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Geshe Konchog Kyab with students of Milarepa Center, Barnet, Vermont, US, July 2015. Photo courtesy of Milarepa Center.
Student Tommy Nimrod shares this news update from Milarepa Center in Barnet, Vermont in the United States:
Blessed by the presence of our Dharma brothers and sisters from Tubten Kunga Center in Florida, Geshe Konchog Kyab led a vibrant five-day Kopan Vermont course in July. Shortly after, Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Jampa taught an intimate retreat on patience, which left us excited for his return.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Milarepa Center staff, New York City, New York, US, August 2015. Photo courtesy of Milarepa Center.
As the trees changed during autumn, so too did the team at Milarepa Center. We welcomed our first ever spiritual program coordinator, Kiira Anderson; our new center manager, Helena Montgomery; and new kitchen manager, Samantha Ferrato. Familiar face Ven. Paula Chichester spent a week in August benefiting the center, which also resulted in daily sang (incense) and sur (burned) offerings being added to the practice schedule. Team members traveled to New York City at the end of August to attend Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings on “Opening the Door to Liberation.” They were deeply humbled at the chance to have a once-in-a-lifetime meeting with Rinpoche before returning to Vermont. This awe-inspiring meeting gave a sense of certainty and purpose on the path. Under Rinpoche’s direct guidance and encouragement, Daily Meditation is now being practiced every morning.
Milarepa Center has also had a great experience hosting two WWOOF volunteers, Leslie from Ohio and Jovin from Germany. Looking ahead, Milarepa Center will continue to open its doors to the community weekly with meditation sessions and yoga classes.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
The abbot of Gyume Tantric Monastery, Ven. Tenzin Namdak and the students of Choe Khor Sum Ling, Gyume Tantric Monastery, Hunsur, India, October 2015. Photo courtesy of Choe Khor Sum Ling.
Student Jeffrey G. Butts, Jr. shares the latest news from Choe Khor Sum Ling in Bangalore, India:
Taking advantage of a long weekend earlier in October, students from the Choe Khor Sum Ling (CKSL) meditation and study center in Bangalore, India, sojourned outside city limits for a much needed four-day meditation retreat in the peaceful Gyume Tantric Monastery, within the Hunsur Tibetan settlement. The retreat was guided by teacher Ven. Tenzin Namdak from Sera Je Monastery in Bylakuppe.
The retreat, entitled “Happiness and Its Causes: Discovering Buddhism Meditation Retreat, Awakening One’s Enlightenment Potential,” was a silent and compassion-intensive program. The first teaching of the retreat was given by the abbot of the monastery himself.
For the next couple of days, students were guided through teachings on meditational methods to develop bodhichitta – exchanging self for others and tonglen – as well as taking the eight Mahayana precepts and learning about the wisdom of emptiness. The retreatants learned to live the ways of a bodhisattva. Due to these well-structured retreats, both maturing practitioners and spiritual skeptics were simultaneously able to take part in these teachings from the Buddha – and also just get away from the city for a few days!
Back in Bangalore, the weekend following the retreat, the center held a recitation session of the Sanghata Sutra. Lama Zopa Rinpoche has advised us all to recite this profound teaching of the Buddha as it an unbelievable source of merit.
A Choe Khor Sum Ling student volunteering in the kitchen during retreat, Gyume Tantric Monastery, Hunsur, India, October 2015. Photo courtesy of Choe Khor Sum Ling.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Geshe Sherab during the short interviews with Edward Sczudlo. Photo by Edward Sczudlo
Shantideva Meditation Center in New York City recently released seven video clips of Geshe Thubten Sherab answering questions and teaching for beginning Dharma practitioners during a recent visit. All the videos are freely available on YouTube, and include:
- We sometimes powerful and successful people doing many harmful actions towards others, does that mean that bad actions lead to good results? (Watch now …)
- What is the Buddhist practice of animal liberation? (Watch now …)
- What is conventional reality? (Watch now …)
- Why is it helpful to think about death while we are alive? (Watch now …)
- What happens when we die, from the Buddhist point of view? (Watch now …)
- What is emptiness and how can we apply that wisdom in our daily lives? (Watch now …)
- Praise to Shakyamuni Buddha and the Shakyamuni Buddha mantra. (Watch now …)
Watch “Interview with Geshe Sherab: What is emptiness…” on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6C6z0q2lVM
Shantideva Meditation Center in New York offers other short online videos from teachers like Geshe Tenley from Kurukulla Center, Geshe Jampa Tharchin from Chandrakirti Centre, and Ven. Amy Miller to bring the wisdom of its visiting teachers to the entire FPMT community:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9hMpiBTECFdjsym8hV0oKFUJi1WI_xFT
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with a new friend he met while shopping and to whom he gave a 30-minute introduction to Buddhism, California, US, October 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang
We invite you into the November FPMT International Office E-News, out now. Enjoy:
- Highlights of Lama Zopa Rinpoche News
- What’s New from FPMT Education Services
- How to Give a Gift that Helps Others
- Opportunities to Rejoice
and more!
