still feeling the presence of our precious guru in our hearts and minds.

From the very first moments at the airport, where spiritual program coordinator Andrea Husnik, myself, and many students from Panchen Losang Chogyen Gelugzentrum welcomed him, everybody felt Rinpoche‘s incredible kindness, generosity, and the warmth of heart.

After one night in a hotel, Rinpoche and his entourage moved into a wonderful old house in a quiet area in the north of Vienna, where they would stay for the next two weeks and which had been offered very generously by the parents of one of PLC’s board members.

Hard work was required to prepare the house for so many visitors, and the benefits everybody received from Rinpoche have been enormous. He was so kind to share much of his precious time with the host family, even learning how to make apple strudel. Rinpoche’s mere presence—his wisdom, his laugh, his never-ending kindness to everyone in the house—gave them all so much inspiration that every domestic task became a pure joy.

Also during the visit, all of the center’s board members and main volunteers had the opportunity to spend time with Rinpoche. As almost none of the center members in Vienna had met Rinpoche before, this visit was an amazing and rare opportunity for all of them. A very nice dinner for board members and volunteers was held in Vienna’s city center, and a wonderful, inspiring private visit to the center itself prepared us all for the big weekend to come.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching in Vienna, Austria, September 2017. Photo courtesy of Ven. Sherab.

Almost 400 people registered and the venue, which we had rented, was fully packed for all three days. Besides people from Austria and Germany, many others traveled from all over Europe to visit Vienna. We had guests from Spain, the UK, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Italy and many more countries, all eager to attend Rinpoche’s teachings.

Rinpoche’s teachings were amazing. With the help of transcriber Ven. Joan Nicell and translators Ven. Birgit Schweiberer and Ven. Paloma Alba, we were able to understand Rinpoche’s limitless wisdom.

After the teachings, Rinpoche also gave refuge. More than 50 people took refuge and, for most of them, this was also their first chance to have direct contact with Rinpoche. Later, attendees received a Medicine Buddha initiation.

For everybody from the Vienna center, everybody who attended the teachings, and of course everybody who helped plan, organize, and prepare this great visit, we’re sure the benefits and inspiration of the visit will last for a long time. PLC is very grateful that we could host our guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche and we hope he will come back very soon!

Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s September 2017 teachings in Vienna, Austria, on Rinpoche Available Now:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/lama-zopa-rinpoche-teachings-vienna-tabs/

For more information on the programs and schedule of Panchen Losang Chogyen Gelugzentrum:
http://www.gelugwien.at

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.

Tenzin Monlam performs the deer dance at Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

Building projects manager Denice Macy at Land of Medicine Buddha (LMB) in California recently shared a useful how-to list for hosting a large-scale Dharma event:

In November 2002, Sally Barraud, then director of Land of Medicine Buddha, received advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche to host a Medicine Buddha Festival at LMB at least once a year. Pearls of wisdom flowed from Rinpoche’s mouth—the advice of what to do, what to offer. With unwavering faith, Sally went to work with her team and the local community to host the first Medicine Buddha Festival. Sally reached out to Geshe Ngawang Drakpa from Tse Chen Ling in San Francisco, Ven. Donyo at Gyuto Vajrayana Center in the Bay Area, and Tam To, a local leader of the Vietnamese community in San Jose. Eight months later, the festival became a reality.   

What follows is some practical advice that we have learned from hosting the Medicine Buddha Festival for the past fifteen years.

Before anything—go for refuge.

We are in service to our guru, who is at times, a hilarious comic. Have fun (Rinpoche does), laugh at mistakes (Rinpoche does), experience it all with compassion (Rinpoche does)! Buckle up and get ready for a fun and wild ride by hosting a large Dharma event to benefit others!

1. Identify the main purpose of your event.

Wish Fulfilling Temple, Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

This will be your guide as you organize your event. For LMB, the main purpose as advised by Rinpoche was and is to give as many people as possible the opportunity to take part in the Medicine Buddha puja, to learn about the Medicine Buddha, to provide people with the opportunity to make extensive offerings to please the Buddha, and the opportunity to create imprints and merit! Easy enough!

2. Plan well ahead!

Attendees at the Land of Medicine Buddha festival in Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

A successful LARGE event, Dharma or secular, needs to be planned well in advance. We look at dates as much as a year in advance. Some of the factors we consider include: the weather, dates of public holidays, seasonal events, other regularly scheduled festivals, and community events. If you fail to consider these factors, you may find that people who might benefit from your event are otherwise previously committed or that the weather is a bummer. Big party, big fun, big love!

3. Speaking of big, think BIG!

Mani prayer wheel at the Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

Rinpoche helps us to identify how to please and benefit sentient beings. Consider the many different dispositions of sentient beings. Some people might attend because they love the delicious free food, others might have interest in the Tibetan culture, others want to connect with community, others have strong karmic connection to the Dharma, and some are looking for a wholesome family event—so provide varied opportunities. We have yet to provide pony rides around our stupa as Rinpoche requested, but it is in the plans! Not only would this benefit the ponies, but also the kids who would ride or lead them around the stupa.

