Group photo from the first meditation course held at Kopan Monastery, April, 1971. Left to right, front row: Zina Rachevsky, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Geshe Thubten Tashi, Age Delbanco (Babaji), Lama Yeshe, Gen Wangyal. Fred Von Allmen is at far left, Claudio Cipullo second from the end on the right, and Mark Shaneman is standing directly behind Babaji. Photo provided by Fred von Allmen, courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said, “Coming to a Kopan Course is the most important education of your Life.” On November 25, 2022, after a two year break due to the COVID restrictions and safety concerns, 175 students started the fifty-third course at Kopan Monastery with Geshe Tenzin Namdak serving as retreat teacher. A more restricted amount of attendees were admitted than usual due to ongoing concerns of contagion and risks.

The organizers report that the flow has been smooth and things are going well and harmoniously so far. Geshe Namdak has started the teachings with a scientific approach. His teaching manner has been described as relaxed yet enthusiastic. In attendance are a combination of senior students, including eight nuns, three monks, and complete beginners from all around the world, including a large group of Spanish speaking students and a smaller Portuguese group. 

Many of FPMT’s senior students first met Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche attending one of these retreats and over the years, thousands of students have made a connection with FPMT through the education they received at Kopan Monastery. For three years in the seventies, two courses were offered every year, and since then, the November Course—as it is affectionately referred to—was offered every year until 2020. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2017. Photo by Bill Kane

In 2017, Rinpoche told the 200+ attendees of the course, “So it is really of the utmost importance, you coming here to learn not just meditation but lamrim, lamrim meditation. … Only then, you can understand how to live life, how in the past how you live, and how you should live now, in a positive way to benefit not only yourself but all the numberless beings. So I want to say, your coming to Kopan to do meditation course, oh, this is the best! If you want to help the world, to bring peace, your coming here is the best. Your coming here to do the meditation course, to learn, that is the best. You have to bring peace in the world by your mind, by your good heart. You yourself have to have a good heart to bring perfect peace and happiness in the world. That is the best.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught that very first course in 1971 and has offered teachings at the courses almost every year since. In addition to Rinpoche’s teachings, which usually begin a couple of weeks into the course, Rinpoche selects a course teacher to lead the course every year. Geshe Namdak, who was requested this year, is resident teacher at Jamyang London Buddhist Center. Geshe Namdak is a  Dutch senior monk who completed his Geshe Degree at Sera University in India in 2017. Geshe Namdak is the first Westerner to complete the full course of studies at Sera Je Monastery and also to sit for the final geshe examination there, a tremendous achievement.

The 42-foot stupa at Rabagayling Tibetan Settlement in Hunsur, India, October 2022. Photo by Ven. Lhundrup Tsundu.

The Rabgayling Tibetan Settlement in Hunsur, South India is home to the Rabgayling Old Aged Home, a care facility serving approximately twenty residents. FPMT Charitable Projects, through the Social Services Fund, has been supporting this home since 2015, providing grants for annual operation costs, the construction of living accommodations, medical assistance, and a community hall for the elders.

In addition to this critical support for the basic needs of the residents and facilities, Lama Zopa Rinpoche sponsored the construction of a magnificent forty-two foot stupa close to the elderly home at the settlement, which was recently completed. The stupa will provide the elders and all other residents of the Tibetan settlement an easy opportunity to create merit and purify negative karma.

Padmasambhava taught in Instructions on Offerings to Stupas:

“Since all the three-time buddhas and bodhisattvas have actually absorbed into the holy object of the mind and are abiding in it, any request or prayer done to this great stupa will spontaneously and effortlessly succeed, for it is like a precious wish-granting jewel. The benefits received by any transmigratory being with a pure special attitude who does prostration or circumambulation or makes offerings are incalculable and cannot be expressed even by all the past, present, and future buddhas.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche presiding over the consecration ceremony for the stupa at the Rabgayling Tibetan Settlement, joined by the abbott and monks of Gyudmed Monastery, Hunsur, India, October 16, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lhundrup Tsundu.

On October 16, 2022, during his visit to South India, Lama Zopa Rinpoche presided over the consecration and opening ceremonies for the stupa, which included the planting of a juniper tree in front of the stupa. Alongside Rinpoche was the abbot and monks of nearby Gyudmed Tantric Monastery, who oversaw the building and planning of the stupa throughout its construction.

In addition to the consecration, Rinpoche offered blessings to the elder residents of the Rabgayling Old Age Home; a teaching on the benefits of seeing and circumambulating stupas and other holy objects, and the benefits of reciting mantras; plus the oral transmission of some mantras. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the consecration for the stupa at the Rabgayling Tibetan Settlement, Hunsur, India, October 16, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lhundrup Tsundu.

