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Lama Zopa Rinpoche News and Advice
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with a student at the Baladin Theater, Savièse, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Olivier Adam.
Gendun Drupa Centre, an FPMT center in Martigny, Switzerland, hosted Lama Zopa Rinpoche from November 14 until December 4, 2018. The center’s spiritual program coordinator, Séverine Gondouin shares the story with help from Caro Solloso and Sophie Lacroix.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche arrived in Anzère, a village of beautiful chalet homes in the Alps mountain range on Wednesday night, November 14. Caro Sollaso, who was helping out at the house, was there when Rinpoche arrived. She said, “The arrival of Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the chalet was impressive. He arrived by night, with candlelight and rose petals on the ground. It was magical.”
“Rinpoche is a very approachable person who is very much interested in others,” Caro said. “He wanted to know everything about the place and our country. Rinpoche was laughing with us at the table. During each meal he would ask us a lot of questions about ourselves. He also gave us a small teaching after each meal that was tailored to us. Rinpoche is so simple and so incredibly kind. We even got to watch the making of the tormas.”
“Rinpoche loves animals a lot. Although he is vegan, he asked for cheese to share with my dog Shiva during the meals. He changed the names of the animals who were with us at the chalet, saying that it was better for them to have Dharma names. Sophie’s cat’s name was changed from Shatwa to Mahamudra. My dog Shiva became Bodhichitta,” Caro said.
Ven. Lhundup Topgye, Caro Solloso with her dog Shiva renamed Bodhichitta by Rinpoche, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Ven. Anet Engel, and Sophie Lacroix, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Sophie Lacroix, the owner of the chalet where Rinpoche stayed in Anzère, said, “It was an extraordinary week with him.”
“Rinpoche arrived in the land of cows, mountains, and chocolate. We were there—a few students—in the night, waiting for this incredible being that Switzerland had been waiting to come for so long. We didn’t know if his visit was a dream or reality,” Sophie said.
“Some prayers flags were flapping by the light of some candles, in a silence that predicted the incredible. And suddenly, two headlights appeared in the dark. We couldn’t see anything but we knew he was here, this precious being, this jewel, this inspiration.”
She continued, “There he was. He got down from the car with tranquility, serenity, and wisdom. We were there in the mountains—1,600 meters (5,249 feet) high—with Lama Zopa Rinpoche. I held my breath wondering ‘Will he like the place?’ I opened the door of the chalet and I heard ‘Nice!’ Finally I could breathe.”
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Shiva who he renamed Bodhichitta at the airport, Switzerland, December 2018. Photo by Séverine Gondouin.
“The first thing Rinpoche did,” Sophie said, “was sit down in an armchair and give blessings to the small dog Shiva. Everyone took possession of his room: Rinpoche, Ven. Roger Kunsang, Ven. Holly Ansett, Ven. Lhundup Topgye, Ven. Lobsang Sherab, and Ven. Anet Engel. Then it was time to see the parade of luggage. This was also incredible.”
“It was like living life in another dimension. The offering prayer before the meals took ten minutes,” Sophie recalled. “The soup that was once warm had become cold—no problem—each moment was dedicated for the benefit of all beings!”
“When the meal ended everyone there had things to do, but Rinpoche stayed there to teach us again and again. Ven. Anet cooked for us, and each meal was a masterpiece. Patience was required because the schedule was unknown. Each meal was a tsog prepared with care and attention. These were beautiful teachings of how to live our everyday life—every moment for others,” Sophie concluded.
On Friday evening, November 16, everyone was ready to listen to Rinpoche’s teachings. Rinpoche generously taught that whole weekend at the Baladin Center in Savièse, Switzerland, demonstrating great compassion for us all. He emphasized the importance of developing a good heart, cherishing others—the source of all happiness—and to change the purpose of our lives from self-cherishing to serving others.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the Baladin Theater, Savièse, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Olivier Adam.
Rinpoche also deeply taught on the nature of the mind, clearly perceiving objects, and how the “I” is merely labeled—a mere name—not existing from its own side. He taught that there is no real mind at all, that it never exists the way it appears to us, but is an extremely subtle phenomenon.
He instructed that we should clean the dust—the defilements—on the surface of the mirror so that the mirror can give a reflection. Rinpoche taught we should see the “I” on the “I” so that there isn’t anything to hold onto any longer. Look at the dream as a dream. Unify emptiness and existing without contradiction.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Gendun Drupa Center director Jean-Paul Gloor and spiritual program coordinator Séverine Gondouin at the Baladin Theater, Savièse, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Olivier Adam.
