Eleven-year-old Tsering Dorje recognized as reincarnation of Geshe Champa Gyatso by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Photo by Manuela Ferro.

Sangha Lhungtok Choekhorling Monastic Association and Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa recently announced the joyful news that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has officially recognized eleven-year-old Tsering Dorje as the reincarnation of Geshe Jampa Gyatso, who served as the resident teacher of the ILTK for twenty-seven years and was the first abbot of Lhungtok Choekhorling Monastery.

The recognition ceremony was held on March 28, 2025 at House Number 3 of Sera Jey Monastery, where Tsering Dorje received from Ven. Massimo Stordi a letter from His Holiness the Dalai Lama informing him of his reincarnation as Geshe Jampa Gyatso.

Please read the full update from Sangha Lhungtok Choekhorling which includes information on upcoming events related to Tsering Dorje’s enthronement.

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Three Steps Plus One Prostration participants. Photo courtesy of Wong Kah Thim.

Prior to the pandemic, Rinchen Jangsem Ling (RJL) had organized two prostration events. Recently a student recalled these events with much joy, and it was determined that another event should be organized right away. With the Tibetan New Year (Losar) and the Fifteen Days of Miracles approaching, RJL decided to take advantage of this merit-making opportunity and hold the event right away. With barely a month for preparations once they decided to host this event, arrangements were swiftly put into place. On the eve of the event, the participants assembled at RJL to listen to Ven. Jampa’s explanation of the significance of prostrations.  Beginners were also taught the proper way to do prostrations, to generate maximum merit.

Three Steps Plus One Prostration participants. Photo courtesy of Wong Kah Thim.

Ven. Sonam leading prostrations. Photo courtesy of Wong Kah Thim.

The next morning before the break of dawn, participants started to gather at a designated spot downhill, approximately half a mile (1 kilometer) from RJL’s gompa. Despite the morning darkness, the atmosphere was charged with excitement and anticipation. Like a pied piper, Ven. Sonam started the ball rolling and led the prostrations, guiding participants to the resonant chants of OM MANI PADME HUM, further punctuated by the rhythmic ringing of the bell. 

Step by step, prostration by prostration, the group snaked their way along the gravel-filled dirt roads.  It was truly moving to witness individuals of all ages, including the disabled, elderly and children, taking part.  By midway, some started to lag behind, prompting a pause for them to catch up.  Two hours later, the group finally reached the foothill of RJL.  With the ascent now steeper, some became fatigued and changed to a slow walk up the hill.  Others however persisted, prostrating all the way to the gompa. 

Upon entering the gompa, a mixture of exhaustion, relief and exhilaration filled the atmosphere. With the merit generated from each prostration being multiplied by 100 million times and an estimated excess of 1,000 prostrations made that morning, the cumulative merits were mind-bogglingly huge!  Extensive dedications were made with much joy.  After the event, many chose to stay on and participate in the Guru Puja, as it also happened to be a tsog day as well.

Three Steps Plus One Prostration participants. Photo courtesy of Wong Kah Thim.

It was undeniably a day of merit-making and purification of negativities at RJL!  Plans are already underway for another prostration event in a few months time.  Rejoice!

Recounted by RJL’s Centre Director Ven. Sonam to Selina Foong, FPMT ESEA coordinator.

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

15 Days of Swift Return Prayers were held at the Buddha’s place of enlightenment in Bodhgaya, from February 28-March 14, 2025. Photo courtesy of Root Institute.

During the entire Fifteen Days of Miracles (February 28-March 14, 2025), Root Institute organized fifteen days of pujas and offerings under the Bodhi Tree at the Mahabodhi Stupa for the swift return of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, combining the prayers and offerings of the Festival of Lights and Merits with swift return practice at the stupa.

Prayers and chanting occurred every evening during the Fifteen Days of Miracles, dedicated to the swift return of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Other activities included offering prayer flags around the pond inside the Mahabodhi Stupa complex; taking offering bowls filled with fruits and flowers in procession into the main temple to offer to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue; robes and khatas offered to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue; protector puja and Tara puja offered at Namgyal Monastery in Bodhgaya. Lights were offered around the stupa, sponsored by people from all around the world. Fresh flower offerings were made every day. Names of all who donated to this event were read aloud and dedications made.

Procession to offer bowls to the main image of Shakyamuni Buddha in the Bodhgaya stupa on behalf of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Photo courtesy of Root Institute.

Ven. Sarah Thresher shares moving details about the experience:

Proclaimed by buddhas of the eons past,
And to be taught by buddhas yet to come;
And taught not once but time and time again
By all the buddhas of the present age (v.12, Chanting the Names of Noble Manjushri)

Bodhgaya is the center of the Buddhist universe, where pilgrims from all over the world gather to pray, practice, and pay homage to the Buddha, his teachings and noble community. I can think of no other place quite like it in this world. Below the sacred Bodhi Tree is the seat of enlightenment, an ancient throne said to mark the vajra ground where all the buddhas of this fortunate eon achieve enlightenment—the only support firm enough for such a realization. At times, this whole complex with its kora and numerous stupas and meditation places, truly seems to be a portal to other limitless dimensions beyond our current apprehension.

