Lama Zopa Rinpoche News and Advice

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Sera Je Monastery, India, November 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

“Even when you wash, you purify not only yourself but sentient beings. Not only are your obscurations purified, but all sentient beings’ obscurations are purified. For example, the first time washing with water, the disturbing thought obscurations are purified. Then, by putting soap, then washing the subtle obscurations, shedrib, of all sentient beings, not only yours, all sentient beings are purified,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches in this video clip, recorded during the 100 Million Mani Mantra Retreat in Italy in October 2017.

“So you can think the same thing when you clean with soap the teeth. First purify the nyondrib, disturbing thought obscurations, yours and all sentient beings. Then second, put the toothpaste and washing, then subtle obscurations purified, not only yours and all sentient beings as well, like that. …

“There is no business in the world that can compete with bodhichitta benefits. So with the motivation of bodhichitta any action you do, then always increases and causes enlightenment. And after enlightenment what you can do is amazing, amazing, amazing. …”

Watch the entire teaching on “How to Think When Washing or Brushing Your Teeth”:
https://youtu.be/7o8_-TmHW2g

Watch complete teachings—with translations in French, Italian, and Spanish, as well as English transcripts—from the 100 Million Mani Mantra Retreat in Italy:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/100-million-mani-mantra-retreat-2017/

Find more video clips from Lama Zopa Rinpoche:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5F6A5E3C2873F2EA

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 offering Thubten Rigsel Rinpoche (Khen Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup’s incarnation) a khata, Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, Nepal, December 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

“Cherishing the I is opening the door for all the problems, all the obstacles, all the undesirable things; and cherishing others is the source of all the happiness, opening the door for all the happiness for oneself. As I mentioned before, moment to moment, day to day, moment to moment, peace and happiness, when we generate this thought, when we transform our mind into this bodhichitta, then up to enlightenment, we achieve all the happiness from this. And from our bodhichitta numberless sentient beings receive happiness. All the happiness is received from our bodhichitta,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche says in a teaching just published in the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive December 2017 E-letter.

“So now, we put it this way. If we generated bodhichitta, if we changed our mind, our attitude, like Guru Shakyamuni Buddha did, like Maitreya Buddha did, if we changed our mind like them, then we would have been enlightened already. Then the numberless sentient beings who are dependent on us to receive teachings or to be guided, who are dependent on us—the numberless sentient beings who are dependent on us to receive guidance—they would have been enlightened already. The numberless hell beings, numberless hungry ghosts, numberless animals, numberless human beings, suras and asura beings who are suffering unimaginably now, they would have been enlightened already. But because we did not change our attitude; we kept the ego, the self-cherishing thought in our heart; we followed that and never changed; therefore these numberless sentient beings of each realm are still suffering unimaginably.

“Guru Shakyamuni, Maitreya Buddha and so forth, changed their attitude inconceivable eons ago and already enlightened numberless sentient beings. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second, they enlighten numberless sentient beings and bring them to enlightenment. Therefore, we can’t wait, we can’t stand it, we can’t wait, it’s so unbearable, we can’t wait. How urgent it is, because there are numberless other beings who are suffering, who are dependent on us to receive guidance.

“We can understand by the example of how many sentient beings there are who are dependent on us to receive guidance. For example, in this life after we met the Dharma, then how many—many of us can use that example—how many people have met Dharma by our talking to them, only then they met Dharma. Even though there are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, only after they met us and heard teachings about meditation, then they got inspired and they continued to learn and follow the path, so how many people that happened for. That is an example, so there are numberless other sentient beings who are dependent on us to receive guidance in order to achieve enlightenment. Therefore, we need to generate bodhichitta without delaying even for a second.

“And then, we need to let go of the I and cherish sentient beings. We need to generate bodhichitta. We can’t wait, we can’t delay, it’s unbearable to delay even for a second, a minute or a second.” …

You can read the complete teaching, which was given during a retreat at Institut Vajra Yogini in France in 2003, in the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive December 2017 E-Letter:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/e-letter-no-174-december-2017

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

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and crew of the MV Brigitte Bardot, a trimaran belonging to the conservation organization Sea Shepherd. Rinpoche blessed marine animals from the boat’s deck, Italy, October 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsand Sherab.

When discussing global problems, Lama Zopa Rinpoche emphasizes how we must identify the mind as the source of our problems. From an article in the new issue of Mandala, Rinpoche and other Buddhist teachers explain the only way to address our collective challenges is through the transformation of our minds. 

“It’s called ‘natural disaster,’ but it’s not natural. It comes from the mind,” Rinpoche told representatives of the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom in an interview in Bodhgaya, India, in December 2011.

