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Group water bowl retreat participants Inge Eijkhout, Ven. Tenzin Chodron, Diana Carroll, Jaclyn Yip, Annette van Citters, March 2014. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Instituut.
“In the last couple of years, four water bowl marathons have been held in Europe, and they are an example of FPMT centers helping each other on many levels,” said Marina Brucet, spiritual program coordinator for Centro de Meditación Tushita in Spain. “The marathon itself is a great example of collaboration, and this is so much thanks to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who has given permission for doing retreats in which all the water bowls filled by everyone participating in the retreat are counted as having been offered by oneself. This is a very beautiful way of practicing and doing the preliminary practice of water bowl offering.
Maitreya Instituut group water bowl retreat, December 2014. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Instituut.
“Four of such retreats have recently been held in Europe: the first two at Maitreya Instituut Loenen, the Netherlands, in March and December 2014; at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, in August 2015; and at Centro de Meditación Tushita, Spain, in October 2015. The organizers of the first retreat were so kind to help with their expertise to organize the other retreats. We especially thank Annette van Citters (whom, by the way, we recommend to be contacted by anyone interested in organizing a water bowl marathon). They also lent all the materials, including baskets, towels, jars and even the bowls themselves to the other centers. In this way, resources have been going up and down the continent, with one center adding this, the other adding that.
“Institut Vajra Yogini will organize another water bowl retreat in August 2016, and Centro de Meditación Tushita also plans to organize others in the future as well as group retreats for other preliminary practices, such as the Dorje Khadro burning offering in October 2016.
“This is definitely a very beautiful retreat that we recommend to everyone, a great way of purifying, accumulating merit, and collaborating with each other.”
Centro de Meditación Tushita group water bowl retreat, October 2015. Photo courtesy of Marina Brucet.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 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.
Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar distribute blankets to Musahar community, Koluha, Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
Every January, with the help of generous donors, Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar offers heavy woolen blankets to Kushinagar’s poor. January is the coldest time of the year and temperatures fall to freezing at night. Atul Chopa, who led the initiative and is legal counsel to Maitreya Project Trust, describe the impact of this year’s blanket distribution.
The Musahar Community in Koluha Village
In January 2016, the Maitreya Project Team distributed blankets to nearly 100 Musahar people in Koluha Village.
The Musahar are the poorest of the poor and are generally landless laborers. The word “Musahar” is derived from the Hindi words “moos” (rat) and “har” (eat) as it is said that out of necessity they catch and eat rats for food.
There is still a very strong caste system prevailing in India, and the small community of Musahar in the caste system hierarchy are considered even below the better-known Dalit (Untouchable) community. Musahar are only found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and the Tarai Regions of Nepal. One of the largest groups lives in in Koluha Village in Kushinagar.
Blanket Distribution in Hospital Corridors
In the Indian villages it is very common that when someone suddenly falls sick or meets with an accident, the whole family immediately rushes to the hospital in the nearest city. Relatives, family members and attendants who come from the village simply end up sleeping on the floors in the hospital corridors and verandas. As most villagers use huge cotton sleeping quilts at home, it is not possible to carry these into the hospital. Poor families are forced to sleep in the winter on the hospital floor without any protection from the cold.
Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar staff distribute blankets to people sleeping in hospital corridors, Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
The Maitreya Project team goes every night and visits the hospital corridors and verandas, offering blankets to the families sleeping in the floor, giving priority to families with older people and children. Our blanket distribution teams starts patrolling the hospital corridors around midnight, when people are forced to leave the tea shop fires.
Anirudhwa Village
During the land acquisition phase for the Maitreya Project, the largest amount of land was given by the farmers of Anirudhwa. This land is most important as it touches the boundary wall of the Maha Parinirvana Stupa as well as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.
Villagers from Anirudhwa use a coupon system to receive blankets from Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
Blankets in Anirudhwa are distributed using a coupon system with input from the elected village head as well as government officials from the Revenue Department. This system ensures that each and every eligible person receives a blanket in the peak of winter, and there is total transparency in the distribution. This year 1,000 blankets were distributed.