Robes and five khatas were offered to Shakyamuni Buddha statue on behalf of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

And so it was for fifteen magical evenings this Losar—the days of miracles—seated under the Bodhi Tree next to the image of Manjushri, bathed in continually flowing shades of colored light. A small group of us somehow came together in a most spontaneous way, to recite the Sutra Remembering the Three Rare Sublime Ones; chant the Names of Noble Manjushri—the profound essence of all tantras—along with King of Prayers—summation of all the aspirational prayers of the bodhisattvas; and offer numberless lights to all the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, statues, stupas, scriptures in numberless universes whose essence is the Dharmakaya holy mind of all the buddhas—the guru—while praying fervently for the swift return of our most precious lama, Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche. “It doesn’t seem real,” we would say to ourselves each evening as we finished our practice, the words of these profound and vast prayers circling through our mind over again.

Perception, its object, and the perceived all dissolve within the expanse,
The blissful clarity of suchness, A. (A Lamenting Wail: A Supplication for the Swift Return of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche)

This is the second year running that Root Institute has combined the prayers and offerings of the Festival of Lights and Merits with a swift return practice at the stupa—maximizing the most powerful prayers, most powerful days, most powerful time and most powerful place to make offerings and requests to the most powerful objects. It is common to hear the continual resounding of Dharma in different languages at the Mahabodhi Stupa day and night—but it is uncommon to hear these prayers and practices chanted in English, and that itself is a great tribute to our own precious teacher who spread the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion throughout the world. People stopped, they listened, they commented.

15 Days of Swift Return Prayers were held at the Buddha’s place of enlightenment in Bodhgaya, from February 28-March 14, 2025. Photo courtesy of Root Institute.

We plan to continue this tradition until a new incarnation of our precious teacher can join us at the stupa; and we offer gratitude to all the sponsors for their support. Please join us next year for the prayers in February 2026. 

With grateful thanks to Ven. Sarah Thresher for this report, and Root Institute Director, Ugyen Shola for providing details and updates of this incredible event which required so much effort and organization. 

All are welcome to please utilize the resources available to you, in order to sincerely pray for Rinpoche’s return. Additionally, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive also offers Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s own commentary and oral transmission of Chanting the Names of Noble Manjushri which is available to all.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche (1945-2023) was 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. 

Ven. Tencho, photo courtesy of Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre.

Ven. Tencho (Tenzin Chozum) passed away on February 19 after a lengthy illness in Northern New South Wales, Australia. 

Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre shares:

Ven, Tencho, photo courtesy of Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre.

Ven. Tencho first took rabjung vows in 1998 and received getsul vows from His Holiness Dalai Lama in 2000. From 2002 to 2009 she undertook Buddhist philosophy studies at Chenrezig Institute in Queensland, AUS, and then came to Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre in Katoomba where she taught a range of Buddhist philosophy and meditation classes.

Venerable Tencho worked tirelessly for the center, dedicating many hours to keeping the center financially afloat and becoming well known and loved at the community markets. She cooked countless meals and supported anyone attending the center on retreat, for teachings, or seeking company and community. 

She brought many extraordinary teachers to the Blue Mountains and was found day and night giving encouragement, food, and sustenance of every kind to all. May Ven. Tencho be reborn in a pure realm and return to continue her work in facilitating the teachings and showing respect, joy, and love in living the Dharma. A true spiritual friend.

A special puja will be held for Ven. Tencho on Sunday March 30 at 11a.m. AEST via Zoom and in the Gompa at Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre, 116 Bathurst Road, Katooomba. Details can be found here:
https://kunsangyeshe.com.au/puja-for-venerable-tenchos-passing/

With grateful thanks to Anne Sinclair for collecting and providing the above information. 

Ven. Tencho’s personal story illustrates how powerful studying the Dharma can be. Her journey from prison inmate to ordained nun to Basic Program student at Chenrezig Institute to center director at Kunsang Yeshe Retreat Centre is offered with the hope of inspiring all of us in our practice of transforming our minds. Please read this short piece written by Ven. Tencho in 2014, Curiosity, Disillusionment, Knowledge for Mandala magazine. 

Please pray that Ven. Tencho may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may she be immediately born in a pure land where she can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche 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/).

15 Days of Swift Return Prayers were held at the Buddha’s place of enlightenment in Bodhgaya, from February 28-March 14, 2025. Photo by Rohini Bobis.

Our March 2025 e-News is now available and brings many causes for rejoicing including:

• Teachings and advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe
• The release of FPMT International Office’s 2024 Annual Review
• 15 days of swift return prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Bodhgaya
• An update on the Stupa of Complete Victory
• News about the second Gelug Monlam festival at Nalanda Monastery
• Pujas and prayers offered during Losar and the Fifteen Days of Miracles
• Resources and opportunities
• Changes in the FPMT organization

and much more!

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

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

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

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe meditating in Delhi, India, 1975. Photo by Nick Ribush, courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

We are so delighted to share our FPMT Annual Review 2024: “What a Difference We All Have Made Together.”

As you will read in the many summaries included in the review, we continued to offer access to our lamas’ teachings; kept the international community connected and informed about news and advice; offered guidance and structure to FPMT centers, projects, and services; facilitated charitable giving to many beneficial initiatives dedicated to helping others and based on the wishes of Lama Zopa Rinpoche; and disseminated the Dharma to all who wish to receive it.

