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Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche returned to the Sutra of Great Liberation more than once over the years, offering the oral transmission and commentary of this text to students facing hardship — in Singapore in 2018, and again from Kopan Monastery during the difficulty of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Rinpoche held this sutra especially close, describing it as a teaching for any dangerous or uncertain times.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche giving a teaching on chod practice, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, September 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
The Sutra of Great Liberation is formally entitled The Arya Mahayana Sutra Called “Arya All-Expansive Great Liberation, Purifying Negative Deeds through Cleansing Remorse, Perfectly Arranged Accomplishment of Buddhahood.” The Tibetan text, found in the Kangyur, is a translation of the Chinese rendition, the Sanskrit source text having been lost over the course of time. This powerful sutra, which was expounded just before the Buddha’s parinirvana, covers a wide variety of topics, including the three vehicles, the three refuges, how to confess and purify, proclamation of names of many buddhas and bodhisattvas, descriptions and causes of the thirty-two marks of an enlightened being, extensive advice on how to practice the Dharma, instructions on how to do the actual purification, and the signs of purification.
Rinpoche emphasized that engaging with this sutra in any way, even unintentionally, has “unimaginable benefits.” He said that anyone who hears even the name of the sutra, writes, reads, prints, or keeps a copy of it collects unimaginable merit. Reciting it is an easy method to purify all the very negative karmas. Furthermore, anyone who memorizes, holds, or keeps a copy of it will become free from suffering, will never be reborn in the lower realms, and become enlightened. The same is true for anyone who simply hears its powerful mantra. Because of these benefits, Rinpoche recommended that we recite the sutra when we are able, and that it would even be beneficial to “keep the sutra.” Rinpoche noted that wherever a copy of this sutra is kept, this is a place where the Buddha himself resides.
Benefits explained from the sutra itself:
Whoever sees this sutra sees the face of the Buddha.
Whoever holds this sutra holds the body of the Buddha.
Whoever practices this sutra practices the activities of the Buddha.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche stressed the importance of this sutra and kindly offered the oral transmission.
“I want to give one mantra from the Liberation Sutra [Sutra of Great Liberation]. It is most unbelievably precious. By just hearing it or reciting it one time, your life always goes toward enlightenment. The Sutra of Great Liberation itself has most unbelievable benefit. So in the future, we should get the oral transmission of that text […] I received the oral transmission of the mantra from Kyabje Khyongla Rato Rinpoche, a very high lama from Drepung Loseling. For the motivation, think, ‘The purpose of my life is not just to achieve happiness for myself but to free the numberless kind mother sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to peerless happiness, the state of enlightenment. For that, I must achieve buddhahood. Therefore, I’m going to take this oral transmission of the mantra.’ […] By hearing this mantra with devotion or even if you recite it only one time a day, you will never be reborn as a hell being, hungry ghost, or animal until you achieve enlightenment. This was said by the unbetraying Victorious One.”
— Lama Zopa Rinpoche, during the oral transmission of the Mantra from “The Sutra of Great Liberation” to students at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, October 2018.
Rinpoche gave instruction on the correct motivation for listening to the oral transmission and commentary of the Sutra of Great Liberation in 2020, when he bestowed this lung over many months of teachings in his video series Teachings on Thought Transformation during the Time of COVID-19 in the teachings titled “Sutra of Great Liberation” Is Exactly What Is Needed at This Dangerous Time.
“The purpose of life is not to just avoid the lower realms and receive a higher rebirth, or to be free from the oceans of samsaric suffering forever. The main purpose of life is to achieve full enlightenment, buddhahood, the total cessation of gross and subtle obscurations and the completion of realizations, for all sentient beings. This is for every single sentient being—including every hell being; every hungry ghost; every animal such as tiny insects, dogs, goats, birds, etc.; every single human being including those speaking different languages in different countries, those who are your enemy, friends, or strangers, those who are your parents, brothers, sisters; and every sura and asura. Your purpose is to free them from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to enlightenment, to buddhahood, by yourself alone. Therefore, you are listening to the teachings, listening to the oral transmission of Sutra of Great Liberation, for this purpose.
The world is so full of problems, including contagious diseases, wars, fighting, and disasters of the elements such as landslides, typhoons, tornadoes, and fires. The Sutra of Great Liberation is exactly what you need at this dangerous time.”
— Lama Zopa Rinpoche, during the oral transmission of the “Sutra of Great Liberation” Is Exactly What Is Needed at This Dangerous Time. The oral transmission begins at 0:41:16 in the video.
You can access the mantra from the Sutra of Great Liberation in PDF and audio; and as well as the English ebook of the Sutra of Great Liberation
The Tibetan pecha of the Sutra of Great Liberation is also available for printing.
Explore a larger collection of Sutras & Dharanis
Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching “‘Sutra of Great Liberation’ Is Exactly What Is Needed at This Dangerous Time”:
Or read the transcript of Rinpoche’s teaching
Watch an extract of Lama Zopa Rinpoche recite the Mantra from “The Sutra of Great Liberation,” with additional commentary
Foundation for the Preservation of the 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.
Over the years, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered various pieces of advice for prayers and practices to turn to when facing natural disasters. In light of the recent flash flood and mudslide along the Nepal–Tibet border, which struck the Rasuwa district north of Kathmandu and is believed to have been triggered by an earthquake-induced avalanche and snowmelt entering the Bhote Koshi River, we share the following collection of Rinpoche’s advice, offered in the hope that it may be of benefit.
Rinpoche in Pokhara, Nepal, 2021.
“My dear loving compassionate readers,
You may wonder what to do, what prayers to make, when there are disasters such as tornados, hurricanes, heavy rain, storms, floods, earthquakes, or fires, as well as disasters that destroy crops; disasters that destroy entire towns and cities within one hour; disasters that cause so many billions of dollars of damage, and so much money is spent to rebuild the towns; disasters where so many hundreds and thousands of people die or become homeless, have no homes, no food or clean water, and so forth.
So here I am offering some suggestions on what to do so that you can help the country and save so many peoples lives; some suggestions to prevent the destruction of houses, villages, and cities that are caused by the elements (fire, water, wind, and earth).
Even though these kinds of problems are so big, even though there are numberless buddhas, yet if someone with a very sincere heart takes refuge one-pointedly, without doubt, in even one buddha such as Chenrezig (Compassionate Eye Looking One), Padmasambhava, or Medicine Buddha, if someone takes strong refuge and prays to even just one buddha and recites the mantras (such as the name mantra), by doing this it can change the situation completely, it can change natural disasters and prevent war. Whatever problems there are can be loosened and even completely stopped.
The weather can change in that very hour or in the next hour by the power of one person making prayers.”
Read the full version of Letter From Lama Zopa Rinpoche Regarding the Disasters of the Elements
What you can do right now:
- Medicine Buddha Practices
- King of Prayers
- Kshitigarbha Practice to Pacify Earthquakes
- The Practice of Ksitigarbha to Avert Danger and Purify Obstacles
To follow the complete list of prayers and practices suggested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche over the years:
-
- Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Practices for Earthquakes and Natural Disasters
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice for Severe Weather Conditions
- Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Earthquakes
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche Advises Urgent Practices for Pacifying an Earthquake in California
- Tsunami and Earthquakes
- Mitigating Severe Conditions of the Elements
- Preventing Earthquakes
- Natural Disasters
- Sutra Golden Light for earthquakes, natural disaster and wars
More advice from Rinpoche on this topic is also available on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive:
https://lamayeshe.com/advice/natural-disasters
Foundation for the Preservation of the 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.
To celebrate the ongoing FPMT Global Mani Retreat which has brought together students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche from around the world to help fulfill one of Rinpoche’s most cherished wishes, we are sharing this excerpt from Teaching from the Mani Retreat by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at the 100 Million Mani retreat, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, August 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
It is also good to ask yourself, “Why do I have to do this?”
There are two reasons.
One very important reason is that sentient beings do not want suffering and want happiness. The other reason is that this is the purpose of your life.
It is for this purpose that you put so much effort into surviving in every hour, every minute, of your life.
The conclusion is that there are two reasons: this is what sentient beings need, so you should help them; and this is the meaning of your life.
Excerpt from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book Teachings from the Mani Retreat bestowed at Chenrezig Institute, on December 2000. Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive Publications. You can also read this book online, or listen to an audio recording from the retreat.
Upcoming Major Teaching
Foundation for the Preservation of the 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.
To celebrate the ongoing FPMT Global Mani Retreat, which has brought together students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche from around the world to help fulfill one of Rinpoche’s most cherished wishes, we are sharing this excerpt on the Benefits of the Mani Retreat from Teachings from the Mani Retreat by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Rinpoche teaching during the 100 Million Mani Retreat 05-Oct-2017 ILTK. Italy Photo by Lobsang Sherab
Benefits of the Mani Retreat
By Lama Zopa Rinpoche
This is such a wonderful time, especially doing practice to develop compassion and bodhicitta. Without compassion you can’t have the realization of bodhicitta, you can’t enter the Mahayana path, you can’t achieve enlightenment, you can’t achieve the infinite qualities of the holy body, holy speech and holy mind of Buddha. Without great compassion you can’t do perfect work for sentient beings, bringing them to enlightenment. I mentioned this the other night when I arrived, but maybe it was difficult to hear so late at night . . . . Those who can make the time should come to the retreat. Even if you cannot come for all three months, you should come for some weeks—or at least for one week. If you do not give yourself the time, the freedom, to do this, it is very poor, very sad. Of course, it would be best to come for the whole time, until the end of the retreat, but if you cannot do that, while you can give yourself the time and the freedom, you should come for one month or for a minimum of one week. You should attempt to do this. If you have a family, of course it’s not possible for all the family members, the whole assembly of parents and children, to come for the Mani Retreat, but maybe you could take turns. Do whatever you can, whatever days you can do. Give yourself the time to come again and again. Even if you cannot do one week straight, come again and again. Do at least one day, then come another day, then another day. At least come quite often in this way.
We should especially think of death. When the thought of death comes, when we remember death, there’s nothing else that makes sense; everything else is total nonsense. When we think of death, so much of what we do in life doesn’t make sense; it’s all just nonsense. The only thing that makes sense is Dharma practice. Only Dharma will benefit us at the time of death and after death. The only thing that we can carry with us and enjoy in our future life is Dharma—nothing else. This practice of the meditation- recitation of the Buddha of Compassion will especially benefit us.
Reciting oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ has merit as limitless as the sky. Even Buddha can never finish explaining the unbelievable purification and collection of extensive merit brought by reciting oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ. This is a special means to develop compassion. Intellectual study alone cannot bring you the realization of compassion and bodhicitta. With the intellectual understanding, you then have to purify your mind and collect extensive merit. On the basis of those preliminary practices, you then receive this special deity’s blessings by reciting oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ. It is through this that the realizations of great compassion and bodhicitta then come. Reciting oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ is one of the most powerful means of developing compassion and bodhicitta.
Doing specific meditation on the Buddha of Compassion and reciting the mantra are like soil and water, the conditions that together enable a seed to produce a sprout, or like all the pieces that are put together to enable a clock or watch to show the time. The mind works in a similar way. The preliminary practices and the meditation- recitation of Compassion Buddha persuade the Compassion Buddha’s holy mind. Purifying negative karmas, or obstacles, and collecting extensive merit enable us to receive the blessings of Compassion Buddha, and through these blessings we then receive realizations.
And the benefits of compassion are as limitless as the sky. After hearing the lamrim and having studied it and also other teachings, we can understand the benefits of compassion. Compassion has limitless benefits for oneself and for all other sentient beings.
Excerpt from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book Teachings from the Mani Retreat bestowed at Chenrezig Institute, on December 2000. Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive Publications. You can also read this book online, or listen to an audio recording from the retreat.
Upcoming for the Global Mani Retreat
FPMT Mongolia’s 14th 100 MILLION MANI RETREAT in Ulaanbaatar has begun! This retreat is part of the official Global Mani Retreat program and will take place from August 20 – September 17 2026. Participation onsite is entirely optional.
Ven. Tenzin Drachom will lead the eighth Chenrezig Group practice on August 22.
To keep up on all details related to the FPMT Global Mani Retreat, please refer to our webpage, and join the Facebook Group.
Foundation for the Preservation of the 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.
In this extract, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche explores why living beings, though they long for happiness, so often create the very causes of suffering instead. The teaching is drawn from a weekend seminar Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Thubten Yeshe offered during their first trip to Europe in 1975, based on the Kopan meditation courses. Following a public lecture on meditation by Lama Yeshe at Kensington Town Hall, the seminar was held at Royal Holloway College, Surrey, and contained the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. From Freedom Through Understanding, edited by Nicholas Ribush, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Royal Holloway College, UK, 1975. Photo by Dennis Heslop. From the LYWA Collection.
Happiness Comes from the Mind, Not from Outside
By Lama Zopa Rinpoche
All human beings and even the tiniest of creatures desire happiness and freedom from suffering. But our biggest problem is that although we desire happiness, we don’t know what actually causes it; although we don’t want suffering, we don’t know what causes that either. That’s our biggest problem. Most living beings, no matter how much they wish for happiness, spend most of their time destroying the cause of happiness; and no matter how much they do not want suffering, they constantly rush to create its cause. All this comes about because sentient beings lack method and wisdom.
Earth’s original human inhabitants did not have minds as negative and cruel as those of today. As a result, the actions of their speech and body were not as violent and harmful as those of the people we see around us now, and life was much more peaceful then. But gradually, as their delusions of anger, attachment, pride and jealousy arose more frequently and strongly, their minds became increasingly cruel, negative and harmful, and the actions of their speech and body became more violent and destructive. And no matter how much we have progressed in external development since those times, life has simply become busier and more dangerous; no matter how many material things, such as nuclear weapons have been developed, instead of bringing true peace, all they have brought is more danger. However, we can’t blame external things for all these problems; the actual cause is the internal factor—the unhealthy, dissatisfied mind, attachment, hatred and so forth. Even though people have undertaken external development with the expectation that it will bring happiness, that’s a wrong conception.
Happiness does not arise principally from external things but from the internal factor, the mind. For example, people who have all the material things they need and desire—gourmet food, beautiful clothing, a luxurious apartment and so forth-are not necessarily happy. They get unhappy and depressed because they feel dissatisfied and don’t know why; and since they also don’t understand the meaning of human life, some of them think there’s nothing left to enjoy, get completely despondent and kill themselves.
All such problems come from the mind, the internal factor, attachment. Instead of bringing satisfaction and happiness, all these desirable external things bring only more dissatisfaction. Similarly, with respect to the suffering that arises from problems caused by other people-enemies, family members, countrymen—even if we were to kill all the other human beings on earth, even all other living beings, and remain here alone, still we would not experience happiness or peace. Stopping suffering and receiving happiness does not depend on making all other humans, all other living beings on earth, non-existent. Since doing so would not bring peace or happiness to the mind it shows that this is not the right method, not the way to receive happiness. By being alone with no other people, friends or other living beings around, we would feel lonely and very unhappy. Those problems also arise from within, from the internal factor, attachment.
Even when we get the material objects or close friends we desire, after a while we get bored and lose interest. That also comes from the internal factor, the dissatisfied mind, attachment. Our physical body dying, becoming non-existent, does not mean that our suffering is over; the mind does not stop when the body does. Even though our body no longer exists, our mind is still in suffering—as long as our mind is under the control of the delusions of ignorance, attachment and anger, it is not free from suffering. The delusions themselves are the worst suffering, the root of every problem people and animals experience; The delusions are like the root of a tree if there were no root there’d be no branches, leaves or fruit, which produce more seeds. So if there were no root of the delusions-ignorance, attachment and hatred-there wouldn’t be any of the problems that we and other living beings experience, such as sickness, old age, death and so forth.
Excerpted from a teaching by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, published in Freedom Through Understanding. Edited by Nicholas Ribush, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. You can also read this book online, access translations, watch on YouTube and experience the teachings in multimedia format.
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.
Ksitigarbha statue at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, WA, USA
Over the years, Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered various pieces of advice for prayers and practices to turn to when facing natural disasters. In light of the recent earthquakes in Latin America—in Venezuela on June 24, 2026 and in Colombia on August 10, 2026, as well as recent fire emergencies in Southern Europe, North Africa, and North America—we share the following collection of Rinpoche’s advice, offered in the hope that it may be of benefit.
“Buddha Ksitigarbha is another unbelievably powerful practice for success, I think especially when there’s an earthquake but also when there is any danger of fire, water, earth or wind. If there are any of those dangers, it’s very good to recite this Buddha Ksitigarbha mantra. It’s extremely powerful. You make offerings to Buddha Ksitigarbha and then make the prayer. It’s one hundred million times more powerful for success than praying to other bodhisattvas. If you read the Ksitigarbha sutra, it brings unimaginable benefit for sentient beings.” – Lama Zopa Rinpoche
All are welcome to download the Ksitigarbha Practice eBook & PDF. Please also listen to Lama Zopa Rinpoche reciting the mantra.
To follow the complete list of prayers and practices suggested by Lama Zopa Rinpoche over the years:
- Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Earthquakes
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche Advises Urgent Practices for Pacifying an Earthquake in California
- Tsunami and Earthquakes
- Mitigating Severe Conditions of the Elements
- Preventing Earthquakes
- The Practice of Ksitigarbha to Avert Danger and Purify Obstacles
- Natural Disasters
- Sutra Golden Light for earthquakes, natural disaster and wars
More Ksitigarbha Resources:
Through the generosity of a dedicated benefactor, each FPMT center, project, and service around the world has been offered a Ksitigarbha statue. We are deeply grateful for this generous offering and for the support it provides to the FPMT family. We invite all centers, projects, and services that have received a statue to share a photo with us, if you haven’t already, so we can celebrate and showcase these precious statues throughout our community.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching extract from The Path to Ultimate Happiness: Lamrim Teachings from Kopan 2009 No. 42, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive publications
Foundation for the Preservation of the 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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book How to Practice Dharma: Teachings on the Eight Worldly Dharmas deals with the eight worldly dharmas, essentially how desire and attachment cause us to create problems and suffering and how to abandon these negative minds in order to find perfect peace and happiness. This excerpt below is from Chapter 8, “Turning Away from Worldly Concern.”
Happiness Starts When We Renounce This Life
By Lama Zopa Rinpoche
The terms “renouncing this life” or “renouncing suffering” both mean renouncing the mind that is the cause of the problems, the thought of the eight worldly dharmas. Therefore “Dharma” includes even pragmatic, transient techniques to stop attachment from arising. This is the actual Dharma, the method that immediately solves our confusion and mental illness. Bringing clarity and lack of confusion to our mind is the best way of bringing happiness to our life. Renouncing suffering doesn’t mean we’ll never have stomach or knee pain, a headache or a cold. It doesn’t mean wishing to be free of all pain but wishing to be free from the very cause of all suffering.
It has been the experience of these great yogis that we don’t have to wait until our future lives to experience this happiness. As soon as we stop the dissatisfied mind, immediately—immediately—there’s the result, happiness.
At first we might be nervous about letting go of desire because we normally equate desire with happiness. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. As soon as we let go of desire we achieve inner peace, satisfaction and happiness; we become independent. Before, we were dictated to and controlled by desire but now we have achieved real freedom.
We can see in the biographies of the great yogis Tilopa, Marpa, Milarepa, Lama Tsongkhapa and many of those other highly realized beings whose holy minds passed into enlightenment how, even without material possessions, they generated great tranquility and peace and through that were able to realize the great achievements of the path. They didn’t have even the scent of the eight worldly dharmas about them but by completely renouncing desire for this life, they received everything—the best reputation, perfect surroundings and sufficient material comfort.
In Milarepa’s Hundred Thousand Songs he often says how renouncing this life’s worldly activities automatically stops all the thousands of problems associated with the worldly life and brings great bliss.
Without any possessions at all, he led an ascetic life in solitary places. Although he lived like an animal, he spent his life in great happiness, his mind always peaceful, without confusion or problems. He didn’t have even one sack of tsampa but lived on nettles alone. Living without food, clothing or reputation didn’t cause him any problems because of his Dharma practice. He achieved all the high realizations and then enlightenment in that one lifetime, all due to the power of his pure Dharma practice of renouncing suffering, renouncing this life. His mind was incomparably happier than that of the king who has great power and many bodyguards, soldiers and weapons.
Therefore, it’s completely wrong to think that Dharma only brings happiness in future lifetimes but not in this one. We experience peace and happiness the very moment we begin to practice and live in the Dharma. We feel its effects immediately. Continue to read the full Chapter.
From How to Practice Dharma: Teachings on the Eight Worldly Dharmas, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Chapter 8. Edited by Gordon McDougall and published by Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
You can order a print copy from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive online store. You can also read this book online, access translations, or order the audiobook from Audible.com. LYWA Members can download the ebook for free.
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.
Light offerings at Boudhanath Stupa at night, with Khen Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, December 2016. Photo by Lobsang Sherab.
The great stupa of Boudhanath in Kathmandu, Nepal, was extremely important for Lama Zopa Rinpoche. It was in Boudha that Rinpoche first settled upon returning to Nepal in the late 1960s with Lama Thubten Yeshe. While staying at Samtenling Monastery, located behind the circumambulation path around the stupa, Lama Yeshe could see a hill from the monastery and felt drawn to it. Later that hill would become Kopan Monastery, the first FPMT center established by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Whenever Rinpoche returned to Kopan, he would often circumambulate the Boudha Stupa in the evenings together with a couple of attendants, while making offerings and reciting prayers and mantras. By the time the circumambulations were completed, a crowd would often have formed, following Rinpoche around the stupa. At the very end, Rinpoche would lead everyone present in offering five-colored khatags to the stupa, followed by extensive dedications.
During the second COVID lockdown in 2021, Rinpoche, together with other high lamas, including Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Khadro Rinpoche (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Dronme), and the abbots of Shechen Monastery and Kopan Monastery, reconsecrated the three great stupas of Nepal—Swayambhu, Boudha, and Namo Buddha—for the benefit of all sentient beings. At the end of the consecrations and after taking the bodhisattva vow, Rinpoche led the assembled lamas in an offering practice based on the offering objects described in chapter three of The Legend of the Great Jarung Kashor Stūpa
Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Gen Tenpa Choden, and Ani Jangsem offering five-colored khata to the Boudha Stupa with prayers, Nepal, February 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
The Benefits of Making Offerings to the Boudha Stupa
After COVID ended, Rinpoche continued to perform the offering practice to the Boudha Stupa, and the practice grew increasingly elaborate over time. Rinpoche himself performed the practice at the stupa several times in a room with extensive offerings located on the circumambulation path, and at least twice from his room in Kopan. Rinpoche would quote the Great Guru, Padmasambhava, on the benefits of serving the great stupa of Boudha:
“Listen! Great king, generate strong devotion. All the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times actually absorbed into and abide in this holy object of the holy mind. Any requests and prayers made to the great stupa will be effortlessly and spontaneously accomplished; it is like a wish-granting jewel. The benefits for any transmigratory being who, with a totally pure attitude, prostrates to it, circumambulates it, or makes offerings to it cannot be expressed or counted even by the numberless past, present, and future buddhas.”
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro Rinpoche at Boudha Stupa, Nepal, November 2019. Photo by Harald Weichhart.
To collect “the most unbelievable merit” when making offerings to the stupa, Rinpoche says in Offerings to the Boudha Stupa, “Think that all these offerings belong to sentient beings and then, on their behalf, make offerings to the stupa. It is not just a stupa. To me, for example, it’s in essence His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which means it’s all the past, all the present, and all the future buddhas. You can think like that for whoever your own root guru is, which means your root guru is all the three-time and ten-direction buddhas. […] There’s no question how much merit you will collect with each offering you make to the stupa while thinking that in essence it is your root guru. You collect the most unbelievable merit, and it becomes purification as well. Please think this with any offering you make to the stupa, and then offer it on behalf of all sentient beings.”
Eventually, Ven. Sarah Thresher requested Rinpoche to compose a formal offering practice for his students to use. Rinpoche responded by suggesting that she transcribe one of the extensive practices he had led at Kopan and compile a booklet from that. After Rinpoche showed the aspect of passing away, Ven. Joan Nicell completed the transcript that Ven. Sarah had initiated and, with the help of Ven. Ailsa Cameron, arranged it into a practice format so that the practice could be done during the forty-nine days of prayers in Rinpoche’s honor. The resulting practice booklet, Making Extensive Offerings to Boudha Stupa, also lists the specific benefits of making each kind of offering.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering wish-granting jewel to the Boudha Stupa from his room in Kopan Monastery, September 2021.
Rinpoche’s Offering Room at the Boudha Stupa
The offering room was originally set up and continues to be maintained by Dechog, a Chinese lay student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Dechog started off by arranging many offerings on tarpaulins laid out along the circumambulation path of the stupa, and then spending hours offering them. Eventually, with the help of some Chinese students, he rented a disused restaurant overlooking the stupa where he could permanently set up his extensive array of offerings. Rinpoche rejoiced greatly in Dechog’s offerings of huge water bowls and large butter lamps and his insistence on offering only the finest quality substances and, over time, Rinpoche contributed many auspicious offerings and statues to the offering room.