Vast Vision for Building Stupas

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization includes the construction of 100,000 stupas around the world, including in countries where there aren’t yet any holy objects present. Rinpoche explains, “Since there is unbelievable benefit, such as liberating sentient beings, then I thought we should aim to build 100,000 stupas (minimum size, one story, up to the distance from the earth to the moon) in different parts of the world and for the organization to do this as a whole.”

While this vision will take generations to fully accomplish, many stupas have been completed to date. To support this amazing endeavor, one of FPMT’s Charitable Projects  is the Holy Object Fund which provides grants for holy objects such as this one at the Rabgayling Tibetan Settlement, and the impressive Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, which stands 164 feet (50 meters) high, in Bendigo, Australia.

We invite you to please rejoice in the actualization of this beautiful new stupa which took three years to complete and came through the generous legacy offering of an FPMT nun, and the great benefit the stupa will bring to many beings. We would like to especially thank Geshe Tsundu, who oversaw the whole building of the stupa and beautiful decorations, as well as the abbott and monks of Gyudmed Tantric Monastery, who helped to fill the stupa and participated in the consecration. Please enjoy this short video of the actual stupa consecration with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the abbott, and monks of Gyudmed Tantric Monastery.

To help support to the creation of stupas around the world, we invite contributions of any amount to the Stupa Fund.  We also invite you to read more about all of our FPMT Charitable Projects.

FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 150 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friends of FPMT member, which supports our work.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Ven. Roger Kunsang, Dharamsala, India. November 2, 2022. Photo courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Our November 2022 e-news is now available. 

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

• Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Recently published teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• News from the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom
• New blogs and stories from FPMT.org
• Newly available materials to support your Dharma study and practice
• Opportunities within the organization

and much more!

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

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page. French and Spanish speakers will find the FPMT International Office News translated each month in the “Bienvenue” and “Bienvenidos” tabs on the FPMT homepage.

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

Geshe Thubten Soepa sitting with some friends near Vulture Peak Mountain, Rajgir, India. Photo courtesy of Geshe Thubten Soepa Facebook page.

Geshe Thubten Soepa. 67,  passed away at a hospital in Mysore, India, on November 2, 2022 from a heart attack.

Geshe Soepa was well regarded as a scholar with extensive knowledge about both sutra and tantra, and not only well versed in the Gelugpa texts, but also in those of the Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu schools. A cremation ceremony occurred on November 7, 2022. We share a brief account of his life below for rejoicing and inspiration:

Geshe Thubten Soepa was born in Zanskar, India in 1955. As a young child he and his mother were advised by His Holiness Ling Rinpoche and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche that it would be good if he ordained, and he soon followed their guidance. Geshe Soepa began his Dharma studies at age 14 at Domo Geshe Rinpoche’s monastery in Kalimpong, India, where he studied and learned ritual for four years. From there he transferred to Sera Je Monastery in Bylakuppe, India, where he would complete his geshe studies 21 years later, earning the highest honor of Geshe Lharampa, in 1993.

In his first three years serving as a geshe, he taught philosophy and Tibetan grammar at Sera Je and Dzongkar Chose monasteries.  Geshe Thubten Soepa then received a request from Lama Zopa Rinpoche to teach in the West. Geshe Soepa agreed to Rinpoche’s request and moved to Munich, Germany. For ten years he continuously taught at FPMT centers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, while also traveling to other centers around Europe to offer teachings. After his time in Europe, the next decade of his life was mostly spent in North America, offering teachings at FPMT centers in Canada, Mexico and the United States. 

Geshe Thubten Soepa meditating at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India. Photo courtesy of Geshe Thubten Soepa Facebook page.

Recognized as a Tulku

In his short autobiography, Geshe Soepa shared that he was told that he was the reincarnation of a high lama on three separate occasions. The first declaration was made by His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche in 1974, then again by His Eminence Zong Rinpoche in 1978. The last affirmation came from the great yogi Choden Rinpoche, during a public teaching Rinpoche was giving on the Six Yogas of Naropa in Munich, 2004. Geshe Soepa shared his shock and disbelief at hearing the news each time, even asking Choden Rinpoche if he was teasing him. Choden Rinpoche looked at Geshe Soepa and forcefully confirmed it was not a tease! Despite being recognized, Geshe Soepa was never formally enthroned or named after the particular teacher. In 1974, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche shared with Geshe Soepa that a formal enthronement would not be necessary, foretelling that Geshe Soepa would “spontaneously be doing well at Dharma, and that [he] would like it.”

Promoting Vegetarianism and Protecting Life

Geshe Thubten Soepa was deeply passionate about promoting vegetarianism, especially to those living a monastic life. He would go on to write a number of books and articles on the practice of not eating meat, relying on sources such as the Lankavatara Sutra, Great Cloud Sutra, Great Nirvana Sutra, and the Anguli Mala Sutra, to communicate the Buddha’s teachings. His first book was titled Protecting the Lives of Helpless Beings: The Udamwara Lotus Flower, which is now available as an ebook through the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. In 1996, while His Holiness the Dalai Lama was visiting Munich, Geshe Soepa was able to offer His Holiness a copy of his book. His Holiness told Geshe Soepa that he read the whole book, was very pleased by the text, and encouraged Geshe Soepa to continue his efforts on the topic. 