Rinpoche encouraged us to bring all sentient beings to enlightenment and to keep the mind in the right view, free from hallucination. He also talked about the importance of developing a good education in schools. Rinpoche said that we should focus our awareness on ending the harm we cause to ourselves and others. We usually take care of the body but not the mind. Rinpoche suggested that we help children keep their minds healthy, positive, and virtuous to benefit themselves and the world. He also insisted on practicing satisfaction.
Rinpoche emphasized that we should not keep what we learn on an intellectual level, but that we should actualize the teachings and experience them in our hearts. This way our practice becomes holy Dharma, not with a motivation attached to this life—to the eight worldly dharmas—but that we renounce. That will bring incredible peace and happiness, and also all that we do will become Dharma.
A student receiving a blessing at the Baladin Theater, Savièse, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Olivier Adam.
Last but not least, Rinpoche talked about devotion to the guru. To take care of our mind—this is the way to follow one’s guru’s advice and fulfill the guru’s wishes. This is the way to receive blessings. Rinpoche spoke about his own teachers who inspire him so much, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Panchen Rinpoche, and Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme).
We also did a Lama Chöpa tsog together on Saturday. The following day Rinpoche offered the Chenrezig Ngensong Kundrol initiation.
Ven. Losang leading a review class at the Baladin Theater, Savièse, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Olivier Adam.
The Swiss nun Ven. Losang (Rita Riniker) offered a review class on Saturday and Sunday morning. People were delighted by her teachings, presence, and inspiration. We thank her a lot as she did that job with all her heart. This really touched people, opened their hearts, and awakened their wisdom as well.
Some of the event volunteers with dinner cooked by Michele Fröhlich and Jean-Paul Gloor, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Harald Weichhart.
About two hundred people attended Rinpoche’s teachings hosted by our center. This was made possible thanks to the generosity of many people including the Gendun Drupa Center committee, who began to prepare this event months in advance, and thirty-six volunteers, who helped with food; arranged Sangha accommodation; made carpooling arrangements; organized the altar, shop, and welcome desk; and helped with the technology.
French language translator Ven. Lobsang Detchen at the Baladin, Savièse, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Olivier Adam.
We are also thankful to French language translator Ven. Lobsang Detchen, Italian language translator Ven. Siliana Bosa, German language translator Ven. Birgit Schweiberer, and Ven. Joan Nicell, who was transcribing from Nepal. We appreciate the audio team—Alexis Benelhadj, Harald Weichhart, and Antoine Janssen— as well as the donors, who helped us cover the event’s costs. We thank them all deeply from our hearts.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Gendun Drupa committee members following lunch in Martigny, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
On Monday, November 19, Rinpoche met with the Gendun Drupa Center committee for a lunch in Martigny. It was an opportunity to thank everyone for their work. The atmosphere was cheerful, filled with gratitude and love.
Rinpoche then taught two evenings at Gendun Drupa Centre in Martigny. We met that second evening because it was Sophie’s birthday, and Rinpoche wanted to offer a Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga and tsog. Rinpoche also took the opportunity to bless our center and consecrate it.
Students welcoming Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ven. Roger Kunsang to Gendun Drupa Center, Martigny, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Séverine Gondouin.
Both evenings were so precious—having Rinpoche in our small center, with so many people who were meeting him for the first time. It was a great gift for all students. Everyone was so happy. We finished really late that Tuesday night, but it was not a problem. We carried the energy from the evening with us when we went to work the next day.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Gendun Drupa Center, Martigny, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
We also had a surprise to announce that night: Rinpoche, who planned to leave on Wednesday, decided to stay on at Sophie’s house and do a personal retreat of almost two weeks. We organized things very quickly, including visas and food. It was a great joy to be able to continue closely working for Rinpoche.
As he was still in Switzerland on his birthday, he was offered a delicious sugar and gluten-free cake baked by one of our students.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering toys to students at the airport, Switzerland, December 2018. Photo by Séverine Gondouin.
Rinpoche departed Switzerland for Nepal the following day, December 4, to teach the 51st month-long Kopan lamrim meditation course students. Many students came to the airport in Switzerland to say goodbye. Everyone was so enthusiastic, so grateful, and so inspired by Rinpoche’s visit to Switzerland. It will surely give a new wave of energy to our center and a greater understanding of the meaning of guru devotion.