“It comes from the minds of people, the minds of the beings who are living in this world. Whatever they experience, good or bad, comes from their minds. Their good experiences come from their good minds, good hearts. The bad experiences come from their bad minds, bad hearts. It’s so simple. It’s not natural. In other words, it comes from lendre. ‘Le‘ is the ‘action,’ ‘dre‘ is ‘result.’ Action, effect, action, effect. Effect comes through the action. After the action, then there’s the effect. Good and bad depend on whether the action is bad or good.”

What Rinpoche and others Buddhist teachers, like His Holiness the Dalai Lama, consistently point out is that in order to address the world’s difficulties, from the Buddhist perspective, we must look first at our own individual minds. An understanding of how our minds work is critical to taking correct action to create the causes and conditions for resolving global problems. This understanding of the mind is revealed through studying and reflecting on the teachings of the Buddha and through the guidance of qualified teachers. 

You can read online the entire article “Changing the Mind, Changing the World: The Mind, Karma, and Global Change,” from Mandala January-June 2018:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/mandala-for-2018/january-june/changing-the-mind-changing-the-world-the-mind-karma-and-global-change/

Watch complete teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche from around the world:
https://fpmt.org/RinpocheNow

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 offering charity to ants, New Mexico, 2017. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Even one small act of charity leads to happiness and success in future lives, and eventually it leads to enlightenment, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains in a video clip from the 2016 Light of the Path retreat. “You have to know that. Keep it in your mind,” Rinpoche says. “Keep it in your heart; write it down.”

Because karma is expandable, Rinpoche explains, even if you do something small or simple, such as helping an insect or offering an old person a seat, that positive act will result in success over hundreds, thousands, of life times. Rinpoche also emphasizes how karma never gets lost. So the results of your positive actions will definitely be experienced. Rinpoche points out how necessary merit, positive karma, is for success and for achieving ultimate happiness and liberation.

Watch the video “Without Merit Nothing Works”: 
https://youtu.be/7VjbLKQG0Po

The nature of samsara is impermanence and the suffering that comes with it, Rinpoche teaches in this video clip. Relationships are changing. The best friend becomes an enemy. Because of attachment you are suffering so much. Why? Because you did not realize the Four Noble Truths in the last life. If you are actualizing the path, then you are free from the ocean of samsara. If you follow delusions and karma, if you follow attachment, then you torture yourself. Therefore, Rinpoche explains, you have to help others, who are in the same situation. This is why it’s so important to meditate on kindness and bodhichitta.

Watch more video from the 2016 Light of the Path Retreat and find links to translations, MP3s, and the complete transcript:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/light-of-the-path-teachings-2016/

Watch complete teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche from around the world:
https://fpmt.org/RinpocheNow

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 arriving at the teaching venue, 100 Million Mani Mantra Retreat, Italy, October 2017. Photo by Piero Sirianni.

During the 100 Million Mani Mantra Retreat in Italy, Lama Zopa Rinpoche addressed a question on uniting politics and Dharma. Rinpoche’s answer, captured in the video clip below from the October 28 teaching, first shares the story of two Tibetans who offered service to His Holiness translating newspaper stories. They told Rinpoche they wanted to practice Dharma. However Rinpoche saw their translation activities as Dharma, because Rinpoche recognized that they were serving the Guru and that that is Dharma. 

Rinpoche then discusses the different kinds of motivation one can have when engaging in Dharma, emphasizing the motivation of “compassion to all sentient beings. On the basis of that [motivation], free the sentient beings from oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to peerless happiness, cessation of obscurations, completion of realizations; bring them there by oneself; then oneself to achieve enlightenment for that reason, as a method; then with this bodhichitta everything becomes cause of enlightenment, not only listening to Dharma, reflecting, meditating, everything, eating, walking, sitting, sleeping, doing job, everything.”

Rinpoche concludes that in order to have unity of politics and Dharma, one must first know Dharma. And that having the pure mind of bodhichitta is the best way to run the government. 

“This is the best way to run the government, with bodhichitta. You are like the servant; all sentient beings are the master,” Rinpoche says. “You are the servant. You serve the sentient beings. You are there for them, not they are there for you. Like that, your motivation is so pure, so there are not the problems [that we see happening] in the world.”

Watch Rinpoche teach on politics and Dharma:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF5EHIIDP6s

Watch more video from the 100 Million Mani Retreat 2017 in Italy and find links to translations, MP3s, and the complete transcript:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/100-million-mani-mantra-retreat-2017/

Watch complete teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche from around the world:
https://fpmt.org/RinpocheNow

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 his dorje and bell, Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington, US, September 2016. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

During the 100 Million Mani Mantra Retreat in Italy, Lama Zopa Rinpoche talked about how to think when ringing the bell when doing Vajrasattva mantra. In this six-minute video clip from the October 20 teaching, Rinpoches notes that the vajra symbolizes method and the bell, wisdom. He explains how wisdom and method relate to each other in tantra and how the vajra and bell should be held together, not one by one. He then talks about the meaning of the bell sound.

