Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
The FPMT is an organization devoted to preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha and based on that experience spreading the Dharma to sentient beings. We provide integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility and service. We are committed to creating harmonious environments and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion. Our organization is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught to us by our founders Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche.
Die Stiftung zur Erhaltung der Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) ist eine Organisation, die sich weltweit für die Erhaltung und Verbreitung des Mahayana-Buddhismus einsetzt, indem sie Möglichkeiten schafft, den makellosen Lehren des Buddha zuzuhören, über sie zur reflektieren und zu meditieren und auf der Grundlage dieser Erfahrung das Dharma unter den Lebewesen zu verbreiten.
Wir bieten integrierte Schulungswege an, durch denen der Geist und das Herz der Menschen in ihr höchstes Potential verwandelt werden zum Wohl der anderen – inspiriert durch eine Haltung der universellen Verantwortung und dem Wunsch zu dienen. Wir haben uns verpflichtet, harmonische Umgebungen zu schaffen und allen Wesen zu helfen, ihr volles Potenzial unendlicher Weisheit und grenzenlosen Mitgefühls zu verwirklichen.
Unsere Organisation basiert auf der buddhistischen Tradition von Lama Tsongkhapa von Tibet, so wie sie uns von unseren Gründern Lama Thubten Yeshe und Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche gelehrt wird.
La Fundación para la preservación de la tradición Mahayana (FPMT) es una organización que se dedica a preservar y difundir el budismo Mahayana en todo el mundo, creando oportunidades para escuchar, reflexionar, meditar, practicar y actualizar las enseñanzas inconfundibles de Buda y en base a esa experiencia difundir el Dharma a los seres.
Proporcionamos una educación integrada a través de la cual las mentes y los corazones de las personas se pueden transformar en su mayor potencial para el beneficio de los demás, inspirados por una actitud de responsabilidad y servicio universales. Estamos comprometidos a crear ambientes armoniosos y ayudar a todos los seres a desarrollar todo su potencial de infinita sabiduría y compasión.
Nuestra organización se basa en la tradición budista de Lama Tsongkhapa del Tíbet como nos lo enseñaron nuestros fundadores Lama Thubten Yeshe y Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
A continuación puede ver una lista de los centros y sus páginas web en su lengua preferida.
L’organisation de la FPMT a pour vocation la préservation et la diffusion du bouddhisme du mahayana dans le monde entier. Elle offre l’opportunité d’écouter, de réfléchir, de méditer, de pratiquer et de réaliser les enseignements excellents du Bouddha, pour ensuite transmettre le Dharma à tous les êtres. Nous proposons une formation intégrée grâce à laquelle le cœur et l’esprit de chacun peuvent accomplir leur potentiel le plus élevé pour le bien d’autrui, inspirés par le sens du service et une responsabilité universelle. Nous nous engageons à créer un environnement harmonieux et à aider tous les êtres à épanouir leur potentiel illimité de compassion et de sagesse. Notre organisation s’appuie sur la tradition guéloukpa de Lama Tsongkhapa du Tibet, telle qu’elle a été enseignée par nos fondateurs Lama Thoubtèn Yéshé et Lama Zopa Rinpoché.
L’FPMT è un organizzazione il cui scopo è preservare e diffondere il Buddhismo Mahayana nel mondo, creando occasioni di ascolto, riflessione, meditazione e pratica dei perfetti insegnamenti del Buddha, al fine di attualizzare e diffondere il Dharma fra tutti gli esseri senzienti.
Offriamo un’educazione integrata, che può trasformare la mente e i cuori delle persone nel loro massimo potenziale, per il beneficio di tutti gli esseri, ispirati da un’attitudine di responsabilità universale e di servizio.
Il nostro obiettivo è quello di creare contesti armoniosi e aiutare tutti gli esseri a sviluppare in modo completo le proprie potenzialità di infinita saggezza e compassione.
La nostra organizzazione si basa sulla tradizione buddhista di Lama Tsongkhapa del Tibet, così come ci è stata insegnata dai nostri fondatori Lama Thubten Yeshe e Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Di seguito potete trovare un elenco dei centri e dei loro siti nella lingua da voi prescelta.
“护持大乘法脉基金会”( 英文简称：FPMT。全名：Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) 是一个致力于护持和弘扬大乘佛法的国际佛教组织。我们提供听闻，思维，禅修，修行和实证佛陀无误教法的机会，以便让一切众生都能够享受佛法的指引和滋润。
護持大乘法脈基金會”（ 英文簡稱：FPMT。全名：Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition ）是一個致力於護持和弘揚大乘佛法的國際佛教組織。我們提供聽聞，思維，禪修，修行和實證佛陀無誤教法的機會，以便讓一切眾生都能夠享受佛法的指引和滋潤。
The Foundation Store is FPMT’s online shop and features a vast selection of Buddhist study and practice materials written or recommended by our lineage gurus. These items include homestudy programs, prayers and practices in PDF or eBook format, materials for children, and other resources to support practitioners.
