receive our newsletters
join Friends of FPMT
FPMT Community: Stories & News
FPMT News Around the World
His Holiness the Dalai Lama with interpreter Fabrizio Pallotti giving a public address in Trento, Italy, April 2013. Photo by Sirianni.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived in Europe last week for a two-week tour. On April 11, His Holiness gave a public talk called “Happiness in a Troubled World” in Trento, located in Northern Italy. Senior FPMT student Fabrizio Pallotti served as an interpreter for His Holiness during the visit in Italy and many teachers and students from FPMT Italian centers were in attendance. Photographer Sirianni, another Italian senior student and regular Mandala contributor, shared photos of the Trento event on his Facebook page.
FPMT resident geshes and children at His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s public talk in Trento, Italy, April 2013. Photo by Sirianni.
While in Trento, His Holiness also addressed the local government, saying:
“I prefer to begin by greeting you as my brothers and sisters. Why? Because so many of the problems we face today are due to our focusing on secondary differences between us, while neglecting the basic oneness of humanity. As human beings we are all the same mentally, physically and emotionally, and we need to increase our awareness of this.”
Over the weekend, His Holiness was in Fribourg, Switzerland, April 13-14 for public events co-organized by Gendun Drupa Centre, a Swiss FPMT center since 2006. During the two days, His Holiness offered commentary on Atisha’s “Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment,” gave a White Tara empowerment and spoke on “Ethics Beyond Religion.” His Holiness speaks in Lausanne on Monday, April 15, and Bern on Tuesday, April 16.
Later in the week, His Holiness travels to the United Kingdom where he visits Derry/Londonderry in Northern Ireland for events organized by Children in the Crossfire and then travels to Cambridge to give a talk at the Global Scholars Symposium discussing Nonviolence for Conflict Resolution. For more news and information on His Holiness’ schedule visit dalailama.com.
If you like what you read on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work. Friends of FPMT at the Basic level and higher receive the print magazine Mandala, delivered quarterly to their homes
FPMT News Around the World
Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup memorial stupa (left) nearing completion, Geshe Lama Konchog stupa (right), Kopan Monastery, March 31, 2013. Photo by Daryl Dunigan.
“The main method to achieve enlightenment is bodhichitta, the altruistic aspiration towards enlightenment generated out of the mind of compassion,” Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup, former abbot of Kopan Monastery, taught on the 18 root bodhisattva vows in 1987. “Bodhichitta, the altruistic mind seeking solely the welfare of others, needs to be enhanced limitlessly. It is not enough just to habituate our mind, and generate or cultivate the altruistic mind in our meditation – besides generating the altruistic mind, we also need to actually venture into the deeds of such a mind.”
In late March 2013, the Lama Lhundrup memorial stupa was almost complete, Kopan Monastery, March 31, 2013. Photo by Daryl Dunigan.
In May 2013, Kopan Monastery hosts a special program in conjunction with the consecration of the recently completed memorial stupa for Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup, who passed away in September 2011. Lama Zopa Rinpoche will perform the opening ceremony of the stupa on May 3. The program is scheduled to run May 1-5 at Kopan Monastery. Contact Kopan Monastery for booking information during the stupa consecration events.
You can read Lama Lhundrup’s short teaching on the 18 bodhisattva vows, given during the twentieth Kopan Course in December 1987, on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
If you like what you read on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work. Friends of FPMT at the Basic level and higher receive the print magazine Mandala, delivered quarterly to their homes.
FPMT touring teacher Geshe Thubten Soepa is well known for his advocacy of vegetarianism and is a familiar teacher to students at Land of Compassion and Wisdom in Austin, Texas, United States, and Aryatara Institut in Germany.
In Mandala’s April-June 2013 online edition, we feature an video interview with Geshe Thubten Soepa in which he shares a bit about his background and his deep interest in animal welfare.
If you like what you read on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work. Friends of FPMT at the Basic level and higher receive the print magazine Mandala, delivered quarterly to their homes.
FPMT News Around the World
His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at Kurukulla Center, Massachusetts, U.S., October 2012. Photo by Kadri Kurgun.
In May 2013, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will participate in an Environmental Summit hosted by Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon, U.S. His Holiness will be joined in panel discussions by religious leaders and politicians to talk about spirituality and the environment and universal responsibility.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been advocating publicly for the environment for several decades. In 2006, Mandala reported on the impending climate crisis, a topic that both His Holiness and Lama Zopa Rinpoche have addressed. In 1988, in a speech entitled “Humanity and Ecology,” His Holiness said:
“Peace and the survival of life on earth as we know it are threatened by human activities that lack a commitment to humanitarian values. Destruction of nature and natural resources results from ignorance, greed, and lack of respect for the earth’s living things. … Just as we should cultivate gentle and peaceful relations with our fellow human beings, we should also extend that same kind of attitude toward the natural environment. Morally speaking, we should be concerned for our whole environment. … This, however, is not just a question of morality or ethics, but a question of our own survival. … We must now help people to understand the need for environmental protection. We must teach people to understand the need for environmental protection. We must teach people that conservation directly aids our survival.”