In the years following, he would write four texts on vegetarianism that were translated in five languages and distributed freely. In 2012, Geshe Soepa published a short text on the Hinayana Vinaya teachings on monastics refraining from eating meat. During the 2017 Kalachakra initiation offered by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya, India, Geshe Soepa was able to meet with Lama Zopa Rinpoche and offer Rinpoche this short text. Lama Zopa Rinpoche was also quite pleased by Geshe Soepa’s writing. Geshe Soepa told Rinpoche that he was planning to write another text to clarify further points, and Rinpoche expressed that the text should be translated into English, in order to be easily translated into many languages later. Geshe Soepa would go on to publish another text in Tibetan in 2018 for monastics. The text included teachings on performing animal liberations and advice for working to free people who were wrongly imprisoned.

Geshe Soepa concluded the short telling of his life story with the message: “I sincerely wish that all of our mother sentient beings be free from suffering and being killed.”

Geshe Thubten Soepa at the Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya, India. Photo courtesy of Geshe Thubten Soepa Facebook page.

Read Geshe Thubten Soepa’s short autobiography, dictated to Robert Baptist, from which the above obituary was based, courtesy of Land of Compassion and Wisdom FPMT study group in Austin, Texas, who had a strong connection with Geshe Soepa and have hosted him often. 

We invite you to download the ebook, Protecting the Lives of Helpless Beings: The Udamwara Lotus Flower, through the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, and read an article by Geshe Soepa called “Protecting Animal Welfare“. A French translation of his text Heart of Joy, Message of the Buddha, is also available as a free PDF.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests that students who read obituaries pray that the person mentioned finds a perfect human body, meets a Mahayana guru, and becomes enlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the tantric teachings exist and they can become enlightened.” While reading obituaries we can also reflect on our own death and impermanence prompting us to live our lives in the most meaningful way. More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).

To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).

Shakyamuni Buddha statue at Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre Delhi, India. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

We rejoice in all of the virtuous and merit-multiplying activities happening in FPMT centers, projects, and services around the world during this special time of Lhabab Duchen, November 15, when the entire FPMT mandala is creating extensive merit for others. 

Lhabab Duchen celebrates Shakyamuni Buddha’s return to Earth from the God Realm of the Thirty-Three after teaching Dharma for several months to the gods, including his mother, Mayadevi, who had died a week after Buddha’s birth and been reborn there. As a merit multiplying day, the karmic results of actions done on this day are multiplied 100 million times.

You can learn more about Lhabab Duchen and practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for this auspicious day.

Please also rejoice in the offerings being made to thousands of ordained Sangha engaged in extensive practices for the benefit of the entire FPMT organization and all beings today.

From all of us at FPMT International Office, thank you for all you are doing for others today and every day.

FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 150 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friends of FPMT member, which supports our work.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s essential advice – available as a poster from the FPMT Foundation Store

We’re delighted to announce that the FPMT organization now has a hub for its Universal Education activities!

The development of compassion and wisdom are at the heart of the FPMT organization. We aim to provide integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility and service (as described in the FPMT Mission Statement).

The goal of our Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom (UECW) Pillar of Service is to provide secular tools inspired by Dharma for those people who are not drawn to religion. The Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW) is an FPMT affiliated project which has developed such secular UECW programs and resources.

We are therefore happy to announce that FDCW will now serve as the FPMT organization’s official hub for the UECW Pillar of Service! FDCW will provide guidance and support to centers, projects, services, and students, to help further develop the UECW Pillar of Service, all with a particular focus on developing compassion. This is very much a co-creative process: FDCW and centers sharing ideas to find solutions that can work locally.

FDCW offers collaborative discussions, a wide range of audio, video and downloadable resources, courses, facilitator training, marketing materials, webinars and general support. FDCW will be the global FPMT UE parasol, with the individual UE projects as the spokes in that parasol, connecting these projects, and spreading the compassion at their heart. As the hub, FDCW will track and share successful ideas and initiatives. This will allow us to further build and develop secular resources to benefit more and more people around the world.

The Big Love Summit is an online conference organised by FDCW taking place from November 14-19, 2022. FDCW Director Victoria Coleman says, “You are warmly invited to join the Summit to learn more of what FDCW has to offer.”

To learn more about Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom:
fpmt.org/education/secular/universal-education-for-compassion-and-wisdom

Lama Zopa Rinpoche on a group outing in Singapore, September 19, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Our October e-News is now available!

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

• Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent activities in Singapore and India
• Recently published teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• Long life puja and gratitude award offered to Rinpoche at Sera Je Monastery
• Opportunity to support 10,000 Sangha on Lhabab Duchen
• New blogs and stories from FPMT.org
• Newly available materials to support your Dharma study and practice
• Opportunities and changes within the organization

  and much more!