Ven. Roger Kunsang shared in his CEO letter: “In recent times Rinpoche often mentioned how he felt the FPMT community around the world was more compassionate. Lama Yeshe called it the “family feeling”. Maybe they meant something similar? Think about it for a little while … So many people are more kind, compassionate, and wise. So many animals and insects have been blessed and saved with a chance of a better rebirth. It is very difficult to understand what a difference we all have made together.”

Some photos from this year’s photo gallery.

Please join us in this overview of some of our more notable accomplishments from this past year. This is a critical time in the FPMT organization’s history and we are so happy with and grateful for the enthusiasm and thoughtful engagement from the entire FPMT family as we work together to actualize the wishes of our lamas, to put into practice what they taught us, and to collectively formulate a plan of success long into the future, in order to create a wiser, more compassionate world. Please read FPMT International Office’s Annual Review 2024. 

Please note, the FPMT Annual Review 2024 is available only online:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/annual-review-2024/

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Participants of the Second Gelug Monlam Festival, Nalanda Monastery. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery.

The Second Gelug Monlam Festival was held at Nalanda Monastery in France from March 11-March 15, 2025. Lama Zopa Rinpoche had expressed the wish to bring this special tradition to the West and the geshes and monks at Nalanda made that wish a reality. Director of Nalanda Monastery, Ven. Thubten Sherab, shares the inspiring details:

To implant and extend the new tradition of the Gelug Monlam in the West according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s holy wish, is an incommensurable source of rejoicing! Forty monks and nuns including Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi (Abbot of Kopan Monastery and member of the FPMT Inc. Board), Geshe Jamphel (Abbot of Nalanda Monastery), Geshe Gyaltsen (resident teacher at Nalanda), Metok Rinpoche, Geshe Loden, Geshe Dakpa, Ven. Steve, Ven. Robina, Ven. Elisabeth and others have actively participated in this second edition. The four and half days of this Great Prayer Festival were graced by the deep impactful voice of Gen Kuncho Namdro, a chant leader from Gyutö Monastery who specially joined us for the event.

Every day, we had more than a hundred participants, the culminating point being Chotrul Duchen, on March 14, the full moon of the Fifteen Days of Miracles.

Procession and offering bath to Maitreya during the Gelug Monlam at Nalanda Monastery. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery.

Other prestigious guests such as Thoesam Rinpoche (from Tibethaus in Frankfurt), Antony Boussemart (co-president of the Union Bouddhiste de France), and Thubten Tsering (from the Paris Office of Tibet) contributed to a larger representation of the various Gelug branches in Europe. We also received  two supportive video messages from His Holiness Ganden Trisur Rinpoche Lobsang Tenzin and His Eminence Kyabje Dagpo Rinpoche.

Therefore, this year, the seeds of the Gelug Monlam have taken root even deeper, with an event that unfolded very harmoniously.

The Third Gelug Monlam Festival at Nalanda will take place from February 27 to March 4, 2026. More prestigious guests will be in attendance in order to continue to bless and nurture this immense purification and great accumulation of merits dedicated to the swift return of Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche and the long and healthy life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

To learn more about the Gelug Monlam, please watch The Seed of Gelug Monlam in the West:

With thanks to Ven. Thubten Sherab for this report, which we share with great rejoicing! 

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Sara Ritter during the 2012 Maitripa Spring Celebration. Photo courtesy of Maitripa College.

Sara Ritter passed away at the age of 51 on February 6, 2025, from complications from pneumonia.

By Carina Rumrill

As the person who puts together obituaries for fpmt.org and our community news blog, there are inevitably times when I have to organize life remembrances for those I also consider very dear heart friends. Sara Ritter was undoubtedly such a friend.

In 2008, when Sara was publisher of Mandala magazine and one of the editors, she hired me as the new managing editor. The moment I first heard her voice during a phone interview for the position, I thought: “Oh, it’s you!” I had never met her in this life, but I knew immediately that our connection was deep. We did the interview for maybe fifteen minutes before launching into any and every personal detail about ourselves. It was like catching up with an old friend. We both had small boys close to the exact same age; their last names were oddly similar (Bloom and Blumenthal); and we shared so many similar interests, points of view, aspirations, and concerns about the world. And most importantly—we shared a very unconventional sense of humor! As I would learn, many people had this experience with Sara. She knew how to really connect with others.

Sara Ritter and Carina Rumrill, 2009. Photo courtesy of Mandala magazine.

On my first day at the job, she scurried into my office with the excitement of a pre-teen girl having her first sleepover with a friend. She wasted no time making sure I was entirely at home and comfortable. She took me and then associate editor, Michael Jolliffe, out to lunch and she was just bursting with ideas and energy about the future of the magazine and a potential membership program to help fund it (which eventually turned into the Friends of FPMT program).  Sara was always so full of ideas. She was a big, brave thinker. I marveled at how she conducted herself in staff and management meetings, always so open, fair, courteous, and diplomatic.

