Lama Zopa Rinpoche News and Advice

Lama Zopa Rinpoche doing korwa around 1,000 buddhas at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

“If the mind has sunk down and it is difficult to practice, then you must meditate on death and impermanence. That is very important. It takes care of so many problems, solves everything. It cuts attachment to people, places, and things. You stop clinging,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised a student who felt distracted in his practice.

“If you think that you are going to die today then you won’t waste time, you will make sure that you practice, that you do your meditation. Thinking about impermanence and death helps to not get caught up by attachment. It helps to calm the mind. It cuts through the mind getting distracted by external objects, which wastes so much time. When the mind gets distracted, it doesn’t allow you to meditate on guru devotion or do your practice, so one hour, one day, one week goes past like this, completely wasted. Thinking you are going to die today also helps to develop compassion for sentient beings.

“Reflect on impermanence and death thinking, ‘I am going to die today, even this hour, even this minute.’ It is very powerful and takes care of so many things, so many problems are solved. Even if you are angry with somebody, you will see there isn’t any point continuing to be angry because you might die soon.

“So, think about death, the suffering of the lower realms, and the nature of samsara. Also, think about the kindness of sentient beings and how much they are suffering. Think: ‘I am responsible for freeing them from suffering and bringing them to enlightenment.’ Then, depending on whatever delusion is arising, meditate on emptiness or on the three principles of the path.”

From “Cutting Distractions to Practice,” posted in “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book”:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/lama-zopa-rinpoches-online-advice-book

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 in the garden at Osel Labrang, Sera Monastery, India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

“Of course by purifying negative karma collected since beginningless rebirth and by collecting extensive merits, this allows you to have realizations on the path to enlightenment and for your mind to change,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche wrote to a student who offered 100,000 Vajrasattva mantras to Rinpoche. “There is always hope the mind can change, even to achieve enlightenment, so you can achieve a higher rebirth, ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara and enlightenment.

“Vajrasattva practice is so important generally, and especially nowadays in the world, when there is not only global warming, but many other problems. There are so many other dangers—of war and sicknesses, cancer, and so many people whom you know are dying. There are so many sicknesses and other conditions for dying.

“This Vajrasattva practice and other purification practices are the ultimate answer, so everything in the world—what you see, every situation—tells you to practice Vajrasattva. To purify and do Vajrasattva practice is the ultimate answer, to stop the cause to be reborn in the lower realms and the immediate [result] is to have a higher rebirth, to make preparation for death and then to meet the Dharma, to meet the virtuous friend who reveals the path to enlightenment. Then to achieve ultimate happiness, to be free from samsara and to achieve enlightenment for the numberless sentient beings and to free them from the oceans of samsaric sufferings and bring them to full enlightenment.”

From “Benefits of Vajrasattva Practice,” posted in “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book”:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/lama-zopa-rinpoches-online-advice-book

The FPMT Foundation Store offers many resources to support students in their Vajrasattva practice: 
https://shop.fpmt.org/search.asp?keyword=vajrasattva&search=

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 with an advance copy of his new book ‘How to Enjoy Death,’ Osel Labrang, Sera Monastery, India, December 2015.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s much anticipated book How to Enjoy Death: Preparing to Meet Life’s Final Challenge without Fear will soon be released by Wisdom Publications. Rinpoche just received an advance copy of the book at Sera Monastery, where he is currently staying. The beautifully printed book is a practical guide for students on how to best help loved ones and themselves during the death process.

“We Buddhists all know about death and impermanence, but when death comes into our lives we often panic and don’t know what to do to help,” said Ven. Robina Courtin, who edited the book. “Rinpoche lays out all the instructions so clearly, one step at a time, for how to help our loved ones: what to do in the months and weeks before death, what to do in the hours before death, at the time the breath stops, and in the three days as well as the 49 days after death, including transforming our loved one’s ashes into a holy object.”

In addition to Rinpoche’s advice, How to Enjoy Death includes the mantras, prayers and practices to be said and done, making it a valuable resource. 

“The essential point of all these practices is not just to help our loved ones die well, but to help them get a good rebirth – everything is geared to that,” Ven. Robina stressed. “As Rinpoche says, ‘Helping our loved ones at the time of death is the best service we can offer them, our greatest gift. Why? Because death is the most important time of life: it’s at death that the next rebirth is determined.’”

For more and to take advantage of a special pre-order offer, visit Wisdom Publications’ page for How to Enjoy Death:
https://wisdomexperience.org/book/how-to-enjoy-death

You can also find links to many resources for time of death on FPMT.org/death.

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 during a Lama Chopa tsog in the garden of the Kopan House at Sera Je Monastery, India, December 20, 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

On December 20, Lama Zopa Rinpoche attended a Lama Chopa tsog in the garden of the Kopan House at Sera Je Monastery. In addition to the Kopan monks studying at Sera, several FPMT geshes as well as many IMI Sangha and FPMT students were also in attendance. Those not from Sera are in South India to attend the Jangchup Lamrim teachings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, currently taking place as Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.

On behalf of the FPMT organization, Ven. Roger Kunsang, Rinpoche’s assistant and CEO of FPMT, made the mandala offering while long life prayers were being recited for Rinpoche’s long life. The puja was also dedicated for long-time student Ven. Thubten Labdron (Trisha Donnelly), who had passed away the day before in Australia.

Ven. Roger Kunsang offering mandala to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kopan House, Sera Monastery, India, December 20, 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

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

The light offerings at Osel Labrang, Sera Monastery, India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

In December 1971, FPMT founder Lama Yeshe gave teachings to students at Kopan Monastery, which were collected into the book Silent Mind, Holy Mind, published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. Here’s the beginning of a short excerpt from the book:

“When we see each other again on Christmas Eve for the celebration of Holy Jesus’ birth, let us do so in peace and with a good vibration and a happy mind. I think it would be wonderful. To attend the celebration with an angry disposition would be so sad. Come instead with a beautiful motivation and much love. Have no discrimination, but see everything as a golden flower, even your worst enemy. Then Christmas, which so often produces an agitated mind, will become so beautiful.

“When you change your mental attitude, the external vision also changes. This is a true turning of the mind. There is no doubt about this. I am not special, but I have had experience of doing this, and it works. You people are so intelligent, so you can understand how the mind has this ability to change itself and its environment. There is no reason why this change cannot be for the better. …”

Read the complete excerpt from Silent Mind, Holy Mind on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive: 
https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/christmas-dharma

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.

After the day’s teachings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, students gathered in the garden at Osel Labrang with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who talked to them before giving blessings, Sera Monastery, India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

“On this very important occasion, not only will we have the opportunity to see all the Buddhas’ compassion, but we can see Avalokiteshvara in the dynamic human form of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a form that allows us to communicate with him directly, and we will receive blessings by hearing his holy speech,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche wrote in 2009 in a message to a center that hosted an annual event with His Holiness.

“There is no question that this opportunity is an incredible miracle, like a dream, because it will definitely lead us to the end of samsara. It not only will bring about the elimination of all the dukkhas, the sufferings of samsara, but it also includes the elimination of the cause, which resides in our own minds: the delusions and karma. Even just seeing [His Holiness’s] holy body has the effect of liberating one from dukkha, planting the seed of liberation from samsara and the seed of full enlightenment. It is an unforgettable memory in this life.

“It is extremely beneficial to remember His Holiness the Dalai Lama (his holy body and holy speech) at the time of death, when the last breath ends. Remembering His Holiness definitely results in a positive reincarnation, where one is able to again practice Mahayana Buddhism and to meet His Holiness once again. This is a very good meditation to rely on at the time of death, rather than dying with sorrow. The moment of death is the most critical moment in our life; it determines our next reincarnation, whether it will be suffering or happy. Also, every moment in our life is important — how we live our life, with what attitude, whether goodhearted or egotistical. So, we should attempt as much as possible to put into practice the advice of His Holiness. This will make our life most productive.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche giving blessings to FPMT Sangha, Osel Labrang, Sera Monastery, India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

Read Rinpoche’s complete “Message to a Center” on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/message-center

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

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Dagri Rinpoche and Khadro-la after lunch at a nice restaurant, South India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is currently in South India and attending the Jangchup Lamrim teachings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which commenced on Sunday, December 20, at the newly inaugurated Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.

The Janchup Lamrim teachings is a busy time for Rinpoche. In addition to receiving precious instruction on the 18 Great Stages of the Path Commentaries from His Holiness, Rinpoche meets with many high lamas,  young tulkus and old friends as well as FPMT geshes, students and benefactors who are also attending the teachings. 

Photos and a live webcast of the teachings, broadcast in eight languages, can be found on the Jangchup Lamrim website: https://www.jangchuplamrim.org/

Additional news and photos from the teaching event can be found on His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s website: http://www.dalailama.com/

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

Lama Zopa Rinpoche doing a Tara fire puja at Kopan Monastery, November 2015. Photo by Bill Kane.

“You have to know that even though something is called Buddhist and Buddhism that doesn’t mean that every single thing people are practicing is necessarily correct. There is wrong conduct and wrong view even when people believe what they are practicing is Buddhism. When I say this I’m talking in general, not referring to the Nyingma, Kagyü or Gelug traditions,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche instructs in “Advice on Developing Bodhichitta,” published on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

“Even though bodhichitta comes much later; first of all there is renunciation of this life, then renunciation of future lives’ samsara, happiness and perfections, then comes actualizing bodhichitta, but for you, from the very beginning you must practice Dharma with the motivation of bodhichitta. Not only for your meditation but also when you are walking, sitting, sleeping, working and so forth. These should be done as much as possible with bodhichitta – to free others from suffering and bring them to the highest happiness of enlightenment.

“In this way, even if you don’t have the actual realization of bodhichitta but just the effortful motivation, still you live your life for others from the heart. Practice this way as much as possible, then you are living your life day and night with bodhichitta. If you have bodhichitta motivation most of your life becomes Dharma, the cause of happiness for your future lives. It’s also the cause for you to achieve nirvana, everlasting freedom from samsara, and the cause for you to achieve sang gyä or buddhahood – the total elimination of all the obscurations and completion of all the realizations – for all sentient beings.

“Doing everything with a bodhichitta motivation is a very wise way of practicing Dharma, a quick way to achieve enlightenment for sentient beings. By practicing in this way as much as possible, not only your meditation but your whole life – even walking, sitting, sleeping, eating, working and so forth – becomes the cause of happiness for all sentient beings and especially enlightenment. That is incredible. It is the most beneficial life. When that happens your life is most beneficial and most meaningful. Thank you very much.”

You can read more of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice on compassion and bodhichitta in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/lama-zopa-rinpoches-online-advice-book

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

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with his old friend, respected Nyingma lama Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, during Guru Rinpoche puja at Kopan Nunnary, Nepal, December 2015. Photo by Bill Kane.

“Courage is so important,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche instructed a student worried about his father’s thoughts of suicide in the advice “Think About the Continuation of Life,” recently posted on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. “Perhaps you might know this, but committing suicide when some problem comes and you don’t know how to deal with it, when it’s mentally exaggerated – that’s a very ignorant thought. You are not thinking about the next life; you are not allowing yourself to think about the next life.

“There is continuation of consciousness, therefore even when the body stops, there is continuation of consciousness, because we are born with suffering. That means before this life there was another previous life, and this life is the result of that. [In the previous life] there was suffering, so now there is suffering. If the previous life was free from the oceans of samsaric suffering and its causes – delusions and karma – then in this life there would be no suffering, only ultimate happiness. So it goes back like this. We have been suffering for beginningless lifetimes. …

“… Whenever suicidal thoughts come, the remedy is to think about reincarnation, the continuation of life.”

Read the complete advice “Think About the Continuation of Life” at: 
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/think-about-continuation-life

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 local Tibetans at the site of a new community hall for Tibetans Rinpoche has sponsored, South India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Holly Ansett.

“We just cannot be sure which will come first, tomorrow or our next life,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught in July 2014 at Jamyang Buddhist Centre in London. “Because of that it is unbelievably worthwhile to work for the next life, to attend to the next life by accumulating merit to not be reborn in the lower realms. Then, if we were to die tomorrow, our work would have been done. And even if we do not die tomorrow, our work has still been done.

“This is what Lama Tsongkhapa said in Lamrim Chenmo: by practicing Dharma with the thought that we might die today, if we do die we have made the preparation, and if we don’t die then we have further opportunities to collect more merit. Therefore, thinking, ‘I’m going to die today’ and working for future lives, practicing Dharma to benefit our future lives, is most worthwhile. 

“One way that the Kadampa geshes defined Dharma was that it is something that benefits future lives; something that brings happiness in future lives. If what we are practicing does not do that, it is not Dharma. Another way they defined it was that if any action of our body, speech and mind becomes an antidote to delusion, it is Dharma; if it does not become an antidote to delusion, it is not Dharma. This is how the Kadampa geshes differentiated between what is Dharma and what is not.”

Find the full excerpt as part of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive’s November 2015 enewsletter: https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/e-letter-no-149-november-2015

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, South India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

On December 13, Ven. Roger Kunsang shared on Twitter this photo of Lama Zopa Rinpoche “enjoying coconut juice on the way back from teachings in Gyurme Tantic College.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is currently at Osel Labrang at Sera Monastery in South India. Rinpoche will be attending His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Jangchup Lamrim Teachings from December 20 through January 1 at near-by Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. This special set of lam-rim teachings is organized by His Eminence the 7th Ling Rinpoche, whose predecessor was His Holiness’ senior tutor and one of Rinpoche’s gurus.

The Jangchup Lamrim Teachings will include a long life puja to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. You are welcome to make a contribution to FPMT’s official offering: https://fpmt.org/projects/fpmt/long-life-puja/

Ven. Roger Kunsang, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s assistant and CEO of FPMT Inc., shares Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent pith sayings on Ven. Roger’s Twitter page. (You can also read them on Ven. Roger’s Facebook page.)

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