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FPMT Community: Stories & News
FPMT News Around the World
Stupas at Kachoe Dechen Ling, Aptos, California, October 2012. Photo by Ven. Katy Cole.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche recently expressed a wish to share photos of some of the stupas at Kachoe Dechen Ling, Rinpoche’s house in California, to illustrate how stupas can be part of our daily life. The stupas in the photos were installed according to Rinpoche’s advice so that they can be walked around when talking on the phone and as part of the daily comings and goings.
Stupa at Kachoe Dechen Ling, October 2012. Photo by Ven. Katy Cole.
Rinpoche shares the story of how he came to give this advice. One day, Rinpoche was talking on the phone and walking round “all the relics, pictures of Buddha, and tsa-tsas that I [had] piled up on a round table in my room.” Rinpoche had the thought that Ven. Roger (Rinpoche’s attendant) and Ven. Holly (Ven. Roger’s assistant) should have a stupa to walk around for the many hours they spend talking on the phone. Rinpoche then thought to extend this advice to all centers and the International Office.
“Satisfaction and Challening Your Limits” Video Part 1
Tenzin Osel Hita giving a talk at Aryatara Institute, Germany, February 2017. Photo by Hermann Wittekopf.
- Reincarnation: The Boy Lama, by Vicki Mackenzie
- Reborn in the West, by Vicki Mackenzie
- Man’s Work, From Telegraph Magazine, London, England
- 1987 TV3 issued a documentary entitled Osel: the petit Lama
- 2010 RTVE issued a documentary entitled Osel, Granada Lama
- Ösel in Mandala- all Articles.
- Audio of Ösel and Gomo Tulku engaged in Q & A at Amitabha Buddhist Center, Singapore, April 25, 2016.
- Audio and unedited transcript of Ösel’s talk, “How to Understand Reality from the Universal Point of View” in Bangalore, India, February, 2013.
- Audio interview between Ösel and the BBC called, “The Reluctant Lama.”
- Interview with Ösel by Thane Burnett of the Toronto Sun.
- Interview with Ösel from July – September 2010 Mandala magazine.
- Videos of Tenzin Ösel’s talks.
Tenzin Osel Hita during long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Sarnath, India, February 2017. Photo by Paulo Regis.
Watch a video of Osel’s talk at Losang Drakpa Centere here!
FPMT News Around the World
Satellite image of Sandy, Monday, October 29, 2012. Image by NOAA.
FPMT students on the Atlantic coast of North America are hunkered down as hurricane Sandy make its way across the eastern United States and Canada. The powerful storm has already passed through Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas, claiming many lives and creating much destruction.
Over the years, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has offered several practices to mitigate the potential harm from the elements and made them available online on fpmt.org/mandala/ and fpmt.org. Students are able to do these practices in order to benefit those impacted by natural disasters.
The July-September 2011 issue of Mandala shared Rinpoche’s translation of a collection of practices to control earthquakes and the four elements which Rinpoche dictated shortly after a devastating tsunami that killed thousands of Japanese in March 2011.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice page offers further instructions on how to dispel the disasters of the elements, including five common practices recommended by Rinpoche during a visit to New York City in 2007. Also on Rinpoche’s Advice page, you can find a 2002 letter to concerned students from Rinpoche regarding natural disasters; a downloadable PDF of the protective Heart Mantra of Arya Vairochana, which can be printed and posted around one’s home; and a story from Ven. Holly Ansett about how the Heart Mantra of Arya Vairochana was revealed by Buddha and made public.
In addition to flooding, destroying property and leaving communities without power or access to necessities, storms like Sandy can profoundly impact vulnerable and overlooked populations such as people who are homeless or in prison as well as animals not able to find appropriate shelter. Mandala wishes for the safety and well-being of all sentient beings affected by the storm.
With 158 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.
FPMT News Around the World
Buddha Shakyamuni. Image by Jane Seidlitz.
On Monday, October 29, many Buddhists worldwide will celebrate the day marking Buddha’s acceptance to descend from the God Realm of Thirty-three and return to Earth after teaching Dharma there to the gods and his mother. This occasion is considered a Buddha Multiplying Day – a day on which karmic actions are one hundred million times stronger.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche recommends three different practices to individuals and groups to make the most of this special Buddhist holiday.
Of course, any other meritorious activities are also good to do on these days, such as recitation of various sutras like the Sanghata Sutra and the Golden Light Sutra.