I found Sara to be laser-sharp, hilarious, kind, open, deeply emotional, humble, and full of surprises. She was always so present during our interactions: she made me feel like I was the only person alive on the planet when we spent time together. When she was no longer working for FPMT International Office, she was always just a quick trip downstairs at Maitripa College. I continued to run things by her as I found my way managing and publishing the magazine. Her feedback and engagement was always so valuable and thoughtful.

Sara and Tripp Ritter. Photo thanks to Tripp Ritter.

During this time, I was not only working for Mandala and International Office, but I was also a small business owner. Sara supported the upstart of my food truck every single step of the way. She brought her family to eat there regularly and was never shy with constructive feedback or gratuitous praise. She never missed a single community event we organized to support the business and community. She participated in our marketing video when we expanded. She even brought her wedding party and out-of-town family to the truck as part of her post-wedding festivities! She used every opportunity to support others; this was such a central quality of hers.

Sara Ritter presenting her final MFA work, 2024. Photo courtesy of Tripp Ritter.

She and her husband, Tripp, and their four kids eventually moved from Portland to Seattle several years ago, and shortly after, I moved with my family to Vermont. We kept in touch through social media, with occasional longer messages updating each other about our busy and complicated lives. Sara had recently completed her Master of Fine Arts in Poetry at Pacific University. Sara was, in her heart, always first, a poet. I am so very pleased that she actualized this core aspect of her identity before she passed.

Her husband, Tripp, opened his obituary for her in the following way:

“The poet Sara Kristen Ritter passed away at the age of 51 ….” The poet Sara. That she was.

Tripp also shared:

“One of her greatest professional and spiritual accomplishments was playing a key role in organizing the three-day environmental summit with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in conversation with spiritual, environmental, and political leaders in the Pacific Northwest hosted by Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon. When she cared about something she gave it her all and ensuring His Holiness had a fulfilling and impactful visit was incredibly important to her. Fortunately, the event was a resounding success.

Sara Ritter greeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the environmental summit hosted by Maitripa College, 2013. Photo courtesy of Maitripa College.

“In her professional work and in her personal life, what stands out about Sara is the care she gave to others. So many shared that when she was talking to them, it was like no one else existed. She loved life and love and wanted others to find their own joy. Among her favorite things were being a mom and step-mom, a wife, playing games, listening to music, working together on a crossword, watching a cooking show, and visiting the Oregon and Washington coasts.”

Sara and Tripp Ritter with their children. Photo courtesy of Tripp Ritter.

On February 7, a guru puja was organized for Sara at Maitripa College. Over forty participants joined online and in person. During the puja, Yangsi Rinpoche, President of Maitripa College, said this about Sara:

“Most of us here have a connection with Sara. Particularly myself—at the beginning, when I first came to Portland, Sara was my host. And then she was involved in the establishment of Maitripa very intensely. She played a very important role in student services. She was a really wonderful person and a sincere practitioner, and she served all of us. Sara is very close to our hearts, very dear to our hearts. Today we make prayers and dedicate for her journey, for her future, and for her to have perfect conditions to meet her spiritual path, the path that leads to benefiting sentient beings. And then also for Ben [her son], who we have known his entire life, who is also a part of our family. And for all of her community and relatives and friends who are going through difficulty now, that this difficulty can be part of a spiritual transformation.”

Sara, her son Ben Blumenthal, Tom Blumenthal, Tiffany Blumenthal Patrella, Jack Blumenthal, Susan Blumenthal, Geshe Tenzin Dorjé, Yangsi Rinpoche – at the dedication and opening of the James A. Blumenthal Library at Maitripa College, October, 2015. Photo courtesy of Maitripa College.

Namdrol Miranda Adams, Dean of Education at Maitripa College, and Leigh Miller, faculty member and Director of the Master of Divinity Degree and Chaplaincy Program recalled this about Sara:

“Since the announcement to the Maitripa College community that Sara had passed, many messages have flooded in with a common, cherished remembrance—that of Sara’s unfaltering kindness towards everyone. Many also recall her heart for service, be it towards students, or teaching meditation to prison inmates, or hosting opportunities for rejoicing in the community and life celebrations of others. As a mother, she glowed with love and pride for her son, and kept his drawings and photos by her desk. She was fun-loving, with an uninhibited laugh, putting others at ease and bringing smiles to all.

Sara during the 2008 winter “prom” at Maitripa College. Photo courtesy of Maitripa College.

“Those of us who worked closely with Sara in the Maitripa College office saw many additional good qualities. While she started here as a student, she soon selflessly put her own coursework aside to facilitate the educational experience of other students, becoming the Director of Student Services. In this role, she was a warm, welcoming presence to all, helping them obtain housing, visas, scholarships, referrals to Buddhist-friendly therapists, and more. She invented and, for several years, brought to fruition  the Portland City Sit, a day of meditation for all in Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square. And when Maitripa College faced an existentially threatening gap in leadership in 2012, Sara bravely and tirelessly stepped up to tremendous responsibility and management of people, communications, and strategic planning, without complaint or expectation of reward. Following that crisis, she again worked incredibly hard—with tremendous vision, love, and generosity—on the planning committee for the 2013 visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Portland and Maitripa College. She was appointed the staff lead in planning the interfaith event, with spiritual leaders representing Indigenous, Jewish, and Christian communities, as well as incorporating a youth choir, Native drummers, and a flower offering by children to His Holiness. Throughout those endlessly long work days over many months, she kept foremost the benefit to thousands of people, and to Maitripa College, of receiving His Holiness, and even when our bodies were tired, her mind was uplifted and encouraging.