Enjoy more photos from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s visit to Switzerland:
https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/gallery/switzerland-november-2018/
For more information about Gendun Drupa Center, visit their website:
https://gendundrupa.ch/
Watch video recordings of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings from his 2018 European tour, which includes Spain, Germany, and Switzerland, and also find audio recordings of translations of the teachings in several languages as well as English language transcripts here:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/europe-tour-2018/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Adrian Dec and son Aaron Dec greeting Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Bern, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Séverine Gondouin.
Longku Center, an FPMT center in Bern, Switzerland, hosted Lama Zopa Rinpoche from November 12-14, 2018. Lama Zopa Rinpoche arrived from Munich, Germany, where Rinpoche was hosted by Aryatara Instituut. Brigitte Brunner and Andrea Meier, long-time students and members of Longku Center who co-organized Rinpoche’s Bern visit share the story.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche arrived late evening of November 12 from Munich, Germany, and stayed in Bern for two days before travelling on to Wallis, Switzerland. While offering welcome tea, Rinpoche talked about how important it is, if one encounters people who make our life difficult, to cherish them and to uphold them the most.
Longku Center board members, along with long-time students and organizers posed with Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Brigitte Brunner, Jangchub Iseli, Ueli Minder, Rinpoche, Ani Losang, Peter Iseli, Ven. Tsultrim, Andrea Meier, and Marianne Müller outside of Longku Center, Bern, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
The next evening Rinpoche gave a very inspiring public teaching on recognizing and using our human potential, starting with how lucky we are not to be born as a tiger who has to kill others to survive. How fortunate we are to have attained a precious human rebirth, able to distinguish what is right and what is wrong, what brings happiness and what brings suffering.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching, Campus Muristalden auditorium, Bern, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Then Rinpoche taught on the importance of practicing patience and how everything comes from the mind. He explained how we can do this—looking at every action as merely labeled, like a hallucination or a dream. This was a very powerful teaching on emptiness!
Lhagsam Study Group coordinators Nina and Jeff with members Sandra Passardi and Theres offering Lama Zopa Rinpoche a vegan cake Theres baked, Bern, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Séverine Gondouin.
We had two wonderful and very blessed days with Rinpoche in Bern. Our time with him was powerful, moving, and inspiring. We are very grateful to Rinpoche for his visit and his precious teachings.
Artist Peter Iseli offered this thankga of Milarepa to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, presented to Rinpoche outside of Longku Center, Bern, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
For more information about Longku Center, visit their website:
https://longku.fpmt.ch/fpmt7/nc/home/
Watch video recordings of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings from his 2018 European tour, which includes Spain, Germany, and Switzerland, and also find audio recordings of translations of the teachings in several languages as well as English language transcripts here:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/europe-tour-2018/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Tsog offering during Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings in Martigny, Switzerland, November 2018. Photo by Olivier Adam.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche received many messages wishing him “Happy Birthday” this year. So on Rinopche’s birthday, which is December 3, he recorded a video message as a thank you to all who offered him birthday greetings.
In the video, Rinpoche gives advice on how to best see one’s birthday and the practices that can be done that become the causes for total and complete enlightenment for oneself and for all sentient beings.
Watch Lama Zopa Rinopche’s Birthday Message:
https://youtu.be/ajT7srFuHw8
You can find the transcript of Rinpoche’s birthday message here:
https://fpmt.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/11/a-birthday-message-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche/Lama-Zopa-Rinpoche-Birthday-Message-20181203.pdf
Find complete videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings, including recent teachings in Switzerland, Germany, Spain, and Kopan Monastery:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Kopan Monastery School performers in deer costumes, Kathmandu, Nepal, December 2018. Photo by Kopan Monastery School.
Geshe Sherab, headmaster at Kopan Monastery School in Kathmandu, Nepal, shares how the students at this FPMT monastery celebrated Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday.
We’ve been celebrating Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday quite extensively since 2016. The last two years were perfect as we celebrated in the presence of Rinpoche himself. This year we celebrated without Rinpoche because of Rinpoche’s later arrival here in Nepal.
Audience enjoying the birthday festivities at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, December 2018. Photo by Kopan Monastery School.
Students spent two months preparing a play for the event. The event went well. We had a great lunch then we all gathered in front of the Kopan Monastery gompa. We had a huge cake as you see in the picture.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday cake at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, December 2018. Photo by Kopan Monastery School.
