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Geshe Tenzin Namdak. Photo by Deepthy Shekhar.
On April 26, 2016, the Dutch monk known as Ven. Tenzin Namdak received the title of “Geshe” from Sera Je Monastic University in recognition of his completion of the advanced Buddhist studies and practice program. Completing the geshe studies program is a remarkable achievement in itself. As a Westerner, Geshe Namdak’s completion of the program speaks to his exemplary dedication to the study and practice of Dharma. We rejoice in his outstanding accomplishment.
In the most recent print issue of Mandala (January-July 2016), Geshe Namdak wrote an article, “The Union of Study and Practice,” describing the benefits of the in-depth Buddhist studies. We’ve made the article available online in honor of Geshe Namdak receiving his new title.
In addition, Ven. Tenzin Legtsok, who also studies in the geshe program, wrote about Geshe Namdak’s outstanding service during his time at Sera Je, which you can read below.
In Service to Others: Ven. Tenzin Namdak
By Ven. Tenzin Legtsok
In November 2015, Dutch monk Ven. Tenzin Namdak completed the final exams for the 19-year geshe studies program at Sera Je Monastery in South India. He is perhaps the only Westerner to complete this program from beginning to end at any of the three seats [Sera, Ganden and Drepung Monasteries]. Due to the rigor and length of the study program, the most extensive of Tibetan Buddhism available anywhere, less than a third of the Tibetan monks who begin the geshe studies program finish, and for Westerners, the dropout rate is much higher.
Once, while onstage during a public talk in Bangalore, His Holiness the Dalai Lama quietly asked Ven. Namdak which class he had reached at Sera. On hearing that Namdak had reached vinaya, or monastic ethics, His Holiness placed his palms together as a sign of his pleasure that a foreigner had come so far in the study program. Ven. Namdak has not only completed the full 19-year program but done so in grand style. However, to give an account of his efforts by measure of grades, reputation, or time spent debating and meditating – although impressive – is perhaps less meaningful then to relate some of his service to others over the past years.
Ven. Namdak serves as director of Sera IMI House (Shedrup Zung Drel Ling), where Western FPMT monks live while studying at Sera Monastery. From its inception in 2002, Ven. Namdak has helped many Western monks find their way at Sera and provided continual encouragement to those who stay on. In 2004, Lama Zopa Rinpoche asked him to give Dharma talks to people in Bangalore. Gradually, a study group formed, and his initial groundwork has blossomed into one of FPMT’s newest centers, Choe Khor Sum Ling. Six years ago, at the request of Sera Je Monastery, he set up and began teaching an extra-curricular program training monk-students to translate Dharma into English, which continues today as the Sera Je Monastic Translators Training Program. He was one of the main organizers of an extensive series of teachings by the late His Eminence Choden Rinpoche at Sera, beginning in 2006, during which the transmissions of many rare and important teaching lineages were passed on to thousands of monks. Finally, for the past five years, as requested by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Private Office, he has led the annual pre-ordination course for aspiring monks and nuns at Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala.
This is to list some obvious achievements that, as those of us who have lived and worked closely with him can attest to, have arisen from following the advice of his gurus with single-minded devotion, mindfully maintaining pure moral conduct, using each day and hour meaningfully in recognition of the value and transience of this precious human life, and sincerely wishing to benefit other sentient beings and the Buddhadharma.
From Mandala January-June 2016.
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.
Release of Institut Vajra Yogini’s newest French-language edition of the Sutra of Golden Light, Marzens, France, March 2015. Photo courtesy of IVY.
In September 2014, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave the transmission of the Sutra of Golden Light at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion and Wisdom in Bendigo, Australia. Inspired by Rinpoche’s emphasis on the sutra’s contribution to world peace, Institut Vajra Yogini (IVY) in France decided to launch a daily recitation of the sutra on site. Students were also encouraged to read at home to participate in a collective accumulation of sutra recitations for world peace. Editions Vajra Yogini released a revised translation of the sutra and thanks to many benefactors, 1,000 copies were printed and distributed for free.
When the news came in January 2016 of the long life puja to be offered to Rinpoche on March 13 in Singapore, IVY students had already accumulated more than 800 recitations. An email was sent to members to motivate them to put some more effort in order to reach 1,000 full recitations to offer to Rinpoche during the long life puja.
The last few weeks were quite intense with many people joining the recitations both on site and from a distance. “At some point, we thought we would not reach the 1,000 recitations in time for the long life puja,” shared one student. “But some miracle happened, the momentum kept growing, and we finally made it a few days before the Singapore event.”