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Vajrapani Institute, California, US, November 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given urgent advice on practices to be do to pacify an imminent earthquake in California. The advice needs to be completed by February 2016 and includes:
- 1,800,000 recitations of the long Kshitigarbha mantra done as part of a Kshitigarbha practice.
- Taking the Eight Mahayana precepts 300 times.
- Performing the extensive Medicine Buddha puja – ongoing.
- Reading of the Tengyur four times – to be done at Sera Je Monastery.
The California Bay Area centers have already started work on accomplishing this advice, but as of Tuesday, November 17, have only accumulated about 8,200 long mantra recitations so far. In accordance with Rinpoche’s advice, they are now asking for the help of students worldwide.
The Bay Area centers have created a website with more information on the advice and ways to make pledges and report mantra recitations; contribute to the Tengyur recitations; and report the taking of the eight Mahayana precepts. For more information and to participate:
www.pacifyearthquakes.org
“Lama Zopa Rinpoche pushes us beyond what we think is possible. He pushes the boundaries of our limitations. Four recitations of the Tengyur alone is phenomenal. And then the 1.8 million Kshitigarbha long mantras to complete in about 10 weeks!” said Fabienne Pradelle, director of Vajrapani Institute.
“We can only accomplish this if thousands of us come together as a virtual family and make sincere effort to do this. We are incredibly fortunate to have a spiritual leader who gives us these opportunities to break through our sense of limitations to benefit beings. Thanks to that, we grow beyond measure. It may not be comfortable, it’s certainly daunting, but it’s infinitely precious.”
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
FPMT has just launched a new gift-giving program that offers an alternative to buying material gifts for friends and family. Give a Gift that Helps Others enables one to contribute to a compassionate charitable project as a gift for someone else. One then gets to send a special gift card or e-card to the recipient that highlights how their gift will benefit others.
Donations can be made to help liberate animals, offer food to the monks of Sera Je Monastery, build holy objects, or provide for the basic needs of others through the social services.
You can learn more and also order a gift for someone here.
Ven. Robina Courtin and students during retreat, Findhorn, Scotland, March 2015. Photo Martin McDonald.
“Togme Sangpo Study Group in Findhorn, Scotland continues to host weekend retreats, ongoing classes and pujas,” reports study group coordinator Margo van Greta.
“In March 2015, Ven. Robina Courtin brought us excellent teachings on karma and emptiness. She demonstrated joyful effort after being stranded at Kathmandu airport caused by a crash of another airplane. She drove all the way to Delhi instead and managed to arrive on time for the public talk! That was true compassion in action for which we are very grateful. Ven. Angie Muir visited us in May and guided us through a Medicine Buddha retreat. In October, Ven. Mary Reavey showed us how to develop the mind of bodhichitta. It is such a delight to see new people connecting to the Dharma!
Togme Sangpo during Medicine Buddha puja, Findhorn, Scotland, August 2015. Photo by Margo van Greta.
“Monthly Medicine Buddha pujas are held by a small yet dedicated group. We completed Module 8 of Discovering Buddhism this summer. One of our group started with Discovering Buddhism Online, which is an excellent option for a rural area, where most are not able to join weekly classes due to distance. We also expanded the group of volunteers, with people to take on tasks like our Dharma bookshop, organizing tea breaks during retreats, doing the accounts, posting on our Facebook page, etc. There was a questionnaire sent out to invite input on our study group. As Ven. Mary mentioned: it is a miracle we still exist! I am sure that is thanks to the blessings of our precious guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche.”
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Students from Yogi Saraha Study Group, Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 2015. Photo courtesy of Ven. Thubten Kundrol.
“This is a photo of our weekend meditation group in the gompa of the center,” said Yogi Saraha Study Goup coordinator Ven. Thuben Kundrol. “When students come to our center, as a symbol of appreciation, I like give them something in addition to the practice and teachings. In this case, I gave everyone a flower with a piece of paper with a short Dharma quote on it. You can see the lily on on the altar. In return, they gave me huge smiles and thanks, which I wanted to share with everyone!”
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Kopan nun making incense, Pure Land Incense Factory, Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, Nepal. Photo courtesy of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling.