Offering of saffron at Boudha Stupa.
After Dechog offered a set of keys to Rinpoche, the room gradually became known among FPMT students as “Rinpoche’s offering room at Boudha.” A simple throne, sponsored by a group of Chinese students, was set up for Rinpoche to use whenever he did the offering practice there. Rinpoche would lead the practice himself, reading from his copy of The Legend of the Great Jarung Kashor Stūpa and explaining the benefit of each offering, followed by the recitation of the Offering Cloud Mantra, with instruments being played while visualizing the offerings being made.
In January 2022, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave advice on how to make the best use of the offering room so as to collect “the most unbelievable merit” when making offerings to the stupa. This advice, which was published as Offerings to the Boudha Stupa,was also printed, framed, and hung in the room as a reminder to students.
Students Perform the Offering Practice
Besides performing the offering practice once during the forty-nine days after Rinpoche’s passing, it has since been done at major FPMT gatherings in Kathmandu: following the Light of the Path retreat at Kopan in 2023, the Heart Sutra retreat in 2024, and the CPMT meeting in 2025, and most recently in March 2026 when a number of FPMT students visited Nepal for the inauguration of Khadro Rinpoche’s new monastery.
Students participating in this extensive practice have been deeply moved. Maria Damsholt from the FPMT Center for Wisdom and Compassion in Denmark, who took part in the March 2026 offering practice, shared: “It is a very beautiful offering practice to do. It felt exactly like making offerings and prayers with Rinpoche himself—because it really is in the spirit of Rinpoche. Thank you so much for letting me practice with you. I intend to buy as many offering substances as possible so that we can do it in Denmark too.”
Rinpoche making offerings at Boudha Stupa, Nepal, July 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Claudia Czuba from the FPMT center in Vienna was so deeply inspired that she purchased jewels and medicines in Boudha in 2025 and performed the practice twice in Austria. She said, “We did this offering practice at Panchen Losang Chogyen center in Vienna by setting up an offering table with a big picture of the Boudha Stupa and nicely arranged offerings. It is a simple yet very powerful practice, and also very joyful. To arrange beautiful offerings, visualize them as extensively as possible, share them with all sentient beings, and offer them to the stupa indivisible from the guru makes the heart and mind very happy. It seemed like people felt the ‘skies of merits’ they created with this practice. And, for sure, it pleased the holy mind of our precious guru Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche.”
Malaysian monk Ven. Sonam Yeshe was equally inspired and is planning to bring the practice to Rinchen Jangsem Ling Retreat Centre in Triang, Malaysia. He shared, “Experiencing the elaborate offerings in front of the holy Boudha Stupa for the first time was profoundly moving. It felt incredibly special to participate in the same ritual that Lama Zopa Rinpoche performed so many times at the stupa. I couldn’t help but imagine how beautiful it would be to replicate these elaborate offerings at Rinchen Jangsem Ling, Malaysia. By facilitating a program where participants take turns performing the offerings themselves, we can provide a highly engaging and meritorious experience that resonates with all those who attend.”
We invite all of Rinpoche’s students and centers to do this offering practice to the Boudha Stupa from their homes or centers and in this way help preserve Rinpoche’s very special practice lineage while at the same time creating skies of merits!
Resources
In September 2021, Rinpoche recorded a Thought Transformation Teaching video entitled “Making Offerings to Boudha Stupa” in which he speaks about performing a tsog offering practice at the Boudha Stupa and the benefits of making offerings to stupas. You can follow along with the offering practice by watching the video.
Find Offerings to the Boudha Stupa as a PDF in the Foundation Store.
Find Making Extensive Offerings to Boudha Stupa as a PDF in the Foundation Store.
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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing a patient of Shakyamuni Health Clinic in 2017.
Helping someone pass away in the most auspicious way possible is one of the greatest gifts we can offer at the most critical time of a person’s life. The FPMT Death and Dying Heart Practices and Advice webpage is a compilation of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice and materials on death and dying, available for all to use
In 2017, Lama Zopa Rinpoche shared important advice at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, when the center was considering starting a hospice. We are happy to share this guidance with the broader community, as it carries significant meaning for those who wish to support others at the time of death.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with ‘How to Enjoy Death,’ Osel Labrang, Sera Monastery, India, December 2015
- Have Dharma books available, such as How to Enjoy Death: Preparing to Meet Life’s Final Challenge Without Fear, Practicing the Five Powers Near the Time of Death, and other books on tonglen, Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead, and anything else that supports at the time of death. Keep not just one copy of each book, but many.
- Have prayers and mantras available for recitation, such as the Namgyalma mantra, and also prayers such as The Three Principal Aspects of the Path, Calling the Guru from Afar, and similar texts. Have all relevant prayers on hand so that those present can recite them.
- Have recordings playing throughout the day — such as Calling the Guru from Afar, The Confession of Downfalls to the Thirty-Five Buddhas , A Hymn of Experience by Lama Tsongkhapa, and different mantras, such as Namgyalma, Medicine Buddha, Chenrezig Mantra and Request, and others. These should be played approximately 6 times a day, for about 10 to 20 minutes each time. Recordings of mantras by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and Khandro Rinpoche are especially beneficial for those who are dying to hear them. Additional recordings may include mantras from the dying person’s own guru, verses about bodhicitta, the Vajrasattva mantra, and so forth.
- Have thangkas depicting different pure lands — such as Padmasambhava Pure Land, Amitabha Pure Land, Chenrezig Pure Land, and Tara Pure Land. Choose beautiful thangkas and arrange the space so that it is uplifting and beautiful, bringing joy rather than depression to those who are there. If thangkas are not available, large framed images of the pure lands may be used instead.
- Affix large printed versions of mantras such as Namgyalma mantra, the Takdrol, and the Pema Ushnisha mantra, on the ceilings of the rooms, so that those who are dying can see them and may be protected from rebirth in the lower realms.
- Have powa pills available, so when breathing stops, the pills can be mixed with honey and butter and placed on the crown of the head.
- Have a copy of Lama Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo, present in the room.
- Have many copies of the Liberation Card — the card Rinpoche compiled for people to look at when dying.
- Have Mantra Water blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Khandro Rinpoche.
- Have prayer wheels and stupas.
- In each room, have holy statues — ideally from Nepal.
- On the roof of the house or center install a statue of Kṣitigarbha — ideally beautiful and newly made, not an old one. The aspect should be the standing form, holding a monk’s staff. The statue could be commissioned from Chinese craftspeople or obtained from Vietnam. The ideal size is one story tall. This is so that those in the house may be guided by Kṣitigarbha. The statue could be blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. A smaller Kṣitigarbha statue may also be placed inside the house.
Scribed by Ven. Holly Ansett at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, 2017.
As a reminder Wisdom Publication’s 2025 release, How to Live and Die: The Transformative Power of Meditating on Impermanence by Lama Zopa Rinpoche offers an overview of meditating on death and impermanence. From the book:
“A complete education about death is the most important education we can have. What death is, how we die, what minds we need at death, and what happens after death—only by knowing about death and rebirth can we actually fully understand what life is and so learn how to live fully.”
In July 1990, Lama Zopa Rinpoche composed this poem to be displayed in the office of Karuna Hospice in Australia. It can be downloaded and displayed at any hospice.
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.
Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Rinpoche)
Over the years, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered various pieces of advice on prayers and practices to follow when the world is in crisis and to help pacify the threat of war. When the world is in trouble, it can feel very powerless and overwhelming to not know what we can do to actually help. We hope the resources below will be useful and provide tangible actions to mitigate war and promote world peace.
“For the person who has met Buddhism, every situation of war or natural disasters, every situation that can shorten life, all the many life-threatening situations that create more uncertainty these days to be alive give incredible opportunities for us to do strong Dharma practice,” Rinpoche said in 2001 following the events of September 11. “These situations give very strong inspiration to practice because there is no other means to escape, whether immediate or ultimate escape, i.e., freedom from all suffering. Such circumstances, such terrifying circumstances, help make it easier for the mind to overcome delusions or the distractions of desire […] The strong practice of Dharma and the awareness of impermanence and death brings peace in your heart and no fear […] Make strong prayers for immediate transformation of all the hatred and anger in the minds of all people, to immediately transform their minds into minds of loving kindness and compassion, to immediately stop all the negative karmas – not only to stop the experience of them but as well to stop their creation again – and for the whole world to be filled with peace, happiness, and prosperity. Make strong prayers for a world without violence, sickness, or poverty, a world with no economic problems, and for people not to waste their time, not to waste their lives.“
In particular, Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised reciting The Sutra of Golden Light for World Peace. “I would like to make this request with my two palms together, to please recite the Sutra of Golden Light for world peace as much as you can.”
Rinpoche also offered advice to IMI Sangha who sought advice in 2022 regarding what they could do to help generate world peace. This advice includes:
- Sampa Lhundrupma
- Recitation of Guru Rinpoche mantra
- Heart Sutra recitation
- Prayer to stop war: Prayer in Accordance with the Times
- Most Secret Hayagriva sadhana (for those who have received the initiation and can do the practice)
- Download compilation: Prayers to Stop War – Prayers 1–3
- Download Prayer in Accordance with the Three Times – Prayer 4.
Rinpoche offered valuable advice on how to motivate and think when doing these prayers and practices.
In 2014, Rinpoche offered essential advice regarding the conflict between Israel and Palestine, but this advice applies to all world conflicts and wars. “Generally the whole world needs these prayers and pujas, there is the most unbelievable need,” Rinpoche stressed.
Rinpoche also offered advice to avoid negative rejoicing and how to be careful with our minds when hearing news of violence against people we regard as an enemy.
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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Italy, September 2004. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
We are happy to announce a new addition to the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Full-Length Teachings Podcast featuring teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche given at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (ILTK) in 2004. New episodes of this series will be released every week.
From September 3 through September 30, 2004, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered 44 teaching sessions during the Ganden Lha Gyama (Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga) retreat at ILTK.
These teachings provided a comprehensive overview of key Buddhist concepts, focusing on how to integrate them into daily practice to progress on the path to enlightenment.
During this retreat, Rinpoche said:
“You have come here now for the Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga retreat, which is, of course, an extremely important practice. It is not only a guru yoga practice, but also involves purifying negative karma and developing wisdom. What this retreat on Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga practice involves, as well as developing wisdom, is developing compassion and power: compassion towards the numberless sentient beings and the power to do perfect work for all sentient beings, like Lama Tsongkhapa himself. The Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga practice has a secret meditation that goes with the migtsema, the requesting prayer, which involves developing compassion, power, and wisdom, three very important qualities needed to be able to do perfect work for sentient beings. Along with this, there are meditations for purification and also for developing wisdom.”
Improvements to Our Podcast
All audio has been vastly improved from the original, and descriptions with chapter markers have been added from YouTube, making it easy for any user to find the most interesting part of the teaching they are listening to. Furthermore, pauses have been trimmed, making the teaching quick and easy to enjoy in audio-only format.
Additionally, the transcripts for each session have been added to the podcast. These improvements are a first for our full-length teaching podcast, and we are confident they will make the podcast much more enjoyable and beneficial.
Video is available on our Rinpoche Available Now page. The audio improvements have been taken over to the videos as well, making them even more accessible.
How to Access the Podcast
This podcast is currently available through podcast apps, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, and most major podcast apps. Search for the show title “Lama Zopa Rinpoche full-length teachings” to find the show in the podcast app. If you want to know how to listen to podcasts through an app, the internet offers many resources to help you.
(For those wanting to listen in browsers like Chrome or Firefox [not Safari], the RSS feed link is https://feeds.captivate.fm/lama-zopa-rinpoche-full-length/).
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.
Medicine Buddha by Peter Iseli,
Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised that Dharma centers should perform the Medicine Buddha puja to bring peace and happiness, as well as inner and outer prosperity. Here we share Rinpoche discussing these benefits of Medicine Buddha practice in a teaching excerpt from the 36th Kopan Course held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 2003.
“Medicine Buddha is very important, to make everything easy, so you can work with less pressure, so you can meditate on the lamrim, and you have more time to have an easy-going life.”
— Lama Zopa Rinpoche
“In the past, why Buddhism spread so well in Tibet and was able to go for a long time, why so many people were able to learn, to practice and to become bodhisattvas and why so many became enlightened, it is said, was because the Medicine Buddha practice spread out so much. I think especially the Fifth Dalai Lama very strongly emphasized the Medicine Buddha practice. I think the Fifth Dalai Lama composed this long version of the Medicine Buddha practice. Because of that, so much development happened in Tibet, to be able to practice the Dharma, to spread the Dharma, and there was so much peace and happiness in Tibet. It is explained this is due to the practice of Medicine Buddha. All sentient beings’ wishes were fulfilled, and there was inner prosperity and outer prosperity, wealth.
“So, if centers have many expenses and need financial support, if they need external prosperity and inner prosperity, I would like to emphasize this. I did mention this to one person at a center in America, and I would like to emphasis that all the centers on the Tibetan eighth [of the month] should do Medicine Buddha puja. As the Fifth Dalai Lama explained how great success happened in Tibet because of this, it is the same with our centers. So, on the Tibetan eighth, please do Medicine Buddha puja. Normally many centers do Tara puja, especially the older centers, but I want to emphasize that all the centers, especially the organization, do Medicine Buddha puja. Many people love to do Tara puja, as a female deity, so you can do Tara puja in the afternoon or evening and do the Medicine Buddha puja in the morning, because you have to abstain from black food: onions, garlic and meat, things like that. Therefore, it’s good to do it in the morning, before the meal.
“So, I thought that within the organization, the organizers don’t have to suffer, they don’t have to struggle with finances, they don’t have to struggle with so many things and they can have a very easy life with inner and outer prosperity. The organization has been developed over so many years with so much struggle, so many hardships, so much pain, struggling how to make the center more beneficial for sentient beings, how to make the center more accessible. With so much worry and fear, how to keep the center running, how to survive the next month. With many years of learning, going through so many hardships, so much pain, they have become really developed now, so beneficial; they are able to establish very good programs, good education, so people can learn Buddhist philosophy and do retreats. They have been able to create the conditions to offer this. Now, it is much better, much easier, because they have gained so much experience, building the experience for many, many years on how to do things. In the beginning, they had so much difficulty.” Please continue to read this full advice on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Excerpted from a teaching given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the 36th Kopan Course held at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, in 2003. Lightly edited by Gordon McDougall.
Medicine Buddha Resources
- Teachings from the Medicine Buddha Retreat (free book from LYWA)
- A Brief Meditation-Recitation on Guru Medicine Buddha | PDF | Audio
- A Very Short Medicine Buddha Practice | PDF
- Medicine Buddha Sadhana | PDF
- Medicine Buddha Mantras | PDF | Audio
- Medicine Buddha Pujas
* Extensive Medicine Buddha Puja: The Wish Granting Sovereign | PDF
* Medicine Buddha Puja: The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel – A simple puja (set of prayers) that can be performed by anyone with faith in the Buddha | English | Spanish | Sinhalese
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.