Items displayed in the shop are made available for Dharma practice and educational purposes, and never for the purpose of profiting from their sale. Please read FPMT Foundation Store Policy Regarding Dharma Items for more information.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Light of the Path, Black Mountain, North Carolina, US, September 2017. Photo by Kalleen Mortensen.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche led the first Light of the Path retreat in 2009 in North Carolina, US, hosted by Kadampa Center. The last retreat was in 2017 and the next highly anticipated retreat is this year, August 14 – 28 2022!
Kadampa Center shares this important update:
The Light of the Path Retreat is returning this year (August 14-28) , in a new model that we hope will allow students all over the world to hear Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s precious teachings together.
We are putting the finishing touches on a hybrid retreat, with both online and in-person opportunities. As we get closer to August, we will share our schedule and offer some suggestions for designing schedules for personal retreat.
We have invited retreat and residential centers from around the world to hold in-person retreats on their home sites, so that retreatants can experience true retreat in person and in community with other students. We are still working out the details with several centers; watch for more news about where to attend the retreat in person!
We also encourage students who are unable to attend in person to take this time off work and do retreat from home, following the teachings, prayers, and practices online. Some students are forming “pods” to rent space and do retreat in person together in small groups.
We expect to open registration in March. Watch for more information as we finalize the details.
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from 150 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
In the new book The Power of Mantra: Vital Practices for Transformation, Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides students through understanding the power and benefit of mantras. Rinpoche explains many popular mantras, giving specific instructions for practicing them, including Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Manjushri, Tara, Medicine Buddha, Vajrasattva, and more. In an excerpt from the book’s introduction, Rinpoche explains that mantras protect our minds:
The Sanskrit word mantra (which is ngag in Tibetan) has two syllables: man, which means “mind,” and tra, which means “protect,” so a mantra is something that protects our mind.
The benefits of mantra recitation are vast. There are many stories about terrible diseases such as cancer being cured by mantras, or people or animals being helped to have a peaceful death and a positive rebirth through mantras being recited to them. But the supreme benefit of a mantra is its ability to transform our mind. When we recite a mantra such as Shakyamuni’s mantra, we are recalling the Buddha’s name over and over, helping us increase our closeness and devotion to the Buddha, and devotion is our real protection from suffering. By transforming our mind, it has the power to break negative habits and develop positive ones. As our mind changes, our ability to help others increases, so we are reciting mantras for others as well.
By linking us to the omniscient mind—the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha and all the enlightened beings—reciting a mantra invokes that great power, leading us from nonvirtue to virtue. The Buddha said,
Do not commit any nonvirtuous actions,
perform only perfect virtuous actions,
subdue your mind thoroughly—
this is the teaching of the Buddha.
The whole Buddhist path comes down to these two pieces of advice—to not harm others and to benefit them. In order to do that, we must subdue the mind, which means both collecting merit through doing only virtuous actions and purifying any negative imprints on our mindstream from negative actions we have done in the past.
Reciting a mantra such as OM MANI PADME HUM, the mantra of Chenrezig, is not only the most unbelievable purification—purifying defilements and negative karmas collected from not just this life but from beginningless rebirths—it also collects extensive merits.
In the West, when soccer players win, they throw their arms up in the air and run around. It’s very intense. When I first saw this, I thought they were very angry because of the strong emotion. If they feel that strongly about winning a match, we should feel a billion times more strongly about being able to purify all that negative karma and accumulate all that merit, simply by reciting a mantra.
Westerners have asked me many times to explain how mantras work. This is a question that comes from the Western mind; it’s not asked in Asia, certainly not among the Tibetans, because they have faith. When there is water, what does water do? It makes things wet; that is its nature. Fire has its own nature; its nature is to burn. Everything has its own nature. Mantras too have their own nature; their nature is to transform the mind. Any word we say affects another person’s mind, making them happy or sad or angry or whatever. The power of the mantra comes from the sound, and that sound has the power to transform the mind into one of virtue.
Thinking of mantras as just some Sanskrit sounds to be chanted is an extremely limited view of what they are; they are much more than that. The sound of a mantra has the power to protect us, holding our mind from nonvirtuous thoughts and fostering virtuous ones, thus allowing us to develop toward enlightenment. In the same way that the Dharma in general holds us, protecting us from suffering—Dharma literally means “that which holds”—mantras are mind protection. In A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, the great being Shantideva said,
Therefore, I should focus my mind correctly,
and keep a careful watch over it.
What good will it do to keep many vows,
if one neglects the vow of watching over the mind?
It is vital to remember Shantideva’s advice. If we forget to protect our mind, what is the use of any traditional form of discipline? Even though we may do hundreds of other things, if we leave out this most important practice and leave the mind unprotected, we cannot stop our problems and achieve happiness, especially ultimate happiness. Everything comes from the mind; it is the source of all our suffering and all our happiness, so if we neglect to protect our mind, we cannot close the door to suffering or open it to happiness.
In the West, there are so many external rules: you can’t do this, you can’t do that. Sometimes I think there are too many rules. When we rely on external discipline, we can never solve our problems. The discipline has to come from our own mind. As a Buddhist, we might take certain vows to protect ourselves from committing any of the ten nonvirtuous actions, but unless we protect our mind, those vows will be impossible to keep. As Shantideva said, what good will having vows be if we can’t watch over our mind?
