FPMT News Around the World

Rose at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Pomaia, Italy, November 2017. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Paloma Fernandez, FPMT Europe Regional Coordinator, shares updates from Europe.

At this challenging time all over the world, with most of the centers, projects, and services, in Europe closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the centers saw that this is a very important moment for people to have access to the Dharma, now more than ever.

As an answer to that need, most of the European centers have launched different programs online, together with other initiatives. For many centers that meant that they needed to quickly learn about online platforms and how to launch their programs in this new format.

With the support with so many people, the FPMT centers all around Europe are supporting their students and the community in so many ways. All are helping their students to do the practices advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and to connect with Rinpoche’s video teachings.

AUSTRIA

Panchen Losang Chogyen Gelugzentrum, Vienna, is offering a rich online program in German, including Discovering Buddhism, and a Tara sadhana practice using WhatsApp, pujas, and daily meditations.

DENMARK

The Center for Wisdom and Compassion, Copenhagen, has made necessary adjustments so they can offer teachings tailored to support students. The center is offering meditations, and a new series of classes with FPMT registered teachers, such as “Using Fear to Develop Resilience,” and “Courage in Challenging Times.”

FINLAND

Tara Liberation Study Group, Helsinki, made a video with the Praises to 21 Taras in Finnish so people can do the practice by chanting along with the video that includes the text.

FRANCE

Institut Vajra Yogini, Marzens, is offering an online session every afternoon as well as Discovering Buddhism and Basic Program online. Kalachakra Center, Paris, is also offering a rich program in French through Zoom, including several Tara puja sessions each week and the practices advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

GERMANY

Aryatara Institut, Munich, is offering an online program including Monday Meditation, Discovering Buddhism, Basic Program, and a Tara Retreat.

THE NETHERLANDS

Maitreya Instituut is offering online teachings and meditations on Zoom. The center board wrote to all the center’s students/members to wish them strength, and are sending out cards.

ISRAEL (part of FPMT Europe)

Shantideva Study Group, Herzelia, is offering a diverse online program, and are doing a monthly animal liberation practice.

ITALY

The FPMT Italy National Office has organized a national online program with free activities offered daily in Italian.

Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Pomaia, is also offering online courses including the Basic Program, while Centro Tara Cittamani, Padova and Centro Tara Bianca, Genova are also organizing initiatives in Italian.

ROMANIA

White Tara Study Group is offering Discovering Buddhism on Zoom and Meditation 101 on Facebook.

SPAIN

FPMT Spain’s website now has information about free activities happening daily in Spanish.

Volunteers from Potala Hospice, the FPMT hospice service in Malorca, are offering emotional support through the telephone and over email to patients admitted to a hospital in a state of isolation, grieving people who have lost a loved one to coronavirus disease, and anyone in isolation or who has a family member in this situation and they are worried about loneliness.

SWEDEN

Yeshe Norbu Mind Training Center, Stockholm, now has an “Online Mind Training Center” with events including Discovering Buddhism, drop-in lunchtime meditations, drop-in evening meditations, a book circle, Tara practice, and more.

SWITZERLAND

Gendun Drupa Center, Martigny, is offering weekly meditations online.

Longku Center, Bern, is offering meditations online using Zoom, and a two-month online course about disturbing emotions.

UNITED KINGDOM

The FPMT UK National Office has worked with the UK centers to create a single online calendar while the centers are closed.

Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, initiated a Morning Prayer Group.

Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW) is offering online meetings and courses for the global community. Everyone is welcome to join Universal Education (UE) Coming Together community meetings on Zoom. FDCW is also offering Building Inner Strength: 16 Guidelines Level 1 as an online course, and an eight-hour five-session 16 Guidelines for Children and Teens Online Course for Parents and Carers.

Find links to these centers in the Europe and Middle East sections of the FPMT online directory:
https://fpmt.org/centers/#europe
https://fpmt.org/centers/#middleeast

Additional resources, including video teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Dharma study-from-home opportunities, can be found on the page “Resources for the Coronavirus Pandemic”:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/

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.

Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo, Japan, April 2020. Photo courtesy of Do Ngak Sung Juk Study Group.

Selina Foong, FPMT South East Asia regional coordinator, shares an update from the FPMT centers, projects, and services in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, and Taiwan.

There are movement control and lockdown procedures in place to varying degrees throughout our East and Southeast Asian region. At the time of writing, April 13, 2020, most of the FPMT centers in the seven countries here have closed in compliance with their respective government regulations.

A notable exception is Jinsiu Farlin, the FPMT center in Taipei, Taiwan. The center remains open, albeit with some restrictions, as Taiwan has been exemplary in keeping the coronavirus situation under control. While the center is avoiding hosting activities, which tend to draw large crowds, regular teachings and monthly pujas are continuing as usual.

An additional group session is held every Saturday afternoon to focus on the practices recommended by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche for pacifying the disease. Sessions typically attract fifteen to twenty participants, all of whom are required to wear face masks, sanitize their hands, and have their temperatures taken before entry is permitted. All sessions are also streamed online for those who prefer to stay at home.

Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo, Japan, April 2020. Photo courtesy of Do Ngak Sung Juk Study Group.

Online Dharma

For the centers that are closed, good use is being made of online and other platforms to maintain contact and offer encouragement, prayers, and teachings. As Tan Hup Cheng, center director of Amitabha Buddhist Centre, the FPMT center in Singapore says, “We are all well and trying to keep the Dharma alive.”

Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, the FPMT center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for instance, runs a very active Facebook page. Their recent post about advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche for coronavirus was shared 1,400 times and reached 88,000 people!