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

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

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

Lama Rinpoche with Ani Chodron at Kopan Nunnery, 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Venerable Ani Chodron was born in the year of the wood bird in 1945 in the village of Tsum near the border of Tibet in northeast Nepal. She is the oldest of four children, all daughters, born to Mingmar Tshok and Mingma Tsewang. Her parents were nomads and farmers, and her uncle Gelong Pasang Tsering was known as the chanting master of Mu-Gompa.

At the age of nine, Ani Chodron ordained at Ranchen Nunnery. She received from His Holiness the previous Chosang Rinpoche the great initiations of Avalokiteshvara, Yamantaka, and Vajrayogini. When her uncle retired from Mu-Gompa to enter retreat in a nearby cave, the senior monks and nuns chose Ani Chodron to be his assistant. There she performed one hundred thousand each of mandala offerings, prostrations, guru yoga recitations, and long mantras of Vajrasattva.

Geshe Lama Konchog at Kopan Monastery, 1985. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

In 1959, Geshe Lama Konchog escaped Tibet via a route revealed to him in a dream which led him across the border to the village of Tsum. After many years meditating in solitude in a cave of Milarepa, he settled in a cave about an hour outside of Tsum known as Gaden Gompa.

Ani Chodron remembers when she heard the great mahasiddha Geshe Lama Konchog had moved to a nearby cave. She joined her uncle, three nuns from Ranchen Nunnery, and seven monks from Mu-Gompa to pay their respects and request teachings. The group received from Geshe Lama Konchog profound instruction and were led in a great Vajrayogini retreat. Together they performed four hundred thousand mantra recitations.

When Ani Chodron’s mother died at the age of 39, she moved home to the village in Tsum to help her family. After some time, Geshe Lama Konchog paid the family a visit. He advised the family to arrange a marriage for Ani Chodron’s younger sister so that Ani Chodron could continue her retreat. The family agreed, and Geshe Lama Konchog chose a husband for Ani Chodron’s younger sister, Ami Bhuti. In 1975, in the village of Tsum, Ami Bhuti gave birth to Tenzin Zopa, now Geshe Tenzin Zopa, an FPMT teacher.

Ani Chodron’s first nyung na retreat was led by Geshe Lama Konchog. The intense purification practice is highly praised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche as a supreme method for transforming the mind. Nyung na involves fasting, meditation, prostrations, mantra recitations, and taking Mahayana precepts each day. In Geshe Lama Konchog’s commentary on nyung na he said, “You should work hard. I have already completed 2,000 sets of nyung na retreats.”

At times the conditions in the cave were so poor it tested Ani Chodron’s faith as to whether she would be able to complete the nyung na retreats. For many years, she would go down to the village to beg for tsampa, rice, fruit, or any food at all just to be able to survive the retreats in the cave. Whenever she questioned whether she had the strength to continue, she recalled Geshe Lama Konchog’s words in order to fortify her resolve. Incredibly, in the end, Ani Chodron was also able to complete 2,000 nyung na retreats.

Over the years, Geshe Lama Konchog became a beloved figure in Tsum village. Ani Chodron’s nephew spent so much time at Geshe Lama Konchog’s feet that as a little boy Tenzin Zopa assumed he was his grandfather. Geshe Lama Konchog taught the local ordained and lay community, and every year he would lead a nyung na retreat that included both villagers and Sangha.

Tenzin Phuntsok Rinpoche, the recognized reincarnation of Geshe Lama Konchog. Nepal, 2006. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Ani Chodron did retreats with Geshe Lama Konchog in the summer and traveled with him to India in the winter to attend teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The walk from Tsum to Kathmandu took sixteen days. In Kathmandu they stayed in Thamel at Katasyambu because they had no money. They would sell Tibetan incense and share what they collected. It took two days of walking non-stop day and night to reach the border of India. In India they received from His Holiness the Dalia Lama initiations for Kalachakra, Yamantaka, Avalokiteshvara, and Vajrayogini. His Holiness also gave teachings on the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Each time she returned to Tsum she continued to receive Dharma teachings at Gaden Gompa.

On October 15, 2001 the great mahasiddha Geshe Lama Konchog passed away at the age of 84. Ani Chodron’s nephew Tenzin Zopa had long-since been ordained as a monk and become a devoted disciple of Geshe Lama Konchog. He presided over the ceremonies and funeral for his precious guru at Kopan Monastery in Nepal.

In 2006, Ani Chodron came to Kopan Monastery to take care of Tenzin Phuntsok Rinpoche, the recognized reincarnation of Geshe Lama Konchog. She had no hesitation and only joy at being given the opportunity to serve because, as she explains, she understood the power of the opportunity provided for her to purify her negative karma and to accumulate merit. At Kopan, she received many Dharma teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Ani Chodron credits any progress in her practice and on her path to following the guidance of her holy gurus.