Hospital Blankets
With the help of nurses and hospital staff, the Maitreya Project offers blankets to poorer patients using only government-supplied hospitals blankets not suitable for winter. Except for the critical care ward, hospitals here do not have central heating. Priority is given to women, children and older people. The team works every night until the early hours of the morning.
Poorer patients receive supplemental blankets at local hospital, Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
Blankets for People with Leprosy
Generally, stigma toward the disease has resulted in leprosy (Hansen’s disease) wards being treated as taboo. The Maitreya Project team makes a special effort to distribute blankets to every patient being treated for leprosy.
Patients being treated for leprosy (Hansen’s disease) receive blankets every year during the winter, India, 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar
Home for the Elderly and Destitute
Blankets were given to each and every room in a small home for elderly and destitute people in Kushinagar.
A Buddhist monk offers a blanket to a resident at a home for the elderly and destitute, Kushinagar, India, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
A very big thank you on behalf of all who received blankets this winter to all who made this year’s distribution possible!
During the summer months the Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar distributes mosquito nets to the very poor in the area. If you would like to support either of these programs or to contribute generally to Maitreya Buddha Project in Kushinagar, please visit: www.mbpkushinagar.org
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 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.
A Merit Box grant was given in 2015 for IMI Sangha to attend last year’s retreats with Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the Netherlands and Mexico (pictured here).
Each year the International Merit Box Project has a collection and grant application season when Merit Box practitioners send in their accumulated offerings for the year, and Dharma communities, projects and services apply for grants. That season is closing at the end of March. From now until then, the International Merit Box Project hopes to see a lot of activity coming from around the globe through grant applications and donations.
The Merit Box Project was created in 2002 to foster generosity practice for individuals, while serving to provide grant funding to projects that are working to fulfill the FPMT mission. To date over 200 projects, services and initiatives have been supported by Merit Box grants, with the amount reaching nearly 1 million US dollars collectively.
Jamyang Buddhist Centre London’s Repaying the Kindness service project has been able to continue compassionately supporting care providers in part by Merit Box grants received in recent years.
Merit Box grants have helped myriad forms of compassionate activity come to fruition and can be indispensable for communities facing challenges in their local fundraising. Grants have supported Sangha to attend retreats; the creation of new holy objects, book publications, service programs, and retreat cabins; much-needed repair work, and so on. All this coming from individuals placing small offerings into their Merit Boxes at home throughout the year. Now approaching its fifteenth grant season, the International Merit Box Project is an annual display of the effects of collective generosity within the FPMT community.
The deadline for submitting a Merit Box grant application for a 2016 grant (awarded in May-June 2016) is March 31, 2016. Request a grant application by emailing meritbox@fpmt.org
One can join the international project and become a Merit Box practitioner by ordering a free Merit Box from the Foundation Store, or contribute immediately to the project online here. Donations received by March 31st, 2016 will be collected for the 2016 grant awards.
Geshe Tenzin Zopa and four Kopan nuns prepare to dismantle the 2015 sand mandala, Bangkok, Thailand, February 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
In early February, Losang Dragpa Centre in Malaysia, helped reach out to Dharma practitioners in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai Lamrim Group, a sister group of Losang Dragpa Centre under the leadership of Irene Ong, invited former center resident teacher Geshe Tenzin Zopa to Buddha Dharma Relic Museum to lead Guru Padmasambhava puja with 100,000 tsog offerings. This puja was advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to be held at least once a year for the benefit and safety of Thailand. Thirty people participated in the event.
In addition to the puja, four nuns from Kopan Nunnery helped construct a new sand mandala for 2016 and dismantle the one from 2015. Geshe Tenzin Zopa gave a short teaching and preformed the consecration.
Students participate in pujas related to Guru Padmasambhava, Bangkok, Thailand, February 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche will be teaching in at Losang Dragpa Centre in April 2016. For more details, see Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s schedule on FPMT.org.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 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.
Opening shot of “The Eye-Opener”
Over the course of a year, student François Schick documented in a short film entitled “The Eye-Opener” the talent and technique of Nalanda Moanstery’s master painter Sonam Sherpa. The film captures the painting and gilding of one statue in a collection depicting the Sixteen Arhats. The film also includes rare footage of the statue’s eyes being “opened,” a final and important step in the creation of a holy objects such as this.