Their Facebook video uploads have also been well received. An ongoing series of thirty-minute video teachings on “How to deal skillfully with anger” by resident teacher Ven. Thubten Gyalmo is very popular. The thirteen videos already published have received 24,000 views to date. Even Mongolia’s TV9 channel took notice and has agreed to broadcast these videos free of charge whenever their program schedule permits. Another very effective medium of communication in Mongolia is national radio, which continues to air Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings twice a month.

Other online activities include recitations of the Golden Light Sutra and Sanghata Sutra. Do Ngak Sung Juk, the FPMT study group based in Tokyo, Japan, with members throughout the country, continues with this virtual practice just as they have done for the past twelve years. The study group conducts readings on the first and third Wednesdays of every month and are joined by participants from all corners of the globe. Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling also plans to launch recitations of these sutras online in April in order to dedicate strongly for world peace and the total elimination of COVID-19.

Several centers are turning to Zoom and Skype to conduct teachings, pujas, and meetings.

Geshe Jampa Tsundu, the resident geshe at Losang Dragpa Centre, the FPMT center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has resumed his regular teachings via Zoom. Geshe Jampa Tsundu also recently performed the Medicine Buddha Jangwa ceremony in an empty Losang Dragpa Centre gompa for the occasion of Cheng Beng (Tomb-Sweeping Day), which was streamed online to many participants.

Ven. Pemba Sherpa, is continuing to lead discussion sessions with Do Ngak Sung Juk via Skype video conferencing on the second Sunday of each month from his base as resident teacher at Cham Tse Ling (Mahayana Buddhist Association), the FPMT center in Hong Kong, where all activities have stopped since the end of 2019. Ven. Thubten Dechen is translating the weekly Jinsiu Farlin teachings as well as Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s current teachings from Kopan to a growing group of Chinese-speaking students throughout the world.

Amitabha Buddhist Centre conducted a Guru Puja on April 2 via Zoom for their first time. However, now that Singapore is in lockdown and Amitabha Buddhist Centre is closed, there are no further activities at the center for the time being. Even Vesak Day celebrations in May have been cancelled.

There is similar news from Chokyi Gyaltsen Centre, the FPMT center in Penang, Malaysia, and Potowa Centre, the FPMT center in Jakarta, Indonesia. Both centers are closed. Geshe Deyang, the resident geshe at Chokyi Gyaltsen Centre is performing prayers and pujas from his base at the center for the benefit of all. The center’s students continue to study and contemplate his teachings given to date from their own homes. As for Potowa Centre, their members are also staying home but continuing with various translation works and research on Borobudur.

Online Messaging Services

In addition to Zoom and Skype, some centers have found WhatsApp group chats to be useful in order to disseminate information quickly and effectively. Losang Dragpa Centre uses this platform to share practical information as well as Dharma news, including links to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s latest teachings and advice, in order to offer regular encouragement and support.

All in all, the centers and groups in our region are unanimously reporting that students are making good use of the resources kindly provided by FPMT and are practicing according to Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a sense that while these are indeed difficult times we can all do our part to bring about positive change. As Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling center director Ianzhina Bartanova says, “During this challenging time, Dharma is our top priority.”

Find links to these centers in the Asia section of the FPMT online directory:
https://fpmt.org/centers/#asia

Additional resources, including video teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Dharma study-from-home opportunities, can be found on the page “Resources for the Coronavirus Pandemic”:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/

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.

Quarantine meditations: learn to meditate and take advantage of staying home, Centro Yamantaka, Bogotá, Colombia, March 2020. Photo from Centro Yamantaka Facebook page.

FPMT Latin America regional coordinator Mauricio Roa and FPMT North America regional coordinator Drolkar McCallum share how the centers in their regions are adjusting while their locations are closed and people are advised or required to stay at home.

Brazil

Ven. Tenzin Namdrol, Centro Shiwa Lha center director, reports that practices are now done online once a week: Tara Verde (Green Tara), Medicine Buddha, Golden Light Sutra recitation, and a guided meditation. The practices Lama Zopa Rinpoche has advised for the coronavirus pandemic are done every Friday. Centro Shiwa Lha has a new page on the center’s website for practices advised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Rinpoche, and also has a collection of online study, practice, and Dharma entertainment materials: all in Portuguese.

Ven. Tenzin Namdrol was invited to appear in a video alongside other religious leaders to tell people how to stay home and remain healthy and calm. This video was shown on the TV morning news.

Mexico

Gilda Urbina, FPMT Mexico national coordinator, shared that FPMT centers and study groups began to close their locations in  late March. They are unsure of when they can open again; it depends on how the epidemic advances in Mexico. For the moment the government “suggests” people stay at home but it is not yet compulsory.

They are making use of the Zoom platform, offering online classes with Geshe Lobsang Dawa, an FPMT registered teacher on Mindfulness and Bodhichitta twice a week. They are also offering online classes on Lamrim Chenmo: The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment by Lama Tsongkhapa and Liberation in the Palm of your Hand by Pabongka Rinpoche once a week.

The FPMT centers and study groups in Mexico have the option of using Zoom according to their needs. They are also making use of the freely offered FPMT Online Learning Center course Living in the Path, and the translations of practices into Spanish, which they received from FPMT Spain.

Colombia

Amparo Mejía, Centro Yamantaka center director shared that the center, located in Bogotá, closed its location in late March. Everyone in the country must remain in their homes until April 13, but this could be extended for weeks or months. Geshe Lobsang Kunkhen, resident geshe at Centro Yamantaka, is doing a personal retreat and is not giving teachings. The center is making use of the internet, offering Introduction to Meditation classes, weekly study and Dharma discussion groups, a weekend meditation practice, and a weekly Tara practice. The center is also planning new activities using online programs.