Modern Western life is full of distractions. Everywhere are objects of the senses to keep our mind busy, enticing us away from the Dharma. If you check you will see this is true. Being preoccupied with working for this worldly life, as so many people are, makes it extremely difficult to remember the necessity of Dharma practice and to find the time to practice it. Buddhism has many methods to overcome a distracted mind, such as meditating on impermanence and death or on the disadvantages of the self-cherishing mind. When we are not meditating, however, what is the best method? Reciting mantras will keep our mind in virtue and protect it from nonvirtue.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, November 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Since our last update, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has remained in Nepal, concluding his teachings at Kachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery, celebrating a birthday, visiting Pokhara and Patan for a variety of auspicious activities, and taking a pause from teachings. We invite you to rejoice in Rinpoche’s compassionate service to others and enjoy some new photos we have made available.
Kopan Monastery and Kachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s seventy-sixth birthday was celebrated on December 3 at Kopan Monastery. The festive day included the offering of a large Tara statue to Rinpoche during the early morning Sixteen Arhats long life puja. The statue was offered to Rinpoche on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. Also, a special lunch was prepared for all Kopan monks, nuns, and guests, which included presenting a birthday cake to Rinpoche, young monks singing “Happy Birthday,” and short plays. You can read more about these auspicious activities.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the Sixteen Arhats puja offered to him on his birthday, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2021. Photo by Ven. Topgye.
Starting on December 10 and over the course of a few days Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered Yamantaka initiation at Kopan Monastery.
For nearly two months, Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught at Kachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery. The teachings ended right before the Christmas holiday on December 22. These teachings were translated into Nepali from Tibetan, providing a rare opportunity for Nepali people to have access to Rinpoche’s teachings in their own language and were made available on the FPMT Tibetan YouTube channel. Among many other topics, Rinpoche focused on how to distinguish between holy Dharma and worldly Dharma, and how to make sure all actions become holy Dharma.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, the abbot of Kopan, Pokhara, Nepal, December 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Pokhara and the Ashoka Stupas in Patan
Following the conclusion of the teachings at the nunnery, Rinpoche traveled to Pokhara, which is Nepal’s second most populated city after Kathmandu. Located about 120 miles west and north of Kathmandu, Pokhara is a major tourist destination and is where the FPMT center Ganden Yiga Chözin Buddhist Meditation Centre is located. While there, Rinpoche used every moment to benefit others—offering Heruka incense puja, a teaching at the center, and blessing the fish and all beings in the lake.
Rinpoche with Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, monks, and students blessing the sentient beings in the lake, Pokhara, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
At the new year, Rinpoche traveled to Patan, which is now the third largest city in Nepal, located just south of Kathmandu. There Rinpoche and Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la) consecrated and offered prayers in front of three of what are known as the “Ashoka Stupas.” These ancient stupas are located around the historic city of Patan, where trade routes cross the city going towards India and Tibet. The western, southern, and eastern stupas are still in the form of grassy mounds although later additions were added by both Newari and Tibetan Buddhist. The northern stupa was renovated and plastered over half a century ago and looks more like Boudhanath Stupa. Nobody knows how old these stupas are or what is contained inside them because they have never been excavated. Legend tells us that either King Ashoka, or his daughter, or his emissaries came to the Kathmandu Valley and constructed them.
Ibahi Thur, the north Ashoka Stupa, where Rinpoche and Khadro-la offered prayers and did consecration, Patan, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
King Ashoka was the warrior king, who famously converted to Buddhism and took the relics from seven of the original stupas constructed after the Buddha passed away, which he then distributed in stupas constructed throughout the Indian subcontinent. King Ashoka is said to have constructed or sponsored 84,000 stupas containing Buddha’s ashes. He visited Lumbini to worship at the birthplace of the Buddha in 249 BCE—a fact that was verified upon excavation of the site by the British, who uncovered an inscribed pillar recording the visit. If the Ashoka Stupas were constructed on the command of King Ashoka they are very old.
The northern stupa is called Ibahi Thur; the eastern stupa is Teta Thur; the southern stupa is Lagan Thur; and the western stupa is Pulchowk Thur. Although three were originally constructed outside the historical boundaries of Patan, the city has recently become so developed that they are now mostly on busy roads or surrounded by buildings. There is also a central stupa, the Pimbahal Stupa, which is quite different in style, since it was destroyed in 1350 CE during an attack by Muslim invaders from Bengal and subsequently restored.
Rinpoche and Khadro-la consecrating one of the Ashoka Stupas and offering prayers, Patan, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Rinpoche and Khadro-la consecrating one of the Ashoka Stupas and offering prayers, Patan, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Stay Connected and Please Rejoice!
Rinpoche will be taking a break from teachings, but we look forward to their continuation in the near future, and we will share new videos and summaries as they become available. Meanwhile, we will continue to offer excerpts from Rinpoche’s teachings of recent years.
Please rejoice in Rinpoche’s continued auspicious activities, benefiting others at every opportunity. We have created a new photo album of Rinpoche, including activities we didn’t mention above, which we invite you to enjoy.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche during Sixteen Arhats long life puja offered to Rinpoche on his birthday, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2021. Photo by Ven. Lhundrup Topgye.