Sara speaking during the 2011 Maitripa College graduation. Photo courtesy of Maitripa College.

“She modeled how to be a bright, caring, professional woman. She skillfully aligned her work responsibilities with our commonly held organizational values and spiritual motivations, achieving not only proficiency and accountability, but also fostering loving care for all in the community. When she departed from employment at Maitripa College, we were saddened but also rejoiced in her new opportunities, marriage, and thereafter, relocation to Seattle. Sara remained a friend, visiting on important College occasions, and staying in touch. She is so lovingly remembered. We are grateful for all the blessings she brought us in touching our lives.”

Louise Light, Maitripa College Graphic Designer and Webmaster, reflected:

“Sara loved a good party—not only working to envision themes and help make the annual celebrations happen, but enjoying them fully. As I recall, the Maitripa College ‘City Sit,’ which brought meditation instruction to downtown Portland, was also a project dear to her heart.

Sara during Maitripa College’s Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Spring Extravaganza, 2009. Photo courtesy of Maitripa College.

“On a personal note, Sara’s presence during my daughter Namdrol’s health crisis over many months in 2011 and 2012, was priceless. Yangsi Rinpoche talks about how she was critical support in the office in Namdrol’s absence, but to me, she also was a personal support. She arranged for community members to pick me up at the airport when I arrived from the East Coast, care for me, and drive me to the hospital, and then, as if by magic, for days, someone would arrive at the hospital to drive me to the house for showers and a change of clothes. Sara also communicated to my larger family and Namdrol’s vast network of global friends by filtering updates Namdrol’s treatment and prognosis through one e-list that she coordinated with me and Rinpoche. I’ll never forget Sara’s kindness that year.”

Former associate editor of Mandala, and alum of Maitripa College, Michael Jolliffe observed:

“When I think about Sara, I remember someone possessing a special blend of curiosity, playfulness, devotion, warmth, gentleness, and groundedness. I appreciated her professionalism and positive attitude while serving in her various roles at the FPMT International Office and Maitripa College. I don’t remember her ever complaining about anyone; in my memory, she was consummately diplomatic at all times.

Sara with Michael Jolliffe, 2009. Photo by Molly Stepanski.

“Sara included me in her life as much as she could, and I deeply appreciated the parties she threw in her Portland homes, invitations to game groups at the Lucky Lab pub, and lively conversation at the Horse Brass with her then-new boyfriend Tripp.

“She changed the trajectory of my professional and spiritual life by actively encouraging me to volunteer for Mandala, which eventually transformed into a happy career with FPMT International Office. I have Sara–and her characteristic thoughtfulness and generosity–to thank for the many wonderful experiences I had while working at International Office. She was a truly special person in my life; I’ll really miss her.”

She is survived by husband Tripp Ritter; child Benjamin Blumenthal; step-children Simon Ritter, Bruce Ritter, and Graham Ritter; sister Amy Winkelman; and mother Sheri Winkelman. She is preceded in death by her father, James Winkelman, and Ben’s father, her ex-husband, James Blumenthal.

Compiled by Carina Rumrill with input and care provided by Tripp Ritter, Namdrol Miranda Adams, Leigh Miller, Louise Light, and Michael Jolliffe. 

 Please pray that Sara may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may she be immediately born in a pure land where she can be enlightened or receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

 More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche 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/).

Ven. Ingrid Thubten Nordzin. Photo courtesy Ocean of Compassion Facebook page.

Ven. Ingrid (Thubten Nordzin) passed away after a short period of illness on February 17, 2025 at Tara Home, Soquel, California.

Venerable Ingrid was a beloved and devoted practitioner within the FPMT community for many decades. She received her novice monastic vows in 1988 with Lama Zopa Rinpoche and received full ordination in 1994.

Below longtime friends share some memories, thanks, and wishes for Ven. Ingrid, and tell of the activities being held for her beneficial transition during the 49-day period after her death. We also warmly share below a slideshow by Vajrapani Institute, and an article by Ven. Ingrid, “My First Retreat”, published in the April 1989 issue of Mandala Magazine, with her vivid account of her first meditation retreat in Lawudo, Nepal.

Reflections, Rejoicing and Practices Being Offered

Dear friend to Ven. Ingrid, Thubten Wongmo shares:

“Our dear vajra sister, Ingrid, left this body on February 17 at 4 p.m. I first met her at Kopan before she was a nun, around 1985 and right away we became friends. Since we both have been living in the US, we’ve met at many of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s courses, both here and in Mexico.

Ven. Wongmo, Ven. Ingrid, and Ven. Tsomo in Mexico, 2014.

“Ingrid was known as the flower lady as she had a talent for creating the most beautiful flower arrangements to place in front of Rinpoche’s throne and on tables next to him. She was very devoted to Rinpoche and would manage to attend as many of his teaching events as possible.