Institut Vajra Yogini’s offering to Lama Zopa Rinpoche
From October 2014 to March 2016, student accumulated 1,046 full recitations, which means IVY students have recited on average two full sutras a day in the last 16 months. On the basis of an average of 3 hours 30 minutes for a full recitation, this corresponds to an amazing 5 months of continuous recitation, 24 hours a day. It is estimated that 400 to 500 different IVY students participated in these recitations.
“This really shows how all our practice, virtues and merits come from the Guru,” said one staff member. “If Rinpoche had not inspired us in the first place to start the project, IVY students might have only accumulated a few dozens recitations in these last 16 months. But thanks to Rinpoche’s inspiration, so many people have come closer to enlightenment and we have been able to make such a wonderful and needed contribution to world peace.
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 during a talk given at Kasih Hospice Service, Malaysia, April 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
We hope you enjoy our April edition of the FPMT International Office E-news.
Highlights include:
- Photo collage of Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Long Life Puja – update and thanks
- Visualise a Food Offering for 30,000
- New Online Feature from Mandala magazine
Two Foundation Service Seminarsand more!
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with ABC director Hup Cheng Tan, Peter Griffin and Ven. Losang Sherab making offerings to ABC’s new Chenrezig statue, February 2016. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
In late January, Amitabha Buddhist Centre (ABC) in Singapore released A Thousand Hands: How the Chenresig Statue Arose at ABC, a six-part video illustrating the creation of the large Thousand-Arm Chenrezig statue sculpted by Denise and Peter Griffin. Each video gives viewers a glimpse at an aspect of the project that took 17 years to plan and execute.
Watch A Thousand Hands: How the Chenresig Statue Arose at ABC on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/KpzN2we9WXE
In February 27, 2016, Lama Zopa Rinpoche saw the statue for the first time reports TENDREL, ABC’s community newsletter. “Immediately upon seeing the statue, Rinpoche wanted to offer a khata. Rinpoche then explained the motivation we should all have as we offered the khata together: ‘Offering to the vajra holy body of Chenresig with my inseparable devotion, then, may I and all sentient beings achieve the vajra holy body, Chenresig’s vajra holy body.'”
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 Cittamani Hospice Service team, Palmwoods, Australia, January 2014. Photo courtesy of Cittamani Hospice Service.
Joanne Newman from Cittamani Hospice Service on Australia’s Sunshine Coast recently sent Mandala news of the FPMT project celebrating its 20th anniversary:
Cittamani Hospice Service celebrated 20 years of specialist in-home palliative care to residents of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, with a wonderful conference “Spiritual Care: Bringing a Calm and Compassionate Mind to the Care of the Dying.” Inspirational speakers included Geshe Tsultrim, Ven. Chodron, and TY Alexander, and the conference was attended by many professionals working in palliative care in our region.
Recently we were honored to be able to be involved in end-of-life care for two senior FPMT Sangha members. From November 2014 to her death in June 2015 we assisted in the care of Ani Marg, senior nun at Chenrezig Institute, and we subsequently supported in the care of Ven. Trisha Donnelly who became ill and died during a visit to Australia towards the end of last year. Our team felt especially privileged to be able to offer our services to these two extraordinary Sangha members.
Trisha commented that she had been unaware that hospice services were a part of FPMT, and she was very pleased and moved to know that we were doing such work in the community and able to provide care for Sangha members who were facing their own death.
Around the same time we were also involved in providing end-of-life care to one of our founding members, Leanne Bennet. Leanne began with Cittamani as a volunteer book-keeper, and as the service grew, Leanne assumed the role of business manager, which she performed with great skill and commitment. She was also very involved in providing support for other members of the Cittamani team as her desk was a regular stop-off for staff to debrief when they returned from seeing clients. Her calm manner, compassion for others, and commitment to her practice up until her death is an inspiration to us all.
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.
Group water bowl retreat participants Inge Eijkhout, Ven. Tenzin Chodron, Diana Carroll, Jaclyn Yip, Annette van Citters, March 2014. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Instituut.
“In the last couple of years, four water bowl marathons have been held in Europe, and they are an example of FPMT centers helping each other on many levels,” said Marina Brucet, spiritual program coordinator for Centro de Meditación Tushita in Spain. “The marathon itself is a great example of collaboration, and this is so much thanks to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who has given permission for doing retreats in which all the water bowls filled by everyone participating in the retreat are counted as having been offered by oneself. This is a very beautiful way of practicing and doing the preliminary practice of water bowl offering.