The celebration of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday on December 3 began in the early morning with the offering of a Sixteen Arhats long life puja to Rinpoche in the main gompa at Kopan Monastery in Nepal.
During the offerings part of the puja, a group of monks carried in a beautiful large Tara statue. Ven. Roger Kunsang, Rinpoche’s assistant and CEO of FPMT Inc, offered the golden statue to Rinpoche on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. Rinpoche later offered the statue to Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la).
Tara statue offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the Sixteen Arhats long life puja at Kopan Monastery
After the puja, a delicious buffet lunch with many dishes was prepared for all in the stupa garden at Kopan. Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kopan monks and nuns, and guests sat among the stupas for Geshe Lama Konchog and Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup. A tent and table were set up for Rinpoche. Kopan Abbot Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi was present for the events as well as Rinpoche’s brother Sangye and his family.
After lunch, Rinpoche was presented with a large tiered birthday cake. A group of young monks, including Rigsel Rinpoche, the reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup, sang “Happy Birthday” to Rinpoche while holding khatas. They also sang praises to different gurus.
Rinpoche turned the birthday cake into a tsog offering. He made a nice dedication to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He then cut the first slice of cake.
Offering cake to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on his birthday, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 3, 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with the birthday cake offered to him, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2021. Photo by Ven. Lhundrup Topgye.
Birthday cake offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on his birthday, celebrated at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 3, 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Also during the afternoon, there was a musician playing dramyin, who accompanied the young monks singing. A group of monks, some dressed in costumes, including young monks dressed up as goats, performed a series of short plays for all gathered in the garden. The final play was a story from the life of Geshe Ben Gungyal. Afterwards, the performers offered khatas to Rinpoche.
Monks who offered plays for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday celebration with Rinpoche at the close of the event, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2021. Photo by Ven. Lhundrup Topgye.
Thanks to Ven. Roger Kunsang, CEO of FPMT Inc., and Frances Howland, FPMT South Asia Regional Coordinator, for details on the event. For more, you can find videos of the celebration of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday on the Facebook pages of Kopan Monastery and Kopan Monastery School.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, April 2011. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
In early April 2011, Lama Zopa Rinpoche began teaching a retreat series at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, focused on Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara (A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life) and the transmission of the rare Rinjung Gyatsa initiations. Co-hosted by the Great Stupa, Atisha Centre, and Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery, and attended by nearly 200 students, Rinpoche taught for about ten days before manifesting the symptoms of a stroke. Now for the first time, these precious teachings from Rinpoche have been made publicly available and can be streamed for free.
Rinpoche continued his teaching of Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa retreat series at the Great Stupa in September-October 2014 and April-May 2018, and was scheduled to lead the March-April 2020 retreat, which was postponed due to the pandemic.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering a khata to Guru Rinpoche at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, April 2011. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Nepal, November 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday is celebrated on December 3. We invite you to join the entire FPMT community as we rejoice in another year of Rinpoche’s compassionate life. Rinpoche tirelessly models the bodhichitta motivation for us, benefiting countless others every single moment of every day.
A celebration for Rinpoche will begin at Kopan Monastery on the morning of December 3. We look forward to sharing all the joyous details of this celebration.
Through his recent activities and teachings, Rinpoche continues to guide us so that we make the most of this precious human rebirth by benefiting others and not causing harm. It is not enough to achieve liberation from samsara for oneself alone, Rinpoche regularly reminds us. We must aspire to liberate every single numberless sentient being from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring them to enlightenment. Rinpoche is a living example of these teachings. And we can all find inspiration in how Rinpoche offers compassion to all living beings without a single one left out, including the most vulnerable, feared, harmful, and difficult among us.
Please join the entire FPMT community, including students and friends around the world, in offering sincere prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s long and healthy life. (All are welcome to download Long Life Prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche.) Rinpoche, please, please live long!
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.
Rinpoche giving teachings at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, Nepal, October 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Since our last update, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has remained in Nepal and has been offering two ongoing teaching events. Rinpoche also celebrated Lhabab Duchen, gave advice via video at the fortieth anniversaries of two FPMT centers, and engaged in many other beneficial activities. We invite you to enjoy some of the details of Rinpoche’s compassionate service to others!
Rinpoche Offers Teachings
Rinpoche continued his video thought transformation teachings during this time, offering teachings for ordained Sangha and also extensive teachings on Buddhist refuge. In Rinpoche’s refuge teachings he warns that we must be careful about the objects in which we take refuge. For example, people take refuge in animals, nature, or spirits, but none of these have the qualities of the Buddha or can offer us ultimate refuge—freedom from samsara. Rinpoche also discussed depression, explaining that to understand the mental states of others we first have to understand our own craziness. Then, when we think of others, we will be able to more easily develop compassion.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.
Rinpoche has been offering regular teachings at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, also known as the Kopan Nunnery, for the past three weeks. These teachings are being translated into Nepali from Tibetan, providing a rare opportunity for Nepali people to have access to Rinpoche’s teachings in their own language. These teachings are available on the FPMT Tibetan YouTube channel. Half in attendance at the teachings are nuns and half are people from outside the nunnery. Topics taught include what is and is not holy Dharma, the eight worldly dharmas, the preciousness of this human rebirth, karma, proper motivation, the importance of a good heart, and the kindness of the enemy. Rinpoche offered a White Tara jenang and the oral transmission of the Vajra Cutter Sutra. The teaching series will end with a Medicine Buddha initiation.