“She had a great sense of humor, and whenever we ended up sitting next to each other, there were lots of laughs. Another talent that most impressed me was her ability to hold pure view. Her closest Dharma friend suddenly stopped all communication with her, thinking that poor Ingrid was the cause of all her problems. This went on for years and even though Ingrid had lost her best friend, she never once criticized her old friend, but insisted that she was Tara incarnate and only acting in such a way as a teaching. Wow wow. 

“May our beloved Ingrid be immediately born in a pure land, or be born in a loving Buddhist family, meet the holy Dharma at a young age, find qualified Mahayana gurus, study and practice the path, gain realizations and then benefit many living beings.”

Dear friend, Julie Caldwell remembers:

“In addition to being a nun, Venerable Ingrid was also a teacher.  I know this as she was my teacher (along with Lama Zopa Rinpoche) for 22 years.  She once told me she had five students.  We met in 2001 at The Great Medicine Buddha Retreat and traveled together every year attending Rinpoche’s one month retreat somewhere around the globe.  Venerable Nordzin spoke five languages fluently (German, English, French, Spanish, and Greek).  In addition to attending Rinpoche’s teachings we would also go to Deer Park in Wisconsin to study with Geshe Lundrub, Sopa.

Ven. Ingrid and Julie Caldwell at Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s house, March 2013. Photo courtesy of Julie Caldwell.

“In addition to flower arrangements, Venerable Ingrid was a great artist. She assisted our study group in Elko, Nevada, in designing and building a Universal Prayer Wheel. It won the National Endowment Award for best Park Landscape design.  This adventure resulted in her coming to Elko, Nevada many times over seven years, including helping me transform our home into a pure land so Lama Zopa Rinpoche could visit in 2007, and perform the land blessing. This ritual was also attended by members of the Western Band of Shoshone Native Americans. Ven. Ingrid became close with the tribe’s leaders. She also was the artist who drew the hand mudras published in the Vajrayogini Self-Initiation practice. 

“Lama Zopa’s Rinpoche also acknowledged her as my teacher on multiple occasions. Perhaps the most profound was during COVID when I did not travel. So I wrote a question for Rinpoche on paper, “Any advice for my husband’s cancer?” And tuned in at 1 a.m. my time to a Zoom teaching he was giving to the students in Singapore.  He looked up and said, “The person with the question about her friend with cancer….you know the nun… follow her advice.”  Venerable Ingrid was that nun and was known to heal many people with cancer.  My husband followed all of her advice and he also is now cured.”

Ven. Angie Muir, on the practices for Ven. Ingrid’s transition: Ven. Ingrid was at Tara Home for her last three days until she passed, which again would have been very comforting for her since this was her wish to pass away there. Many friends as well as the hospice volunteers offered prayers for her there, as well as Ven. Jangchub, who was doing prayers at her bedside as she passed. Fortunately, Yangsi Rinpoche had been nearby teaching at Vajrapani Institute and came to offer prayers for her the day before she passed. She opened her eyes during the prayers and looked at Rinpoche directly for a moment, very aware he was there. It was surely very moving for her. 

Ven. Ingrid, photo courtesy of Thubten Wongmo.

We held a memorial puja for her on Saturday, March 1, at Land of Medicine Buddha. It was attended by around 50 people, in person and online. We chanted the Medicine Buddha Puja and recited the King of Prayers. This was followed by some heartwarming storytelling of her life and qualities by some of her close friends and Dharma family. At the conclusion, we all enjoyed chai and some of the cakes we offered during the puja, two of her favorites, princess cake and blueberry cheesecake. Land of Medicine Buddha also arranged a beautiful assortment of bouquets which she would’ve enjoyed, being a lover of flowers, especially since there were some of the delightful, sweet-scented spring varieties.

There will be a weekly puja for her up until the 49 day period ends, which will be led by various sangha members in the Bay Area of California. The details for the times and days of the pujas are on the Land of Medicine Buddha website.

We were very fortunate to be able to check with Geshe Ngawang Dakpa, long-term resident teacher of Tse Chen Ling, who advised the time and which direction to move the body. He also advised to make a Shakyamuni Buddha statue on her behalf, which has been completed and will be offered on her behalf to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Together with Medicine Buddha Practice and the King of Prayers, Geshe Dakpa also asks us to recite the Vajra Cutter Sutra as much as possible during the 49 days.

From the International Mahayana Institute Sangha:  From the bottom of our hearts we thank Venerable for all the Dharma and good works for others she has done. For all the beautiful offerings she created, the flowers and holy objects. For her devotion to Lama Zopa RInpoche and all her lamas, for being their hands. We rejoice in her wonderful merit and beneficial life.

Vajrapani Institute prepared a slideshow of Ven. Ingrid’s life for her memorial service

Please read “My First Retreat” by Ven. Ingrid Nordzin, published in Mandala magazine, April 1989. 

Please pray that Ven. Ingrid may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may she be immediately born in a pure land where she can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche 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 Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche near Lawudo Retreat Center, Nepal, 1970. Photo by Terry Clifford and courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Losar Tashi Delek!

Happy Tibetan new year to all our dear friends!

