Lama Zopa Rinpoche News

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Ven. Gyalten Yanchen at Land of Medicine Buddha, California, October 2015. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given advice to many students who have cancer and are preparing for death. Here is an excerpt from a letter title, “Prepare for Death Everyday”: 

… Also, if you can, chant these verses from the Guru Puja, practice this meditation and tong-len prayer:

Tong-len: Meditation on taking and giving

LC 95: And thus, venerable, compassionate gurus,
I seek your blessings that all karmic debts, obstacles, and
sufferings of mother beings
May without exception ripen upon me right now,
And that I may give my happiness and virtue to others
And, thereby, invest all beings in bliss.

Actually, this is the best Dharma gift, the best protection from delusion, the best protection from the terrifying lower realms, where there is so much unbelievable suffering. In this meditation, you take on all the sufferings of all mother sentient beings, as well as all one’s own sufferings, on oneself, then let all sentient beings have the state of no-death, enlightenment, the cessation of all sufferings. Then, one asks for all happiness, including enlightenment, all merit, to ripen on all sentient beings.

This practice should be entered into the Olympics. If you win, then at the time of death you go to the pure land, instead of being reborn in the impure world, where we are now, or the lower realms. This would be the best Olympic game. Dying with tong-len (bodhicitta) is the best Olympic game. …

Excerpted from “Prepare for Death Everyday” by Lama Zopa Rinpoche on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive: https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/prepare-death-every-day

Learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and Rinpoche’s vision for a better world. Sign up to receive news and updates.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Geshe Ngawang Dakpa, resident geshe as Tse Chen Ling, at Kachoe Dechen Ling, Aptos, California, US, October 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

“I asked [Gen Jampa Wangdu], ‘What is the quickest way to have success in the realizations of the lam-rim?’ That is the other thing I asked. He said, ‘Practicing the remedy to the self-cherishing thought,'” Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches in the module “Advice for Realizing Lam-rim,” which is part of Living in the Path, FPMT Education Services’ essential lam-rim program as taught by Rinpoche. 

You can find the tenth video in the module “Lojong: The Quickest Way to Lam-rim Realizations” on FPMT’s Online Learning Center.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), 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 after a trip to the plant nursery, California, US, October 2015. Ven. Roger Kunsang, who took the photo shared, “The car is completely full of flowers, even on the roof. Rinpoche was looking for large yellow flowers (calendulas) symbolizing the heart of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings.”

… Dear friends,
Once you have understood that wealth is like dew on the tip of a blade of grass
And that your friends, body and life are like a bubble,
Then you must engage in virtues such as making offerings to the Rare Sublime Ones while looking at them as the Guru
And extract the essence from your essenceless body and wealth ….

– Lama Zopa Rinpoche, a verse from “Verses to Inspire Offering,” which is available as a frameable card from the FPMT Foundation Store. Rinpoche suggests that this offering prayer be displayed in places where there are offerings, especially extensive offerings.

More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT via email, sign up to FPMT News.

“Completely empty,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches at Tsen Chen Ling, California, US, October 31, 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

“First, you see the ultimate truth of the table. Then, with that as a cause, as a result you see the merely labeled table. [The ultimate truth of the table] supports, helps, the existence of the table merely labeled by mind. Oh, that unification, oh, that is the Prasangika’s view of emptiness,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches in the module “Advice for Realizing Lam-rim,” which is part of Living in the Path, FPMT Education Services’ essential lam-rim program as taught by Rinpoche. 

You can find the eighth video of this module “Meditate Until You Realize the Prasangika’s View of Emptiness” on FPMT’s Online Learning Center.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), 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 taking interest in the Dia de los Muertos and Halloween decorations at a garden shop in California, US, October 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

After concluding his Latin American teaching tour in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in late September, Lama Zopa Rinpoche made his way to the United States to spend time at his home in California and visit the many FPMT centers in the Bay Area. 

On Halloween (October 31), Rinpoche begins a two-day teaching event at Tse Chen Ling in San Francisco. Rinpoche will teach on the the “Wheel of Life” and bestow a Lama Tsongkhapa long-life initiation.

During November 7-8, Rinpoche’s teachings at Vajrapani Institute in Boulder Creek will be livestreamed, including a public talk entitled “Patience as Protection, Emptiness as Liberation” and preparatory teachings for a Vajrapani-Hayagriva-Garuda initiation. 

On November 15, Rinpoche travels to Campbell for a livestreamed teaching entitled “Finding True Happiness” at Ocean of Compassion Buddhist Center.

Details about the livestreamed events will be shared on FPMT Inc.’s Livestream page:
https://livestream.com/FPMT/

High quality video recordings of Rinpoche’s teachings in California, as well as from Rinpoche’s other teaching events, will be made available as quickly as possible on FPMT’s Rinpoche Available Now page.

Learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and Rinpoche’s vision for a better world. Sign up to receive news and updates.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Land of Medicine Buddha, California, US, October 2015. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

“If we raise prayer flags, they bless the elements that touch the mantras, for example, the wind. Then, animals and insects who feel this wind are purified of their negative karma, and it transfers their consciousnesses to higher realms. Also, when rain and water touches the flags, it blesses worms and other creatures in the ground and liberates them from the lower realms.”

– Lama Zopa Rinopche, from “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book” page on Prayer Flags

Prayer flags near Lawudo Retreat Centre, Solu Khumbu, Nepal, April 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), 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 the meadow at Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, California, October 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

“The most unbelievably important thing in our life is lam-rim. The practice of the three principal aspects of the path is the most important thing. This is the most important, more important than a job, money, or anything else in our life. It is the most important thing,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches in the module “Advice for Realizing Lam-rim,” which is part of Living in the Path, FPMT Education Services’ essential lam-rim program as taught by Rinpoche. 

You can find the first video of this module “Lam-rim Is the Most Important Thing” on FPMT’s Online Learning Center.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), 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 teaches, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 2015. Photo courtesy of Marly Ferreira.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in September 25-27, 2015. National coordinator Marly Ferreira reports on the event hosted by Centro Shiwa Lha:

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s very first words in the public talk “The Power of Compassion in a Hostile World” captured the heart and attention of an audience of 300 people. Out of his great compassion, Rinpoche advised on what can be done, both collectively and individually, to help the country’s present situation. Brazil faces the possibility of a presidential impeachment, with many politicians under heavy corruption investigations. Unemployment and violence bringing fear and confusion to the people. Rinpoche’s words brought hope, showing how we can help the country. Besides some recommended pujas, the main advice was for people to read the Golden Light Sutra and the Sanghata Sutra. In a very clear manner, Rinpoche explained the power of these sutras and how reading them can bring peace, happiness and success, changing situations and positively affecting the environment.

Following the talk was a very successful weekend retreat. The strong connection between participants and Rinpoche reflected in everyone’s rapt attention and in the smiles on everyone’s faces. Rinpoche’s teachings were of pure wisdom, compassion and full of good humor. On the last day, 60 people took refuge.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche checking the Namgyälma mantra on the newly made board for blessing beings in the ocean, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Another special event was blessing the sea. While Rinpoche prayed on the beach, students held an acrylic and wood board with the Namgyälma mantra in the ocean to bless the water. Then, just as the sun was setting, blessed water was poured into the ocean with very strong dedications for the peace and happiness of all creatures living in or touching the ocean water as well as for anyone just being at the beach.

After such a successful and blissful stay, Rinpoche left us with innumerable blessings and the promise of a quick return.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), 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 elevator at lam-rim retreat in Mexico, September 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

“A hard life is very good for learning, it is a teaching, it shows the nature of suffering,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised a student who was facing a difficult time. “Look at it that way, as a teaching, to give you inspiration, liberate you, and free you from samsara. Seeing sentient beings’ sufferings and from that developing compassion leads to bodhichitta and the Mahayana path, which eliminates all the gross and subtle defilements and causes you to achieve enlightenment. Then you can enlighten all sentient beings. These benefits come when you experience hardships or a hard life. So, if you can, think like this. …”

Read the advice from Rinpoche “The Benefits of Experiencing Hardship” on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/benefits-experiencing-hardship

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Screenshot from “It Would Be Heaven”

“So, all the samsaric pleasures are like that,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches in a new video on FPMT’s YouTube channel. “After some time you get bored! You get bored. First you like that car so much you think, ‘I wish I had that.’ Then you buy that, if you have money. Then you drive one day, two days, three days, and then you have less and less interest. Then afterwards you get bored. Then you see another car that’s even better. Then for the first car you think, ‘This is horrible’ after seeing the better car.

“It’s the same for a friend. You see someone who has a better shape, who is better shaped, from birth or from make-up shops. In the beginning you meet and you talk and think, ‘If I could be with that person, wow, what a great bliss. That would be heaven! …”

Watch “It Would Be Heaven” on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoM5P2_Irlk

You can watch more video clips of Lama Zopa Rinpoche on FPMT.org: https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/videos-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/

For longer videos of Rinpoche teaching, visit: http://bit.ly/rinpoche-available-now

Learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and Rinpoche’s vision for a better world. Sign up to receive news and updates.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche during visit to Lawudo Retreat Centre, Nepal, April 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

“If you are able to help these people go to the pure land, then that is the quickest way to free them from cyclic existence or rebirth. Otherwise, without actualizing the path, there is no way to experience this or to overcome the normal experience of death,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche wrote to a student who worked as a hospice nurse in the advice “Working with the Dying.”

“The great advantage to helping others be reborn in these pure lands is that it is possible for them to become enlightened there in that very life. However, one is not able to be enlightened in every pure land. To become enlightened in a pure land, there needs to be the opportunity to practice tantra in that pure land, but not every pure land gives that opportunity. In Shambhala, Heruka or Vajrayogini pure lands, one definitely has the opportunity to practice tantra, so one can become enlightened there.

“However, for that, from their side they also have to have merit. So, in order to bring the most benefit to yourself and others, first of all, one very good thing to do is to recite ten malas of OM MANI PADME HUM first thing in the morning. By doing this, your body becomes blessed. It actually becomes holy, so anybody who touches you or anybody whom you touch — even to shake hands or give a massage to — they are all purified. Even insects that touch you have their negative karmas purified. That means you are giving them the opportunity to have a good rebirth. Therefore, every time you touch sick people, touching their hands or body purifies their negative karma. So, this is a very good thing to do. …”

For more on working with the dying and the benefits of reciting OM MANI PADME HUM, read the entire advice from Rinpoche on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive: 
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/working-dying

More information, photos and updates about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche can be found on Rinpoche’s webpage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and FPMT via email, sign up to FPMT News. For more visit, https://fpmt.org/.