This remarkable nun has simple advice for her dear Dharma brothers and sisters, “I only have a humble request [for] you to follow wholeheartedly the advice of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Guru Kyabje Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche.” 

This article was written by Heather Melton Fox based on an interview with Ani Chodron. Thanks to Ngudrup Tsering for translation of this interview. Edited for publication by Carina Rumrill.

If you are inspired to support people undertaking retreats like what you have read about here, please consider offering to the Practice and Retreat Fund which provides grants and sponsorships to students engaged in retreats such as 108 nyung na retreats, 100 million mani retreats, recitations of sutras, and long-term retreat.

If you are interested in learning more about the practice of nyung na, you can find many resources in the Foundation Store.

Jo Marie Galt, 71, died in Santa Cruz, US, on September 1, of cardiac arrest resulting from various contributing health factors.

By Elaine Jackson

Jody Galt with dog Dawa. Photo courtesy of Shasta Wallace.

Jo Marie Galt (Jody) was loved by her Dharma family at Vajrapani Institute where we met in the late seventies and early eighties. She is remembered as always being the first one to volunteer for the hard jobs with a smile and determination. She will be deeply missed.

Jody was born on March 31, 1951, in Missouri, but most of her childhood, which she described as really difficult, was spent in Spokane, Washington. She was fourteen when her mother took her own life. Then, at sixteen, Jody ran away from home making strong prayers for answers.

Traveling in Mexico, Jody met Jim Ezell, her first husband and father of her daughter, Alicia, who was born in May, 1970. After Jody and Jim separated, Jody settled in Selma, Oregon where, together with Andy Robbins, she built a log cabin. It was here that their son, Ben, was born in 1978.

Jody had prophetic dreams. She described one dream where a book fell from the sky with one word on the page: “Vipassana.” She had no idea what that meant but became curious, went to the library, and began to read Dharma books.

In May 1980, Lama Yeshe led a Chenrezig retreat at Grizzly Lodge near Mount Shasta. It was sponsored by Vajrapani Institute. Jody sold her trailer to raise money to attend that course. It was there that she met Diney Woodsorrel and George Galt. After that course, Jody and her family moved to Berkeley.

Judy Weitzner recalled, “When Jody and Andy moved to the Berkeley Dharma House just after Grizzly Lodge, Jody was invaluable in her efforts to keep things organized. She was an exceptionally hard worker and contributed with cleaning and cooking. She attended many teachings and classes. Geshe Thardo was the resident teacher, but Lama Yeshe, Lobsang Chonjor, and Zong Rinpoche, as well as others, also offered teachings. It was at the Berkeley Dharma House where Jody first met Shasta Wallace, who was living at Vajrapani Institute at the time.” When the Dharma House closed in 1981, Jody moved to Vajrapani.

Jody said that Berkeley was too wild for her, so she went to Vajrapani. She and Andy had separated by then, but Andy came to Vajrapani from time to time, and eventually settled in Boulder Creek.

Shasta, a founder and long-time Vajrapani resident, recalls that Jody was always willing to jump in and help no matter how daunting the job. Shasta remembers such a job. It was cleaning and restoring a grease-laden, dilapidated-looking, commercial cookstove bought in San Francisco from an old restaurant in the Mission District. It looked like a wreck, but it needed to be functional for a retreat in one week. Jody told Shasta that not only could it be done, but it would be done. She helped take it apart, soak the encrusted parts and scrub it until it shined. It served as the cookstove in the Vajrapani kitchen for many years.

Initially, Jody and her children, Ben and Alicia, lived at Vajrapani in the “Dzome,” a canvas structure originally built by Rick Crangle and Jacie Keeley in 1978. It had an outdoor shower, an outhouse, and a small separate hut used for a kitchen. Jody was no stranger to rustic living. As she recalled, “Ben was three and Alicia was eight when we moved into the Dzome. That’s where I did my retreats – Tara and Vajrayogini. At 3:00 a.m. I would wake up. I loved it there so much. I wanted to be part of the community. I paid my $40.00 every month, hauled cement bags, and did what I could. In those days, we joked that I was living at Vajrapani, where you pay to work.”

Jody remembered working on the trails around the Chenrezig Gompa, while it was under construction, when Bill Kane came down with a terrible case of poison oak. Since Jody seemed to be immune, it became her job to pull the poison oak, and pull it she did, for two or three weeks. She ended up also getting the worst case of poison oak she had ever seen.

Janet Brooke recalls, “I met Jody when she arrived at Vajrapani in early 1981 following Lama Yeshe’s course at Grizzly Lodge. We were both mothers at the time. Her son Ben was a year older than my infant, Lise. There were many other children at Vajrapani who were close in age at the time, so Jody and I inevitably shared a lot of time around children.