North America

Drolkar McCallum reports that the centers in Canada and the United States quickly began shutting down one by one in March. Center staff studied and mastered Zoom and began to stream most of their regular teachings online. “I was amazed and impressed by how quickly this happened!” Drokar commented.

Group prayers sessions began springing up during the last week of March. People were self-isolating and felt the need for group support so they could fulfill the advice given to us all by the immeasurably kind and precious guru Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

In North America several centers are offering prayer groups and pujas on Zoom and Facebook Live. Check the FPMT North America website for details.  There is also an abundance of online teachings. 

Additional resources, including new videos from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Dharma study-from-home opportunities, can be found on the page “Resources for the Coronavirus Pandemic.”
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/

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.

Root Institute for Wisdom Culture, Bodhgaya, Bihar, India. Photo courtesy of Root Institute for Wisdom Culture.

There are FPMT centers, projects, and services across seven states of India. Deepthy Shekhar, FPMT India national coordinator, shares an update and reasons to rejoice.

Hello everybody! On behalf of the FPMT community in India, it is our wish to provide opportunities and support for practice, learning, and comfort while the world is struggling and in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Unfortunately, public classes in all FPMT centers in India are canceled as India is in a state of lockdown. Our kind teachers are offering their support so that we can continue with our Dharma studies, prayers, and practices. These sessions are available on Zoom, Facebook Live, and YouTube Live.

For students needing to stay at home, the following aids are there from our centers.

Our Online Courses and Practices

Ven. Tenzin Drolma, FPMT resident teacher at Tushita Meditation Centre, in Dharamsala, has already run a very successful two-week free online program, “The Buddhist Path of Training the Mind,” from March 24-April 3, 2020. Tushita offered two sessions each day to accommodate participants in different time zones around the world. The daily sessions combined teachings and meditations with a very popular Q&A so it was very interactive. We had 1,400 people from sixty-six countries sign up and three to four hundred people attended the sessions daily via Zoom.

Ven. Tenzin Drolma has also been leading a two-week online program called “Going Deeper: The Buddhist Path of Training the Mind,” from April 6-17 while in quarantine in Tushita.  You are welcome to visit the Tushita Meditation Centre website for more details and to register for the free program.

The venerable IMI Sangha who are currently in Maritika, Nepal, led prayers recommended by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la) at daily 9 A.M. IST prayer sessions called “Virtual Group Practice in Response to COVID-19” from March 27-April 10. These sessions, livestreamed on YouTube, were led by FPMT registered teacher Ven. Tenzin Namjong and the Sangha members there every day. These daily practices were on request by Choe Khor Sum Ling, the FPMT center in Bangalore. Visit the Choe Khor Sum Ling YouTube channel to watch recordings of the livestreams.

Visit these YouTube channels to view recent talks and teachings from our FPMT centers in India: Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre, Tushita Meditation Centre, Choe Khor Sum Ling, and Root Institute for Wisdom Culture.

Tushita Meditation Centre’s website freely offers audio recordings of previous teachings and courses to students who want to immerse themselves in their studies. Choe Khor Sum Ling provides free recordings of teachings and talks by venerable teachers from Sera Jey Monastic University.

Our FPMT India Facebook page has live links and teaching updates from the FPMT centers in India.

In the Community

The FPMT project, Maitri Charitable Trust in Bodhgaya has been working tirelessly, providing essential medical support to local villagers and leprosy patients in and around the center.

Here is a note from their director, Adriana Ferranti, about the realities that they are facing every day:

“MAITRI’s hospitals and the animal shelter have been working regularly, with all grounds staff on duty. They are from the nearest villages and come whether on foot or by bicycle while dodging the patrols. It is more complicated for the staff coming from twenty kilometers (twelve miles) away, and they can manage only when the rules in force have slackened.

“Provisions are a bit of a challenge but ultimately we function almost normally thanks to our usual suppliers and Bihari ingenuity. Unfortunately the out-patient department, mobile clinics, and field activities have stopped.

The supply of rations has ground to a halt with the exception of a few patients from the surrounding villages who reach us on foot. We are very concerned about the milk powder that is vital for the malnourished babies under our treatment. We distribute vitamin C to the staff daily. Everybody has their own mask, which they seem to use only when they leave the center.”

The outbreak of a pandemic is a great reminder of impermanence and the interconnectedness of all beings. It is a great time to retreat into a space of study, contemplation, and meditation on the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. We extend peace and loving-kindness during these uncertain times and offer comfort through these resources.

For more information about FPMT activities in India, visit the FPMT India national office website:
http://fpmtindia.in/

Additional resources, including video teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Dharma study-from-home opportunities, can be found on the page “Resources for the Coronavirus Pandemic”:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/

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.

Graphic by Michaela Kirchem.

As social distancing and self-isolation measures are happening around the world, Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW), an international FPMT project, is offering a range of online resources to help meet the new challenges that we all now face. Victoria Coleman, executive director, describes the new resources.

Free Online Community Sessions: Universal Education Coming Together

In March 2020, our senior trainers Marian O’Dwyer, Martha Cabral, and Wendy Ridley began offering weekly online sessions called “Universal Education (UE) Coming Together.” These sessions proved so popular that we decided to offer them in April too. Other FDCW facilitators such as Elaine Jackson and Hilary McMichael have volunteered to lead sessions.

Each sixty-minute session includes a guided meditation on a universal value such as courage, resilience, or kindness and provides a safe space for participants to share and support each other in a heartfelt way. Around twenty people have been taking part in each interactive session.

Sessions are free and drop-in, and are open to everyone. They are available every Thursday in April at various times in either English or Spanish.

For more information about these free online sessions visit the FDCW calendar:
https://www.compassionandwisdom.org/calendar

Online Course: Building Inner Strength: 16 Guidelines Level 1

For the first time, FDCW is offering this twelve-hour Building Inner Strength: 16 Guidelines Level 1 course live online. Exploring values such as compassion, humility, aspiration, and courage, this course offers very practical tools and specific techniques for transforming how we think, act, relate to others, and lead a meaningful life.