And for those students with a special connection to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, October 29 is a perfect day to make your offering to Rinpoche’s annual long life puja made on behalf of the centers, projects, services and students of the FPMT at Kopan Monastery on December 29.
With 158 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.
FPMT News Around the World
FPMT Taiwan celebrated its “Thanksgiving Day to Teachers” on September 30 in conjunction with the traditional Chinese Mooncake Festival. The event began in the morning with a Yamantaka fire puja hosted by the resident geshes of the three FPMT Taiwan centers at a retreat site surrounded by green hills.
Yamantaka fire puja, September 2012, Taiwan
Afterwards the geshes and participants, which included 20 Sangha members and more than 50 lay students, had a nice luncheon at a nearby resort. During the lunch, the three geshes were thanked in a speech for their generous service to the FPMT centers.
“Geshe Gyurme [of Jinsiu Farlin] is the longest resident geshe in FPMT Taiwan. Geshe Gyatso [of Shakyamuni Center] has been living in Taiwan for three years. Geshe Tsethar [of Heruka Center] came to Taiwan most recently for a year,” Ven. Osel, director of Jinsiu Farlin in Taipei shares.
Geshe Gyurme, Jinsiu Farlin
“The luncheon speech not only let the geshes know about our appreciation, but it also reminded everyone that despite how much difficulty we have in our lives and Dharma practices, our resident geshes, who put aside their monastic lives and students and came to Taiwan to live with us, also undergo difficulty of which they never complain,” Ven. Osel writes. “Meanwhile we also thank Kopan Monastery, Sangha, translators, staff, volunteers and everyone.”
Geshe Gyatso, Shakyamuni Center
The three geshes were presented a long khata, a bouquet of flowers and a card signed by everyone. Sangha each received a thanksgiving card from FPMT Taiwan. Then lay students took part in a festive gift exchange game, ensuring no one went home empty-handed.
After the luncheon, the geshes, Sangha and students had a relaxed walk in a nearby forest.
Geshe Tsethar, Heruka Center
With 158 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.
FPMT News Around the World
Cover of Wisdom No. 2, 1984. Photo by Ueli Minder, Geneva, October 1983.
In addition to back issues of Mandala magazine, our archive includes the two issues of Mandala‘s predecessor, Wisdom. Published in 1983-1984 by Wisdom Publications, the magazine is a valuable record of FMPT activities in the early 1980s.
Wisdom No. 2, published in late 1984, shares an extensive and heart-felt tribute to Lama Yeshe, who passed away in March 1984. Over the course of 30 pages, Lama Yeshe is remembered by his students and teachers through stories, teachings, poems and articles.
Also remembered in this issue are Ling Rinpoche, Tsenshab Serkong Rinopche and Song Rinpoche, who passed away in December 1983, August 1983 and November 1984 respectively.
In addition, Wisdom No. 2 shares a profile of Lama Zopa Rinpoche in his new role as the sole spiritual director of FPMT as well as an interview with Geshe Jampa Gyatso, who served as resident teacher at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy.
Wisdom No. 1, published in May 1983, features story on His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 1983 European tour, organized by FPMT; Lama Yeshe’s visit to Tibet; and news from FPMT centers around the world.
FPMT News Around the World
Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Richard Gere during the filming of When the Iron Bird Flies. Photo © When the Iron Bird Flies.
When the Iron Bird Flies, a new feature-length documentary about Tibetan Buddhism and the West, is having its premiere screening at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City October 19-24. Dr. Nick Ribush, director of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, will be speaking at the Saturday, October 20 evening screening. The Archive contributed materials on FPMT founders Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche to the film.
Victress Hitchcock, a long-time student of Tibetan Buddhism and an experienced filmmaker, directed When the Iron Bird Flies. Her earlier film Blessings: The Tsoknyi Nangchen Nuns of Tibet documents the lives of 3,000 nuns living across the remote mountains of Eastern Tibet. Hitchcock collaborated on the film with Tsoknyi Rinpoche. “In the spring of 2009,” Hitchcock recalls, “just after Blessings was released, Tsoknyi Rinpoche called me from India and said, ‘Let’s make another movie!’ This time, the idea was to look at how these same spiritual practices are penetrating Western culture as Tibetan Buddhism becomes more and more accessible in the West.”
When the Iron Bird Flies features interviews with Tibetan lamas and practitioners as well as Western students, teachers and scholars, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, Geshe Kelsang Wangmo, B. Alan Wallace, E. Gene Smith, Richard Davidson and many others. You can watch a trailer for the movie online.