With love from everyone at FPMT International Office

The Great Prayer Festival during the Fifteen Days of Miracles—from the first day of the Tibetan new year, Losar, (February 28, 2025) until the fifteenth, Chotrul Duchen (March 14, 2025)—commemorates the special time when Guru Shakyamuni Buddha showed miraculous powers in order to subdue six tirthikas, or non-Buddhist teachers, who lacked faith in him, and to inspire more faith in his followers. It culminates on the full moon, the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar. Please read all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice for this meritorious period, opportunities to join the worldwide community in praying strongly for Rinpoche’s swift return, as well as advice for observing the anniversary of Lama Yeshe’s passing away on Losar, 1984.

In addition to all the incredible events and programs planned around the world for Losar and the Fifteen Days of Miracles, we want to draw your attention to the Losar Prayer Festival Dedicated for the Swift Return of Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche organized by Root Institute at the Mahabodhi Stupa in Bodhgaya, India beginning on Friday February 28. From the second day onward, beginning Saturday evening local time, February 29, there will be a livestream offered as well as material resources for those who wish to join. Please visit Root’s event page directly for information on the livestream link and all resources for this special event! 

Special thanks to the Liberation Prison Project for preparing this year’s Tibetan calendar. A limited view of the calendar is always available on “Dharma Practice Dates” as a courtesy to FPMT students around the world.

Are you an FPMT center, project, or service offering a special Losar and Fifteen Days of Miracles program? We’d love to hear about it and share as a roundup early next week! 

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche on Losar, 2021 at Kopan Monastery. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Our February e-news is now available and contains a wealth of information for the upcoming Losar and 15 Days of Miracles period, as well as other news, resources, and causes for rejoicing including: 

• Reminder and links to materials pertaining to swift return prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche
• Teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe
• An update from the FPMT Inc. BOD
• 2024 Grants offered from the Holy Objects Fund
• Disbursement offered to families devastated by the Thame flood
• Eleven Kopan nuns earn geshema degrees
• Resources for your study and practice 
• Changes in the FPMT organization

and much more! 

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

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

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

Young students of Maitreya School. Photo by Donna Lynn Brown.

Maitreya School, a project of the Root Institute in Bodhgaya, India, is dedicated to providing quality education while fostering the overall growth and well-being of its 250+ students. The school integrates academic excellence with cultural awareness and personal development through a variety of enriching programs and activities. Recently, former associate editor of Mandala Publications, Donna Lynn Brown, spent extensive time at Root Institute and was inspired by the program at Maitreya School. What follows is a moving portrait of this special school, and the incredible value it offers its students. 

Maitreya Universal Education School, Bodh Gaya, February 2025. Photo by Donna Lynn Brown.

By Donna Lynn Brown

“It was so auspicious,” reflected Kabir Saxena, trustee of Root Institute for Wisdom Culture in Bodhgaya, India. He was describing the visit, on February 6, 2025, of schoolchildren from Root Institute’s Maitreya Universal Education School to the main stupa in Bodhgaya, located where the Buddha attained enlightenment. The children, from grades 6, 7, and 8, went by bus to the stupa with Kabir, teachers, and volunteers to learn about the site and the Nyingma Monlam, a large prayer festival taking place there.

Although the children live in the area, they know little about the stupa. Kabir explained what had happened there and what the children were observing as they circumambulated. At one point, spotting some distinguished friends—a member of the Buddhist Temple Management Committee and a daughter of Tarthang Tulku, Tsering Gellek, who directs the Nyingma Institute in Sarnath, India—Kabir asked some of the schoolgirls if they remembered the Heart Sutra. They had learned it in Sanskrit earlier so they could perform it before His Holiness the Dalai Lama; the school does this every year. There and then, at India’s holiest Buddhist site, Maitreya School’s students chanted the Heart Sutra in India’s holy language. Auspicious indeed!

This inspiring incident is only one of many these days involving the school. Over the last two years the school has been changing to become more child-centered. Many of its students come from households affected by poverty, alcoholism, or abuse. They need trauma-informed approaches. And both brain and trauma research show that children learn better from contemporary pedagogies that support them psychologically and emotionally than from textbook-based lectures. Gradually, the school is implementing activity- and project-based learning: less explaining by teachers standing at the blackboard; more child-focused methods and activities.

Guiding this process is “Kabir Sir,” as the students call him, who is working with Sanjeev Kumar, the school principal, to bring Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s vision to fruition. “Rinpoche gave us many ideas,” he reported. “But the main thrust was to help the children develop spiritually, psychologically, and emotionally while giving them an education that helps them and their communities. Rinpoche thought we should make them like warriors who bring peace and happiness into the world. The last couple of years, fortunately, we’ve had staff and volunteers able to move us in that direction. It’s not fast. It’s day by day, improving the way each class is taught. We work on the teachers’ skills, the resources they can draw on, the way classes unfold. Slowly we make progress.”

Greater attention to the children’s psychological state is one way the school is moving forward. During the 23/24 year, an Indian volunteer from Kolkata, Sanjana, provided many students with counseling. This year, a Canadian psychotherapist, nicknamed Sherpa, spent two weeks working with children and teachers. Through art therapy done individually and in groups, he helped “troublesome” children to develop skills in working with others, avoiding conflict, and handling emotions like anger and jealousy. He also sought to improve the teachers’ understanding of children’s learning processes and to share ways of meeting children’s needs so they have space to learn. “If kids are happy and relaxed,” he emphasized, “they learn better. There’s less resistance, less avoidance, less work for teachers.” He found that “some of the students are really brilliant and talented,” and added, “we don’t want to ignore or waste that. Their futures, families, and society all need them to flourish.” He hopes to come back next year to do more.