“Jody and I also connected with the hard work needed to build this wonderful retreat center. We shared a love of gardening. Jody was very knowledgeable and experienced in this area. I learned so much from her. Together we had the opportunity to plant and create the garden beds around the stupa and surrounding the Vajrapani Gompa. This was all done under Jody’s expert guidance and skill and with great joy at being able to make such a wonderful offering. It was fun and, when working with Jody, it was guaranteed that somewhere along the way, no matter how hard the job, there would be a lot of laughter. Jody had a great sense of humor, and we shared a lot of laughter. There was hard work and there was laughter, and there were difficult times too. It was during the most difficult times in my life that Jody did her best, despite her own difficulties, to be there for me, as much as she was able, and I will be forever grateful.”

Jody had started a landscaping business and employed a few Vajrapani women who needed to make some money. Bev Gwyn remembers that two of Jody’s clients were Dick and Ramona Andre, who bought Lama Yeshe’s house in Rio del Mar (Santa Cruz), after Lama’s passing. Ramona loved Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Jody and maintained a relationship with Bev and Jody until her passing this year. Dick still lives in Lama’s house.

Following torrential rains, Jody’s beloved Dzome became unlivable when the roof collapsed. The family moved to Boulder Creek. Jody refers to Tom Waggoner as her “guardian angel,” who built her a house on Vajrapani land so she could move back about a year later. As she said, “It was the biggest gift of kindness.” Then, as luck would have it, that new house was irreparably damaged by a mudslide the following winter. Jody and the kids had to climb out a bedroom window to escape. They moved back to Boulder Creek.

In 1983, Lama Yeshe gave his last teaching a Vajrapani Institute when he taught the Six Yogas of Naropa. It was attended by so many of his beloved students, including Diney, George, and Jody. Diney was soon diagnosed with terminal cancer and died at the end of that year. Jody helped George as caregiver for Diney and also his three children, Shyela, Bodhi, and Sanje.

In October 1988, George and Jody were married. Jody continued to work in landscaping and engaging in other creative projects. She attributed her creativity to her mother who was an artist. Her parents had lived in Japan and her mother was greatly influenced by her time there. When Jody was living in the Berkeley Dharma House, she was quilting. Judy Weitzner shared that she gave Jody her old dresses which were cut up and returned to Judy in the form of a quilt with the Tara mantra on all four sides. Judy said it was the most heartfelt gift she ever received. Jody responded, “It was because of how much I treasured the gift of Dharma you gave me.”

Lama Yeshe at a family gathering at Vajrapani Institute, California, 1983. Photo by Carol Royce-Wilder.

Jody once shared, “Lama told me it was always going to be really difficult for me to see him. I was very shy and had such low self-esteem that I felt I should not be bothering someone for whom I had so much respect. At Grizzly Lodge, on the last day, Lama said that anyone could come in to talk with him. I told myself, ‘OK this is it.’ I was intimidated, but Lama said, ‘I think you have something you wanted to ask me.’ I said, ‘Lama, if you appear in my dream and give me teachings, is that what I should take as the truth?’ Lama replied, ‘Whenever I appear to you, you can believe what I’m telling you, even in a dream form.’ That was so encouraging to me.”

Judy explains, “Vajrapani is a miracle. It is magnificent. Lois (Greenwood) and I were talking about how when Lama spoke, people heard different things. People often took different pieces of his vast vision to make real.”

For the last many years of her life, Jody lived in pain from a degenerative spinal disease which led to half a dozen surgeries. Additionally, Jody’s immune system was attacking her nervous system leading to pain, numbness, and loss of motor control, for which she endured ongoing medical procedures.

About this period, Jody once shared, “Twice when I was in the hospital, very sick, Lama and Rinpoche and Chenrezig appeared in my room. I was delusional. I didn’t know where I was. When I saw them, they weren’t just figures. They were glowing, sparking, alive entities that I could feel radiating love out to me. Then, I knew they were there, whether I could see them or not. I thought, ‘OK, I gotta trust you.'”

Jody continued, “Once when I was in the hospital, they thought I had meningitis in my spine so I was in isolation. The man next to me was dying. I started saying prayers. I asked the nurse if he was going to make it. She told me it was doubtful. When they called a code blue I just said prayers. Ten minutes later he was OK. The nurse said, ‘I don’t know what kind of prayers you are saying, but they are sure powerful.’”

Jody found the practice of tonglen helped her the most. About this practice she said, “Thinking about the suffering of others almost always takes me away from focusing on my own pain and my own problems. I have other meditations, like Tara, but my go-to constantly is tonglen. Rinpoche is always sending me so much energy. He sends beautiful chants and prayers for when the pain gets very bad.”

Once while Rinpoche was visiting Jody in her home and offering advice, Jody asked Rinpoche what karma she had to have so much suffering. Rinpoche told her that by suffering that pain, she was taking it on so Rinpoche did not have to suffer it. Jody relied on Rinpoche’s words for inspiration and consolation.