Watch “They Eye-Opener” on Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/155352752
François created the six-minute film while studying in the Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery in southern France. The film features music composed by his brother, Benoit Schick, and played by both Benoit and Georges Denoix.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 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
Losang Dragpa Centre students offering incense, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
On January 23, Losang Dragpa Centre in Malaysia hosted its annual all-night Tara event. Beginning at 10 p.m., the event encourages participants to continuously recite “Praises to the the Twenty-One Taras” through the night and into the early morning. The event is broken into four sessions, with each session specially reserved for a particular set of offerings – lights, flowers, incense and food/tsog. Over 50 people participated this year.
Losang Dragpa Centre Tara altar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
Losang Dragpa Centre’s all-night Tara event, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
“The reasons why we conduct this puja yearly are mainly for the the center and center members to clear obstacles and accumulate merit, and to give the public an opportunity to learn more about and connect with Tara,” said center student Gavyn Teh. “Because it was very close to the lunar new year, we prepared rice in nice red packaging for center members and the public to first offer during the event and to later take home as an auspicious way to usher in the new year.”
Participants were offered rice in thanks for their efforts, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2016. Photo courtesy of Gavyn Teh.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 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.
Inma Ortega Arizmendi, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, November 2015
In June 2015 FPMT center directors and study group coordinators in Spain decided to hold a national lottery to send one dedicated volunteer to Nepal to attend the annual Kopan November Course. The prize included a plane ticket and covered the cost of the month-long retreat. All Spanish centers and study groups were asked to send Spain’s national coordinator a maximum of five names. Later, the drawing was recorded on video and announced. The winner was Inma Ortega, volunteer coordinator of Luz de Nagarjuna Grupo de Estudio in Pamplona.
“Now that I look through the air plane window and I’m saying goodbye to Nepal, I feel in my heart an immense feeling of gratitude toward all the beings that, thanks to their generosity, have made this experience possible,” Inma shared after the course. “As a friend told me: it will change your life.
“Thanks to FPMT Hispana’s idea to cover the expenses for one volunteer, I had the opportunity to attend the November Course in Kopan Monastery and receive Dharma teachings for one month, strengthening my daily practice. It was a wonderful gift.
“I’m very thankful for all the teachers who with wisdom, patience and love, transmitted to us the Buddha’s teachings and how to apply them to our daily life, teaching us how to find the happiness that is already within us to be able to help others.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches during the Kopan November Course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2015
“We started early morning with Ven. Namdrol. She taught us how to do prostrations to the 35 Buddhas of Confession.
“We had two meditation sessions with Ven. Tingyel and Don Handrick and learned how to be kind with ourselves in the process and to decrease the pressure in our minds. Slowly we got into the analytical meditations on precious human rebirth, death, impermanence, self-cherishing, attachment, anger, compassion, etc. Don Handrick taught two sessions a day with lots of love and patience, guiding us in the different stages and exposing us to the lam-rim.
“In the evenings Ani Karin sweetly taught us meditations on Buddha Shakyamuni, Green Tara, “Praises to the 21 Taras,” “King of Prayers,” and Vajrasattva. She also told us many stories about Kopan Monastery and the teachers there.
“The kindness of Kopan’s abbot Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi, who answered all our questions during the course, was amazing as was the incredible opportunity to have direct teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and to receive refuge and Vajrasattva initiation from him. I’m thankful for his generosity, tirelessly repeating to us that the purpose of our life was not only to liberate ourselves, but to liberate all sentient beings from the sufferings of samsara.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in a txapela with Spanish students, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, November 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
“I experienced incredible things such as having the opportunity to meet Rinpoche and offer him gifts and offerings from the Spanish FPMT centers, study groups and projects, including a txapela (traditional Basque beret) from Rafa, a student; asking Rinpoche to come to Spain to teach; helping during Rinpoche’s long life puja; meeting Kopan’s monks and nuns and seeing their incredible dedication to the Buddhadharma; and witnessing the Nepali people recover after the April 2015 earthquake.