The program began with an offering of body, speech, and mind to Rinpoche by Kopan’s abbot Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi.
Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi making an offering of body, speech, and mind to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s throne at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, December 2018. Photo by Kopan Monastery School.
This was followed by a play called The Deer Park. I created the play’s concept, and it was written by our volunteer teacher Alex Duncan. The costumes were by Ven. Tenzin Sherab.
Kopan Monastery School performers in costume at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, December 2018. Photo by Kopan Monastery School.
The students performed the play as more then four hundred people were watching and enjoying the cake.
Kopan Monastery School performers performing the play at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, December 2018. Photo by Kopan Monastery School.
Young monks who performed in the English-language play were so excited even after the program finished. I was so happy that all the young artists said all of their lines very well.
For more information about Kopan Monastery and Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery:
http://kopanmonastery.com/
http://www.kopannunnery.org/
Find complete videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent teachings at Kopan Monastery:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche arriving at Kopan Monastery, where he will teach during the annual Kopan meditation course, Nepal, December 2018. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery Facebook page.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche was greeted by hundreds of nuns, monks, and lay students at Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery and Kopan Monastery upon his return to Nepal.
Rinpoche first went to the nunnery, where hundreds of nuns were waiting to greet him. Rinpoche stopped and visited the nunnery gompa before going up Kopan hill.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche arriving at Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery, Nepal, December 2018. Photo by Bill Kane.
At Kopan Monastery, the monks and lay students attending the 51st month-long Kopan lamrim meditation course lined up to greet Rinpoche, offering khatas and welcoming him back.
Monks and lay students at Kopan Monastery awaiting Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s arrival, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2018. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery Facebook page.
Rinpoche started giving teachings at the Kopan course, which are being streamed live online.
For links to watch the teaching, visit the “Lama Zopa Rinpoche LIVE” page:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/
Rinpoche often teaches at the 3:30 p.m. session (UTC+5:45), although times are subject to change. Rinpoche will be teaching at the Kopan course until it concludes on December 17 with the long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on behalf of the FPMT organization.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2018. Photo by Bill Kane.
Kopan monks during Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s arrival, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2018. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery Facebook page.
Monks and Kopan course students welcoming Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2018. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery Facebook page.
Find complete videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent teachings:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/
For more information about Kopan Monastery and Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery:
http://kopanmonastery.com/
http://www.kopannunnery.org/
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 at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, UK, 2014. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche sent a special video message to Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London, describing the importance and benefit of having a Dharma center.
Rinpoche’s message was in honor of Jamyang’s fortieth anniversary, which was marked with two days of events in October.
The celebration included an evening remembering Lama Yeshe, the launch of the Cafe at Jamyang’s cookbook, a presentation on the history of Jamyang, cake, a group photo, and a look toward the center’s future.
In the video, Rinpoche thanks all the people who have helped Jamyang exist over the years.
Rinpoche also explains how FPMT centers can bring peace to the world by teaching people about compassion and how to develop a good heart.
Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Message Celebrating Jamyang Buddhist Centre’s 40 Anniversary:
https://youtu.be/8NCHapZcHgQ
Learn more about Jamyang Buddhist Center:
https://www.jamyang.co.uk/
Find complete videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent teachings:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/
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 and the monks from Kopan Monastery doing Lama Chopa on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, Nepal, December 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
On last year’s Lama Tsongkhapa Day, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave a teaching on the true meaning of the guru at Kopan Monastery, while seated in front of the large statue of Lama Tsongkhapa in Kopan’s main gompa. Here is an excerpt from the beginning of that teaching:
I mentioned one quotation: “Even if you have complete qualities, without a guru you cannot be liberated from samsara.”
For example, you can say by heart more than a hundred volumes of the Buddha’s teachings, called the Kangyur, then more than two hundred volumes by Nagarjuna, Asanga, and all the great yogis and pandits from India—their commentaries are more than two hundred volumes—so you know all this by heart and you can explain it, but if you don’t have a guru, you cannot be free, you cannot be liberated from samsara, the oceans of suffering of samsara. You cannot be free. Do you understand?
Then it says, “Without an oarsman, the boat alone cannot cross over the water. Without the guru, there is no name, even the name ‘buddha’ doesn’t exist before the guru. Before the guru there is not even the name of buddha.” So numberless past buddhas, numberless present buddhas, numberless future buddhas, all came from the guru. That is the understanding, the realization, that we, including myself, need.
The mind has a gross mind, a subtle mind, and an extremely subtle mind. The body has a gross body, a subtle body, and an extremely subtle body. Why all sentient beings can become enlightened is because the nature of the mind has no mistakes. The mind is temporarily obscured, like the weather, the sky covered by clouds. The sky is not oneness with the clouds; it is temporarily obscured by the clouds. The mind is temporarily veiled. The nature of the mind is not oneness with the mistake. The nature is pure. That is why sentient beings can become enlightened; what it says in the philosophy is all sentient beings can become enlightened.
So here I’m talking about subtle consciousness, not only is it in nature pure, not only that, but even the primordial mind—this is highest tantra subject actually, normally you don’t hear about this except when you are studying highest tantra—but I think for you, to practice the most important subject for you, to really know what the guru is, you have to know that. That which is totally pure, having ceased, not only its nature is pure, but also free from temporary obscurations, so now [it is] bound with infinite compassion embracing us sentient beings.
This is what is mentioned in Phabongkha Dechen Nyingpo’s Calling the Guru from Afar, the real thing, what is guru. At the beginning it says three times LA MA KHYEN, LA MA KHYEN, LA MA KHYEN, which means “may the guru understand.” It doesn’t mean that the guru doesn’t understand, doesn’t see, is totally blocked, totally dark. It doesn’t mean that. But that you have a very serious matter, that you have been suffering from beginningless rebirths, most serious, so you want to express that. Even the guru understands, but you want to express it. It is kind of emphasizing it.
[Rinpoche recites the first verse of Calling the Guru from Afar in Tibetan:]SANG GYÄ KÜN GYI YE SHE DE CHHEN CHHÖ KUR RO CHIG
The wisdom of all buddhas, one taste with the great bliss dharmakaya,
DE NYI DRIN CHÄN LA MA KÜN GYI RANG ZHIN THAR THUG
Is itself the ultimate nature of all kind gurus.
LA MA CHHÖ KYI KU LA NYING NÄ SÖL WA DEB SO
I beseech you, Guru, dharmakaya,
DI CHHI BAR DO KÜN TU DRÄL ME JE SU ZUNG SHIG
Please guide me always without separation, in this life, future lives, and the bardo.
That is an incredible, unbelievably important subject. It takes time to understand and to feel. SANG GYÄ KÜN GYI YE SHE, “all the buddhas’,” YE SHE, “transcendental wisdom,” DE CHHEN CHHÖ KUR RO CHIG, “one taste in dharmakaya, dharmakaya the great bliss.” It says it is “one taste in the dharmakaya, the great bliss.”
[DE NYI DRIN CHÄN LA MA,] “That is the kind guru.” That is all the transcendental wisdom, the transcendental wisdom of all the buddhas is one taste in dharmakaya, dharmakaya, great bliss. That one is the kind guru. [KÜN GYI RANG ZHIN THAR THUG,] “That is the nature of all” means all the buddhas. LA MA CHHÖ KYI KU LA NYING NÄ SÖL WA DEB SO, “To you, the guru, dharmakaya, from my heart I make requests.”Then the request is: DI CHHI BAR DO KÜN TU DRÄL ME JE SU ZUNG SHIG, “In this life, intermediate state, bardo, this life, next life, intermediate state, all the time.” “All the time” means every second, all the time. Then “without separation” means the guru and yourself without separation. “Please guide” means bring yourself to that same state, the dharmakaya. That is the meaning of “guide.”
We have the same prayer in Lama Chopa, “You are the guru, you are the deity, dakini, Dharma protector …”; that request is the same. Even if you are going to die today, or even if you have one hour to die, one minute, a few seconds, this is what you request to the guru. It is like that. That is the most important. …
Watch the teaching “The True Meaning of the Guru and How to Find and Follow Him Part 1”:
https://youtu.be/AUmsvrAwfdo
Watch the teaching “The True Meaning of the Guru and How to Find and Follow Him Part 2″:
https://youtu.be/_DFpJdKXN1U
Colophon: Excerpted from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings at Kopan Monastery, December 12, 2017. Simultaneously transcribed by Ven. Joan Nicell. Lightly edited by Laura Miller, November 2018.
Lama Tsongkhapa Day, Ganden Ngamchoe, is on Sunday, December 2, this year. Find practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche here:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/lama-tsongkhapa-day-ganden-ngamchoe-is-on-december-2/
Find complete videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent teachings:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/
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 with the reincarnation of Domo Geshe Rinpoche at Sera Je Monastery, Bulakyppe, India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche sent this story to a student, mentioning in his letter that Domo Geshe Rinpoche built Domo Drugkar Gompa in Tibet, where Rinpoche tells the student he became a monk:
This great yogi Domo Geshe Rinpoche and some other lamas were in Tsang together with their guru—probably their root guru—and one day the root guru sent each of them to a different place. The guru told one of the lamas to go to Tsang and said to him, “You won’t benefit sentient beings, but you will be able to do your own practice.”
Domo Geshe Rinpoche was sent by the guru toward Domo near Sikkim to live in the forest. There the gorillas used to offer fruit to him. The shepherd of one of the rich families in Domo used to go to the mountains to look after animals and while there he sometimes saw a monk coming out and sometimes he saw gorillas coming out. He told the family, his boss, and the family told him to go and see the monk and invite him to come to them. So the shepherd went to see the monk and invited him to come down to the house. The monk accepted and came down and stayed for one year in the shrine room of the house. Then after one year he asked the family if they could build a monastery and they started to build him one.
That family’s name was Bumpo Tsang and they were a rich family in the area. They started the monastery and it was a good monastery for a long time. I became a monk there, but I only stayed there for six months. At that time all of Tibet was taken over by the Chinese. It was 1959 and the monastery was full of spies. There was all kinds of mess and Chinese leaders used to come sometimes to give talks. I offered my first examination there on one volume of a text, but I didn’t get to memorize the second volume because I escaped. But I memorized the text in the mornings and evenings in Pagri, which is a big place where I lived for three years. In the mornings and evenings I would memorize the text and every day we would go to do puja for the families who were benefactors of Domo Geshe’s monastery. We went every day except maybe once a year.
I think Lama Govinda came to Tibet and met Domo Geshe Rinpoche, and maybe heard some teachings from him. That’s why he wrote The Way of the White Clouds and a second book, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, which is a mixture of tantra and science. The Way of the White Clouds was one of the first books available in the West and our very first student, Zina Rachevsky, the Russian princess, read that book and came to look for a guru at Domo Geshe’s monastery in Ghoom, Darjeeling. Maybe she was looking for Domo Geshe.
I was staying in a room in this monastery with my teacher who looked after me and my teacher Lama Yeshe. One monk met Zina outside. He could speak a few words of English so he brought her to my room, opened the door and said, “Oh, here’s your friend.” She was blond and had a Tibetan sweater from the Darjeeling bus station. My teacher offered Zina some Tibetan tea poured from a Tibetan kettle into a monk’s mug and that day she drank it completely. That was the only day I saw her drink Tibetan tea. From that time onwards I never saw her drink Tibetan tea again. It was by meeting Zina that we started Kopan monastery and built Lawudo at the same time. Gradually all the other centers happened and now there are 160 or maybe more, and we have forty-four geshes or maybe even more.
This story, “Precious Images,” is from “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book,” published in April 2018 on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive website:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/precious-images
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 Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Zong Rinpoche at Manjushri Institute, UK, 1978. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive recently published The Path to Ultimate Happiness, an ebook of teachings given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the 42nd Kopan lamrim course. Here’s a short excerpt where Rinpoche talks about his precious teacher Lama Yeshe, who founded FPMT with Rinpoche:
Lama Yeshe was kinder than all the three times’ buddhas. For the tantric meditators, when you bring the wind into the central channel, the in-breath and out-breath are equalized, without one being stronger than the other. When the wind abides in the central channel the belly does not move; it stays calm. There’s no breathing through the nostrils during the absorption when the gross mind stops and only the most subtle mind is actualized.
That meditation on emptiness is like an atomic bomb, the quickest way to cease the defilements and achieve enlightenment. That becomes the direct cause of the dharmakaya. My guess is that when the mind becomes extremely subtle, when the gross mind stops, at that time the heart stops beating, there is no rising or falling of the belly and no breathing through the nose. I’m not sure; that’s just my guess.
Externally, what Lama Yeshe manifested was a heart problem. That’s what people saw; that’s what the doctors diagnosed it as. Lama actually used this heart problem that outside people saw for his meditation session. Lama’s meditation sessions were often Lama lying down and people took that to be him resting or sleeping; that was the view of other people. Actually, for Lama Yeshe that was a meditation session. It was a very high tantric meditation, part of the completion stage practice, the practice of clear light and the illusory body, the direct cause of the dharmakaya and the rupakaya. He did this at night and always after lunch. To other people he was resting or sleeping, but it was actually a meditation session.