4. Consider varied potential interest groups in your community.

Sun Family Meixca Dance – Medicine Buddha Festival in Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

Shine the Dharma light, spread your net wide. Let people know about your event; it is a priceless opportunity for you to connect and benefit others. We pay for advertising on the local public radio stations, in the weekly community newspaper, and sponsor adverts on Facebook. Don’t forget to take advantage of free media opportunities by sending out press releases to the local daily newspapers and online news sites, and using email messages and Facebook. We also print large posters that are placed at the center and email digital copies of them to our community connections.

5. Plan a non-sectarian Dharma event.

Tibetan dancers at the Medicine Buddha Festival in Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

Don’t limit your audience. Rinpoche gave us the advice to invite all the area Dharma centers including Zen, mindfulness-based groups, Chinese, Vietnamese, and other Tibetan lineage centers. This is an opportunity to join with and welcome the diversity of our Dharma community. Of course, inviting other FPMT projects and centers is a must. Offer local FPMT family centers, projects, and services a table at your event to share information about their programs. Invite animal rescue groups or other non-profit organizations that align with benefiting sentient beings.

6. Re-read advice from Rinpoche on how to hold these large events.

Dagri Rinpoche at the Land of Medicine Buddha Festival in Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

Duh. Of course, none of us would intentionally ignore precious advice that we have received from Rimpoche. However, it is IMPORTANT to re-read advice (again, months in advance). You will likely find it is not possible to do everything Rinpoche advises right away, or even in the first few years of holding an annual event. You may find like us, however, that it is possible to add elements each year in a practical way. It took years for us to find Mongolian acrobats in our area, but eventually we did!

7. Practice generosity and pleasing sentient beings.

Fundraising and offering donations at the Medicine Buddha Festival, Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

Make meaningful and generous offerings to the people who contribute to the day: festival t-shirts for volunteers, offerings of money and special treats to the Sangha, and generous offerings to those who make music or dance offerings. Here, remember to make as extensive offerings as possible on your altars, and give people an opportunity to sponsor those offerings. People from around the world who are unable to attend your event may have the wish to participate by sponsoring various offerings.

8. Support your team, meet, and follow up.  

Attendees at the Medicine Buddha Festival in Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

Even the most enthusiastic and reliable community members have obstacles that will arise. It is helpful to share information and to-do lists on Google Docs and other online methods of communication. Have a volunteer coordinator, logistics coordinator, liaison with performers, and parking coordinator. Make lists and meet in person with your team. Make plans to follow up so you can make adjustments as issues arise.

9. Remember that you may not have time in the last days before the event to do X, Y, or Z.

Parade at the Medicine Buddha Festival in Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

Do it now! Funny things happen when making plans for Dharma events. One year in the middle of June, a large tree fell blocking the road to our center for more than twelve hours—the day before our event! Another year someone drove a car over a cliff. It is interesting to recall how obstacles can arise and surprise. If you leave things to the final days before an event, the stress level of your team may go through the roof. Do as much as you can now. Make lists with your team that can be completed well in advance. Leave a lot of space in the last few days to be surprised by things not going exactly as planned.

10. Trust your team!

Three of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, California, US, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Denice Macy.

The mind that sees problems is persistent (speaking for myself here). Remember you have an amazing team with Rinpoche at the head; Rinpoche inspires us to stretch ourselves, and if we trust Rinpoche’s advice, we can move ahead with faith that we have the skill, team, and karma for a successful event. Though we are limited and may learn some uncomfortable lessons along the way, we are on the right path!

Read more about the festivities, spiritual programs, and life in the community at Land of Medicine Buddha: http://landofmedicinebuddha.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.

Participants of the FPMT North America Regional Meeting during the Light of the Path retreat in Black Mountain, North Carolina, US, August 2017. Photo courtesy of Drolkar McCallum.

In August 2017, Drolkar McCallum, regional coordinator for FPMT North America and member services coordinator for the International Mahayana Institute—FPMT’s international community of nuns and monks—visited Black Mountain, North Carolina, United States, for the Light of the Path (LOP) retreat. During the retreat, which was led by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT North America held a successful and highly enjoyable regional meeting. Droklar offered her reflections:

FPMT North America held a successful and enjoyable ​regional meeting over August 22 and 23 during the Light of the Path (LOP) retreat in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

​Twenty-two participants representing International Office and a group of twelve centers, projects, services, and study groups from all over the US and Canada came together with a few registered teachers to discuss revenue generation, live streaming, grievance procedures, and the importance of International Sangha Day.

There was an informative presentation given by Annelies van der Heijden from Maitreya Instituut in the Netherlands on the immense value of the Foundation Service Seminars. Jill Marie from Kadampa Center spoke about fundraising; Tom Truty spoke about the current projects of Education Services; and I outlined the importance of moving forward in FPMT’s regionalization strategy in order to fulfill Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes for the organization.

FPMT North America Regional Meeting during the Light of the Path retreat in Black Mountain, North Carolina, US, August 2017. Photo courtesy of Drolkar McCallum.

Even though the meeting was shorter than normal, one benefit of having it at the beginning of LOP is that people were introduced to each other at the start and then had plenty of time and opportunity during the retreat to get together and discuss other issues and do some mutually beneficial brain showering!

The greatest advantage, of course, is that our most precious guru, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, was nearby and his blessings caused great inspiration, creativity, and a willingness to get more involved.

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.