The course is facilitated by Marian O’Dwyer who is our Senior Trainer and Program Developer. She facilitates all levels of FDCW’s 16 Guidelines for Life program and has thirty years of experience teaching mindfulness-based practices. If you are interested in becoming an accredited 16 Guidelines for Life facilitator then completing Level 1 is the first step.

To register for Building Inner Strength: 16 Guidelines Level 1 visit the FDCW website:
https://www.compassionandwisdom.org/course-booking

Graphic by Michaela Kirchem.

Online Course: 16 Guidelines for Children and Teens

FDCW is offering a new course for parents and those who work with children and teenagers. It was developed by 16 Guidelines for Life accredited facilitator, teacher, and neuro-psycho educator Cecilia (“Ceci”) Buzón. Ceci founded her own school in Argentina and has worked with children for twenty years.

The course offers a wide range of age-appropriate activities to explore mindfulness and encourage children to name and integrate values like courage, kindness, compassion, and patience into their daily lives.

Seventeen people attended the facilitator training with Ceci in March. Participants shared their thoughts with us. Kitty D’Costa, UK, said, “It was inspiring, uplifting, revealing, experiential, and imaginative.” Pilar Maldonado Alcubierre, Mexico, commented, “I gained a lot of ideas I can use when working with children and teens such as mindfulness techniques and how to apply 16 Guidelines for Life to activities and games.” Silvie Walraven, Netherlands, shared, “The training was engaging and full of practical ideas for activities. The breakout groups worked very well. It creates a sense of community even though we’re physically far apart.”

FDCW has adapted this new twelve-hour in-person course into an eight-hour online course because so many people are at home with their children right now and need activities for them. Ceci will offer this course beginning on April 14.

For more information about 16 Guidelines for Children and Teens visit the FDCW website:
https://www.compassionandwisdom.org/course-booking

To learn more about the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom, visit their website:
https://www.compassionandwisdom.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.

Joan, Lorena, Paco, Kamlo, Noelia, Rafa, Gernán, Kris, Paloma, Charo, Francoise, Lydia, Jessi, Kiko, Jose, and Luan on the top row, and Javi, Ven. Namdrol, Conchi, Charo, Javi, Fernando, Kelsang, and Pablo on the bottom row, Foundation Service Seminar, Lliria, Spain, November 2019. Photo by FSS graduate.

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 actualize the advice that service is practice, practice is service, and how to always enjoy and rejoice when offering service. 

Twenty-two FPMT students graduated from the FSS held in Spain, while thirty one students graduated from the FSS held at Nalanda Monastery, the FPMT monastery in Lavaur, France.

Spain

Francisco (“Kiko”) LLopis, FPMT Spain National coordinator, shared the following:

We had the fortune of hosting an FSS from October 29 to November 3 in Lliria, near Valencia. Twenty FPMT students from Spain and two FPMT students from abroad  joined the seminar.

Under the guidance of FSS registered facilitators Paloma Fernandez and François Lecointre, we had fun together and deepened our experience of offering service to others in the organization. We dealt with fundamental aspects of offering service such as understanding the FPMT organization, the link between service and practice, good motivation and attitude, kind and effective communication, conflict resolution, burn-out prevention, rejoicing, and more. These topics were always addressed with a very practical and experiential approach. 

Germán and Kelsan in the background and Juan, Joan, Paco, and Jessi in the foreground during a Foundation Service Seminar session, Lliria, Spain, November 2019. Photo by FSS graduate.

Graduates offered remarks such as:

• “It has opened my views regarding FPMT and gave more meaning to my service in FPMT for so many years.”
• “Life changing … has deepened my practice and confidence in my spiritual community.”
• “Positive, constructive, and inspiring.”

Of the many useful resources offered during the FSS, we would like to highlight the Inner Job Description, a great tool for developing mindfulness about our thoughts, speech, and actions. It is available for all to use, via a paper format or a  free app, in English, Chinese, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

Foundation Service Seminar graduates and facilitators, Nalanda Monastery, Lavaur, France, January 2020. Photo by Harold Weichart.

France

This FSS was facilitated by Annelies van der Heijden and François Lecointre in January 2020.

Graduates offered remarks such as:

• “I connected with the wider vision of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Now I feel more enthusiastic to help with different projects.”
• “Practice is service, and service is practice. I collected many ideas to implement in our center.”
• “FSS is very practical, providing material to deal with basic problems at the center. Now that I have learned about immersion aversion I better understand why people act in different ways … and I know there is support for that.”

Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on FSS

While meeting with FSS facilitators in October 2017, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered the advice that follows (which you can also listen to as an audio recording):

“The hard work at the center—one should know and relate to Milarepa or Naropa’s life story, the great practitioners, one must remember and relate to that. What made them enlightened so fast? What? It was following the guru’s advice exactly without arising heresy or anger, by following it perfectly. As a result, becoming enlightened in a brief lifetime of this degenerate time, and receiving realizations. So similarly, however hard it is working for the center, you must relate to that and see the unbelievable benefit, benefit like limitless sky! So then it becomes the most enjoyable work in the life, the happiest thing to do in the life.”

Thubten Kunga Center, the FPMT center in Deerfield Beach, Florida, US, will be hosting a Foundation Service Seminar August 15-19, 2020. Institut Vajra Yogini, an FPMT center in Lavaur, France, will be hosting a Foundation Service Seminar August 17 -22, 2020. 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.

Building Inner Strength graphic by Zoe Butler.