Lama didn’t show much sitting in a formal meditation posture with eyes closed and so forth. He did sometimes, later, but it wasn’t normal for him. He was a very high yogi, a very accomplished master, so his way of doing this was kind of secret. That is what was happening internally.
Outside, whoever he was with, he fitted in with them. If he was with children, he fitted in with them; when he was with old people he fitted in with them. Whoever came he fitted in with them, acting in a way that was best for them, in order to make everybody happy. Therefore, everybody saw Lama differently. Some people even saw him as a big businessman. But in reality he was a great meditator who had realizations of emptiness and bodhichitta. He realized emptiness while still in Tibet. He said he realized emptiness while they were debating Madhyamaka philosophy many years ago in Tibet. And I remember something happened while we were in Delhi and Lama said he could never get angry at even one sentient being, he could never renounce even one sentient being. That shows he had the realization of bodhichitta a long time ago.
I pushed Lama to come to Kopan to help with the course. Usually I talked about the eight worldly dharmas and the negative attitude and the lower realms, and I’d spend about two weeks or so on that, then everybody got very depressed, by hearing all the negatives. Then Lama Yeshe came and made them laugh, releasing them from that sadness and depression. This is how we did it.
Excerpted from The Path to Ultimate Happiness, teachings given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the 42nd Kopan lamrim course in 2009 at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, lightly edited by Gordon McDougall and Sandra Smith.
In the new ebook The Path to Ultimate Happiness, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains the lamrim, the stages of the path to enlightenment, teaches extensively on emptiness and the good heart, and gives commentaries on sur practice, the Offering Cloud Mantra, and other prayers and practices.
You can order The Path to Ultimate Happiness from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive or the FPMT Foundation Store:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/shop/path-ultimate-happiness-ebook
https://shop.fpmt.org/-The-Path-to-Ultimate-Happiness-eBook-PDF-_p_3134.html
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 teaching in Munich, Germany, November 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive recently published The Path to Ultimate Happiness, an ebook of teachings given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the 42nd Kopan lamrim course. In this book, Rinpoche discusses our potential to bring benefit and happiness, including full enlightenment, to all sentient beings. Here’s a short excerpt:
This life is very short. We can’t really tell how many years we have left or how many months, how many weeks, how many days, how many hours, minutes, or seconds. There are a certain number of seconds, a certain number of breaths from right at this minute up to the time of our death, and those breaths are constantly running out; they are going very fast. There are a certain number of seconds from right now until death, and they are finishing very fast. Whatever is left over is constantly finishing very fast as we go toward death.
We can’t really tell who will die next in this world. A child who has just come out of womb—or even in the womb—can die without the opportunity to grow up. So many sentient beings die in their childhood, so many when they become middle-aged, and of course there is no question of when they become old.
We really can’t tell. Within another ten or twenty years, and certainly within another fifty years, many of us here will be gone. Can we be certain that we will still be OK for another year? It’s difficult to say, even regarding our own wellbeing.
Excerpted from The Path to Ultimate Happiness, teachings given by Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the 42nd Kopan lamrim course in 2009 at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, lightly edited by Gordon McDougall and Sandra Smith.
In the new ebook The Path to Ultimate Happiness, Rinpoche explains the lamrim, the stages of the path to enlightenment, teaches extensively on emptiness and the good heart, and gives commentaries on sur practice, the Offering Cloud Mantra, and other prayers and practices.
You can order The Path to Ultimate Happiness from the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive or the FPMT Foundation Store:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/shop/path-ultimate-happiness-ebook
https://shop.fpmt.org/-The-Path-to-Ultimate-Happiness-eBook-PDF-_p_3134.html
Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach LIVE during his visit to Switzerland, November 13, 16-18! For links to live video streams:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/
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 giving a talk in Madrid, Spain, October 2018. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
During the 2017 month-long lamrim meditation course at Kopan Monastery, Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught on karma, explaining a verse from Bodhicharyavatara (A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life) by Shantideva, the great eighth-century Indian Buddhist master. This is what Rinpoche taught:
In Bodhicharyavatara it is mentioned that “in the past, I gave such harm to other sentient beings, therefore sentient beings harming me is worthwhile. It is worthwhile for me to receive this harm.”