“… So the bell sound means no phenomenon has true existence. No phenomenon has true existence, no phenomenon exists from its own side, by itself, or real. It appeared to our hallucinated mind, what is projected by ignorance, so then we from beginningless rebirths, we one hundred percent we believe, we grasp. So that is the basis of all the delusions, all the delusions, all the suffering. It is the basis of anger and attachment, all the delusions, then all suffering,” Rinpoche teaches. 

“… That means that all phenomena are empty from their own side. Like that. That is because all phenomena exist in mere name. When you recite Vajrasattva, it is not offering, it is to remind you of emptiness. In emptiness, when you ring the bell, in emptiness there is no real I. In emptiness there is no real action. In emptiness there is no real object. You ring the bell and meditate on that. So that becomes very powerful purification.”

Watch “What to think when ringing the bell and reciting Vajrasattva mantra”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI8Eq7wD4xA

Watch more video from the 100 Million Mani Retreat 2017 in Italy and find links to translations, MP3s, and the complete transcript:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/100-million-mani-mantra-retreat-2017/

Watch complete teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche from around the world:
https://fpmt.org/RinpocheNow

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.

Young monks on Lama Tsongkhapa day, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

At the beginning of the 100 Million Mani Mantra Retreat in Italy in October, Lama Zopa Rinpoche talked about the need to be free from all suffering—the suffering of pain, the suffering of change, and pervasive compounding suffering—in order to achieve ultimate happiness and liberation. But, this is not enough for us, Rinpoche explained. The purpose of being born human is not to be free from suffering ourselves; the purpose of our human life is to benefit all sentient beings, to free them from all suffering and bring them to peerless happiness, total cessation of obscurations, and completion of realizations. 

In this short video clip taken from the October 6, 2017 teaching, Rinpoche talks about this main aim of human life, of the retreat, … of everything.

Watch the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAV-gvchhjw

Watch more video from the 100 Million Mani Retreat 2017 in Italy and find links to translations, MP3s, and the complete transcript:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/100-million-mani-mantra-retreat-2017/

Watch complete teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche from around the world:
https://fpmt.org/RinpocheNow

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 at Light of the Path retreat, North Carolina, US, 2016. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

While it may seem that there are many things we can do with our lives, Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches that there is only one thing to do that is meaningful, which is to practice Dharma. From beginningless time, Rinpoche explains, we have had numberless samsaric rebirths. We’ve been experiencing the suffering of samsara since beginningless time, and there’s nothing new that we haven’t already done or thought. When we see it like this, Rinpoche says, the decision to practice Dharma is very simple.

Rinpoche gives this powerful advice in a five-minute video clip taken from Rinpoche’s teachings at the Light of the Path retreat in 2016.

Watch “Just One Decision in Life: Practice Dharma”:
https://youtu.be/cMoyfOMLOa0

Watch more video from the 2016 Light of the Path Retreat and find links to translations, MP3s, and the complete transcript:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/light-of-the-path-teachings-2016/

Watch teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche from around the world:
https://fpmt.org/RinpocheNow

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 long life puja, Kopan Monastery, December 14, 2017. Photo by Bill Kane.

A long life puja was offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on Thursday, December 14, on behalf of the entire FPMT organization. Kopan monks, nuns, and November course students filled the main gompa at Kopan for the puja, which was also broadcast live over the internet. The long life puja came at the end of the fiftieth month-long lamrim course with teachings by Rinpoche at Kopan.

Umze Geshe Sherab leading the long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2017. Photo by Bill Kane.

At the end of the long life puja, Ven. Roger Kunsang, CEO of FPMT and assistant to Rinpoche, gave a special thanks to Rinpoche on behalf of all the students for teaching fifty of these courses. Ven. Roger also recognized how the courses have resulted in the establishment of FPMT Dharma centers in 39 countries. He also thanked Rinpoche for “the many, many more lamrim courses and teachings to come.” Rinpoche was then presented with a large Buddha statue and thangka.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with the statue offered to him at the end of the long life puja, Kopan Monastery, December 2017. Photo by Bill Kane.

This year, Australian nun Ven. Ailsa Cameron, a long-time Dharma editor and teacher, was appointed by Rinpoche to lead the course. Each year more than two hundred students come from around the world to attend. 

Vens. Karin Valham and Ailsa Cameron during the long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2017. Photo by Bill Kane.

