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Lama Zopa Rinpoche News and Advice
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with his animal art, Thubten Shedrup Ling, Australia, October 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
During his stay at Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery, Lama Zopa Rinpoche decorated two elephant statues and dictated signs to be made that will go next to them when they are placed outside. Rinpoche has been staying at the monastery for the past six weeks for the CPMT 2014 meeting and the Australia retreat, which just ended.
Rinpoche glued four small plush toy animals onto the back of the larger elephant. Its sign will say:
“Anywhere with whomever I accompany
I look at myself lowest of all
And cherish others as supreme
Whether you like it or not this is my practice, sorry.”
The smaller elephant is saying:
“I’m the very small elephant, but looking 100 years old.
From beginningless rebirth I have been totally dipped in the oceans of samsaric sufferings
but even though I am still an animal but now I am taking the opportunity
As the enlightened stupa happened here, to enlighten all sentient beings.”
There are many other examples of Rinpoche’s artistic animal creations, including examples in the “Animal Art” photo album and the floating animals in boats Rinpoche created for Atisha Centre.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in his room at Thubten Shedrup Ling, Australia, October 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger 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 via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at long life puja held during the CPMT meeting, September 19, 2014. Photo by Kunchok Gyaltsen.
The Australia retreat with Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion concluded on October 23 with a long life puja for Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You can watch video recordings of the long life puja and Rinpoche’s teachings from the month-long retreat as well as videos of Rinpoche’s teachings during the CPMT 2014 meeting and other teaching events and retreats on FPMT’s Livestream page.
Learn more about FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche and his beneficial activities by visiting Rinpoche’s webpage, where you will find links to Rinpoche’s schedule, new advice, recent video, photos and more.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, October 2014. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
“The benefit that we have been able to offer to sentient beings and the teachings of the Buddha, particularly to spread the teachings of Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism in this world, this is due to the kindness of our Gurus. That we have been able to offer service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama who is the sole object of refuge of all of us sentient beings and the originator of all our peace and happiness; to the Tibetan people — particularly the monasteries; and all the extensive service that we have been able to offer sentient beings — not only with Dharma but also with the various social services — all of this is due to His Holiness the Dalai Lama the Buddha of Compassion’s kindness. And particularly it is due to the Lama whose holy name is very difficult to express and who is kinder than all the three times Buddhas — Lama Yeshe’s kindness. It is due to his brave heart, his big heart, as well as the idea of building a very large Maitreya Buddha statue that blows away many living beings’ minds and hearts,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche said during a long life puja at Land of Medicine Buddha in California in 2001, also acknowledge Ribur Rinpoche, who was in attendance as well as “other Gurus who pray every day for the success of the activities, the projects.”
Photos of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Yeshe on the throne above Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the retreat in Australia, October 2014. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
“It is because of this that we can have some success. There is a lot to do. What has been done so far is very little. What is going to happen is more. All of this is completely due to the kindness of the Gurus,” Rinpoche continued. “Then, next, I am not going to mention the names of all the students because I wouldn’t remember them and even if I could it would take many days, but there is [Ven.] Roger [Kunsang] who for many years has been my attendant, and many students whose nature is compassionate and faithful. The most important thing is harmony, unity in the organization. That is what has brought success so far — unity. There are many students who are like gold, like diamonds. The most important quality is to have the nature of compassion towards others, to be kind-hearted, next is to be intelligent, understanding the Dharma, and then to be responsible. It is particularly due to the harmony, the unity, that there has been success and that we have been able to offer this much service.
“So there is a lot of potential to be able to offer much much more extensive benefit than this. The Maitreya project didn’t happen yet. It did not get actualized yet. Because it has such immense benefit, skies of benefit to sentient beings, of course it has a lot of obstacles, it takes time. But it’s just a question of time. When the merit is more and more increased, then there will be less obstacles. So I would like to thank very much all the members of the FPMT organization, all the students at the centres in the different countries for all their prayers, not only for my long life but for all the other things and particularly for the Maitreya project. The benefit that we are able to offer, that I am able to offer, is due to the kindness of so many students who are compassionate to sentient beings, faithful, and responsible. And it is due to unity, harmony in the organization. So we can offer much more, many more times extensive benefit to the teachings of the Buddha and more and more service to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. So I want to thank very very much.”
From “The Most Important Thing in the FPMT” on the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
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 the dogs Nyingdu and Chonyi outside of the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, October 2014. Photo by Drolkar McCallum.
“It’s not enough that you look after animals and they give you comfort. You must do something of practical benefit for them. This is what you can do every day,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche instructed:
- “Circumambulate with them around holy objects, chanting mantras.
- “Recite prayers in their ears to plant the seed of all the realizations of the path to enlightenment. This makes a huge difference. It has incredible results, enabling them to have a good rebirth in their next life, to be born as a human being, and meet the Dharma.