When others are harming you—even fleas biting you, even a mosquito biting you, ants biting you, bees stinging, others getting angry at you, abusing you—you see that whatever happens, there is always a reason. The reason is you harmed others first. So you can understand, by remembering why it happens, remember the reason, so then you can think, “It is worthwhile that I received [the harm].”
Usually what we do is think, “I’m perfect, the most perfect, never wrong, others are wrong.” You blame others. Then somebody harms, abuses you, somebody looks at you bad, somebody says something bad, and you harm back, you crush them, you disintegrate them, whatever you can do, immediately. It is like this. “There is nothing wrong with me. I’m perfect. Others are wrong.” …
This is not an educated person’s action. It is not an educated person’s personality. No, [it is the action of] an uneducated person, same as a tiger, a dog; if somebody harms you, then you bite back, the same. Somebody harms you, so you harm back. That is animal character. You understand? It is not wise. But this is how normally we do.
The reason [you receive harm] is that in the past you cheated or you abused others in that way. You abused others in that way, so then this time it happens to you. This person, why this person abuses you? Why? It is because in the past you abused this person in that way. Even if a flea is biting you, it is the same. So everything is the same.
So the great bodhisattva Shantideva said, “It is worthwhile that I receive harm from others this time.” It is worthwhile.
Then, it is mentioned, “My karma persuaded, then I received this harm. By that, didn’t I lose that sentient being in the hole of the hell?”
So, it means in the past you gave harm. Then because of that, your karma persuaded the person, and the result is that that person is harming you. That happens from that cause—you harmed the person in the past so in this life you are harmed by this person.
Now the person harming you is in the human world. But because of that harm, it makes the person not be in the human realm in the future but to reincarnate and fall down into the hole of the hell, the hell realm.
Thinking of that is a way of generating compassion. Instead of getting angry and harming back, you generate compassion, the root of happiness for yourself and all sentient beings. To generate compassion back is very important.
Generate compassion. When other sentient beings abuse you, whatever harm they do to you, use that to generate compassion.
Watch the teaching by Lama Zopa Rinpoche from which this excerpt is taken:
https://youtu.be/THzO0Nue3jg
Colophon: Excerpted from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, December 8, 2017. Simultaneously transcribed by Ven. Joan Nicell. Lightly edited by Laura Miller, October 2018.
Find out more about the courses offered at Kopan Monastery:
http://kopanmonastery.com/courses-retreats/courses
Find complete videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent teachings:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/
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 being interview by Wisdom Publication’s Daniel Aitken for a Wisdom Podcast, Kurukulla Center, Massachusetts, US, August 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Wisdom Publications recently featured Lama Zopa Rinpoche in its Wisdom Podcast. Daniel Aitken, director of Wisdom Publications, spoke with Rinpoche for over an hour, during Rinpoche’s visit to Kurukulla Center in Boston, US, in August 2018.
In the far-ranging interview, Rinpoche speaks on many topics, including stories about his early days as a young monk, how he became a Gelugpa, and how he ended up at Buxa in West Bengal, India, where he met Lama Yeshe. Rinpoche also offers a succinct teaching on emptiness and everyday practice advice.
“Now there is much more understanding of Buddhism, what Buddhism is, really,” Rinpoche said when asked about how Dharma practice has developed in the West over the past fifty years.
“That has happened and so much is happening, but overall the most important, the most important, you see, the essence of Buddhadharma is compassion. Compassion that not only wishes sentient beings, who are obscured and suffering, to be free from suffering, not only that, but you want to free, you want to help the sentient beings to be free from sufferings and the cause of sufferings.
“Overall, I think, as regards the FPMT students, overall as the years went through, I checked, so it looks like more compassion has developed among the people. More compassion, more understanding and more compassion, has developed. This is what I see.”
This Wisdom Podcast of Lama Zopa Rinpoche is available as audio or video, both with a transcript.
Watch the Wisdom Podcast interview on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/ZFPvDq5kyfQ
There are dozens of Wisdom Podcasts available to listen to. Recent guests include Geshe Thubten Jinpa, Geshe Tashi Tsering, and His Holiness the Sakya Trichen Ngawang Kunga, among many other accomplished teachers, scholars, and practitioners of Buddhism.
Find the Wisdom Podcast of Lama Zopa Rinpoche online:
https://learn.wisdompubs.org/podcast/lama-zopa/
Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach LIVE from Spain, Germany, and Switzerland, October 19-November 18! For links to live video streams:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/
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.