Maitreya Instituut group water bowl retreat, December 2014. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Instituut.
“Four of such retreats have recently been held in Europe: the first two at Maitreya Instituut Loenen, the Netherlands, in March and December 2014; at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, in August 2015; and at Centro de Meditación Tushita, Spain, in October 2015. The organizers of the first retreat were so kind to help with their expertise to organize the other retreats. We especially thank Annette van Citters (whom, by the way, we recommend to be contacted by anyone interested in organizing a water bowl marathon). They also lent all the materials, including baskets, towels, jars and even the bowls themselves to the other centers. In this way, resources have been going up and down the continent, with one center adding this, the other adding that.
“Institut Vajra Yogini will organize another water bowl retreat in August 2016, and Centro de Meditación Tushita also plans to organize others in the future as well as group retreats for other preliminary practices, such as the Dorje Khadro burning offering in October 2016.
“This is definitely a very beautiful retreat that we recommend to everyone, a great way of purifying, accumulating merit, and collaborating with each other.”
Centro de Meditación Tushita group water bowl retreat, October 2015. Photo courtesy of Marina Brucet.
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.
Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar distribute blankets to Musahar community, Koluha, Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
Every January, with the help of generous donors, Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar offers heavy woolen blankets to Kushinagar’s poor. January is the coldest time of the year and temperatures fall to freezing at night. Atul Chopa, who led the initiative and is legal counsel to Maitreya Project Trust, describe the impact of this year’s blanket distribution.
The Musahar Community in Koluha Village
In January 2016, the Maitreya Project Team distributed blankets to nearly 100 Musahar people in Koluha Village.
The Musahar are the poorest of the poor and are generally landless laborers. The word “Musahar” is derived from the Hindi words “moos” (rat) and “har” (eat) as it is said that out of necessity they catch and eat rats for food.
There is still a very strong caste system prevailing in India, and the small community of Musahar in the caste system hierarchy are considered even below the better-known Dalit (Untouchable) community. Musahar are only found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and the Tarai Regions of Nepal. One of the largest groups lives in in Koluha Village in Kushinagar.
Blanket Distribution in Hospital Corridors
In the Indian villages it is very common that when someone suddenly falls sick or meets with an accident, the whole family immediately rushes to the hospital in the nearest city. Relatives, family members and attendants who come from the village simply end up sleeping on the floors in the hospital corridors and verandas. As most villagers use huge cotton sleeping quilts at home, it is not possible to carry these into the hospital. Poor families are forced to sleep in the winter on the hospital floor without any protection from the cold.
Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar staff distribute blankets to people sleeping in hospital corridors, Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
The Maitreya Project team goes every night and visits the hospital corridors and verandas, offering blankets to the families sleeping in the floor, giving priority to families with older people and children. Our blanket distribution teams starts patrolling the hospital corridors around midnight, when people are forced to leave the tea shop fires.
Anirudhwa Village
During the land acquisition phase for the Maitreya Project, the largest amount of land was given by the farmers of Anirudhwa. This land is most important as it touches the boundary wall of the Maha Parinirvana Stupa as well as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.
Villagers from Anirudhwa use a coupon system to receive blankets from Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
Blankets in Anirudhwa are distributed using a coupon system with input from the elected village head as well as government officials from the Revenue Department. This system ensures that each and every eligible person receives a blanket in the peak of winter, and there is total transparency in the distribution. This year 1,000 blankets were distributed.
Hospital Blankets
With the help of nurses and hospital staff, the Maitreya Project offers blankets to poorer patients using only government-supplied hospitals blankets not suitable for winter. Except for the critical care ward, hospitals here do not have central heating. Priority is given to women, children and older people. The team works every night until the early hours of the morning.
Poorer patients receive supplemental blankets at local hospital, Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
Blankets for People with Leprosy
Generally, stigma toward the disease has resulted in leprosy (Hansen’s disease) wards being treated as taboo. The Maitreya Project team makes a special effort to distribute blankets to every patient being treated for leprosy.
Patients being treated for leprosy (Hansen’s disease) receive blankets every year during the winter, India, 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar
Home for the Elderly and Destitute
Blankets were given to each and every room in a small home for elderly and destitute people in Kushinagar.
A Buddhist monk offers a blanket to a resident at a home for the elderly and destitute, Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
A very big thank you on behalf of all who received blankets this winter to all who made this year’s distribution possible!
During the summer months the Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar distributes mosquito nets to the very poor in the area. If you would like to support either of these programs or to contribute generally to Maitreya Buddha Project in Kushinagar, please visit: www.mbpkushinagar.org
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.