In January 2020, Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW), an international FPMT project, published its Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide, a new free resource designed to help more people around the world learn about and benefit from their 16 Guidelines for Life program. The Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide gives its readers tools that can be used to facilitate a weekly discussion group for a period of sixteen weeks, with participants exploring one of the 16 Guidelines each week.

Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom is one of FPMT’s five pillars of service, and FDCW creates programs based on this system of sharing the essence of Buddhism within a secular context. Victoria Coleman, FDCW director, gives an update about this new free publication.

The Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide is an easy-to-follow weekly outline for anyone in the world who is interested in exploring universal values such as humility, kindness, compassion, aspiration, service, and courage in discussion with others. The Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide is based on our 16 Guidelines for Life program and draws inspiration from the 16 Guidelines for Life book.

The purpose of the Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide is to help those who would like to facilitate weekly discussion groups exploring the 16 Guidelines for Life. Each weekly discussion group session lasts ninety minutes and explores one universal value. Participants reflect deeply on the value, then discuss questions that help draw out their own wisdom and their individual experience of that value. The focus is on experiential learning, coming not just from an intellectual perspective but from the heart. The Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide includes suggested questions to spark discussions, guided meditations, and notes for the discussion leader.

No prior experience of the 16 Guidelines for Life program, training, or certification is needed. The Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide is offered by FDCW as a free resource available to anyone with an interest in exploring these values with others and how they can be applied in daily life. Discussion groups can be formed with a circle of friends, colleagues in the workplace, drawn from the local community, or a mix.

Our aspiration is that this Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide will help to globalize the 16 Guidelines for Life program by sharing the values much more widely and encourage the habit of applying the values to challenges in daily life.

We have already received a big response to the Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide. People have shared ideas for using the discussion guide not only for a sixteen-week series, but also for beginner retreats, evening meditation classes, weekend workshops, and social outreach to the community.

Ven. Carolyn Lawler in New Zealand said, “Many thanks for the information you sent. I think you’ve solved a problem for me. The material Building Inner Strength seems to be what I’ve need for a new class. In the past we had classes on The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives by Dr. Thupten Jinpa. These were very successful, but I couldn’t find a follow-on, which was wanted. I think the material you sent could work very well.”

Mikkel Bjelke Kristiansen, SEE Learning Coordinator, Europe, wrote, “Thank you very much for sharing this updated and upgraded version of the discussion guide. I like everything about it: the simplicity, visual appearance, emphasis on personal practice, practical applications in everyday life, and the critical reflections arising from the discussions.”

Lynne Knight in England shared, “Thanks so much to you and all involved for this wonderful resource. I was just looking for something like this to take our fortnightly meditation group forward by opening up the leading of the group to others. This looks to be perfect, and perfect timing! Thanks for making it so freely available. I’ll let you know how we get on with it at the Jamyang Bath Study Group.”

Maureen McIntyre, Langri Tangpa Centre director in Queensland, Australia, said, “I think that I will introduce these discussions to some of my family and friends. They often ask me about Buddhist principles but aren’t interested in studying. Discussing this over coffee would be ‘skillful means.'”

Many thanks to Rasmus Hougaard, Keith Halford, Wendy Ridley, Angela Sanchez, and Michaela Kirchem for their skills and care in creating this.

We welcome feedback from discussion leaders and participants so that we can improve the Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide. May thousands and thousands of beings benefit from this free resource!

To receive a free copy of the Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide please contact admin@compassionandwisdom.org. No training from FPMT, Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom, or familiarity with Buddhism is necessary in order to receive a copy or make use of the free discussion guide. Please share this invitation with anyone you feel would be interested in reading the Building Inner Strength Discussion Guide.

To learn more about the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom, visit their website:
https://www.compassionandwisdom.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.

Seventh 100 million mani retreat at Idgaa Choizinling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, September 2019. Photo by Ianzhina Bartanova.

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization is to sponsor 100 million OM MANI PADME HUM retreats around the world. Rinpoche has said, “[I would like] for the organization to establish 100,000 recitations of 100 million OM MANI PADME HUM mantras. This can be retreats of 100 million recitations, so 100,000 different retreats in different parts of the world and where it is happening, then for it to happen regularly, each year.”

The FPMT center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, organized their first mani retreat in 2013 with assistance from the FPMT Practice and Retreat Fund. Led by Lama Zopa Rinpoche that year, it was the first big retreat he had led since he manifested a stroke in 2011. They have been organizing and self-sustaining a mani retreat annually ever since, completing their seventh annual retreat in September 2019. Center director Ianzhina Bartanova shares the story.

Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling has completed its seventh 100 million mani retreat in a row. In 2019, for some logistical reasons, this major annual event took place in the month of September. It was a surprisingly warm and pleasant month for Mongolia, enabling participants to better concentrate on the practice without experiencing the discomfort of a hot summer or cold winter.

However, we observed that there was a reduction in the number of people who could join us in the Idgaa Choinzinling Monastery gompa because the retreat coincided with the beginning of the new school year. Nevertheless, the average attendance of approximately 100 to 150 people yielded the excellent result of a collective recitation of 108,000,000 OM MANI PADME HUM mantra recitations. These were offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the first mani retreat in Elista, Kalmykia, in October 2019.

Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling center director, Ianzhina Bartanova, paid a visit to Elista and offered congratulations to the abbot of the Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni (the Golden Temple) upon the successful hosting of the mani retreat there. Ven. Anja was pleased to know about the annual 100 million mani retreat in Mongolia. Ven. Anja expressed that people from Kalmykia might now be more interested in visiting Mongolia and participating in the mani retreat here.

Ani Thubten Gyalmo, Ani Nyima, and Ani Kunkyen taking part in the seventh 100 million mani retreat at Idgaa Choizinling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, September 2019. Photo by Ianzhina Bartanova.