Watch the video recording of the puja

You can find video recordings of Rinpoche’s teachings from the 2017 November course here:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/teachings-of-lama-zopa-rinpoche/lama-zopa-rinpoche-teachings-in-kopan-2017/

Offering for Lama Zopa Rinpoche during long life puja, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2017. Photo by Bill Kane.

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 seated on the throne in front of a large statue of Lama Tsongkhapa, celebrating Losar with Kopan monks, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, February 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche described the special qualities of Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings in a 2010 letter to a student. Lama Tsongkhapa was a great Tibetan Buddhist scholar, saint, and teacher of the fourteenth century who founded the Gelug school. 

“Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings have everything to achieve full enlightenment. Especially clear are the most important points of sutra and tantra,” Rinpoche explained. “With Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings, there is clear understanding, easy, quick realizations, and one makes less mistakes. You should know that you are extremely fortunate to meet Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings and practice them. It is extremely important to practice Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga. This way you will be able to meet Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings in future lives.”

He emphasized a key feature of the teachings: “Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings have unified sutra and tantra. … It is only with tantra that you can become enlightened in one lifetime.”

And he concluded by saying that, “To meet Lama Tsongkhapa’s teachings is extremely difficult.”

Statue of Lama Tsongkhapa at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington State, US, June 2015. Photo by Chris Majors.

This year Lama Tsongkhapa Day is December 12. Find resources and information about merit making while celebrating the parinirvana of Lama Tsongkhapa:
https://fpmt.org/edu-news/make-merit-on-lama-tsongkhapa-day-december-12/

Read the full letter from Rinpoche here:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/lama-tsongkhapas-teachings

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 blessing a horse at Aquila Nera sanctuary, Italy, October 2017. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Wherever Lama Zopa Rinpoche travels, he takes time to bless animals. Zarina Osmonalieva, a devoted student of Rinpoche, has put together a short video of Rinpoche doing animal blessings around the world, including in Russia, India, Nepal, the US, and many other places.

Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing animals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY4lgj-FvZE

You can read more stories about Rinpoche blessing animals or sign up to receive FPMT News, which has frequent stories of animal blessings, in your email daily.

Benefiting animals is one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for FPMT. Read about it here:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/vast-vision/#animal
and: https://fpmt.org/tag/animals/

Get Liberating Animals from the Danger of Death as an e-book or in a print copy from the Foundation Store and support FPMT International Office: 
https://shop.fpmt.org/Liberating-Animals-eBook_p_2334.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 at Kopan Course, November 2016. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

The 2017 Kopan Course, taking place at Kopan Monastery in Nepal now through December 14, is the fiftieth lamrim course offered at the monastery. More than two hundred new and seasoned students of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche attend the course. This is an incredible achievement and milestone for the FPMT organization to consistently offer this month-long course every year.

For the first time in the history of this course—Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s precious lamrim teachings are now being streamed on video live! All are welcome to watch these teachings, which take place at approximately 3:30 p.m. local Nepal time (GMT+5:45). Due to various factors, the start time for the teachings is flexible. Additionally, the internet connection in Nepal is not always stable. However, the media team there is doing the best they can to broadcast these incredible teachings live to students around the world. Recorded video of Rinpoche’s teachings from Kopan are also available.

On Tuesday, December 5, Rinpoche taught beautifully on why the Kopan Course is so important to attend.

“The reason to come to Kopan is to pacify the negative mind that brings all the sufferings. What you are doing, learning and meditating, is the most important thing in your life. A billion, zillion, trillion thanks to you for coming here to do the course—coming here to discover this Dharma, to discover what is unknown before, that you didn’t know how to live life. You were born a human being, but didn’t know how to live your life,” Rinpoche said.

“So it is really of the utmost importance, you coming here to learn not just meditation but lamrim, lamrim meditation. … Only then, you can understand how to live life, how in the past how you live, and how you should live now, in a positive way to benefit not only yourself but all the numberless beings. So I want to say, your coming to Kopan to do meditation course, oh, this is the best! If you want to help the world, to bring peace, your coming here is the best. Your coming here to do the meditation course, to learn, that is the best. You have to bring peace in the world by your mind, by your good heart. You yourself have to have a good heart to bring perfect peace and happiness in the world. That is the best.”

Watch the video recording of this teaching on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tDVHE4mTwo

Livestream of these teachings can be found here when available and the livestream with transcript overlay is available here. Please read how to be notified when a live teaching starts so you don’t miss any opportunity. Italian-speaking students are also invited to enjoy the teachings translated into Italian.

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.

Watch Rinpoche teach live and information on how to be notified when a teaching starts:
https://fpmt.org/media/streaming/lama-zopa-rinpoche-live/

Video recordings of Lama Zopa Rinpoche teachings from around the world can be found here:
http://FPMT.org/RinpocheNow