A Merit Box grant was given in 2015 for IMI Sangha to attend last year’s retreats with Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the Netherlands and Mexico (pictured here).
Each year the International Merit Box Project has a collection and grant application season when Merit Box practitioners send in their accumulated offerings for the year, and Dharma communities, projects and services apply for grants. That season is closing at the end of March. From now until then, the International Merit Box Project hopes to see a lot of activity coming from around the globe through grant applications and donations.
The Merit Box Project was created in 2002 to foster generosity practice for individuals, while serving to provide grant funding to projects that are working to fulfill the FPMT mission. To date over 200 projects, services and initiatives have been supported by Merit Box grants, with the amount reaching nearly 1 million US dollars collectively.
Jamyang Buddhist Centre London’s Repaying the Kindness service project has been able to continue compassionately supporting care providers in part by Merit Box grants received in recent years.
Merit Box grants have helped myriad forms of compassionate activity come to fruition and can be indispensable for communities facing challenges in their local fundraising. Grants have supported Sangha to attend retreats; the creation of new holy objects, book publications, service programs, and retreat cabins; much-needed repair work, and so on. All this coming from individuals placing small offerings into their Merit Boxes at home throughout the year. Now approaching its fifteenth grant season, the International Merit Box Project is an annual display of the effects of collective generosity within the FPMT community.
The deadline for submitting a Merit Box grant application for a 2016 grant (awarded in May-June 2016) is March 31, 2016. Request a grant application by emailing meritbox@fpmt.org
One can join the international project and become a Merit Box practitioner by ordering a free Merit Box from the Foundation Store, or contribute immediately to the project online here. Donations received by March 31st, 2016 will be collected for the 2016 grant awards.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the long life puja offered on behalf of the entire FPMT organization at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, March 13, 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
We invite you into the March FPMT International Office e-News!
Find news about:
- The Long Life Puja and practices offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- New from Education Services
- Deadline for making your Merit Box Offerings
and more!
Geshe Tenzin Zopa and four Kopan nuns prepare to dismantle the 2015 sand mandala, Bangkok, Thailand, February 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
In early February, Losang Dragpa Centre in Malaysia, helped reach out to Dharma practitioners in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai Lamrim Group, a sister group of Losang Dragpa Centre under the leadership of Irene Ong, invited former center resident teacher Geshe Tenzin Zopa to Buddha Dharma Relic Museum to lead Guru Padmasambhava puja with 100,000 tsog offerings. This puja was advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to be held at least once a year for the benefit and safety of Thailand. Thirty people participated in the event.
In addition to the puja, four nuns from Kopan Nunnery helped construct a new sand mandala for 2016 and dismantle the one from 2015. Geshe Tenzin Zopa gave a short teaching and preformed the consecration.
Students participate in pujas related to Guru Padmasambhava, Bangkok, Thailand, February 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche will be teaching in at Losang Dragpa Centre in April 2016. For more details, see Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s schedule on FPMT.org.
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.
Opening shot of “The Eye-Opener”
Over the course of a year, student François Schick documented in a short film entitled “The Eye-Opener” the talent and technique of Nalanda Moanstery’s master painter Sonam Sherpa. The film captures the painting and gilding of one statue in a collection depicting the Sixteen Arhats. The film also includes rare footage of the statue’s eyes being “opened,” a final and important step in the creation of a holy objects such as this.
Watch “They Eye-Opener” on Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/155352752
François created the six-minute film while studying in the Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery in southern France. The film features music composed by his brother, Benoit Schick, and played by both Benoit and Georges Denoix.
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
Losang Dragpa Centre students offering incense, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
On January 23, Losang Dragpa Centre in Malaysia hosted its annual all-night Tara event. Beginning at 10 p.m., the event encourages participants to continuously recite “Praises to the the Twenty-One Taras” through the night and into the early morning. The event is broken into four sessions, with each session specially reserved for a particular set of offerings – lights, flowers, incense and food/tsog. Over 50 people participated this year.
Losang Dragpa Centre Tara altar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
Losang Dragpa Centre’s all-night Tara event, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
“The reasons why we conduct this puja yearly are mainly for the the center and center members to clear obstacles and accumulate merit, and to give the public an opportunity to learn more about and connect with Tara,” said center student Gavyn Teh. “Because it was very close to the lunar new year, we prepared rice in nice red packaging for center members and the public to first offer during the event and to later take home as an auspicious way to usher in the new year.”
Participants were offered rice in thanks for their efforts, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
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.