When asked what practices she did during the difficult times, she said, “It is hard, but I think, if in any way I could take on the suffering of others and relieve them, how great that would be. Every two weeks I go to the hospital. I remember that the blood I get comes from others, and I see others sick with cancer, so I hold that in my mind. I bear the pain for others.”

Jody died peacefully in the hospital surrounded by George, her daughter, Alicia, and Shasta. Often in her decline,  Tom Waggoner was also at her bedside. The practices from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice were followed. There was a stupa at her crown, a prayer wheel at the bend of her left arm, a Namgyalma mantra over her heart, and the prayers Rinpoche designed, with all the important mantras to be recited, gently resting on her chest. Breathing evenly and peacefully, when the last breath left her body, Rinpoche was notified, prayers were recited, including Medicine Buddha, The King of Prayers, and many mantras. Medicine Buddha puja was also done at Vajrapani Institute that evening and will be continued every seven days until the forty-ninth day.

We cherish our memories and pray; may Jody be free … at last.

We offer grateful thanks to Elaine Jackson and all of Jody’s dear friends and family who contributed to this obituary.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests that students who read obituaries pray that the person mentioned finds a perfect human body, meets a Mahayana guru, and becomes enlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the tantric teachings exist and they can become enlightened.” While reading obituaries we can also reflect on our own death and impermanence prompting us to live our lives in the most meaningful way. More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).

To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).

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

Our September e-News is now available!

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

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

and much more!

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

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

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

Two of the images of the Sixteen Arhats now available in the Foundation Store.

With the project almost three decades in the making now completed, we are happy to share with you beautiful images of the Sixteen Arhat statues which are housed at Nalanda Monastery, France, for your own home and practice.

Nalanda Monastery’s Assistant Director, Ven. Kalden, shares some background on the statue project:

“In order to develop and make everything possible for Nalanda Monastery to flourish, almost 30 years ago, Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised that it would be very beneficial to have statues of the Sixteen Arhats in our altar. All the great teachers say that this is very auspicious to have those statues in the monastery as it creates the causes to attract new monks and to keep the vows purely. As the primary goal of Nalanda is to preserve the monastic tradition, those statues are of a high importance.”

Arya Gopaka, one of the Sixteen Arhats now at Nalanda Monastery.

The Sixteen Arhats (Foe Destroyers) are also known as the Sixteen Sthaviras (Elders) and have destroyed their inner enemy, the delusions, and attained liberation from cyclic existence. At the time of the Buddha’s parinirvana, they vowed to remain in the world to preserve the Dharma until the time of the future buddha, Maitreya.

These sixteen statues were sculpted by artist Jonathan Partridge in Australia, and brought to Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala, India in 2006. Ven. Yonten, an IMI monk from Nalanda, was tasked with shipping the statues safely from Dharamsala to the monastery in France. The local monsoon climate at the time was making the clay brittle, and the already fragile statues, which have varying and unique sizes, called for some inventive and meticulous packing and shipping.

With all the care and precautions, they arrived to France mostly intact, but needing repair. Jonathan was asked to come to Nalanda and repair them and also to finish the amazing Buddha statue in the main gompa of Nalanda Monastery and all the intricate artwork surrounding it. Following the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Bertrand Cayla then created molds of all statues with the help of the late Ven. Tsultrim and Cai Martinez and Losang Rabten from Spain. These molds can now cater to FPMT centers, who would like to receive a set of these statues themselves.

The masterful painting of the statues was offered by Sonam Sherpa, a talented Nepali artist who has completed many large projects for Nalanda, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and other FPMT centers. A short documentary of Sonam’s work on the statues was filmed in 2015.

Once the statues were fully completed, the monastery offered a consecration puja, and the statues now reside on the main altar. Earlier this year, Nalanda was awarded a grant through the Merit Box Project to help fund the creation of the altar to hold the statues.

Please enjoy this short video on the making and history of these statues:

Images of the Statues Available to Download and Print

Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested the statues be photographed so the images could be available to others. A collection of professionally-produced images of the statues, complete with beautiful backgrounds, is now available for download in the FPMT Foundation Store.

Arya Rahula, one of the Sixteen Arhats now at Nalanda Monastery.

The images can serve to inspire and be an object of offerings, and accompany practice of the Sixteen Arhats puja. Here are some of the benefits of making offerings and prayers to the Sixteen Arhats:

• All the victorious ones (buddhas) are pleased.
• Anyone who correctly practices it will have no obstacles.
• One will be able to abide in pure morality.
• It increases one’s scriptural understanding and realization.
• One will have perfect inner and outer conditions to practice Dharma.
• One will not be overwhelmed by untimely death and will have a long life.
• The community of Sangha will be increased.
• The study and practice of the Tripitaka (Three Baskets) will increase.

Artist Sonam Sherpa composed the following dedication. We invite you all to join us in rejoicing in the completion of this incredible project and the availability of these auspicious images for all:

Order the complete set of images of the Sixteen Arhats statues through the Foundation Store.

Don’t miss also Nalanda’s upcoming program for 2023: The Sound of Many Hands Clapping Debate course, led by Geshe Tenzin Losel and presented in English. In February they begin a new program, Stepping out on the Path, also led by Geshe Losel in English. A five-month course for those who wish to dive deeper into the following His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s book: Becoming Enlightened. Parallel to this, resident teacher Geshe Gyaltsen, will give teachings on Arya Nagarjuna texts, enriching one’s understanding of emptiness and dependent arising. And to finish the year a precious commentary, group sadhana practice, and the approximation retreat with fire puja of Solitary Hero Yamantaka will also be guided by Geshe Gyaltsen.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at the conclusion of the Exploring & Living in the Path course at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, August 7, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

From March 27 through August 7 of this year, FPMT East & Southeast Asia offered their first international live online course to bring together students throughout the region. The classes varied in topics and formats, alternated between Chinese and English, and were led by a number of class leaders. The program concluded auspiciously with Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering a surprise teaching, “You Are So Fortunate to Meet the Lamrim Teachings,” for the final session of the course during his visit of Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore. This is a very useful teaching for us all in which Rinpoche discusses the importance of the lamrim and Dharma study. 

Below is a cheerful report from Selina Foong, Regional Coordinator for FPMT East & Southeast Asia Regional Office, on the Exploring & Living in the Path course:

We recently concluded our first regional course Exploring & Living in the Path, and what a wonderful experience it was! When 2021 was drawing to a close, this course did not even have a name. In fact, it was nothing more than a vague wish to connect with more of our Dharma brothers and sisters in the East and Southeast Asian region, and to encourage and inspire each other amidst the challenges of Covid-19 which by that point had worn many of us out. We decided that the undoubted basis of the course should surely be Lama Zopa Rinpoche and his precious teachings, and that was how it all began.

The idea germinated rapidly, and in March 2022, we launched Exploring & Living in the Path to an international online audience, with more than 175 people joining us on 27th March. WOW! (The course draws from Rinpoche’s Living in the Path program, which has a selection of Rinpoche’s teaching videos as a part of every session.)

From that auspicious beginning, a session was held every fortnight. There were a total of 10 sessions, alternating between English and Chinese. Every session was centered on a specific theme, and was a lively mix which included Rinpoche’s video extracts as well as further elaborations and personal sharing. Each session was presented by a different class leader, drawn from across our region. This worked very well as it highlighted both the rich variety and strong commonality between us all. We also noticed a consistent core of participants as the sessions progressed, which was very encouraging.

Class leaders for Exploring & Living in the Path regional online course. Images courtesy of FPMT East & Southeast Asia Facebook page.

The class leaders worked really hard to prepare for their respective sessions and to select their relevant Rinpoche video extracts, so much so that many of them said they were unable to sleep prior to their session, such was their level of anticipation (and anxiety!). Well, it was all worth it in the end. Every session went without a hitch—give or take a few hyperactive monkeys jumping on overhead wires, impatient pet dogs barking for the session to finish, and a translator unable to hear much of what the class leader was saying due to poor internet connection! It all added to the fun (in retrospect!).

It had been such a humble start to our regional cooperation. When it started, we had no idea if anybody would even join our Zoom sessions. As the weeks and months went by, momentum gathered. Even so, we could not have predicted, even in our wildest dreams, that the final teaching would be by Rinpoche himself, simultaneously translated into seven languages, with participants from our entire region (Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, Taiwan and the other Chinese speaking countries), and students and friends from seventeen other countries in total, including Argentina, Canada, Finland, and the Philippines. Amazing!

And the most profoundly joyful thing? Feeling our Holy Guru and his blessings with us, every step of the way. The online course had started on March 27, a tsog day, which we had no idea about when we were preparing the schedule. Our first class leader, Ven. Drachom, then surprised us by presenting his session not from his base in Singapore, but from Kopan Monastery where Lama Zopa Rinpoche also was at the time. And the course concluded on August 7, another tsog day, with a beautiful guru puja followed by a teaching by Rinpoche himself at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, our very doorstep! We had zero inkling of any of this until the last minute, and we continue to marvel at it all.

May the merits generated from this first regional course be dedicated to our incomparably kind and precious Holy Guru Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, without whom we would be hopelessly lost. May Rinpoche have excellent health, a stupendously long life, and may all his wishes be instantly fulfilled!

We invite you to enjoy this video celebrating a year’s highlights from FPMT East & Southeast Asia during 2021-2022, which was compiled by regional coordinator Selina Foong and played before Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s first teaching on August 7 at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore.

Video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching at the end of this event, “You Are So Fortunate to Meet the Lamrim Teachings,” is available to view on YouTube . A full transcript of this teaching is available for download. 

Recordings of the “Exploring & Living in the Path” online course can be found on the FPMT East & Southeast Asia Youtube channel.

FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 150 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friends of FPMT member, which supports our work.