Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Pomaia, Itay, 2014. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

This month’s e-news brings you important news, updates, and causes for rejoicing including:

• Introducing the Unmistaken Incarnation Fund
• Teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe
• Upcoming public teachings with  His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Support offered to Sangha in 2024
• Awarded Merit Box grants for 2024
• News from FPMT centers and study groups
• Resources for your 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. 

Peter “Stripes” Langham. Photo courtesy of Tara Institute.

Peter (“Stripes”) Langham passed away on August 25, 2024, age 82, at his home in Glenlyon, Australia

Peter was a long-time Dharma practitioner after meeting Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the 1970s. He was a great contributor to the various tours of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Australia and had undeniable skills in many areas. He was known as an eccentric and deeply caring and devoted friend to many. Long time friend, Ian Green, director of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, shares the following obituary with contributions from others:

Peter Langham (aka Mr. Stripes, Stripes, Stripey) and his parents escaped Nazi Germany as refugees. After settling in England, they eventually made their way to Melbourne where they set themselves up in the rag trade. After graduating from art school, it was a natural choice for Peter to make a name for himself as an innovative fabric and fashion designer riding the wave of the 1960’s psychedelic era. These colorful clothes and the shops he opened were where he gained the nickname “Mr. Stripes” which stuck with for the rest of his life.

Yeshe Khadro, Peter Langham, and Lama Yeshe, Victoria, Australia, 1976. Photo courtesy of Nick Ribush.

Growing up in Melbourne, Peter mixed with many of the key figures in the birth of Tibetan Buddhism in Australia including Adrian Feldmann (Thubten Gyatso), Nick Ribush, Max Redlich, Tom Vichta, and Garrey Foulkes. So, when Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche came to Melbourne in the early seventies, Peter became a fixture (usually in the front row) listening to their teachings. Kathy Vichta recalls how Peter gave Lama Yeshe his first car. It was a little red Fiat. When taking his first driving lesson, instructed by Australian nun Yeshe Khadro, Lama sped off at breakneck speed to end up with the car teetering on the edge of steep embankment.  

These encounters with the Lamas changed Peter’s life. He attended the fourth Kopan course in the Spring of 1973 and many courses and retreats in Bendigo, Tara Institute and Chenrezig Institute in Australia as well as several in India.

Peter Langham at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia.

In 1995 Peter, along with his son Tao, Garrey Foulkes and I went to Tibet to study the Gyantse stupa in preparation to building its twin in Bendigo. Peter’s eccentric dress style and “out-there” personality were difficult for some of the authorities in Tibet to accept but Peter blissfully sailed through everything. As Garrey recalls, “Thanks for almost sixty years of friendship. Thanks for your many contributions to Dharma projects and special thanks for your quirky sense of humor; though I don’t recall it being all that funny when you spent the last few emergency dollars we had left in Tibet on a couple of packets of potato chips.”

Peter became friends with so many people he met at Buddhist retreats. David Andrews recalls one retreat in particular when he and his wife Allys spent a lot of time with Peter: “He told me tales of derring-do in his youth, of lovers, his success with his various businesses, but above all his deep heartfelt commitment to the lamas and the Dharma. In his later years, I felt he assumed the guise of a sadhu, forsaking prosperity for his faith. He had that slightly quizzical yet knowing look about him, always smiling, always greeting friends and acquaintances with a hug or a smile and a direct look, straight into your heart. His laconic nature belied a genuine care about your wellbeing, an appreciation of the trials and tribulations of daily life and a certainty that with faith in the gurus, all would be well.”

David continues, “At the retreat I admired his blue Great Stupa beanie, which contrasted with my less striking grey one. As I was leaving the retreat and saying my farewells he gave me his beanie with the words, ‘I hope this brings you blessings.’ Knowing Stripey was a real blessing.”

In the last decade or so, Peter became passionate about setting up Dromtonpa Study Group in Daylesford and the Daylesford Buddhist School. A person who worked with Peter on these projects, Greig Leith commented: “We often hear of people described as larger than life. I think in regard to Stripey those words are apt. He was a dedicated Dharma practitioner, a truly generous benefactor who was kind and considerate.” Another member of Dromtonpa, Karina De Wolf, describes him as a, “spontaneous spirit who loved to bring people together on adventures and dream up great projects.”

Peter was also a devoted family man, leaving behind his wife Jenny and large extended family. He would generously welcome others, including my wife Judy and I into his family. To us, Peter was a kind-hearted, funny, close friend who truly wanted all beings to be well and all great projects to prosper.  

With grateful thanks to Ian Green and all contributors for this moving obituary. 

Please pray that Peter may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he 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/).

A view inside the main temple during the long life puja offered to HIs Holiness the Dalai Lama by the FPMT organization, May 24, 2023. Photo by Tenzin Choejor, courtesy of DalaiLama.com.

Save the Date: Today we are sharing news announced by the Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey that a long life puja for His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be offered on August 22 in Elmont, New York, at the UBS Arena. from 9am-10am. This puja will be offered by the Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey as well as other Himalayan communities.

His Holiness is in New York State following a successful knee replacement surgery that took place on June 28. You can read the latest medical update on this procedure. 

Those interested in attending should look for more updates, including ticketing and seating information for this long life puja, from the Tibetan Community of New York and New Jersey in the coming days. 

The PDF booklet Prayers for the Long Life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibet contains prayers for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for Tibet.

For more on His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his beneficial activities, please visit DalaiLama.com.

White Mahakala study group members with Ven. Gendun. Photo courtesy of White Mahakala study group.

In 2017 Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised the White Mahakala study group in Romania to build a Kadampa stupa. Rinpoche advised that if they put it on top of a mountain, then they could put more Namgyalma mantras in it (in addition to what is normally placed inside) and then the whole mountain becomes, “extremely blessed.” They decided on the stupa being 2+ meters high (7.5 feet) and placed on the highest spot of the land. 

Marius Micu, who is an architect, spent a year volunteering in Buddhist organizations in Europe before returning to Romania in 2017 and founding the White Mahakala study group in Cluj, the second largest city in Romania and county seat. The study group has been offering Buddhism in a Nutshell and Discovering Buddhism programs and inviting visiting FPMT registered teachers since then.

In 2017 Marius also bought a plot of land in Tranișu, a village in Cluj County, in the region he had been connected to since childhood. Impressed by the stupa he saw in Iceland, he envisioned building a stupa and a retreat center on this plot of land.

According to the plan, one of the buildings, which is under construction, consists of an event hall on the ground floor and rooms for participants upstairs. The construction of a small building with teachers’ quarters and the Kadampa stupa have been completed.

The event hall is under construction. Photo courtesy of White Mahakala study group.

The construction of the Kadampa stupa concluded in June this year. More than 200 donors and volunteers took part in this process. The members of the study group decided that they would make tsa-tsas and prepare all mantra rolls which are placed inside the stupa themselves instead of getting ready made ones, a process that took few years.

“We could have commissioned them to be made by someone else more quickly, but by making them ourselves, community members will understand the value of the stupa much better,” says Marius.

Ven. Tenzin Gendun from Nalanda Monastery in France, who has been visiting the group over the last five years, supervised the final stages of the construction of the Kadampa stupa on June 14-15, 2024.

“Being filled with sacred objects, the stupa emanates a powerful energy, helping anyone who sees it or surrounds it to eliminate negative energy. In this way, generosity and patience can be attained more easily, bringing happiness into this life,” says Ven. Gendun.

Please join us in rejoicing in this powerful holy object being built in Romania according to the instructions of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, supporting Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization. 