Thirty days of retreat passed very quickly at Idgaa Choinzinling Monastery, and new lessons were learned along the way. Although we have some familiarity with how to organize this event, there is always room for improved service and further implementation of skillful ways to overcome obstacles.

The second day of the retreat was marked by the sudden declaration of a state holiday due to the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin. When the Mongolian government made this announcement they recommended citizens stay home in order to reduce traffic congestion for the two presidents! Fortunately for our staff and retreat participants we followed our normal schedule. The daily schedule was changed only once, when Geshe Thubten Soepa gave special teachings explaining the meaning of the OM MANI PADME HUM mantra.

Seventh 100 Million Mani Retreat at Idgaa Choizinling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, September 2019. Photo by Ianzhina Bartanova.

Every year the devoted retreatants touch our hearts with their seemingly magical stories. Retreatants share about experiencing immediate healing with blessed water and other miraculous events that have happened in their lives. We view these stories as further confirmation of the power of the Buddha of Compassion, the power of faith, and the power of merits. We sincerely dedicate our collective merits for world peace and the resolution of the climate crisis to significantly reduce the suffering on this planet.

As we look towards the future and consider how we can continue to improve our offerings, we are discussing the possibility of organizing a strict retreat in 2020. This retreat would conclude with a fire puja for participants who can commit to full participation and the recitation of the required number of mantras. We warmly invite everyone to join us and help in fulfilling Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Vision for Mongolia.

For more information about Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, visit their website:
http://www.fpmtmongolia.org/shedrub-ling-center

The Practice and Retreat Fund provides grants and sponsorships for students engaged in retreats such as 108 nyung nä retreats, 100 million mani retreats, recitations of sutras, and long term retreat: 
https://fpmt.org/projects/fpmt/practice-and-retreats-fund/

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

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kalachakra Teaching Ground, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

Few things are more precious than being able to receive teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, the location of the Buddha’s enlightenment. From January 2-6, 2020, His Holiness gave teachings at the Kalachakra Teaching Ground on Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, conferred an Avalokiteshvera Initiation, and completed The Wheel of Teachings on Manjushri Empowerments based on its proximal lineage that he began in Bodhgaya in December 2018. An estimated 35,000 people, including 2,500 people from sixty-seven countries, attended the five days of teachings. FPMT Australian student Cynthia Karena, a regular contributor to Mandala, attended the teachings and now shares the story.

Devotees approaching the Kalachakra Teaching Ground, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

I’m here in Bodhgaya for His Holiness’s teachings. I’m looking forward to them, but it’s super cold and it’s dusty; in fact it’s downright miserable.

Most of the hotels here are set up for the heat of summer, which is most of the year, so for the two or three weeks that is Winter, hotel rooms are like fridges.

So why do I do it? Why do I come back year after (mostly) year? Why go through this suffering?

I suppose I just answered my own question. We are in samsara; we are already suffering. Should I complain, or should I practice? As with any teaching, it’s not just about the teaching. It’s also about transforming what you are going through.

“Integrate the teachings within yourself and gradually transform your mind. This is the way to make your life meaningful,” says His Holiness.

But of course the main draw cards that trump the dust, cold, and inevitable coughing and sneezing are the bright light of His Holiness’s teachings, the energy of the stupa, seeing Lama Zopa and Khadro-la, and being here with Geshe Doga. No contest really.

Steadfast devotees in the rain at the outer edge of the pavilion tent, Kalachakra Teaching Ground, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

His Holiness is teaching on Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva, giving an Avalokiteshvara Initiation, and continuing The Wheel of Teachings on Manjushri Empowerments he began in Bodhgaya last time in December 2018.

Over the years I’ve been coming to Bodhgaya to hear His Holiness, I must admit the teachings do all sound the same to me. He brings most things around to kindness and emptiness: ‘Focus on others…meditate on emptiness…then ordinary appearances will stop…benefit others as much as possible…understanding the reality of the self is the only way to (remove) self-grasping.’

I keep coming back because it’s Bodhgaya; the place is like a big spiritual magnet. And teachings on emptiness from His Holiness are positively immersive. I’ve heard the words before, but each time I hope I have enough merit for them to sink in even deeper, and make a difference.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kalachakra Teaching Ground, Bodhgaya, Gaya District, Bihar, India, January 2020. Photo by Cynthia Karena.

Years ago in Bodhgaya, when I heard him say ‘form is emptiness, emptiness is form’, it blew my mind, even though I have heard and recited these words many, many times. Was it his voice, or being in Bodhgaya, I don’t know! So I’m like an addict returning, wanting a little flash of insight here and a blessing there.

However, one sentence this year blew my mind in a more stern and shocking fashion, prompting me to watch myself more closely: “If you are selfish and don’t behave with bodhichitta, then you are deceiving the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.”

I asked the police what they thought of it all, but none of them spoke English so they couldn’t understand my questions. And of course they had no earbuds to hear a translation. But my driver to the airport said that most of the police are Hindus, so believe the Buddha is a reincarnation of one of their gods. They also believe that the Dalai Lama is a great spiritual teacher.

And with that, I’m back in fire-ravaged Australia trying to remember the teachings and transform my anger at our government’s inaction on our climate catastrophe.

Read accounts of each day of the teachings on the website of The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama:
https://www.dalailama.com/news

Watch His Holiness’s January 2, 2020, teaching on Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo’s “Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva” given in Bodhgaya,  India, on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/rvo4rkRBFaA

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 and FPMT resident geshe Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi with the traditional Tibetan drum dance performers at Amitabha Buddhist Centre’s 30th anniversary dinner, Jubilee Garden Restaurant at SAFRA Club, Singapore, September 2019. Photo courtesy of Amitabha Buddhist Centre.

On Friday, September 20, 2019, Amitabha Buddhist Centre, the FPMT center in Singapore, celebrated the center’s 30th birthday at an evening celebration with Lama Zopa Rinpoche as their guest of honor. Lobsang Drolkar (Cecilia Tsong), a long-time student, active ABC member, and volunteer shares the story about Rinpoche’s visit to Singapore and the celebration.

Amitahba Buddhist Centre (ABC) can be said to be one of the most fortunate centers in the FPMT family in that we have been blessed to be able to host Lama Zopa Rinpoche on almost a yearly basis. Just as Rinpoche had graced our 25th anniversary celebrations, so now on our 30th birthday, our most precious Guru was here to celebrate this most happy of occasions with us again.

Center director Tan Hup Cheng offering the mandala to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, September 2019. Photo courtesy of Amitabha Buddhist Centre.

Much has transpired over the last five years. In accordance with Rinpoche’s extensive advice, the twelve-foot (3.7-meter) high Chenrezig statue was commissioned and completed. A traditional Tibetan style gateway was constructed at the main entrance. It was painstakingly decorated with specially chosen mantras and Buddhist symbols as advised by Rinpoche. And prior to Rinpoche’s visit last year, after thirty long years, Amitabha Buddhist Centre was finally graced with a stunning Amitabha Buddha statue flanked by a pair of dragons at its gateway.

Watch the video “Our ABC 2019,” commemorating ABC’s 30th anniversary on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/4AgHK7pS6U8

Rinpoche’s blessings began with an unexpected early arrival. Rinpoche offered many additional teachings, an extensive commentary on Lama Chopa (Guru Puja), and initiations and empowerments that were not announced earlier. Rinpoche conferred a special jenang of Vajrapani Hayagriva and Garuda, and prior to the long life puja Rinpoche conferred a White Tara initiation. In addition, in response to the unrest in Hong Kong, a group recitation of the Gyaltsen Sema Punkyen was organized.

Amitabha Buddhist Centre’s 30th anniversary dinner, Jubilee Garden Restaurant at SAFRA Club, Singapore, September 2019. Photo courtesy of Amitabha Buddhist Centre.

The highlight of the celebrations was a special 30th anniversary dinner. Our very own Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim had compiled a special commemorative video that contained much archival material of ABC’s earliest beginnings. Those present had much fun trying to identify senior students during their salad days! Not only was the video nostalgic for the old timers, but it showed how far ABC has come in the last three decades.

Watch the video “Look Back & Celebrate!” on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/R9ghQETWZq0

In addition, there was live entertainment in the form of dance performances by the adorable little children from ABC’s childcare center, vocal performances by ABC’s very own choral group, Mudita, and a very well-received traditional Tibetan drum dance performed by ABC members and staff, who had rehearsed tirelessly for the past five months. To commemorate the occasion, all those present were given a specially designed hand-held prayer wheel.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Amitabha Buddhist Centre’s 30th anniversary dinner, Jubilee Garden Restaurant at SAFRA Club, Singapore, September 2019. Photo by Tan Seow Kheng.

To learn more about Amitabha Buddhist Centre visit their website:
http://www.fpmtabc.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.

Drilbu Ri, Lahaul Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh, India, August 2019. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.

FPMT resident teacher, staff members, and volunteers at Tushita Meditation Centre, the FPMT center in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, went on pilgrimage to Lahaul (Garsha) in August 2019. The group traveled together in the Tushita bus and two additional vehicles on a route which included crossing the Rohtang Pass on the Leh-Manali Highway from Kullu district to the Lahaul Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh. Ven. Tenzin Kunphen, spiritual program coordinator, and Maria Nobuko Corrales, creative project assistant, share the story. This is a short excerpt from the published online story, “Tushita Meditation Centre Staff Went on a Pilgrimage to the Land of Dakinis.”

In August 2019, the Tushita staff did something remarkable following Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice. We closed our doors for a week and went on pilgrimage together! Our destination was Garsha, the Land of Dakinis (also know as Lahaul), in northern Himachal Pradesh, India. This spiritual adventure was filled with both trying and recurring obstacles that threatened our safety and caused some to turn back, but it was also filled with powerful blessings for those who endured!

This wasn’t the first time Tushita staff had traveled to Lahaul. In 2013, we were blessed to be invited by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to visit Lahaul, where Rinpoche did a private retreat in Triloknath together with Tsenshap Serkong Rinpoche and Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme). Tushita staff traveled with Rinpoche for two weeks. Then in 2015, following Rinpoche’s advice, the Tushita team went on pilgrimage for the first time, making a one-week pilgrimage to Lahaul.

Markula temple, Udaipur, Lahaul Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh, India, August 2019. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.

In August 2019, our primary pilgrimage destinations were:

• Drilbu Ri Mountain—revered Chakrasamvara mountain, Palace of the Buddha’s Enlightened Body
• Phakpa Temple in Triloknath—revered Chenrezig statue and the Milky Chenrezig Lake (Omay Tso), Palace of the Buddha’s Enlightened Speech
• Markula Temple in Udaipur—revered Vajravarahi temple, Palace of the Buddha’s Enlightened Mind

On the way we visited:

• Sangam—the spot where the Chandra and Bhaga Rivers meet and unite together as Chandrabhaga River
• Tara Temple and Palden Lhamo waterfall near Sissu
• Padmasambhava caves and statue in Rewalsar (Tso Pema)

At 10 P.M. on August 18, nineteen of Tushita’s staff and volunteers loaded up into a bus and two additional vehicles to begin our long overnight drive to our first waypoint: Manali. Ginger tablets and Dramamine were washed down, strategically timed, along with prayers for effectiveness by those pilgrims susceptible to the destabilizing effect of the twists and turns promised by the road ahead. The hours of winding roads lived up to their reputation as a few meals reversed course, never completing their digestion, and others barely held on.