A recent podcast episode.
“Of all practices, the practice of kindness is best,” Rinpoche emphasized during these teachings. “Of all forms of education, the best education is how to be a kind person. Parents should teach their children to have a kind heart from a young age. That will help them the most when they grow up. It will help their friends, their neighborhood, their town, their country, the world.”
A new podcast series featuring full-length teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche was recently launched. Each episode corresponds to a new video in the ongoing series of Rinpoche’s thought transformation teachings. Episodes are released shortly after the latest video teaching and blog are published, so listeners have access to the transcript and other materials associated with a specific teaching. For the podcast episodes, pauses have been shortened and background noise reduced, but otherwise the teachings are unedited. Currently we have podcast episodes for Rinpoche’s video teachings from July 2021 onward (videos 102–123).
Lama Zopa Rinpoche walking to offer puja on the land in Maratika where the giant Padmasambhava statue will be built, Nepal, September 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Rinpoche Travels to Maratika
In September 2021, Rinpoche returned to Maratika along with Kopan lama gyupas monks and nuns to bless the land where a 45-foot (14-meter) tall statue of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) on a 15-foot (4.5-meter) tall throne will be built. The statue will be in the aspect of Padma Gyalpo, Padmasambhava’s magnetizing form, and will be made of bronze and plated with gold. It is expected to take around five years to complete. During this visit, Rinpoche spent time meeting with some local people, including the mayor of Maratika. He offered teachings to two hotel owners. He also blessed the goats in Maratika liberated for his long life, gave two online Zoom teachings, and visited the main cave, which was opened only for Rinpoche, to make special prayers at the long life vase.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering puja in front of Boudhanath Stupa, Nepal, October 15, 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Rinpoche Circumambulates and Makes Offerings to Stupas
While Rinpoche is in Nepal, he frequently goes to visit the great stupas of Boudhanath and Swayambhunath to circumambulate and make offerings and prayers. Sometimes Rinpoche goes in the evenings, sometimes after teachings, sometimes on the way back from trips in Kathmandu or other places.
When Rinpoche goes to Boudha Stupa he usually does korwa while reciting the mantras that increase the power of making circumambulation. Students in attendance join in as Rinpoche recites out loud In Praise of Dependent Origination by Lama Tsongkhapa, followed by several repetitions of the Confession of Downfalls to the Thirty-five Buddhas and Vajrasattva mantra to purify. At the end of the circumambulations, Rinpoche leads a group offering of five-colored khatas to the stupa and dedication prayers. During the circumabulations, Rinpoche also likes to offer incense and rice visualized as wish-granting jewels, bless the dogs, and turn the prayer wheels.
Lama Zopa Rinpocha and Khadro-la offering five-colored khata at Swayambhunath Stupa on Lhabab Duchen. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
When Rinpoche goes to Swayambhunath, he circumambulates around the base of the hill. As Rinpoche circumambulates, he recites prayers, offers rice visualized as wish-granting jewels, and rejoices for all those who helped construct the many prayer wheels and stupas that encircle the hill. Rinpoche stops at a special Padmasambhava statue to chant prayers and pray for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Tibet. Rinpoche also stops at the local cremation grounds to recite prayers for those who have recently died and whose corpses are being burned.
On Lhabab Duchen Rinpoche offered pujas, prayers, and five-colored khatas with Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khandro Namsel Drönme) at Swayambunath. You can read more about the activities sponsored during this merit-multiplying Buddha day.
Winter Debates at Kopan
Monks have held the Jang Guncho, the winter debate festival, for centuries. The first Nuns’ Jang Guncho took place in Dharamsala, India, in 1995. Jang Guncho is an opportunity for ordained Sangha to gather together to train in and practice debate. Lama Zopa Rinpoche attended the winter debates of both Kopan Monastery and Khachoe Ghakyil Ling early this October.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche attending the winter debate of the nuns of Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery, Nepal, October 11, 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche attending the winter debate of the monks of Kopan Monastery, Nepal, October 8, 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Rinpoche Offers Encouragement and Advice during the Fortieth Anniversary Celebrations of Two FPMT Centers
Nalanda Monastery, the FPMT monastery in the south of France, has been celebrating its fortieth anniversary this year. In October, Rinpoche offered the Nalanda community an encouraging and joyful talk from Kopan Monastery, urging everyone to meditate strongly on impermanence and death in order to change worldly dharma into holy Dharma. Rinpoche also praised those who are Sangha in the West, explaining that they are the “real heroes” due to the “incredible renunciation” of becoming ordained.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering a talk to the Nalanda Monastery community, France, October 18, 2021. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery’s Facebook page.