In the article “What Does Al Gore Know that Everyone Should Know?” Mandala shared Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s perspective on the environment. When Rinpoche saw the movie An Inconvenient Truth, Rinpoche commented that former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who helped create the movie, knows something everyone should know: We are in an environmental decline of global proportions … Action must be taken. Rinpoche said:
People in business who think only of personal profit without consideration for others and the environment are causing great danger to all of us – the country we live in and this whole world.
Al Gore is making us aware of so many things that harm us and our environment. Your happiness depends on others, and others’ happiness depends on you. We all have to live in this world, so we need to be harmonious and happy in a healthy way. No matter who you are or where you are, we all have a responsibility to protect this world.
Maitripa College is the first Buddhist college in the Pacific Northwest and is affiliated with FPMT. Yangsi Rinpoche, Maitripa’s founder and president, extended the invitation to His Holiness to come to Portland and has been closely involved with the development of the summit. Mandala will offer ongoing coverage of the summit and His Holiness’ visit to Portland.
Read more about Buddhism’s environmental roots in “What Does Al Gore Know that Everyone Should Know?” from Mandala October-December 2006.
With more than 160 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.
It’s not too late to become a Friend of FPMT at the Basic level or higher and receive the April-June 2013 issue, featuring the complete “Skies of Benefit” article!
Dear Family,
Please keep your focus as much as you can in your everyday life; every moment we have, every aspect of life is essential for our evolution. Keep the joy in your heart and spread the positive vibes. Point your path to awakening this child in each and every one of us.
Thank you very much and take care everyone.
Big love,
Ösel
You may read the entire 2012 FPMT Annual Review in eZine or PDF format online.
FPMT News Around the World
Participants at the Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom Gathering 2011, August 2011, Institut Vajra Yogini, France. Photo by Ven. Freeman Trebilcock.
Being Your True Nature, a film by Tenzin Ösel Hita and Matteo Passigato, introduces the work of the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW) and the programs that comprise Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom. Since its December 2012 premiere, Being Your True Nature has been viewed almost 8,000 times in more than 100 countries.
In response to requests for more detailed information about Universal Education, FDCW has shared video interviews with some of the key people who appear in the movie talking about their work. They include Pam Cayton (founder of Tara Redwood School), Rasmus Hougaard (founder of The Potential Project) and Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw (founder of the Transformative Mindfulness program) as well as many others who have developed programs responding to the needs of their communities, including family camps, programs for fostering compassion and wisdom in the workplace and work with prisoners.
Video: Interview with Dekyi-Lee Oldershaw
You can find all of the interviews by visiting the “Cast” page on Being Your True Nature’s website.
The Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom is a non-profit organization established in 2005 with the aim of helping people everywhere to develop their natural capacity to be kind and wise. FDCW is affiliated with FPMT.
With more than 160 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.
It’s not too late to become a Friend of FPMT at the Basic level or higher and receive the April-June 2013 issue, featuring the complete “Skies of Benefit” article!
FPMT News Around the World
Choe Khor Sum Ling Study Group during retreat with Ven. Tenzin Namjong, Bangalore, India, March 2013. Photo courtesy of Choe Khor Sum Ling.
Choe Khor Sum Ling, FPMT’s study group in Bangalore, India, had an intensive three-day retreat led by Ven. Tenzin Namjong on the topic “How to Transform Your Mind.” The “city retreat” attracted many new students to the active South Indian study group. In preparation for this retreat, Ven. Namjong, who is an FPMT registered teacher and resident of Sera IMI House, encouraged students to read His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s commentary on the Eight Verses of Mind Training and Bodhisattva Attitude: How to Dedicate Your Life to Others by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Choe Khor Sum Ling student Dee Shekhar writes:
On each of the three days of retreat, Ven. Namjong led us through the two kinds of meditation and also the visualization practice of the Avalokiteshvara. He emphasized the need to read and practice the Eight Verses of Mind Training. The retreat also had discussions between Ven. Namjong and students about Buddhism, focusing on the meaning of the Eight Verses. Together, we also recited prayers and practices from the FPMT Prayer Book and read selections from Bodhisattva Attitude.
The format of the retreat worked well, as it led all participants to read and contemplate the teaching in an immersive and intensive manner. On the last day, students also learned tong-len practice and dedicated for the benefit of all sentient beings.