In the early still-dark hours of the next morning, just outside of Manali, we came to a halt. We were faced with a two-lane road that had crumbled to less than one, washed away by the heavy rains into the river below. Vinod, Tushita’s trusted driver who manned one of the vehicles, assessed the situation, uncertain if we could make it across. With a nagging feeling telling him “no” he reluctantly backed off, allowing the car that had come up behind us to make their choice.

As this new vehicle asserted its confidence in forging ahead, we all felt a wave of both relief and empathy as the car became stuck precisely where Vinod had a bad feeling. Reversing and attempting two hour-long detours before finally finding an alternate way through, all three Tushita cars reconvened in the light of a new day in Manali. …

Read the full online story, “Tushita Meditation Centre Staff Went on a Pilgrimage to the Land of Dakinis,” and view more photos online:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/in-depth-stories/tushita-meditation-centre-staff-go-on-pilgrimage/

For information about Tushita Meditation Centre, visit their website:
http://tushita.info

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.

Panelists Colin Wiese, Bahá’í; Geshe Tenzin Zopa, Buddhism; Melanie Baulch, Quaker; Toni Coleman, moderator; Dr. Ata-ur Rehman, Islam; Rev’d Karen Kime, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander; Gaurav Bodar, Hinduism; Rev’d Gavin Krebs, Christianity in the Wagga Wagga City Council Chambers Meeting Room, New South Wales, Australia, August 2019. Photo by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Wagga volunteers.

Approximately seventy community members gathered together at the Wagga Wagga City Council Chambers Meeting Room in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, in August, for an interfaith event, “End-of-Life Care: A Multifaith Conversation,” organized by Potowa Study Group, the FPMT study group in Wagga Wagga. Interfaith activities are one of FPMT’s five pillars of service. Peir Woon, Potowa Study Group coordinator, shares the story.

Geshe Tenzin Zopa and Mr. Dipak Gondaliya, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Wagga representative, Wagga Wagga City Council Chambers Meeting Room, New South Wales, Australia, August 2019. Photo by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Wagga volunteers.

Potowa Study Group organized a multifaith conversation entitled “End-of-life Care: A Multifaith Conversation” in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. The event, held on August 3, 2019, was organized in conjunction with Dying to Know Day, an annual event aimed at improving the death literacy of people in Australia. Dying to Know Day was founded by The GroundSwell Project, an Australian-based non-profit organization.

This multifaith event was the second of its kind organized by Potowa Study Group; the first one was held in 2017. The 2019 event featured an impressive panel of speakers representing the following communities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and Quaker. The Buddhist community was represented by one of our dear FPMT teachers, Geshe Tenzin Zopa, who played an instrumental role in initiating the idea of having multifaith conversations locally.

Despite being a small city with a population of about 60,000, multiculturalism and multifaith groups are very prominent in Wagga Wagga. This creates an opportunity for multifaith dialogues, something we recognized especially after Geshe Zopa’s visit to Potowa Study Group back in November 2016.

The annual multifaith event began with participation from four faith groups back in 2017. By 2019 this had grown to seven groups. All the faith groups showed enormous support for having such multifaith discussion on various topics. This is one of the key strengths offered by Wagga Wagga city, which provides a harmonious and peaceful environment for a multi-ethnic and multifaith community.

“End-of-life Care: A Multi-faith Conversation” in the Wagga Wagga City Council Chambers Meeting Room, New South Wales, Australia, August 2019. Photo by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Wagga volunteers.

In 2019, the multifaith conversation was run in an entirely question and answer style format moderated by a palliative care specialist. Approximately seventy people from all walks of life attended the event in person, and another seventy watched the live-streamed event on our multifaith Facebook page, Our Common Word – Harmony Through Unity.

An analysis of our post-event survey shows that attendees enjoyed hearing from the diverse panel of speakers, who they found very interesting, and that all of the speakers spoke extremely well about death, dying, and bereavement. The event received positive feedback for the harmony it created between religious communities, with attendees noting that having such a broad range of religions and cultural groups coming together for this event really reinforced the sense that we can be united and we can live together. Many were surprised by how many things the different religions have in common, and attendees encourage the community to listen to the things that are eternal. Overall the event was a great success. The audience was extremely engaged for the duration of the two-hour event.

Geshe Tenzin Zopa speaking on the panel in the Wagga Wagga City Council Chambers Meeting Room, New South Wales, Australia, August 2019. Photo by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Wagga volunteers.

The success of this event was due to the support we received from the Multicultural Council of Wagga Wagga, a local community group, and Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network, a local government agency, as well as the speakers and faith community groups.

Potowa Study Group is honored to be part of this meaningful annual event and will strive to continue to offer a similar service to the local community in the future. The next multifaith event, planned for mid-2020, will be focused on the theme of environment and sustainability.

Stacey Heer, Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network project manager thanking Dr. Ata-ur Rehman in the Wagga Wagga City Council Chambers Meeting Room, New South Wales, Australia, August 2019. Photo by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Wagga volunteers.

UPDATE—On February 23, 2020, Rotary Peace Day, Peir Woon was awarded the Rotary Club Award for Community Service by the Combined Rotary Clubs of Wagga Wagga’s Peace Community Committee as a representative of the Potowa Study Group in recognition of the multifaith dialogues the group has organized for the Wagga Wagga community since 2017.

For more information about Potowa Study Group, visit their website:
http://potowabuddhistgroup.simplesite.com/

Watch recordings of the “End-of-Life Care: A Multifaith Conversation” event on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/262934810779443/videos/

For advice on death and dying, visit:
https://fpmt.org/death/

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.