Since 1997, the Pure Land Incense Factory has employed nuns from Khachoe Ghakyil Ling (also known as Kopan Nunnery) in Kopan, Nepal to make traditional, Tibetan-style stick incense. Income from the sales helps cover the everyday expenses of the nunnery, where about 350 nuns live. The Pure Land Incense Factory has customers all over the world, including The Foundation Store.
“The nunnery started making incense in 1997, when a kind older Tibetan offered to teach the nuns how to make incense,” said manager of Kopan Monastery Ani Fran, who helps distribute the incense. “There are no lay Nepalis employed in the incense factory and all the work is done by the nuns, from the mixing of the ingredients to the packing of the boxes.
A machine processes incense ingredients into strands for drying, Pure Land Incense Factory, Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, Nepal. Photo courtesy of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling.
“Incense making is very labor intensive and hard work. Sometimes 20 to 30 different powdered ingredients are mixed together – quite a dusty affair! This is then mixed with water and put into a huge mixing machine, turning into a dough. Another machine turns it into long strings, which are then cut and dried into sticks.
“The manager of Pure Land Incense Factory is Ani Lhundrup Choying, who is doing a great job in keeping this project going successfully. During the earthquakes, one of the buildings housing the incense factory was damaged but is now being repaired.
Dried incense is processed for packing and shipping, Pure Land Incense Factory, Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, Nepal. Photo courtesy of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling.
“It took a long time and a lot of effort to make it a viable business, but it now it is going well. New products are coming out, one of them the Guru Rinpoche incense, the recipe for which the nuns received from Lama Zopa Rinpoche himself.”
The nuns of Pure Land Incense Factory, Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, Nepal. Manager Ani Lhundrup Choying is center with glasses. Photo courtesy of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling.
You can find all your favorite incenses at The Foundation Store. Incenses created by Kopan nuns include: Lawudo incense powder, Lawudo incense sticks, Lotus Blossom incense, Medicine Buddha Healing incense, Pure Land incenses and Rhododenron Forest incense.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama meets with Tibetan in London, UK, September 2015. Photo courtesy of Jamyang Buddhist Centre.
Alison Murdoch and Natascha Sturny share news from Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London, which recently helped welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama in September and Geshe Thubten Jinpa, His Holiness’ principle English interpreter, in June.
In June, Jamyang enjoyed the privilege of hosting a book event to celebrate the UK launch of Geshe Thubten Jinpa’s new book: A Fearless Heart: Why Compassion is the Key to Greater Wellbeing (which goes by a slightly different title in the United States). The book follows the example of His Holiness the Dalai Lama – and the encouragement of FPMT founder Lama Yeshe – in bringing spirituality and science together in a way that is accessible to people of any religion or none, and weaves together Jinpa’s personal story and Buddhist training with the course –Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) – that he created at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. At Jinpa’s request, all proceeds from the sold-out evening, which included a talk, Q&A, refreshments, stalls, a raffle and an exhibition, went to support the charity Help Tibet. Jamyang was happy to donate all its costs to this good cause, which is working with victims of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Thuben Jinpa visits London to discuss his book ‘A Fearless Heart,’ London, UK, June 2015. Photo courtesy of Jamyang Buddhist Centre.
Jamyang was also very fortunate to have His Holiness Dalai Lama visit the UK for a second time in September! We wanted to make sure His Holiness was greeted with the utmost warmth so we joined in the Tibetan community’s Phebsu/Welcome initiative.
To honor his visit, we arranged for the Tashi Lhunpo monks to create a Chenrezig mandala at Jamyang. They arrived on the September 14 and started right away. It was so inspiring to have the monks here once more, and to be able to see the beautiful mandala come into being.
Meanwhile, Alison Murdoch and Anna Colao helped launch the Open Arms initiative. The website was up and running within a few days, as well as the Facebook page. People from all over the UK, Europe and from further afield contributed images holding a khata in their arms, welcoming His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the UK! It was really amazing to see the positive reaction for this initiative.
Jamyang’s Ven. Barbara Shannon and many more welcomed His Holiness with Open Arms and posted their pictures. The Tashi Lhunpo monks also participated in the initiative and were very happy to be photographed with khatas surrounding the finished Chenrezig mandala.
The monks of Tashi Lhunpo create a Chenrezig mandala and offer khata to His Holiness, Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, UK, September 2015. Photo courtesy of Jamyang Buddhist Centre.
An FPMT UK banner welcoming His Holiness was delivered from Leeds a few days before His Holiness landed in England. Jay Simpson, FPMT UK coordinator, did a great job on the banner design. There was also a call to all the FPMT UK friends to encourage one hundred people to participate at the welcoming event. Many more than one hundred turned up and this level of support made it possible for the Tibetan community to leave their welcome pitch and to have a private audience with His Holiness Dalai Lama.