With more than 160 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.
It’s not too late to become a Friend of FPMT at the Basic level or higher and receive the April-June 2013 issue, featuring the complete “Skies of Benefit” article!
FPMT News Around the World
Geshe Lobsang Jamphel, abbot of Nalanda Monastery. Image www.nalanda-monastery.eu.
Nalanda Monastery has opened the application process for their residential Masters Program. Beginning in September 2013, this is the first time the full-time study program will be offered in France. Nalanda Monastery abbot, Geshe Lobsang Jamphel, will be the main teacher for the Masters Program, which is the most advanced and in-depth of the FPMT education courses. Sze Gee Toh, a well respected translator and scholar, will serve as the teaching assistant. Classes will be held in English.
The Masters Program is based on Lama Yeshe’s vision for a comprehensive educational course similar to the traditional geshe programs of the Gelug monasteries. Geshe Jampa Gyatso helped develop the seven-year program of study and retreat. The program has been offered twice at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy. With its combined focus on study, meditation, behavior, service and teacher training, the Masters Program offers students the opportunity to become well-rounded Dharma practitioners as well as qualified teachers to others in the FPMT community.
With more than 160 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.
It’s not too late to become a Friend of FPMT at the Basic level or higher and receive the April-June 2013 issue, featuring the complete “Skies of Benefit” article!
FPMT News Around the World
FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche continues his tour of Asian centers, offering teachings at Mahayana Buddhist Association (Cham Tse Ling) in Hong Kong on March 23-24. The teachings, which are scheduled for 3-7 p.m. local Hong Kong Time (UTC +8), will be streamed live.
On Saturday, March 23, Rinpoche teaches on “How to Face Death without Fear.” On Sunday, March 24, Rinpoche will give a motivational teaching before offering a Vajrasattva initiation.
This will be the last live webcast from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Asia tour. Video of other recent teachings given by Rinpoche in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia are available to watch online.
With more than 160 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.
It’s not too late to become a Friend of FPMT at the Basic level or higher and receive the April-June 2013 issue, featuring the complete “Skies of Benefit” article!
FPMT News Around the World
Ven. Rita Riniker. Photo by Martin Schwall.
Shedrup Zungdel, an FPMT study group in Belgium, welcomed FPMT registered teacher Ven. Rita Riniker in February. Ven. Rita taught on “The Four Immeasurables,” calling them “the immune system for our consciousness.”
Shedrup Zungdel wrote to Mandala:
Some of the audience remarked on how pleased they were with Ven. Rita’s way of teaching, commenting: “She is so grounded;” “She speaks out of her experience;” “She speaks in a suitable way for me;” and “I can understand; it’s not too high for me.” Others felt encouraged and inspired to continue their efforts in practicing loving kindness and compassion.
Shedrup Zungdel formed as a study group two years ago. The success of the weekend teaching with Ven. Rita reinforced “our confidence in our innate potential,” the group shared.
With more than 160 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.
It’s not too late to become a Friend of FPMT at the Basic level or higher and receive the April-June 2013 issue, featuring the complete “Skies of Benefit” article!
FPMT News Around the World
If you’ve ever wanted to see what pilgrimage is for a teacher like Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Mystic Tibet, the 2007 documentary by Christina Lundberg, offers a priceless portrait of amazing selflessness and devotion, chronicling the experiences of a rare 2002 retreat with Rinpoche to Tibet. In celebration of Mandala’s newest issue, the Foundation Store is offering Mystic Tibet at a 40% discount.
“We are doing pilgrimage, but we have to understand the benefits. We have to understand what skies of benefit we get each time we see a statue of Buddha, a picture of Buddha. Like that, [we have to understand] what happens to this mental continuum,” Rinpoche told his students and fellow pilgrims. “Pilgrimage is to subdue one’s own mind; to use every opportunity to do the most extensive purification and to accumulate the most extensive merit so that we can have the realizations of the path.”
Find the trailer of Mystic Tibet below. Read a review of Mystic Tibet on fpmt.org/mandala/.
With more than 160 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.
It’s not too late to become a Friend of FPMT at the Basic level or higher and receive the April-June 2013 issue, featuring the complete “Skies of Benefit” article!
FPMT News Around the World
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Singapore, March 2013
FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, March 8-10. During Rinpoche’s teachings, FPMT offered live streaming video to the international FPMT community.
But if you weren’t able to watch live, you can find the videos online. Included in the videos are a motivational teaching from Rinpoche before a Medicine Buddha jenang, teachings on refuge and on making light offerings, and the long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
You can keep up-to-date with news on FPMT video streaming by visiting the “FPMT announcements” page and subscribing (in right-hand column of page).
With more than 160 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.
If you like what you read on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.