“There is a story about when the Buddha gave teachings to 500 swans in a field and in their next lives they were born as humans, became monks, and all became arya beings, able to achieve the cessation of suffering and the true path. So, the result was incredible, just from hearing Dharma words. Also, Vasubhandu (Lo.pon Yig.nyen) used to recite a text called the Abhidharmakosa, and a pigeon on the roof heard this every day. One day the pigeon died and Lo.pon Yig.nyen checked to see where it had been reborn. It was born to a family who lived down below in the valley. He went down and visited the child and asked if he could look after him, and the family let the child go with him. The child became a monk named Lo.pon Lo.den and became an expert on the text that he had heard when he was a pigeon. He wrote four commentaries on that text. Therefore, it’s extremely important to recite lam-rim prayers and mantras—at least mantras—to animals. …”
On October 16 during the retreat in Australia, Rinpoche offered a teaching on benefiting animals by not eating meet, which can be watched as a video online.
Read more of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s instructions “How to Benefit Animals” on “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book,” which is part of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
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 Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche created various inspirational signs on the path which connects Thubten Shedrup Ling, Atisha Centre and the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, September 2014. Photo by Laura Miller.
On September 28, Ven. Roger Kunsang shared on his Twitter page that “Rinpoche [has been] creating Dharma messages along the path to the monastery [Thubten Shedrup Ling] for all to see, accompanied by cool little animals.”
In this photo, a stuffed sheep and kiwi celebrate the benefits of living near Thubten Shedrup Ling, Atisha Centre and the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion near Bendigo, Australia:
Hello, I am a sheep and I am a kiwi from New Zealand, boo hoo
But, by good luck, we are now at the Monastery, Atisha Centre and Great Stupa, an unbelievable place for enlightenment. We can: circumambulate the stupa, purify all negative karmas collected from beginningless rebirths, collect all the merits and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. This is the inner-most greatest happiness.
Ha Ha Ha
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 homepage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche arriving at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, October 2014. Photo by Cynthia Karena.
“Lama Zopa: [The] moment you are born, wrinkles begin and you speed non-stop to death. Without hesitation, cut attachment and benefit others.”
– From Ven. Roger Kunsang’s Twitter page, posted on September 19, 2014
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 homepage. If you’d like to receive news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Bendigo, Australia, September 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
“A few days ago, when Rinpoche was going down to the teachings at the Great Stupa in Australia, an ant slipped under his shoe,” executive assistant to FPMT International Office’s CEO and FPMT Charitable Projects coordinator Ven. Holly Ansett shared with Mandala. “Rinpoche was very affected and spent some time reciting mantras, including Rinchen Tsugtor, a mantra he had given a lung for the evening before. Rinpoche advised us that we should memorize the mantra so we can recite it anytime we come across a dead being – an insect, animal, person, etc. – without having to get out our prayer books.
“Later during the teachings, Rinpoche led the 250 participants to recite one mala of OM MANI PADME HUM, dedicated to the small ant as well as any other ants and beings that had died.”
How to Make Charity to Ants by Lama Zopa Rinpoche is available through the Foundation Store.
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 Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche during retreat at Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, October 2014. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
From September 26- October 10, 2014, Lama Zopa Rinpoche conferred an extremely rare lung (oral transmission) of the 21-chapter version of the Golden Light Sutra at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Australia to 250 people as part of the month-long Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa retreat.
Rinpoche permitted watching the video as an authentic reception of the transmission. By having received an oral transmission of the sutra, it becomes more powerful when you recite it. You can watch the video recordings of the oral transmission of the Golden Light Sutra, and receive the lung yourself, on FPMT’s Livestream page.
FPMT Education Services has put together a resource page, including access to the sutra in 14 different languages. This resource page also provides information on how to report and dedicate recitations.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has taught extensively on the benefits of the Golden Light Sutra. During the oral transmission Rinpoche said, “You are taking care of your life – present and future up to enlightenment –by reading the Golden Light Sutra. The whole world benefits.”
When Rinpoche first read this precious sutra, he made a vow to spread it around the world. The sutra has now been recited by FPMT students in 74 countries. Please rejoice!
Recording of all the daily sessions with Lama Zopa Rinpoche at the retreat in Australia can be watched on the FPMT Livestream page. Audio MP3 recordings of the retreat sessions with Rinpoche are available for download with translation into French, Italian and Spanish.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Detailed photo of one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s altars at Kachoe Dechen Ling, California, US. Photo by Chris Majors.