“Now that I’m saying goodbye to beautiful Kopan Monastery, the retreat teachers, 240 Dharma brothers and sisters, and the Spanish-language discussion group where we shared our thoughts about the teachings, I feel very close to this Dharma family. I feel supported and have the motivation to continue to practice in my hometown and study group with the tools I received.
“Thanks to Clara Jimenez, who translated the course into Spanish. Without her I couldn’t attend the course. Thanks to all in the Spanish-language discussion group, who were a big support and were my teachers too. Thanks to Luz de Nagarjuna Grupo de Estudio members, who allowed me to go to the course and took over my responsibilities. Thanks to FPMT Hispana for creating this generous initiative. Thanks to Kopan Monastery and Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche.”
Spanish-speaking course attendees with course leader Don Handrick, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2015
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 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.
Screen shot of new French Translation Office website
The Editions Mahayana (FPMT French Translation Office) shared this news with Mandala:
The FPMT French Translation Office is very happy to present its new website (https://editionsmahayana.fr/). More than 250 translations are offered as PDF downloads and new translations are added each month.
French Translation Office coordinator Ven. Détchèn commented, “The purpose of our new site is to offer easy access to translations completed by our team. To help the public, we’ve organized them within a thematic menu system.”
Jérôme, Véronique and Frédéric (and Hampton, their four-legged friend) help manage the new French Translation Office website
We’ve benefited from the redesign and the enthusastic energy of webmaster Véronique, treasurer Corinne, and of Frédéric and Jérôme, who have accepted order filling responsibilities in our online store. You will find all of our publications – prayer books, practice books and commentaries – in paper and ebook formats.
Marcel works to create ebook versions of all our publications. Thanks to him, 30 titles are already available as ebooks. All our future publications will now be available in paper and ebook formats.
The French Translation Office now offers its Amis du Service de traduction (Friends of the Translation Office) program. For 108 euros, student can help support French-language translation work and receive ebooks translated over the last 10 years, their updates and all future titles. The French Translation Office would like to have 108 new friends by January 1, 2017.
Mandala brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 160 FPMT centers, projects and services around the globe. If you like what you read on Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Dhakpa Tulku Rinpoche being visited by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
We are sad to announce that on February 13, 2016, Dhakpa Tulku Rinpoche passed away peacefully while in meditation at his residence in Kalimpong, India. Dhakpa Rinpoche was one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus, was an FPMT touring lama, and had given Lama Zopa Rinpoche many oral transmissions over the years. He will be greatly missed.
Dhakpa Rinpoche was born in 1926 in Kongpo, Tibet and later recognized by His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 49th Ganden Tripa Lobsang Dhargye Rinpoche, who was the head of the Gelug school from 1708 to 1715. He studied in Tibet eventually earning his Geshe Lharampa degree at the age of 26 and completing further studies in tantra. When the Chinese communists invaded Tibet in 1959, Rinpoche fled to India.
In 1962, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama appointed Rinpoche as the abbot of Sera Me Monastery, the first abbot of the Sera Me in exile. Rinpoche served as abbot for three years, but left the monastery and went to Kalimpong for medical treatment.
Until 1990, Rinpoche led a very quiet life in Kalimpong and spent much of his time in retreat and meditation. Although Rinpoche was one of the most precious and valuable spiritual teachers living in India, due to his humble nature, he was little known outside the area. However, he was in fact one of the very rare teachers holding teachings from the most valuable and precious secret lineages from Pabongka Rinpoche and many other highly realized lamas in Tibet.
Throughout his life Rinpoche actively sought out teachings from spiritual masters from other Tibetan Buddhist traditions, adding to the richness of his understanding and own teachings. Rinpoche was requested to pass on all those teachings and other tantric initiations to the young rinpoches at Sera Me, which he did for three months every winter. His Holiness the Dalai Lama praised Dhakpa Rinpoche for his dedication to his practices and the generosity of his teachings.
Mandala will have a complete obituary for Dhakpa Tulku Rinpoche in the July-December 2016 issue.
Dhakpa Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
The teachers, students and staff of Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Programme 7 (LRZTP 7) –FPMT’s Tibetan-language interpreter training program – wished to share their Losar (New Year) greeting with the wider FPMT community. The card reads:
“The upcoming year is called ‘The Year of the Fire Monkey’ and we pray and wish that all your aspirations will be fulfilled this year as quickly as it takes a monkey to climb a tree. May the warmth of happiness, wealth, good health and love follow you wherever you go and may the fire of bodhichitta in your heart warm the world with compassion.”