With 158 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.
FPMT News Around the World
His Holiness the Dalai Lama being greeted by Lama Zopa Rinpoche as he arrives at Kurukulla Center, Medford, Mass., October 16, 2012. Photo by Devin Jones.
FPMT students in the Boston area of the United States had a busy week with visits by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Kurukulla Center near Boston welcomed His Holiness the Dalai Lama and 1,800 guests for a teaching event on Tuesday afternoon, October 16. The event, which took place at their center in Medford, Massachusetts, required months of planning to accommodate His Holiness and the large audience. Backyard fences were removed, a big tent rented and chairs and bleachers were brought in to seat everyone. The cooperation in the neighborhood drew the attention of the Boston Globe, which published a story reporting on the preparations, and also New England Cable News, which had a live report on the event. [Other media coverage includes a story on the Medford Patch and a Boston Globe follow-up story.]
His Holiness the Dalai Lama arriving at Kurukulla Center, October 16, 2012. Photo by Devin Jones.
Kurukulla Center offered a live video stream of the event, which was seen by over a thousand. (If you missed the live stream, you can watch the recorded video online.) During his address, His Holiness took time to specially address the Tibetan community in attendance. According to DalaiLama.com, His Holiness said to the audience in Tibetan that “that more than 50 years in exile is a long time in an individual’s life, but is not so long in terms of a people’s struggle for freedom. He admired the way Tibetans in exile have preserved their language and culture, informed as it is by Buddhist ideas. Meanwhile, the spirit of Tibetans in Tibet remains strong, all of which gives real grounds for hope.”
At the end of the event, the Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn gave His Holiness a key to the city and made him an honorary citizen. It was His Holiness’ second visit to Medford. You can see more photos from the day on Kurukulla’s Facebook page.
On Wednesday morning, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who also attended His Holiness’ teaching at Kurukulla Center, gave a lam-rim teaching at Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. The teaching is now available on YouTube. Kurukulla Center also welcome Rinpoche on Wednesday evening, hosting an event for him.
UPDATE: His Holiness also visited Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, where members of Milarepa Center were able to met with him.
With 158 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.
FPMT Around the World
Steve Nicklas at the end of his coast-to-coast cycle trip in Bridlington, U.K., August 2012
By Steve Nicklas
Steve Nicklas, an FPMT student living in the U.K., decided to turn his cycling hobby into an opportunity to raise funds for Land of Joy, an FPMT-affiliated project which plans to create a retreat community in the U.K. countryside. Steve rode his bicycle across the North of England, from Morecambe to Bridlington, on the Way of the Roses cycle route and shares his story with Mandala.
In August 2012, I had the privilege of doing a sponsored bike ride to raise funds for the retreat center project Land of Joy. To many people the 170-mile distance from coast to coast seems like an epic journey. However, when you break it up into bite-size pieces, it isn’t really. In fact, when you cycle like this, you realize what a small place England is. You begin to wonder why we bother with all the cars, buses, trains and planes. Do we need to get anywhere that quickly? We take it for granted, but there is a certain joy in the natural wonder of cycling. The way the bike balances remaining upright when in motion is itself incredible!
Steve's bicycle wheel with Tara mantra
I was away from all the noise, the distractions and the big machines, out there on the tops of those hills without anyone else in sight apart from the occasional sheep. I had attached a Tara mantra to my front wheel and a Chenrezig to my back wheel to transform my bike into a mobile makeshift prayer wheel. I have calculated that over a distance of 270 km (170 miles) with wheels the circumference of 0.7 m I would have said around 390,000 mantras on each wheel. I am not sure if this works, but nevertheless, seeing the mantra on the front wheel go round kept me mindful and focused on why I was there. It was like a retreat, except I swapped my meditation cushion for a bicycle seat and the gompa for a temple made of hills and valleys.
FPMT News Around the World
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Sangha on the wharf in Aptos, California, September 2012. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
While in California during September, Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessed the sentient beings in the ocean near his house, Kachoe Dechen Ling, in Aptos. Rinpoche stood on the wharf, holding a rope tied to a giant Namgyälma board that was in the ocean. Rinpoche explained to the Sangha accompanying him the visualization for the blessing and then chanted the mantra of Chenrezig.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing sentient beings in the ocean, Aptos, California, September 2012. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
You can see more recent photos and video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche (including video from blessing the sentient beings in the ocean) on Rinpoche’s Facebook page. You can keep up on Ripoche’s schedule by visiting Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Schedule page.
With 158 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.