“My wish is for FPMT to build many holy objects everywhere, as many as possible. Making it so easy for sentient beings to purify their heavy negative karma and making it so easy for sentient beings to create extensive merit. Which makes it so easy to achieve the realizations of the path and so easy to achieve liberation and enlightenment.” — Lama Zopa Rinpoche

We thank Marius Micu, Mircea Lupescu, and Győrffy Gáborf for their help with the details for this update and photos. You can learn more about this project from the stupa’s Facebook page. 

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. 

Planetary Crisis Summit participants, April 24, 2024. Photo courtesy of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre.

In April 2024, Jamyang London Buddhist Centre hosted the first Planetary Crisis Summit, an event that brought together a range of voices from across FPMT Europe to engage in a deep conversation about what it means to be a Dharma center during this time of social and environmental collapse. Since this time the team has been busy collating the outputs from this inspirational event, which you can now learn more about below. Here we share a brief report from Ven. Thubten Drolma, Center Director of Jamyang London, plus links to a fuller report and video of this momentous event. 

Dr. Aaron Thierry’s keynote presentation, “This is Where Things Are.” Photo courtesy of Jamyang London.

The Summit took place four months after the hottest year on record. A leading NASA scientist was quoted saying: ‘we’re frankly astonished’. The Met Office expects 2024 to exceed that record potentially marking the first 1.5C year. Although one year alone won’t breach the 1.5C threshold, it is now clear this will happen than the Paris Agreement predictions.

The Buddha taught that suffering stems from distorted views. To the extent we can align ourselves with reality, to that extent we can remove the causes of suffering. Our actions will align themselves to the way things are and therefore be appropriate and in harmony with nature.

When it comes to the Planetary Crisis, our ignorance is vast with significant consequences for all sentient beings. Humans comprise 0.01% of life yet our unsustainable lifestyles impacts the other 99.99% of mother sentient beings. Moreover, those who emit the most often suffer least. The UN and other bodies warn of potential societal collapse. As Mahayana Buddhists, this should deeply concern us.

Panel discussion with Jan Willis, George Marshall, Aaron Thierry, and Rob Hopkins. Photo courtesy of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre.

In April at Jamyang, we convened to confront this reality, together. We explored the question: “what if dharma centers were catalyst for change in the planetary crisis?” The discussions stimulated engagement, creativity and collaboration rather than fix-it solutions. The answers were as diverse as there were communities and individuals asking the question.

The crisis faced by our communities are unprecedented. How can we help and support through the lens of rich our Buddhist tradition. Whilst the impact any one center or community can have may be limited, the Summit showed we are not alone in the journey. We have each other, guided by our lamas. We are 132 centers, projects and services in 31 countries around the world, under the spiritual leadership of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe.

We hope this report continues this vital conversation.

Please enjoy this short film about the summit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mlAOUH1fBY

Read a full and beautifully designed report of this event. 

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. 

Sister Max giving a talk during the month-long course at Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1975. Photo courtesy of LYWA collection.

The entire FPMT community shared the loss of one of FPMT’s precious pioneers, when “Mummy” Max Mathews (also known as Sister Max), passed away on February 16, 2024. Mummy Max contributed greatly and financially assisted Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in establishing Kopan Monastery and the FPMT organization. 

Max lived a fascinating life, full of many adventures. Please enjoy this collection of stories, shared from various perspectives, about and from Mummy Max, and rejoice in a full and generous life in service to others, most notably, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Mummy Max explains in Volume One of Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe: “I felt I had come home and that Lama Yeshe was my guru. He just opened me up completely. I felt balanced and whole, like I was walking on air. I also felt committed. There was no going back.”

“These boys need a mother,” Lama Yeshe told Max [Mathews], when they arrived at Kopan. “You are their Mummy Max.” From Big Love

Chapters
Remembering the Most Amazing Sister Mummy Max |  A Very Brief Look at Max’s Many Contributions  |
The Car that Saved Mount Everest Centre |  Words of Thanks and Reverence for Max Mathews  |
The Final Days: A Peaceful Transition

Remembering the Most Amazing Sister Mummy Max

By Peter Kedge, friend of Max’s and another early student and pioneer of FPMT 

Lama Yeshe, Max Mathews, Peter Kedge, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, First Enlightened Experience, Tushita Meditation Centre, India, 1982. Photo courtesy of LYWA collection.

Born in England, I went to school and University, and in 1966, met up with future FPMT students Harvey Horrocks and Philip Elliott when we worked at the Rolls Royce Aero Engine Division in Derby. We had many adventures together, the highlight of which was probably driving from England to Kathmandu with a plan of eventually reaching Australia.

Peter Kedge and Harvey Horrocks with Lama Yeshe at the Pisa airport, Italy, 1983.

Tired of driving, camping on beaches, and exploring the countries we traveled through, we spent six months volunteering with a Christian mission in Pokhara, Western Nepal. We climbed Tent peak in the Annapurna Sanctuary—an experience from which we barely escaped with our lives. We were clearly not mountaineers, and we were clearly not missionary material and so left our hosts to return to Kathmandu.

Harvey and I trekked to Everest Base Camp and another peak, Kala Pattar. On the way we stayed in Namche Bazaar, where I tried meditating for the first time by following instructions from the hippie Bible, Be Here Now by Ram Dass, which one of our female companions was carrying.

On return to Kathmandu days later, I heard there was a Buddhist monastery outside Kathmandu with a Canadian nun, and they were offering a meditation course in English.

Harvey and Philip continued on to Australia. I stayed, and in March 1972, showed up for the second Kopan Course with about 10 others led by Canadian nun Ann McNeil, Canadian monk Jampa Shaneman, and taught by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Second Kopan Meditation Course, spring of 1972. Included in the photo from the left are Ann McNeil (Anila Ann), Mark Shaneman (Jhampa Zangpo), Steve Malasky, Gen Wangyal, Age Delbanco (Babaji), Peter Kedge, Geshe Thubten Tashi (seated), Losang Nyima. Photo courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

During the break times, I heard there was also an American nun associated with Kopan who visited from Kathmandu where she was a teacher at the U.S. International Lincoln School.

The first trek to Lawudo Retreat Center in Nepal, spring of 1969. Photo courtesy of LYWA collection.

I didn’t see another nun, or at least I didn’t see anyone looking like a nun, until one evening, a black lady in a purple trouser suit drove up and I learned that was Max Mathews the American nun, and the main benefactor of Kopan at that time.

Max heard something about my background, and on introducing herself to me said, “Honey, can you fix cars?” I spent the next three months living in the Rana house Max rented in Tinchuli just outside Boada, and repairing her 1932 Hudson that Max had bought from the King’s palace (see story about Max’s Hudson below).

That was the beginning of 50+ years of close friendship that sadly ended when Max passed earlier this year.

There are two things I remember Max for.

One is the extraordinary karma by which Max’s life brought the foundations of Kopan together.

The other is Max’s unreserved generosity.

Max was born into abject poverty in Redford, Virginia, on October 11, 1933.

After her parents died, social services placed Max with a local family which Max didn’t get on with, so she upped and left for New York to stay with her older sister until social services caught up and placed her with a wealthy family of lawyers in Washington D.C.

Suddenly, Max was circulating in, and learning how to be part of, high society. Later with her Columbia University Master’s degree, government job, diplomatic passport, and postings to Germany, Greece, and Moscow, Max was living life with the elite of the world.

During teaching breaks in Athens, Greece, Max holidayed on the island of Mykonos where she met Ann McNeil (later Anila Ann). Max met Zina Rachevsky (who would become Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s first Western student) in Athens and took Ann to meet Zina. When Max moved on from Athens to Moscow, they each took different paths for the next three years.

Max Mathews hosting an event at her art gallery in Kathmandu, Nepal, 1969. Photo courtesy of LYWA collection.