“On the way to Mongolia in August 2014, Rinpoche stayed in a Seattle Washington hotel overnight in the United States,” said Ven. Holly Ansett, executive assistant to FPMT International Office’s CEO and FPMT Charitable Projects coordinator. “The first thing Rinpoche does when entering a hotel is turn all the lights on and begins extensive offering practice. In the morning, before leaving for the airport, Rinpoche left a five-dollar tip for the cleaning lady and a small note written on the hotel’s comment card:”
I had so much worldly pleasure here, so much sleep. What I did is I blessed all the light offerings in the room and I offered them to Guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and I rejoiced in all the merits of the buddhas and bodhisattvas and all beings, and I did three prostrations – two I did full length and one I did half length – on the bed, because I had a stroke a few years ago. So this is what I did to make useful the money spent staying here. Thank you.
I dedicated for you to have a long life and to be healthy and for all your wishes to succeed according to the Dharma, to have an ethical mind and pure mind.
With much love and prayers
Lama Zopa
Scribed by Ven. Holy Ansett, Seattle, Washington, US, August 2014. Lightly edited for Mandala.
“Extensive Offering Practices to Accumulate the Most Extensive Merit,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s compilation of offering practices – including Lama Atisha’s “Light Offering Practice” – and commentary is available through the Foundation Store.
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 Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at the retreat in Australia, October 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche came to the 4 p.m. session of the Australia retreat on Thursday, October 9, for a question and answer session led by Ven. Sarah Thresher. She asked Rinpoche about the karma of the bodhisattva captain who killed 500 people on a boat. According to Ven. Holly Ansett, “Rinpoche gave an incredible response that included the whole history of the FPMT – how it started from the Kachen Yeshe Gyaltsen text that Rinpoche was reading. Rinpoche also told some incredibly personal stories about his own practice.”
You can watch the video of the teaching on FPMT’s Livestream page.
At the end of the session, Rinpoche gave refuge to a few people who were leaving the retreat.
“The processions leading Rinpoche to the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion each day are becoming more and more amazing,” Ven. Holly reports. “Usually about 30-40 people lead Rinpoche slowly down to the gompa, each person holding an offering object, flowers, incense, auspicious symbols, playing ting-shas or cymbals, walking very slowly, aware of the ants and leading Rinpoche to the Great Stupa’s gompa to continue the oral transmission of the Golden Light Sutra.”
Procession leading Lama Zopa Rinpoche to gompa at Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, October 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger 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 via email, sign up to Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche giving blessing to children after the long life puja, Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, September 19, 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught on bring up children during the October 8 teaching session of the ongoing retreat in Australia. You can watch the video of the teaching on FPMT’s Livestream page.
That evening in Australia was a lunar eclipse that was fully visible over the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, where the retreat is taking place. Rinpoche did intense prayers during the eclipse time from the second it started until it finished about 3 or 4 hours later.
Rinpoche sent a message to all the retreatants, reminding them that any merit created during an eclipse period is multiplied 100,000 times and that it is a very powerful time to do practice as the eclipse affects the winds in the body. Rinpoche said he checked many times and it came out for the retreatants to recite “King of Prayers” three times, “A Prayer for the Beginning, Middle, and End of Practice” by Je Tsongkhapa once and then to have one person recite the Heart Sutra slowly, pausing often so that others can strongly meditate on it.
Moon over Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Australia, September 15, 2014. Photo by Andy Melnic.
Learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), and Rinpoche’s vision for a better world. Sign up to receive news and updates.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the public talk at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, September 20, 2014. Photo by Kunchok Gyaltsen.
When Lama Atisha went to Tibet, he was told about all the problems there, Lama Zopa Rinpoche recounted during the public teaching at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion on September 20, 2014. “Then Lama Atisha wrote a text integrating all Buddha’s teachings into a few pages,” Rinpoche said. “It is called Lamp of the Path to Enlightenment. The text was sent to India to be checked. The pandits were so surprised. At that time if a text had mistakes, they would tie it on the tail of a dog and it would be taken around the city. At that time they did like that, but they were so surprised that Lama Atisha had integrated all Buddha’s teachings in the three pages of the Lamp of the Path to Enlightenment, the graduated path to enlightenment — the name started from this text — so graduated path of lower capable being, graduated path of middle capable being, and graduated path of higher capable being. So all the Buddha’s teachings are in those three, embodied in the lam-rim, the graduated path to enlightenment.
“The graduated path of lower capable being, oh, that one is to not harm others, that instruction goes: do not harm others. Then the graduated path of middle capable being, oh, that teaching is also to not harm others, mainly it is to not harm others. Now the teaching of graduated path of higher capable being is to benefit others. So lam-rim, what Lama Atisha wrote, all the Buddha’s teachings comes down to not harming others and benefiting others. The right view of Buddhism is dependent arising and the action is to not harm others. That is included in Lama Atisha’s teachings, everything is included there: to not harm others and to benefit others.”
You can watch a video of this teaching on FPMT’s Livestream page.
Quote taken from the transcript by Ven. Joan Nicell of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s public talk at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Bendigo, Australia, September 20, 2014. Lightly edited by Mandala.
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 Lama Zopa Rinpoche News.