Buddha House, an FPMT center located in a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, also celebrated its fortieth anniversary this year. In October, Rinpoche offered a teaching via video on the importance of FPMT centers and on emptiness. “You can see how it is most important for the center to exist!” Rinpoche said. “[Centers share] Lama Tsongkhapa teachings, Buddha’s teachings. [Centers create] an opportunity for sentient beings to study, to learn with no mistakes! Thank you very much!” We look forward to sharing video of this teaching with you and a summary of the main points Rinpoche expressed. (Extensive advice from Rinpoche is always available on the benefits of offering service as well as on the benefits of centers and the FPMT Organization. See Rinpoche’s Advice page.)
Thousand-Arm Chenrezig statue and Twenty-one Tara statues at Amitabha Buddha Centre with image of Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering a talk via video, Singapore. Photo courtesy of ABC.
Twenty-one Tara Statues Consecration at Amitabha Buddhist Centre
In 1995, Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised Amitabha Buddhist Centre (ABC) in Singapore to buy land and build on it a dedicated temple that has as its central image Thousand-arm Chenrezig surrounded by the Twenty-one Taras. The land was bought in 1998. Construction began in 2003. And in 2007, the center opened its doors. The Thousand-arm Chenrezig statue was completed in 2016. And this year, the Twenty-one Tara statues were completed and consecrated on October 27.
ABC organized a celebratory event for the consecration, which was broadcast live over several online platforms with translations offered in seven languages. Lama Zopa Rinpoche did the consecration of the statues via Zoom from Kopan Monastery. He also gave a teaching and made strong prayers for the statues to be of great benefit to sentient beings. Nine hundred people joined via Zoom with a thousand others joining on Facebook Live. Center Director Tan Hup Cheng offered an opening speech for the event. There was a short video of how the statues were made in Nepal and installed on the altar. Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi, ABC’s resident teacher, unveiled the statues. Ven. Sangye Khadro and Ven. Thubten Chodron shared congratulatory messages via video, including a moving prayer to Tara, which had been translated by Lama Yeshe from the Cittamani Tara long sadhana. The program ended with extensive dedications. We are pleased to share video of this auspicious event. A complete transcript of this teaching, as well as more photos and details of the event will be shared in the near future.
Please Enjoy New Photos of Rinpoche’s Recent Activities
Please join us in rejoicing in all of Rinpoche’s beneficial activities for others! We have created a new photo album of Rinpoche, including many activities we didn’t mention above, which we invite you to enjoy.
Rinpoche meeting with the reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsering, Kathmandu, Nepal, October 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
In a new touching video, Lama Zopa Rinpoche meets with the young incarnation—currently named Kunga Choyang—of Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsering (1923-2014) and his family. Rinpoche shares stories in the video about this extraordinary teacher.
Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsering was born in Tibet and ordained at age five. At twelve, he started his Buddhist philosophical studies. At seventeen, he joined Sera Je Monastery, then in Tibet, where he pursued rigorous philosophical studies. He served as a philosophy teacher at Sera Je for three years. In 1959, he was imprisoned by Chinese authorities for seven years and underwent extreme hardship. In 1969, he fled Tibet for India. At the rebuilt Sera Je Monastery in South India, he completed his Geshe Lharampa examination in 1978. In 1986, he was enthroned the seventieth abbot of Sera Je Monastery. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 91.
Rinpoche offering a statue of Buddha to the reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsering, the former abbot of Sera Je, Kathmadu, Nepal, October 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains in the video that many of the best, most educated teachers nowadays, including many geshes teaching in FPMT centers, are the disciples of Khensur Rinpoche. In addition, many of his disciples are teaching the young monks at Sera Je. Rinpoche said that Geshe Lobsang, as he calls him, had a very special, very clear way of teaching—more clear than other teachers. Geshe Lobsang had received this lineage of teaching philosophy from a well known teacher in Tibet. Geshe Sopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe also received this lineage and were known for their clear presentation of the Dharma.
Rinpoche talks about how he and Khensur Rinpoche had been friends since the early days of Sera Je in South India. In the evenings, they would talk until 2:30 A.M. In addition to discussing Dharma, they would talk about Khensur Rinpoche’s experience in prison in Tibet. Rinpoche recalls that they would have a thermos of tea and drink and talk until it was late. Rinpoche says, “He was an excellent teacher in the world. Amazing. Really amazing.”
When Khensur Rinpoche was chosen as abbot of Sera Je in 1986, he became very busy, Rinpoche says, and they didn’t meet much during that time. Khensur Rinpoche sent monks to do religious dance in the West to raise money for Sera Je to build a gompa. In 1991, in discussion with Khensur Rinpoche, it was determined that the most beneficial offering to the monastery from Lama Zopa Rinpoche would be to create a food fund, whereby all of the monks at Sera Je Monastery could be offered quality meals for free. This offering continued for twenty-six years until a substantial endowment was offered to the monastery through FPMT International Office. This allowed the monastery to become self sufficient, using the interest generated annually from the endowment to cover the entire Sera Je Food Fund expense. Khensur Rinpoche remained the abbot of Sera Monastery until 1993.