Duffer at her desk in the new library, February 2025. Photo by Donna Lynn Brown.

Another contributor is Duffer, a retired teacher and librarian from the USA. Duffer spent several months in the 23/24 year at the school and has returned for the 24/25 year. For part of 2024, she was joined by her friend and fellow teacher Kim. Kim and she both expect to be back in 25/26 as well. Aided by a young Indian-American man named Vamsi, the friends completely re-established the school’s library in 23/24. Duffer brought and bought books and other resources, and organized the team’s work. They identified needs, sorted useful from outdated or unsuitable items, designed a new room and new shelving, categorized books by subject, catalogued them and entered them into a database, and taught students the purpose of the library, how to find what they wanted, take out books, and keep things orderly. “We wanted to make the library beautiful and the books accessible,” she said, “so the kids would be attracted. It’s working. Some days more want to be there than we can even fit in.”

In autumn 2024, Duffer ran a GoFundMe campaign for more needed items. “We just got in 600 new books in Hindi,” she reported. “That’s a lot of cataloguing, but the books are great. Indian kids’ books may not be as glossy as American ones, but the stories and drawings are terrific. The kids have so much fun with them.” She continues to steward the library and also works with teachers on lesson planning and teaching methods, sometimes co-teaching to help them learn new approaches. As well, she is developing “circle time”: small group discussions to teach the 16 Guidelines, in place of large assemblies, that better support learning by children affected by trauma.

Neelashi cataloguing some of the new Hindi-language books, February 2025. Photo by Donna Lynn Brown.

Neelashi, originally from Rajasthan, has been a staff member of the school since August 2024. She has Masters degrees in both education and Buddhist Studies and is a trained Waldorf teacher. Her main job is working with teachers. She also teaches classes, works directly with students, and attends to students’ physical and psychological health. One concern she has is nutrition. Many students eat little or no breakfast. In 22/23 and 23/24, Root Institute was able to give them, when they arrived each morning, peanuts and bananas—protein, vitamins, and calories. However, grant funding for that program expired in early 2024. Neelashi is trying to raise funds to restore it. She has also applied to Kyentse Foundation for a grant to produce books she is planning to help the children create: books in which they depict their own lives in words and pictures.

Neelashi has found that the students often prefer to learn experientially, not be “just told.” They are eager to figure things out—and giving them the chance improves learning outcomes. So, she indicated, “we have to give them experiences” using images, stories, discussions, games, puppets, and so on in place of lectures. “I work with the teachers on this as a colleague,” she said. “I go in their classrooms, I give examples of how I would teach something.” That way the teachers learn new methods. As well, she mentioned, “we have started adding small things to make the classrooms more energetic, friendly, colorful, heartful. A lot of thought goes into this and it creates a better environment.” She also works with the children to help them learn to relate in healthy ways to adults when their home experiences have been negative. She summed up her role by saying, “The school is in a beautiful place—Bodhgaya—but at the same time, in the most difficult place, one of the poorest states in India, which means education cannot just be English, Hindi, science, math. The regular teachers will do that. But education has to mean other things too. That’s my work. Paying attention to how we are as human beings.”

A Universal Education lesson, February 2025. Photo by Donna Lynn Brown.

Will the school continue to evolve? “Absolutely,” said Kabir. “We haven’t fully mastered best practices in teaching, for one. That’s a work in progress. We’d like to teach yoga. Also help the children to better integrate the 16 Guidelines. Rinpoche wanted us to incorporate drama as one way to do that. And we’d like to add some kinds of Buddhist teachings. We are trying as well to learn from other Buddhist-run schools that are improving curricula and methods. We can also better encourage the kids’ creativity to help them contribute to society. There’s plenty to do and I hope to spend the coming decade making it happen.” Added Duffer, “Realistically, the school needs money. We need laptops. Renovations. Better salaries for teachers so, when we train them in new methods, they don’t leave for government schools that pay more. We have great volunteers, but some improvements take money too.”

In early February 2025, Maitreya School had a distinguished visitor: Geshe Lhakdor, formerly His Holiness’s translator and now Director of The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Geshe-la gave a talk in Hindi to the teachers and answered their questions, emphasizing the value he placed on the school. When he subsequently gave a Dharma teaching in English at Root Institute, he began by mentioning the plight of Bodh Gaya’s street children. He went on to say, “Root Institute has opened this school, that’s the right thing… there is so much poverty in Bodhgaya. You can walk around the stupa but it is more important to change this place. … Walking around the stupa is still important but we have to help sentient beings. That’s what pleases the Buddha most.” Encouraging words for all who help the school and its children!

You can read more about Maitreya School’s recent utilization of a grant from the FPMT Social Services Fund.

 Written by Donna Lynn Brown. Donna is a former Associate Editor of Mandala magazine. She first encountered Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT at a November course at Kopan Monastery in 1996. Recently she completed a Ph.D in which she researched and wrote about FPMT’s social engagement and its intersection with traditional Buddhist teachings.

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.