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 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 with Tenzin Ösel Hita at Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1991. Photo by Thubten Yeshe, courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
FPMT International Office wishes Tenzin Ösel Hita a very happy birthday and a long, healthy life. May his beneficial activities flourish and holy wishes come instantly into fruition!
Tenzin Ösel Hita, the recognized reincarnation of FPMT founder Lama Yeshe, turned 31 on February 12, 2016. Ösel was born in Bubión, Spain.
The Big Love Fund provides financial resources that enable Ösel to continue his endeavors on behalf of FPMT. You can follow news and updates about Ösel on the Tenzin Ösel Hita news feed.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in California, US, October 2015. Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
More than 1 million recitations of the Kshitigarbha long mantra have been accumulated as part of an effort to accomplish the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche for preventing and pacifying earthquakes in California and the rest of the world. In addition, the rest of the practices advised by Rinpoche have been completed, reflecting the dedication and generosity of hundreds of students around the world.
“Lama Zopa Rinpoche said that due to all the prayers and practices that students have done, the danger of a devastating earthquake has lessened and [is] not so imminent. That is a great cause for rejoicing!” wrote Ven. Tsomo, spiritual program coordinator at Land of Medicine Buddha, who helped coordinate the effort. “Rinpoche also said that we need to keep on with the recitation of the long Kshitigarbha mantra until 1.8 million mantras are accumulated. But no pressure, [we] don’t need to do as intensely as before, but just to keep going, no matter how long it takes.”
Mantra recitations continue to be collected at the website created in support of the effort: http://www.pacifyearthquakes.org.
New people are welcome to join the effort and can find more information and links to the practice at the above link. “Quite a number of students have commented that the practice has been powerful and joyful!” Ven. Tsomo said.
Here is the update on all of the accumulated practices as of February 11, 2016:
1. The long Kshitigarbha mantra has been recited 1,115,374 times, which is well over half-way to the 1.8 million times advised by Rinpoche. Students and centers all over the world have contributed to this count, including ten centers contributing over 10,000 recitations and ten individuals contributing over 5,000.
2. The eight Mahayana precepts were taken more than 2,436 times, far exceeding the advice of accumulating 300. Participants of the November Kopan Course in Nepal and courses at Tushita Meditation Centre in India contributed greatly to this number.
3. Six extensive Medicine Buddha pujas were performed: four were done at Land of Medicine Buddha and two at Gyalwa Gyatso (Ocean of Compassion) Buddhist Center, both located in the Bay Area of California.
4. Four Tengyur readings were completed by monks of Sera Je Monastery. The first reading was done on Lama Tsongkhapa Day in December 2015. The last session finished on February 2. They made dedications to all the sponsors of the reading – more than 210 names – as well as for the prevention of earthquakes in California, Nepal, and all over the world and for all sentient beings to be free of suffering and its causes and to attain enlightenment. US$31,100 was raised and offered to the monks at Sera Je doing the readings.
Kshitigarbha statue at Land of Medicine Buddha, US, January 2015. Photo by Laura Miller.
Students contributed other practices to the effort too, including 382 recitations of the Kshitigarbha Sutra of Past Vows in Chinese and English; 110,800 short Kshitigarbha mantras; and 2,198 medium-length Kshitigarbha mantras.
“As many of you know, His Holiness the Dalai Lama received medical treatment in the States recently. Lama Zopa Rinpoche commented a few days ago that, as so many people are doing Kshitigarbha mantras to pacify earthquakes, please make sure to also dedicate this practice to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s health and long life. This is in order to purify our karma,” Ven. Tsomo wrote.
The practices may already be helping people around the world. “A few days ago, there were earthquakes in Nepal and Tainan, Taiwan,” Ven. Tsomo wrote. “Students in Taiwan recited over 161,000 long Kshitigarbha mantras collectively. We hope that their practice, plus our mantras, helped give protection to the many affected.”
Please rejoice in all these practices done by so many people all over the world!
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings and events from nearly 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.