Khensur Rinpoche passed away in Bylakkupe, India. According to Rinpoche, he told his attendants that he would be reincarnated in Amdo, Tibet, because individuals in Amdo have so much devotion and faith. Rinpoche shared that His Holiness came to Sera Je to speak to Khensur Rinpoche and asked him to reincarnate as a child who is very awakened. In the video, gesturing to the young incarnation who is sitting across from him, Rinpoche says, “This is by the development of the mind and Dharma. Not the development of anger and attachment, which is the cause to be reborn in the lower realms. But this is because of the mind of Dharma.”
Rinpoche sitting and talking with the family of the reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Tsering, Kathmandu, Nepal, October 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
About the young incarnation’s upcoming education, Rinpoche explains that Kunga Choyang will be at Kopan Monastery for some years, then he will go to Sera Monastery. Rinpoche concludes the video by saying, “As he was an expert in his past life, he should be an expert in this life too. This life he won’t be an expert in the same way as his last life, but he will be an expert in order to benefit extensively.”
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering a talk to the Nalanda Monastery community, October 18, 2021. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery’s Facebook page.
Nalanda Monastery, located in the South of France, was established in 1981 by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche and is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries for Westerners.
During Nalanda’s fortieth anniversary celebration, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered the Nalanda community an encouraging and joyful talk from Kopan Monastery, urging everyone to meditate strongly on impermanence and death in order to change worldly dharma into holy Dharma. Rinpoche also praises those who are sangha in the West, explaining again that they are the “real heroes” due to the “incredible renunciation” of becoming ordained.
All are welcome to listen to this teaching, which contains advice all students can take to heart. We also invite you to join us in rejoicing in this forty-year milestone for Nalanda Monastery!
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.
Image for the podcast show “Lama Zopa Rinpoche full-length teachings”
We are happy to announce a new podcast series featuring full-length teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Each episode corresponds to a new teaching in the ongoing video series of Rinpoche’s thought transformation teachings.
The podcast is currently available through a podcast app, 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. (For those using an RSS reader app, the RSS feed link is feed:https://feeds.captivate.fm/lama-zopa-rinpoche-full-length/.) If you have questions on how to listen to podcasts through an app, a search of the internet offers many resources to help you.
This podcast is also available translated into Italian. To find it, search for “Lama Zopa Rinpoce insegnamenti completi.”
Recent podcast episode
Each new podcast episode is published at the same time as the latest video teaching and blog from Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In that way listeners will have access to transcripts and other materials associated with a specific teaching. For the podcast episodes, pauses have been shortened and background noise reduced, but otherwise the teachings are unedited. Currently we have podcast episodes for Rinpoche’s video teaching from July 2021 onward (videos 102–118).
The idea for a podcast had been discussed for several years by Ven. Roger Kunsang, CEO of FPMT, Inc. and Rinpoche’s assistant. This year FPMT International Office staff turned their attention to making the podcast happen. We will eventually produce two podcasts shows. In addition to full-length teachings, we will have a show of edited teachings by Rinpoche. We hope to launch the second podcast show featuring Essential Extracts from Rinpoche in the coming months.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Maratika, Nepal, September 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
“We need have strong determination that the goal of bodhicitta is attainable and desirable. For that we need inspiration, and, to my mind, there is nothing more inspirational than Khunu Lama Rinpoche’s Jewel Lamp and the first chapter of Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. These two great bodhisattvas have given us verses of inspiration that are beautiful and profound; verses that are good to read and reread many, many times,” writes Gordon McDougall in the “Editor’s Preface” of The Nectar of Bodhicitta: Motivations for the Awakening Mind, a new book by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
In the book, Rinpoche’s teachings on bodhicitta have been assembled into two parts. In Part One, Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches on selected verses by Khunu Lama Rinpoche. Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, “Understanding and constantly reminding ourselves of the skies of benefits that bodhicitta brings is unbelievably worthwhile. This is the overall purpose of Khunu Lama Rinpoche’s book, to cause us to feel inspired and joyful that such a mind is possible.”
In Part Two, Rinpoche teaches on Shantideva’s verses, which describe the amazing benefits of developing the precious mind of bodhicitta, the supreme cause of happiness for all sentient beings.
Here is a short excerpt from Part One of The Nector of Bodhicitta by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Do Everything With Bodhicitta
Every action we do should be done with bodhicitta
Whatever action we do with a selfish motivation is not only a complete waste of time, it causes only further future suffering. On the other hand, any action done with a selfless bodhicitta motivation is utterly worthwhile. Therefore, every action we do, every action, should be done with the thought to benefit others. As Khunu Lama Rinpoche says in The Jewel Lamp:
[338] When you walk, walk with bodhicitta. When you sit, sit with bodhicitta. When you stand, stand with bodhicitta. When you sleep, sleep with bodhicitta.
[339] When you look, look with bodhicitta. When you eat, eat with bodhicitta. When you speak, speak with bodhicitta. When you think, think with bodhicitta.
Twenty-four hours a day, every action we do should be done with bodhicitta, not for ourselves but for others. No matter what action we do, if it’s done with the mind cherishing others it’s a Dharma action, one that will lead us to peerless happiness and lead all others to peerless happiness. On the other hand, as long as our actions don’t oppose the self-cherishing thought, they are worldly actions, done out of worldly concern, and can only result in increasing our ignorance and in having to experience future suffering.