Then during Max’s posting to Lincoln School in Kathmandu, Nepal, Zina one day appeared from Darjeeling with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Zina introduced Max to the lamas and on meeting Lama Yeshe, Max collapsed in tears. From then on her life’s purpose was clear.

Zina asked Max to look after the lamas financially because Zina was out of money and Max agreed. Max contacted Ann in Greece and asked her to come to Kathmandu to help her look after the lamas as well.

Lama Yeshe with Anila Ann (Ann McNeil), Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1974. Photo courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

And there they were—Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa, Zina, Max, and Ann, together in Kathmandu. They were the pioneers establishing the foundation of Kopan and eventually, the entire FPMT organization. Ann, Max, and Zina all took ordination.

For me, the karma that brought that about and all that has followed is nothing short of mind blowing.

The most outstanding quality of Max has always been her unreserved generosity—firstly and foremost toward Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa, and the Mount Everest Centre (which grew into Kopan Monastery and later, Nunnery as well).

Lama Yeshe on holiday with Max Mathews in Srinagar, Kashmir, 1970. Photo by Domo Geshe Rinpoche who also accompanied them.

Whatever the lamas needed for their well-being and projects, Max did her utmost to fulfill.  When Max received her salary check from Lincoln School, she would bring it to Kopan, and give the check to me to take down to Kathmandu and convert it to Nepalese rupees.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Mount Everest Centre boys beside the ancient bodhi tree at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, 1974. Photo by Ursula Bernis.

The rupees would come back up to Kopan and they would be used for whatever Lama Yeshe needed, and now with young Sherpa Mount Everest Centre monks to care for, it meant robes, food, fuel, and accommodations that had to be built as well as a gompa. So Max’s salary also went to buy cement, iron re-bar, sand, bricks, to hire laborers, and pay for trucks to bring all these supplies up to Kopan.

This was Max. Whatever was needed, Max would provide. And not only for the lamas. There was an increasing number of people that Max supported—Tibetans, Nepalese, older monks at Kopan, former monks who had escaped with Lama Yeshe from Tibet, Anila Ann, and other Westerners.

Max became known as, “Mummy Max” as that was the role Max played for so many.

Soon, a teacher’s salary was not enough. Max stopped working at Lincoln School and went headlong into business determined to generate more income.

Max started making garments in Kathmandu and then later in Delhi. Max became so successful she was featured in Time magazine with her fabulous line of sequined dresses, which sold for hundreds of dollars in New York.

Max completely supported Lama. When eventually Lama’s health declined, Max paid doctors’ bills and air tickets. Max flew Lama to Delhi, paid for more specialists and hospitals, flew Lama first class to California, paid for Lama’s treatment at Cedar Sinai Hospital, an air ambulance, and all of Lama’s care. Max offered her credit card and made it completely available to cover the considerable expenses of Lama’s funeral at Vajrapani Institute. This was Max’s utter devotion. Lama and Rinpoche always came first.

Max Mathews with fabric for her clothing business, New Delhi, 1976. Photo courtesy of LYWA collection.

The last few months of Lama Yeshe’s life took Max ‘s focus away from the business and unfortunately some of her associates took advantage of Max’s absence during those months and the garment business collapsed.

Even after Lama’s passing, Max was determined to generate funds for Rinpoche, Kopan, and the growing sangha.

Max switched from garments to Indian antique furniture which Max exported to the United States. Max took up residence in Colorado and opened a furniture gallery, traveling back and forth to India to buy stock.

Sister Max and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, United States, August 10, 2017. Photo by Lobsang Sherab.

At almost 80 Max moved into senior housing in Santa Fe and became close with Thubten Norbu Ling, the FPMT center there.

Max never stopped trying to raise money for Rinpoche, the Santa Fe center, and her many other projects. Some of the schemes Max tried were online and unfortunately involved people who took advantage of her trusting nature.

At 88, Max still had a vision of creating, “the most fabulous gallery and restaurant” in the building the center had recently purchased.

Max never sought recognition or thanks. She always downplayed the incredibly significant part she had played in building Kopan, helping Lama and Rinpoche to build FPMT, and as a consequence, helping the spread of Buddha Dharma in the West.

Max’s passing was as close to “textbook” as can be hoped for. Students of the center and visiting geshes kept a prayer vigil. Nursing staff and hospice carers were on hand 24 hours a day and Max passed peacefully at home. The funeral home allowed the body to remain in place packed by dry ice until the consciousness had left.

Of her part in the establishment of Kopan, Max would always say, “I didn’t do anything.” Yet what an incredible life Max packed into her 90 years. What an example of generosity, what an understated contribution Max made to Kopan, and to the life work of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Written by Peter Kedge, friend to Max and early FPMT student, former FPMT Inc. board member, and former director and CEO of the Maitreya Project. Please read this 1995 Mandala magazine article about Peter’s own generous contributions to the early activities of FPMT, “Turning Money into Dharma.”

A Very Brief Look at Max’s Many Contributions

This interview with Max Mathews was filmed in July, 2020 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with images from Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe. Mummy Max shares her spontaneous and intimate firsthand stories of her timeless relationship with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche:

Watch Big Love: An Interview with Max Mathews aka Mummy Max
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQMNDG7-ocE

Adele Hulse writes of Max’s early years in Big Love:

Born in 1933 to a desperately poor black undertaker in Virginia, Max and her siblings had often helped embalm bodies after school. “Embalming was all the go with poor blacks,” she said. Her parents’ marriage broke up when she was around ten years old and she was adopted into a wealthy white family, with a house on the West Coast and an apartment in New York. 

Max eventually got a Master’s degree in education from Columbia University in New York, and after graduating she was ready for adventure. Joining the American diplomatic service as a teacher gave her the freedom to travel, the security of American protection and an American salary. Her teaching career took her to Greece, Germany and Moscow. In August 1968, it landed her in Kathmandu.

After receiving her Master’s degree, she was employed by the U.S. Department of Defense, which oversaw the U.S. International Schools network and held postings in Athens, Berlin, Moscow, and Kathmandu since 1958.

In 1960, while working in Greece, Max Mathews met Zina Rachevsky and Ann McNeil, who was originally from Canada. They became good friends. Max spent five years in Greece. She explained, “Of course, we had at least five years in Greece together before the lamas even came, they weren’t even in our knowledge. When we parted, we didn’t know that we had all been students of the lamas before.”

Zina Rachevsky with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, 1967. Photo via Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

In 1968, Max taught at the U.S. International Lincoln School in Kathmandu. She worked there until the early 1970s. She bought works of persecuted Jewish artists in Moscow and brought them to Kathmandu. In Kathmandu, she would purchase Tibetan thangkas and statues from Tibetan refugees.  She opened an art gallery in a two-story building at Kantipath across from the American Embassy Consulate office. The gallery also had a café where poets, artists, and writers would meet.

Max developed good relations with King Mahendra as he was happy about her interest in promoting Nepali art. The King even inaugurated some of her exhibitions.

Lama Yeshe and Sister Max in Berkeley, California, 1974. Photo by Judy Weitzner

In 1968, Zina and Max met again in Kathmandu. By that time Zina had become a student of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, traveled with the lamas, and finally settled in Kathmandu where they decided to build a monastery. Zina came to Max’s gallery where Max and her guests were having a Thanksgiving party and begged her to help take care of the lamas.

Max Mathews and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Aptos, California, March, 1984. Photo by Åge Delbanco.

Max tells about her first meeting with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in a 2020 interview:

So, Lama Yeshe was the first one I met, and he opened the door, folded his hands, and bowed to me. And at that time my heart went “Zoom! Open, open, open!” and I was on the floor and in tears. I was crying so hard because whatever he did to me, he put in my heart when he opened it, is still there. And I cried and cried. It was like years, but it was only like five minutes, and Lama Zopa then showed up. And that very moment from the floor, I promised Lama Yeshe because he requested me, and I gave my life, my heart, my body, mind, and soul to him forever, forever. As long as they needed me, I would do whatever I could to help them succeed with their journey. I promised the lamas, when I met them, that I would always be there for them and do and help as much as I could and provide service for them and their journey. 

The same year Max visited old friends in Greece and met Marty Widener, who she married in a ceremony led by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe in Tinchuli, Bouddha.

Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche finally found a suitable place for building a monastery. It was a house of an astrologer on Kopan hill. With Max’s financial help, they were able to buy the land. Max would spend her weekdays in the city and the weekends on Kopan hill.

The trekking group to Lawudo, pictured from front: Lama Yeshe, Chip Weitzner, Dorje Sherpa, Judy Weitzner. Above: Zina, Max, and behind Max, Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

In early 1969, Max, Zina, her film crew, Judy and Chip Weitzner, and the lamas left for Lawudo. Max discussed this trip in an interview from 2020:

We spent maybe a week in Namche. Many of the villagers knew Rinpoche. Lama Zopa was the Lawudo Lama. He had been in Tibet studying at the monastery, and people would come running out with kathas and gifts, just because Rinpoche had not come back since he left Lawudo to go to Tibet to study.

Now was the first time. So at this point he must have been early 20s. I’m guessing. I don’t really know, but the people recognized him and were so happy that he was back. And then everywhere we went, the people would come to Rinpoche, and they would request that he would please set up a traditional monastic school for boys. They begged and pleaded with him to open the school. I don’t remember Rinpoche’s response, but I’m sure he agreed, because first Mount Everest Center for Buddhist Studies was opened with 27 boys at Lawudo, which had become Lama Zopa’s cave.

The lamas decided to start Kopan in Lawudo and accepted the first group of young monks. Mummy Max was the main benefactor supporting the early growth of Kopan Monastery north of Bodhanath. “Max’s entire Lincoln School salary supported not only the early building at Kopan, but the entire education and maintenance of about 50 young Sherpa and Tibetan monks in the Mount Everest Centre school,” recalls Peter Kedge.

Anila Ann and Max Mathews on the roof of Kopan Monastery as the second floor is in progress, 1972. Photo courtesy of LYWA collection.

After coming back from Lawudo, Lama Yeshe started overseeing the construction works at Kopan hill. “We built resident quarters, kitchen, eating hall, and toilets and water and everything for bathing for the young monks,” Max shared. “And it took most of the ’70 and early ’71. By ’71, we had the first ordination.”

(12509_sl-3.psd) The first ordination of a group of western students, Dharamsala, India, 1970. Zina Rachevsky is in the front row between Gen Jampa Wangdu and Lama Yeshe. Ann McNeil (Anila Ann) is just to the right behind Zina, and Sylvia White is also in the back row to the right of Lama Yeshe. A student named James is second from left in back row, and Max Mathews, who also ordained that day, is curiously absent.

By 1971, there was enough space for small groups of students to come for the meditation course. Max recalled, “Westerners started getting notices to come to Kopan from the city, from everywhere around the world. And so, in ’71 we had the first course. And we had enough built that could take care of the small numbers that came. And then ’72 and ’73 was course two and three and going on.”

As Max was the principal source to support the Mount Everest Centre boys, she was concerned about a more enduring source of income, not just dependent on her personal salary. She decided to start a fashion business in Kathmandu with the first label “Samsara” and later moved her business to Delhi. Max shared, in Big Love:

Time Magazine article on Sister Max Mathew’s fashion, September 12, 1983. Photo courtesy of LYWA collection.

 Business was gradually getting better. I remember the first time I went back to America for my first show. I went to this huge convention center straight from the airport and didn’t even know how to price things, but everyone was helping me. From this tiny little stand at the show I sold everything I had and got back on the plane with all this money. I would never have had the courage to do that if I hadn’t gone back to the States first with Lama in 1974. I was flying, ten feet off the ground! I knew it was all due to Lama’s blessing. My first label was Samsara, then Yeshe, and then Sister Max, which was the one that succeeded.

Max was also part of the beginnings of what we call Universal Education. She wrote a program for teachers based on many discussions with Lama Yeshe.  From Big Love:

Max Mathews stayed on the tour for the duration of her school holiday leave. In Nashville, Indiana, she spent time working on an innovative education project that Lama had discussed with her. Lama had told her he believed Buddhism could be taught all around the world without using any Buddhist terms at all and in such a way that children could learn that life is impermanent, all things are interrelated and the path to life’s fulfillment involves exercising compassion and wisdom and applying appropriate methods. Max thought the first thing to do was to prepare texts in order to be able to train teachers. She wrote out a program, developed concepts and had long discussions with Lama. News of her work elicited offers from two American universities to complete a PhD in educational research but she did not accept. When the lamas left for Wisconsin, Max returned to Nepal and her job at Lincoln School.

“Her diminutive size greatly belies the vastness of her compassionate heart and spirit,” Jan Willis said about Max in 1996 in an article she wrote for Mandala magazine, “Sister Max: Working for Others.”

In Big Love, Peter Kedge explained:

Sister Max unreservedly supported Lama Yeshe financially in whatever he undertook or needed. From the day they met, Max held nothing back, unhesitatingly providing whatever Lama needed. Max offered literally everything she had with a pure heart and never a thought for herself. Every time Max received her salary check from Lincoln School it immediately went for Lama and the Mount Everest Centre one hundred percent. Later, when Max had funds from her business, it was the same. Whatever Lama needed Max provided. Max knew when Lama was exhausted and she took him away and looked after him. Max spent whatever it took, whether for a comfortable place to stay, a nice hotel, a break for retreat, a holiday, a heater, good food, school supplies, building materials, food for the school or whatever. Max was always five hundred percent there for Lama. The way Max took care of Lama was the definitive lesson in generosity and an extraordinary inspiration. No one could have done more, and Kopan would not have existed without her unstinting support.

When Lama Yeshe passed away in 1984, Mummy Max, together with other senior students, sponsored pujas for Lama Yeshe. Ven. Yarphel (John Jackson) recalled in Big Love:

Cremation of Lama Yeshe, Vajrapani Institute, California, March, 1984. Photo includes Anila Ann, Max Mathews, Massimo Corona, Geshe Thinley, and Cecily Drucker. Photo by Ricardo de Aratanha.

It was interesting to see Sister Max’s complete lack of concern for her future. She paid for all the lamas to come here and overall, we had 175 people. Station wagons were hired to pick them up, everybody ate for free during that whole week. Everything was offered. Max and some old students paid for everything. At every puja all the lamas were offered hundreds of dollars in white offering envelopes—not like the usual $20 donations. Zong Rinpoche was offered about $1,000 at each puja and the others about $300 each.

We were making as many offerings as we could. We even drove through Santa Cruz offering money to hungry people on the street. The whole thing was under the advice of Zong Rinpoche and Lama Zopa, who was like his lieutenant. Sister Max eclipsed everybody. I didn’t see what she put through on her credit card, but of the $100,000 or so that I handled, $70,000 came from her. It was Max, of course, who had unhesitatingly paid the $15,000 bill from Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

The Car that Saved Mount Everest Centre

Max with her 1932 Hudson. Photo credit: Chitraker.

Shortly after they were built, two 1932 Hudson Phaeton cars were shipped to Calcutta, then carried by porters over the mountains into Nepal. That was the only way to bring vehicles into Nepal before the Raj Path was built in 1956. One of the vehicles was for the King of Nepal and the other was for the Prime Minister.

The history of at least one of the 1932 Hudson’s is really quite remarkable.

Max Mathews bought one of them from the King’s palace in the late 1960s. She recalled discovering that this car was available for purchase, “Wow, my heart starts racing and I have to get that car. I buy it, and I drive it around Kathmandu on the unpaved roads. There are no roads on Kopan at all, so that’s something we have to deal with.”

The car fell into disrepair and in 1972 Max asked Peter Kedge if he knew anything about cars. Indeed, he did! From age eleven, he had worked for two years in a bicycle shop, then at a garage during every school holiday until he graduated from university ten years later. By that time, he had spent more time working on cars than driving them. She asked whether he could help get the Hudson back into running condition. The car was stored in one of the Rana homes in Tintuli that Max was renting just outside Boudhanath. Peter spent three months at Tintuli with very few tools but did get the car running well again.

In the meantime, Max was the main benefactor supporting the early growth of Kopan Monastery north of Boudhanath. Peter stayed on at Kopan after the second course in 1972. He wanted to help and there was always work to do—either securing supplies for building the gompa, driving supplies to Kopan, managing the laborers, etc.

Max’s entire Lincoln School salary supported not only the early building at Kopan, but the entire education and maintenance of about 50 young Sherpa and Tibetan monks in the Mount Everest Centre School. In the summer months the school was held in Lawudo and in the Winter months the school would come down to Kopan where it was less cold.

In the Summer of 1973 an emergency message came down from Lawudo to Kopan saying that the school had run out of food and money.

The restored 1932 Hudson. Photo courtesy of Calvin Buchanan.

As always, taking full responsibility without any reservation Max immediately said to Peter, “Sell the Hudson.”

Peter placed an advertisement in the Rising Nepal newspaper and a gentleman from the U.S. Embassy responded, viewed the car, and purchased it. The proceeds from the sale of the Hudson saved the school and supported the 50 children and their teachers for quite a while.

The car was shipped through Calcutta to the U.S. and eventually ended up with a Hudson collector in Texas. A few years ago, the car’s owner, a collector who has more than twenty such vehicles, traveled to Santa Fe to meet Max and find out more about the car’s history. Since that time, the car has been completely renovated back to the original factory condition and colors.

Words of Thanks and Reverence for Max Mathews

On hearing the news of Mummy Max’s passing, many old and new friends around the world expressed moving tributes of thanks and reverence for Max. Here we share some of these sentiments:

Max Mathews, 1974, Berkeley. Photo by Judy Weitzner.

“We rejoice how Mummy provided unconditional and essential support for the Lamas’ Western Dharma project as envisioned by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and remember how we are dependent upon Mummy Max for her mandala role in bringing the Dharma of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche to the West.” —From the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

“Max’s dedication led her to play a crucial role in establishing and funding Kopan Monastery in the 1970s. Her generosity created a haven for spiritual seekers. Her passing marks the loss of a remarkable soul whose philanthropy touched many lives. Tonight, in the presence of Kyabje Khen Rinpoche, all the monks gathered to pray for her to be reborn in a higher realm and eventually attain Nirvana.” —From Kopan Monastery 

Front view of Kopan Monastery 1972, with students on the steps. Photo courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

“It is impossible to imagine what Kopan (and the FPMT) might have been without her. When I first arrived at Kopan in the fall of 1972, Sister Max was single-handedly supporting the Lamas, thirty or so young Sherpa monks there at the time and the entire monastery infrastructure. She was a teacher at the American Lincoln School in Kathmandu and donated her entire salary to Kopan. Her generosity and devotion to Lama and Rinpoche were exemplary and inspiring and motivated many of us to devote ourselves to trying to emulate her in helping the Lamas in their mission to preserve and spread the Dharma for the enlightenment of all sentient beings. Today we see the incredible results. It would not have happened without her.”—From Nick Ribush

The Final Days: A Peaceful Transition

FPMT center, Thubten Norbu Ling, offered support to Max in her final days. They shared this moving account of her passing. 

Max at the end of her life. Photo shared by Losang Dragpa Centre FPMT Facebook page

As Mummy Max celebrated her 90th birthday, little did we know that her journey on this earth was nearing its end. In her final days, the volunteers from The Buddhist Center took turns by her side, reciting Medicine Buddha Puja, The Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead and Dying, The Vajra Cutter Sutra and many others. Messages, help and encouragement kept coming from around the world, and we spent the days doing practice, playing Lama Zopa’s mantras in the background and showing Mummy Max pictures of the lamas and holy objects.

Although weak, she was clear and attentive, holding our hands and sharing big smiles and hugs, whenever she woke up. She did not display any sign of pain, anxiety, or discomfort until her last breath. Her transition from this world was marked by a profound sense of peace, leaving those by her side feeling connected, uplifted, and inspired.

When Mummy Max stopped breathing, we were prepared. We managed to identify a local funeral home, which respected the Tibetan Buddhist customs. She was able to remain undisturbed in her apartment until she concluded her final meditation. The atmosphere in the room was clear and vivid, and Geshe Tenzin Zopa said that there was no doubt that Mummy Max was in the clear light meditation. At that time, we did practice in her room day and night, dedicating for her most fortunate rebirth. After two days, Geshe la confirmed that Mummy Max’s meditation came to an end.

Geshe la recited the Guhyasamaja Root Text and other prayers recommended before the removal of the deceased person’s body. Before Mummy Max’s worldly remains left the apartment, she was turned 3 times clockwise. Geshe la explained that according to Tibetan customs, sending the body off is like losing a precious gem and turning it three times allows for the precious energy to be preserved in our world system. Geshe la also checked for the best day suitable for cremation, which the funeral home agreed to honor.

Mummy Max, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 2022. Photo by Steve Nadeau

“Mummy Max’s legacy lives on in our hearts, reminding us that through love, compassion and sincere practice, each of us can transcend the limitations of our human existence. As we reflect on Mummy Max’s life, we extend our deepest gratitude to our resident teacher, Geshe Thubten Sherab, Geshe Tashi Dhondup, Geshe Tenzin Zopa, and all the volunteers and supporters who selflessly dedicated their time and resources to ensure her peaceful and meaningful transition. Their unwavering commitment to her spiritual and physical well-being is a testament to the bonds of family and community that unite us all.” —Thubten Norbu Ling, Santa Fe FPMT Center, from a Facebook message following Max’s passing.

You can learn more about Max’s life in this 2020 interview, where she tells her own story about her relationships with the lamas. You can also read about Mummy Max’s first trip to Lawudo, as told by her old friend Judy Weitzner; find an excerpt about her in Big Love; an article by Jan Willis from Mandala magazine (1996), “Sister Max: Working for Others”; and an article from the Kathmandu Post, “The Enduring Legacy of Sister Max”.

Big Love, written by Adele Hulse, is the official, authorized biography of Lama Yeshe containing personal stories of the lamas and the students who learned, lived and traveled with them, as well as more than 1,500 photos dating back to the 1960s.

Please pray that Mummy Max Mathews 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/).

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Nepal, 2011. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

This month’s e-news brings you important news, updates, and causes for rejoicing regarding:

• Ongoing prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s swift return
• Progress on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Stupa of Complete Victory
• Teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe
• News about  His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• A recent update from our Board of Directors
• Obituaries
• Resources for your 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. 

Ven. Ngawang Yonten, “Ashang,” 2023. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s uncle, Ven. Ngawang Yönten (affectionately known as Ashang, which means, “maternal uncle”) passed away peacefully at Lawudo, Nepal, on the morning of July 7, 2024. He was 98 years old and most likely one of the last of the local Sherpas to have known both Lawudo Lamas. Please read this beautiful account of Ashang’s life, written by Ven. Sarah Thresher with input and details from Anila Ngawang Samten, Gelong Ngawang Nyendak, Jamyang Wangmo (including consultation of The Lawudo Lama), and Ven. Tsultrim, 

To visitors at Lawudo, Ashang was a constant presence at the lower retreat huts where he recited mantra continually from morning to night, stopping only to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom. He seemingly had no attachment to worldly things and Rinpoche would often fondly relate stories from his life of practice (see The Lawudo Lama).

Ashang was born in Thame in 1926, the Year of the Tiger. He was the youngest of six children—three girls and three boys—and his father (Rinpoche’s grandfather) died while he was still in the womb. Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s mother, Nyima Yangchen was the eldest child in the family. The family had five yaks and when he was young he would take care of them, bringing them up to Tengbo, and also help Rinpoche’s father with their yaks. When Rinpoche’s father passed away leaving the mother with three small children, he helped as much as he could.

In 1955, when he was in his late 20s, Ashang became very sick and nobody could help. Two years later when Rinpoche’s uncles decided to go to Tibet for pilgrimage, Ashang also came along, bringing their luggage on his five yaks as far as Dingri Ganggar. There he went to see a famous Tibetan doctor, but the doctor couldn’t help him. After visiting another doctor who also couldn’t cure him, he decided to go to Dza Rongphu to see Trulshik Rinpoche. Trulshik Rinpoche advised him that his sickness was due to karmic obscuration and could not be cured by medicines but only through purification practices. Ashang requested to be ordained as a monk and Trulshik Rinpoche advised him to do the preliminary practices first. Ashang stayed six months at Rongphu receiving teachings and then took getsul vows. He returned to Khumbu with his five yaks loaded with salt and decided to sell the animals and devote himself fully to Dharma practice.

Ashang, Amala (Rinpoche’s mother) and Ani Ngawang Samten (Rinpoche’s sister) in 1983.

As the youngest son, Ashang was responsible to take care of his mother (Rinpoche’s grandmother) who was now old and blind and could not be left alone. He obtained permission from Charok Lama Kushog Mende to build a small hut under the cliff at Charok and he moved there with his mother. The hut was very small so Ashang would spend the night in a small square meditation box while his mother slept on a wooden bench next to the fireplace. He did prostrations on a wooden board outside the hut. In addition to his own Dharma practice, he did all the cooking, collected firewood and fetched water because his mother could do nothing except recite mani mantras.

Ashang spent eleven years in that hermitage and completed seven sets of the preliminary practices (prostrations, Vajrasattva, mandala offerings, guru yoga) while caring for his mother. Over the years his health improved so much that he never got sick again. His main teacher at that time was Gelong Ngawang Samten, a very pure practitioner who lived in a cave at Charok a short distance from the hut.

Ngawang Yonten’s hermitage in Charok where he spent many years doing prostrations.

Ashang in his hermitage in Thame gompa, 2013. Photo by Merry Colony.

Later, Ashang bought a house from a nun at Thame gompa which he fixed up and then moved there with his mother till she died.

When Rinpoche returned to Khumbu as the Lawudo Lama, Ashang helped Rinpoche’s mother and sister with the building work and whatever else was needed to establish Lawudo Gompa until Tsultrim Norbu was sent up from Kopan; he also gave his own fields in Mende to Lawudo. Ashang also taught Tibetan to Rinpoche’s sister and brother when they were young, and later to Rinpoche’s niece, who is now a Geshema at Kopan nunnery. Ashang was always helping.

Following the earthquake of 2015, when Ashang’s house was damaged and his health deteriorating, Rinpoche advised him to come to Lawudo and asked Anila Ngawang Samten to take care of him. It’s said that when he left Thame Gompa for Lawudo everyone was crying because they all loved him so much. He was so humble and kind. During a video call in January 2023, Rinpoche told Ashang he had no need to worry at the time of death because he would definitely have a very good rebirth.

Ashang with Anila Ngawang Samten at a puja immediately after Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s passing, April 2023. Photo Alison Murdoch

At the time of passing, Ashang was very strong and clear in his mind and the next day, Ngawang Nyendak came to recite the prayers for him. The Thame monks along with Charok Lama performed the fire offering rituals with full respect, dressing Ashang in the attire of the Sambogakaya, honoring him as the most senior Thame monk and for his lifetime of practice. It was a very moving ceremony and many locals came from around the valley to help and pay respects. Pujas were also sponsored for Ashang at Kopan and Thubten Choling

Cremation of Ven. Ngawang Yonten at Lawudo, July 9, 2024.

You can watch a playlist of short video clips of Ashang’s cremation, which occurred on Chokhor Duchen, July 9, 2024.

With tremendous thanks to Anila Ngawang Samten, Gelong Ngawang Nyendak, Jamyang Wangmo, Ven. Tsultrim, Merry Colony, and Alison Murdoch for their contributions and photos. 

Please pray that Ven. Ngawang Yonten may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he 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/).

Anila Ngawang Samten and Charok Lama, Lawudo ,May 2024. Photo by Kristina Mah.

Last month we shared a moving report about the recent pilgrimage to Lawudo, marking the first anniversary of the passing of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, where 38 students from around the world visited and made heartfelt prayers at the holy places of the Lawudo Lamas—Rinpoche and his previous life as Lawudo Lama Kunsang Yeshe. During the pilgrimage, which occurred from April 24-May 8, 2024, Charok Lama and the pilgrims offered Lama Chopa puja in the Lawudo gompa with Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s sister, Anila Ngawang Samten on May 3. This day also commemorated Anila’s eighty-third birthday and Charok Lama took the opportunity to offer some words about her and sharing his own personal history with her. Here we share a video of this talk given by Charok Lama and also a lightly edited transcript:

Charok Lama Praising Anila Ngawang Samten:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDpoRL1SITc

Anila has put great effort throughout her life into Lawudo and this itself is such a beautiful practice. We thank her for what she has done, for how long she has done it, and praise her for her spirit and strength. Even now you can see how strong the passion that runs in her is.

Anila has put a lot of … what is the word for that? There is actually no word for it. She has offered her entire life for Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and for this place. Anyone who visits can see how hard life is in these conditions. For me, my life has gone very, very smoothly. If I ended up in any other way, I probably would have ended up here, maybe as a porter. My mum was a porter. So it’s very likely that would have happened to me.

Anila Ngawang Samten photo montage by Kristina Mah.

Anila Ngawang Samten with two year sold Charok Lama, December 1995, in Lawudo.
Photo by Frances Howland

Anila has played a big, big role in my life; not that I remember a lot of it; but I can feel it. We all heard the story yesterday. She has many, many, many more stories. If you are willing to sit down and listen to her, she can go on and on for the whole day. She keeps them at heart, that’s one of the most beautiful things about Anila.

She keeps everything at heart. For people like us, being able to see someone like her— so passionate about sustaining this place — is a blessing. People like us, we change, we jump. Ten years we want to do this, ten years later we want to do that, after five years over there, after six years over there. We are all over the place. Anila is the total opposite. People tried to take her here, they tried to take her over there. They have taken her down, offered her a good house, very comfortable; an easy life , a good bed, good toilet with an attached bathroom, yet all that means nothing to her. There is no craving for the same things we look for. When I think about it, Anila is a great teacher to learn from. She is an amazing teacher in that sense — in a very particular way, with a very, very particular set of practices. She is an amazing teacher, and the consistency and resilience she has is admirable.

Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche near Lawudo Retreat Center, Nepal, 1970. Photo by Terry Clifford and courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

So, consistency and resilience. Those are very, very, very important things in your practice that you need to develop. Whether it will be in your worldly practice or in your spiritual practice. Consistency is important, even when it comes to making money. Consistency is important and a lot of business people know that too. Consistency can be developed in any kind of field. You can develop it in spiritual practice, like Anila. Anila told us yesterday, it all started from here. Lawudo is the foundation. Kyabje Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche started from here. Kopan started from here. FPMT started from here.

Every branch that is connected to Rinpoche started from here. That’s why this place is very, very, very important. And because this place is important, the person who has given her sweat, blood, tears and passion, is the most important when it comes to the place. Dharma that comes flowing through Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa, started here. We have mentioned three important people, and Anila is one of them. She is still alive and strong. That’s why I am saying, we are lucky to be here, to meet her, to spend time with her and to have learned from her. Keep that in your mind!

Talk given by Charok Lama Rinpoche to the Lawudo anniversary pilgrimage participants on May 3, 2024. Transcribed by Ven. Tsultrim and lightly edited by Kristina Mah. 

Ani Ngawang Samten and Frances Howland were recently appointed the new co-directors of Lawudo Retreat Centre. 

Charok Lama was recognized at the age of three as the reincarnation of the revered hermit- yogi Kusho Mangde who was a friend of the first Lawudo Lama and meditated in the Charok Cave nearby. As a young child he demanded to go to Kopan monastery to study as a monk and from there he attended Sera Monastery, where he excelled in debate and philosophical inquiry. While living now as a lay person, Charok Lama’s early travel and exposure to Eastern and Western culture has given him a special insight into the challenges faced integrating Tibetan Buddhism to other cultures. 

Please also read, The Keeper of Lawudo, by Merry Colony, written for Mandala magazine in 1998. 

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.

Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins, Maitripa College, Portland, Oregon, United States, September 2011. Photo by Marc Sakamoto.

Beloved Buddhist scholar Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins passed away on July 1, 2024 in Vancouver, Canada, aged 83. 

Dr. Hopkins published dozens of books, acted as His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s translator, and had a long academic career during which he trained many prominent Tibetan Buddhist scholars and translators. He was remarkably open in public about a wide range of matters, such as his initial lack of faith in His Holiness, past-life memories, a near-death experience, his youthful delinquency, his sexuality, and so on. Dr. Hopkins was known for his frank and honest style of discussing all matters, even those considered controversial or taboo. He was also an FPMT Registered Teacher in the category “Senior Teachers of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition.”

He was interviewed in 2014 by Mandala Publications, and we share that interview below. 

Dr. Hopkins, what is the source of your frankness? Why are you so open?

I was born in 1940 in Barrington, Rhode Island, and I was in my teens in the 1950s. There was a group of us who were disgusted by the aims that were being presented to us: merely making money and so forth. There was a lot of rebellion that was focused against the dishonesty of society, which gradually in my own mind became a matter of seeking my own integrity. My own integrity meant a great deal to me.

I was part of a juvenile gang that got into difficulty with the law, in the sense of increasingly violent pranks, drinking and so forth. It was a relief when I went to a liberal prep school where students were given a great deal of responsibility for their own governance. Despite all my acting out at my public school, I responded very well in that kind of environment, and got excellent grades, because we were respected as people, which is something I had lacked prior to that. Then, in my first year at Harvard, I read Walden by Henry David Thoreau and I was inspired to leave Harvard for the woods of Vermont. I stayed in a small one-room cabin and read, wrote poetry, walked a lot, dreamt out my recurrent trapped dreams, and I believe at that point, began finding my own integrity. And I kept returning to that kind of life.

I was inspired by Herman Melville’s novel Typee, which is set in the Marquesas, north of Tahiti near the equator, and Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence about the artist Paul Gauguin, who painted in the South Seas. It was 1960 and when Vermont got too cold for the wood heater, I went to the woods in Rhode Island. When that got too cold, I shipped out of New York as a passenger on a freighter to Tahiti. I had gotten used to meditating in Vermont on the lake that was down below, and by gazing off into space. On the freighter I would lie on my back and stare upward, filling my mind with the blueness of the sky. The Pacific Ocean was clean and tremendously calm and I filled my mind with that. I didn’t have a visa for Tahiti and after a while some official noticed this and asked me to leave. I used all but my last $15 to take a seaplane to Hawaii. It was nuts, but it was a search for my own integrity.

You were among the earliest scholars to show respect for Eastern scholars, and acknowledge what you learned from them, rather than claiming that you knew more than your “native informants.” Where did your intellectual honesty come from?

This was related to my attitude of searching. Why would I pretend that what l learned from a Tibetan scholar was something I put together myself? Why would I treat these people as somehow different from myself? I thought it was very important, extremely important, to treat every Tibetan scholar fairly, to give them credit for their part in producing any book. I was criticized for this by other professors in my own field. But it just made more sense to have, say, Lati Rinpoche, be a co-author, than to footnote everything he said. In time, people came to understand what collaboration meant. The old saying of “East is East and West is West” doesn’t carry over to how you treat people on the title page of a book.

By making clear what came from others, you revealed that the Western scholar wasn’t always the final expert. Did other academics criticize you for that?

Yes, they did, and I just chose to ignore it. I spoke recently at the Tsadra Translation & Transmission Conference about singing my own song, and what I meant is that certain priorities needed to be righted, and we would right them by how we acted and what we did. It means acknowledging the help you receive and the roles others play, and if those roles are prominent enough, then the person deserves equal billing as the author or the translator. If I couldn’t have understood the text without somebody informing me of its meaning, then that person has played an equal role in its translation even if they don’t know English, because I couldn’t have translated it otherwise. Not to mention the person’s contribution to the footnotes or the explanation that goes along with the translation. This approach has come to be generally accepted. And then also I wanted to point out that many of the academic concerns that Tibetan and Mongolian scholars have are similar to ours. Both sides can learn from the other, though I don’t like talking about sides. I think we are all more or less in the same soup.

Sometimes in Dharma centers people avoid sharing their real views or feelings. This helps maintain harmony, but at a price. It makes me wonder about the balance between building community and nourishing the individual.

I would compare it to when I started in academia. At that time, there was a lot of shouting among scholars. I thought it had a lot to do with how little we knew about the subjects we were talking about. And I had to admit that of myself also. I was so egregiously, embarrassingly ignorant on many of these topics. I could see how I could stumble into trying to cover up my ignorance by shouting or making a big fuss over something I knew that somebody else didn’t know. And then I tried very hard to avoid doing that, and to create an atmosphere in which I was not doing this. I think as this profession and its members have become more educated, there’s been less need to yell at each other, and this may be true in Dharma centers also. I’ve found in the two translation conferences I’ve been to, and many of these translators are members of Dharma communities, that we have no need at all to shout at each other or show off what we know because we are deeply impressed by what we don’t know. We are really happy to hear about these topics from our colleagues and friends who do know something about them. Then it’s easy to get along.

A community’s insistence on people toeing a line may have a lot to do with being neophytes. And the number of times that neophytes repeat the name of their organization or their lama really strikes me as a sign of weakness. Let’s just stop doing that. Still, within the monastic community, there are rules. Outside of the community, you don’t say nasty things about the community, because that disrupts the image of the community, and spreads gossip and so forth. But that implies that there can be criticism within the community. You’ve got to air differences and so forth. You should. But you can’t be arguing all the time, or sharing everything you think. Nevertheless, a healthy community has to have some way of airing what’s going on. You can’t be covering up all the time because it will explode, and the disharmony that will result from that is not going to be helpful.

On a personal level, I try to make the chance of hypocrisy less by admitting in public some of the things that I’m up to. For example, I gave a talk in a city recently and I was really surprised when the people there gave me some money, in envelopes, afterwards. But then also, at the same time, I was very greedy about that money. I kept wondering how much was in each envelope. And I was very careful to put those envelopes down beside me (laughs) so that nobody would walk off with any of them. And I mentioned it to my host afterwards, admitting how greedy I was about it. I try to make this a habit. I don’t make up stuff to disclose, because there’s plenty of it without making anything up. I may not disclose everything, but at least a whole lot of it. Disclosing it relieves tension, whereas hiding is really counter-productive, because when you hide, you have to simulate the opposite – and, wow, you just get into trouble. I get into trouble!

Is this an aspect of the path? Does not being open reduce energy available for practice?

I think that’s very, very true. Energy is wasted by hiding, and what you are hiding gets worse and worse the more you hide it. It’s self-destructive. You know, sometimes when I talk about morality, I’ll just say, “I’m embarrassed about what I am saying, but in any case, I’m trying to present what the books teach as it’s written, and I’m not claiming that I can actually enact this, I want to be clear.” That makes it a lot easier to talk about it. If it’s compassion and the fact that I get angry in certain situations, then it’s easy for me to talk about what I get angry at and use that as an example. Being frank about myself undermines my own negative reactions.

But we have to be judicious about what we say. We can’t be stupidly open. It’s not easy.

Buddhadharma focused its Winter 2014 issue on abuses of power in Dharma communities. One theme was “no more secrets,” because abuses flourish when people deny, cover up, or ostracize those who speak out. What are your thoughts on this?

I’m not an active member of any group. I’m a member of groups, but from a distance, which gives me a certain safety valve. I don’t give any quarter to lamas and so forth who act contrary to moral codes. To me that’s simply improper. If I’m asked about that person, I just say what I’ve heard, I don’t cover up, or at least I hope I don’t. I’m open about what I’ve heard and I’ll say, “Beware.” Covering up or pretending that seemingly ill behavior is the way great lamas behave – I’m just not going to say that. I think that’s simply wrong.

You have mentioned that your relationship with His Holiness the Dalai Lama is very frank. How open should we be with our lamas?

It depends on what the lama can stand! The lama may not want to hear about it. And then what can you do? You may have to go find some other lama, if that’s what you need. Like with anyone, your friends for example, there are certain subjects that some people don’t want to hear about. Even your closest friend may not want to hear about your stomach troubles. So you don’t talk about it. And how much can anyone stand to hear about your sex life? Or your health problems? Even if you’re at death’s door, five minutes is the max. It’s a bore. You shouldn’t expect more than that.

Westerners seem to value openness more than Tibetans. Is there a cultural difference?

I don’t think Tibetans are different from us. Maybe they are getting away with being secretive about how they are running things here (laughs). They are just getting away with pretending that this is the way that they do it. Tibetans among themselves give each other a hard time. They hold each other to account. Whereas some of them come over here and act as if they are kings or queens. They’ll do whatever they can get away with. You don’t have to let them.

Some Westerners, like you, say they have past life memories. While this may come from a desire to be special, there must be some who really were practitioners in the past. Should people be open about memories if they have them? What about the narcissism factor?

I was faced with this during the five years I was at Geshe Wangyal’s monastery in New Jersey in the early 1960s. People would come to visit and talk about their past lives. They were usually princes and princesses. I was looking forward to the day when someone would come and say they were a garbage collector. It’s something that kept me from telling my own story because I didn’t want to be put in the category that I was putting these people in, which has to do with their own aggrandizing imaginations. With myself, I felt what memories I had were rather ordinary. I had to inspect those few memories to figure out what my so-called status was. I didn’t feel glorious. I had to deduce from a few pieces of information what my status might have been. It took a long time for that to come through. I’m suspicious of people who remember themselves as having been very glorious.

Still, I stay neutral on whether people should talk about memories. Although I’m suspicious, I’m not going to put it down. I know in my case that these are actual memories, so I know that does occur. But I wouldn’t blame anyone for being highly suspicious if I told my own story in any detail. They might think, “The guy’s a nut!” I’ve had that kind of thought with respect to others. But some people have related their stories to me, and their memories are not self-glorifying. I don’t have any reason to question them. I do accept for sure that people remember.

Dr. Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia looked into a lot of reincarnation stories, and checked some against facts he could track down. One of the points that he made was that quite a number of people remembered their past lives because they died in the midst of violence. It was quite often not a case of great spiritual attainment, but that there was some violence that impressed on them what was going on, and that caused the memory.

Canadian tulku Elijah Ary has been open since childhood about his past life memories and went through a lot of difficulties.

I know Elijah Ary. I find his story quite poignant. He and I had quite opposite trails. He has been open throughout and I’ve been closed throughout. I actually forgot it for quite a while and then even after I remembered, it was decades later that I was willing to talk about it at all except with a couple of people. It’s been quite a journey for him, and I really respect what he’s had to go through to be this open. He paid a huge price. For me, coming out as gay was a big step at the time I did it, but coming out as remembering your past life, as far as I’m concerned, is much larger than that.

What does it really tell us if someone has past life memories? Does that make them special now?

I think that Dr. Ian Stevenson’s story about people remembering because they died in the midst of violence indicates that it doesn’t automatically make you special. What will make you special is what you do in this lifetime. If you think about it, that is true of anybody, recognized or not.

Liushar Thupten Tharpa, who was the equivalent of foreign minister in the old government of Tibet, went out to greet His Holiness the Dalai Lama when he first came to Lhasa; Liushar told me he was watching the little child to see if this was the right one. But he didn’t come to any conclusion then whether this was the right or the wrong child. Later he was this Dalai Lama’s representative in New York, after which he came to our monastery in New Jersey, and then stayed on in the USA as a permanent resident. Then the Dalai Lama called him back to Dharamsala. There were a number of years during which Liushar had not seen this Dalai Lama in action on the home front, although he had visited India for important events. Anyway, after he went back to India, I saw him. He said, “Do you know what he is doing?” and he recounted to me how busy this Dalai Lama was conducting ordination ceremonies, teaching, giving initiations, all of the many things he was doing. And he said, “Now we can say he is the incarnation of Avalokiteshvara.” You see? By way of his actions! That question about whether there were signs that he was the last Dalai Lama was totally wiped out. It didn’t matter. His Holiness’ actions were sufficient. Whether he was or not didn’t make any difference because in his waking day he was endlessly performing these actions.

While you are open about many things, you also choose to keep certain things private, such as your own attainments, and ways you’ve helped others – for example, with their books or academic work.

There’s a tradition about not being open about your own attainments and your own deeper experiences, and I don’t even tell my friends. It’s out of the question, I feel, that I’m going to talk about these things. As for helping others, it’s important to do – and keep quiet.

Any final thoughts on honesty?

If honesty became one’s only watchword, one could become a pain in the ass, and narcissistic, and a total bore. I hope by giving an interview like this, pretending to be honest, I don’t create a trap for myself! That I would become infatuated with this – really. And start deliberately acting this way, thinking, “I’ve got to be honest! I’ve got to find something to be honest about!” And turning myself into not just a 25- or 50-percent jerk but a 75- or 90-percent jerk (laughs). Warn me if I do. Tap me on the shoulder and say, “Hey Jeffrey, you are turning into a 100-percent jerk.”

We are basically incapable of saying who we are, and when we start doing that, we really have to be careful, because we aren’t going to be right. There may be some grain of truth – but also some grain of foppishness. I’m trying. I’m still trying to find my own integrity.

Previously published as an online feature of Mandala Publications, “Jeffrey Hopkins’ Transmission of Honesty,”  an interview conducted by Donna Brown, January 2015. 

You can listen to Dr. Hopkins in a lively conversation about his life with Wisdom publisher Daniel Aitken in the Wisdom podcast, “Jeffrey Hopkins: The Life of a Buddhist Scholar: wisdomexperience.org/wisdom-podcast/jeffrey-hopkins/

Please also see Tricycle magazine’s obituary of Dr. Hopkins: tricycle.org/article/jeffrey-hopkins-obituary

Please pray that Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he 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/).

Ven. Roger Kunsang meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, May 17, 2024. Photo courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

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