FPMT UK banner welcoming His Holiness the Dalai Lama held by Roy Sutherwood, director of Jamyang Buddhist Centre, and Mike Murray, SPC, in the gompa at Jamyang, London, UK, September 2015. Photo by Natascha Sturny.
On September 20, members of Jamyang supported the Open Arms by creating the longest khata in the world. Together, with FPMT Europe coordinator Rafael Farrar and with the help of members of other FPMT UK centers, the parents and kids of the Tibetan community in their beautiful traditional dress and supplied with colorful balloons, and over 30 Swiss Tibetans, crossed Westminster Bridge holding the khata up in the brilliantly blue sky to once more greet His Holiness with the warmest welcome possible!
World’s longest khata offering in Central London, UK, September 2015. Photo by Natasha Sturny.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Teachers and students of LRZTP7, Dharamsala, India, October 2015. Photo courtesy of LRZTP.
Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Programme (LRZTP) staff share news of the beginning of classes for their seventh cohort:
On a sunny October 2, fourteen Dharma students from all corners of this globe gathered together in a small classroom on the slopes of the Dhauladhar mountain range in the small town of Dharamsala, India. They came to celebrate the opening of the seventh LRZTP, FPMT’s course for Tibetan-language interpreters.
Together with them were all the school’s staff members – Gen Franziska Ortele, Geshe Wangdrak, Mr. Gavin Kilty and Ms. Ticca. The opening ceremony began with eating traditional auspicious sweet rice. After that, each student presented him or herself and were offered a khata and Buddha image from the school’s staff. The teachers and Yaron Bahir, the school’s director, each gave some advice about studying Tibetan. For the sake of auspiciousness, incense was offered together with hanging a prayer flag from the school’s roof top. Needless to say, the peak of the event was the school cook Acha Chozom-la’s traditional momos.
LRZTP hosts a class of students including many who are affiliated with FPMT as well as several freelancers. The FPMT-affiliated students will continue their training within FPMT centers after the two year program has been completed.
Two changes were made to the program for this cohort. The first is that all the students will volunteer their service in the Tibetan community every two weeks on Wednesdays. Why Wednesday? Because it is the day His Holiness the Dalai Lama was born and is considered as a special day within the Tibetan exile community. The second is that a listening comprehension class was added during the last hour of the day. This class is designed to help the students develop their listening, retention and translation skills.
We would like to wish Ven. Kim, Fillipo, Akira, Johanne, Nat, Helen, Rachel, Ana, Alejandro, Juan, Greta, Nam, Maureen, Tiphane Layne and Shire good luck with their studies and to say thanks for taking on the difficult mission of studying Tibetan to serve others and oneself.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Devotee at the Maitreya Loving Kindness Tour event hosted by Aryatara Institut, Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich, Germany, September 2015. Photo by Sabine Kehl.
“It has been seven years since the holy relics have been on display in Munich,” said student Sabine Kehl of Aryatara Institut. “In September 2015, Aryatara Institut was very pleased to welcome the Maitreya Loving Kindness Tour back to the city.
“This time the relic tour took place at the historical setting of the Johannissaal in Schloss Nymphenburg, one of Munich’s most famous historical sites and therefore very suitable to exhibit the precious and beautiful relics.
Woman and dog receiving blessings by relic of Buddha Shakyamuni, Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich, Germany, September 2015. Photo by Sabine Kehl.
“An overwhelming number of interested visitors attended the opening ceremony on the evening of September 25. The audience was heartily welcomed by one of the board members of Aryatara Institut and got a short introduction to the history of the Maitreya Loving Kindness Tour and the relics by tour manager Juan Chacón-Grondman.
“The abbot of the Wat Thai Temple Munich, the Venerable Phrakhruvitejthammarangsi, and the Venerable Theeraphong Aum-Earb accompanied by members of their community chanted mantras and gave blessings to the tour followed by a song by the 17th Karmapa performed by a member of the Karma Dhagpo Gyurme Ling and a piece of Japanese music played on a shakuhachi.
“Over the following two days, more than 2,000 visitors came to see the relics, pray, meditate and show their devotion to them. Some people even came every day and stayed from opening to close.
“Many people were moved to tears by the beautiful objects and especially by the blessing they received by being touched on the crown of their head with a stupa containing relics of Buddha Shakyamuni. The event was a big success.”
Shakuhachi music being offered to relics and guests, Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich, Germany, September 2015. Photo by Alex Volk.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.