I was so inspired by Khunu Lama Rinpoche’s verses that I thought it might be good to advertise them for people to see them and bring them into their lives. You can have the verses printed on a cup and remember them when you drink coffee or have them as a bumper sticker on your car. (The car I use in America is covered in Dharma slogans!) One way I actually did this was by having some people produce bookmarks with these ideas on them. They became very popular. We modified the verses for the bookmark, which finally said,
Live with compassion Work with compassion Die with compassion Meditate with compassion Enjoy with compassion When problems come, experience them with compassion
It is possible to do every action with bodhicitta. When we eat, we can eat to satisfy our greed or we can eat to sustain ourselves in order to best help others.
The purpose of our life is to help free all beings from suffering. That’s the reason we are alive; that’s the reason for our survival, each day, each hour, each minute—to eliminate all the suffering of every kind mother sentient being. With this motivation, every second of our life becomes incredibly meaningful, not narrow but infinite like the limitless sky. It gives meaning to every tiny thing we do. With a bodhicitta motivation, every action becomes a Dharma action; every action becomes immense, with great, great meaning.
When we generate bodhicitta, such as saying the refuge and bodhicitta prayer with our palms together to the Buddha, we collect far greater merit than making offerings of buddha fields equaling the number of grains of sand of the Ganges river, filled with jewels, diamonds, silver and gold. If the benefits could materialize, even the sky would not be enough to hold them. …
Lama Zopa Rinpoche holding the book Lamrim Year, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, July 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lamrim Year: Making Life Meaningful Day By Day is an essential guide for students at any level of Buddhist study who want to develop their mind in the graduated path to enlightenment (lamrim).
The book was inspired by Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s 2013 advise to students on how they could study the entire lamrim over the course of a year:
“My suggestion would be to divide the twelve months of the year into lamrim meditations and then meditate on each subject for one month or two weeks to finish the whole lamrim in one year. . . . To meditate like this each year, wow, wow, wow! That would be great. Your life would be so rich and you would be getting closer to realization and closer to enlightenment. At the time of death you can be happy and satisfied that you spent enough of your life practicing Dharma.”
Taking Rinpoche’s advice to heart, Alison Murdoch, who compiled and edited Lamrim Year, set out to work her way through the indispensable lamrim text Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, by the great Buddhist master Pabongka Rinpoche. Finding it hard to maintain daily momentum, she writes in the book’s Editor’s Preface that she had the idea to create “a 365-page daily route map through the lamrim that would consist entirely of extracts from the teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and provide the best possible chance of fulfilling Rinpoche’s advice in the rough and tumble of modern life.”
Lamrim Year provides a 365-day outline of the graduated path in a clear, practical format that is suitable for both individual and group practice. Each day has a page with a quote and text selected from four decades of teachings by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The page concludes with a recap summarizing the main points for reflection and a reference to the lamrim topics covered, which closely follows the outline in Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand.
Here’s an excerpt from Lamrim Year: Making Life Meaningful Day By Day, published by Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive:
Day 64: The Perfect Human Rebirth (Lama Zopa Rinpoche)
“An appreciation of the perfect human rebirth is fundamental to our Dharma journey” —Lama Zopa Rinpoche
The great meditator, Lama Tsongkhapa, who formalized the whole lamrim structure, broke the lamrim up into two: appreciation of this life of freedom and richness—the perfect human rebirth—and how to make use of this precious opportunity—the rest of the lamrim topics from impermanence and death, refuge and karma up to the point where we attain full enlightenment.
The lamrim is not like a buffet, where we can pick and choose whatever we fancy. We have to eat the whole feast, otherwise we won’t get what we want, liberation or enlightenment. When we explore the lamrim we will see how each topic leads to the next and how each is therefore indispensable. The meditations on the perfect human rebirth come right at the beginning of the path, just after relying on a spiritual teacher. We need to understand karma and we need to have refuge, and to deepen our commitment we need to understand impermanence and death. But none of that will happen if we squander this precious and unique opportunity that we now have, this one time only.
Only those of us with this perfect human rebirth can become inner scientists and discover the true cause of happiness. We’re unbelievably fortunate. We have the opportunity to study, meditate, and understand everything that the Buddha taught, from the simplest lamrim topic to the most advanced. We have the opportunity to develop the altruistic heart, the attitude that wishes to be fully awakened to benefit others, and to understand the reality of things and events—emptiness. There is nothing we cannot understand with this perfect human rebirth.
The first section of the lamrim focuses on the perfect human rebirth
Each lamrim topic is an essential step on the journey to enlightenment
Only a perfect human rebirth gives us the opportunity to discover true happiness
For a printed copy of Lamrim Year: Making Life Meaningful Day By Day and links to more excerpts, visit the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website: https://www.lamayeshe.com/shop/lamrim-year-book
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In the new book The Power of Mantra: Vital Practices for Transformation, Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides students through understanding the power and benefit of mantras. Rinpoche explains many popular mantras, giving specific instructions for practicing them, including Shakyamuni Buddha, Chenrezig, Manjushri, Tara, Medicine Buddha, Vajrasattva, and more. In an excerpt from the book’s introduction, Rinpoche explains that mantras protect our minds:
