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Ven. Rita Riniker teaches with enthusiasm at the first annual Swiss Buddhist Festival, Berne, Switzerland, September 2014. Photo courtesy of Longku Center.
Francesca Paoletti from Longku Center in Switzerland sent Mandala news of the country’s first annual Swiss Buddhist Festival in early September 2014.
The Swiss Buddhist Union, which encompasses most Buddhist groups in Switzerland, has launched its first Swiss Buddhist Festival in order to increase the public awareness of Buddhist groups in Switzerland and to provide a public platform for their activities and projects.
The two Swiss FPMT centers, Longku Center in Berne and Gendun Drupa Centre in Martigny, were both present at the festival with an information stand, a small FPMT shop and a food stand. This was a beautiful way to get in contact with many new people and inform them about the activities in our centers.
The festival took place on September 6, 2014, in the city center of Berne, the capital of Switzerland, not far from the federal parliament. The participants to the festival were a large variety of Buddhist groups, representing a diversity of traditions and geographic areas. In a large tent, public talks, teachings, ceremonies and meditations were offered throughout the whole day to a large public audience. This was a unique opportunity for many people to gain an insight of the multitude of Buddhist traditions. Around the tent there were several stands with Dharma shops and food. It was like a small, colorful Buddhist bazaar enriched by the numerous, high-spirited and interested visitors.
FPMT registered teacher and long-time student Ven. Rita Riniker from Longku was among the Buddhist teachers giving a public talk in the tent. With her usual lively and humorous style she explained the significance of Buddhist rituals in a clear, understandable way that inspired many listeners. As you can see from the picture, Ani Rita was committed with her full power as usual!
Many interesting conversations and exchanges of opinions and experiences took place both with the visitors and with the representatives of other Buddhist groups. It was a beautiful event, a nice success for our center and truly a positive experience of the connectedness of the Dharma within the diversity of the various Buddhist traditions.
Longku Center had and information booth where gifts and food could be purchased at the first annual Swiss Buddhist Festival, Berne, Switzerland, September 2014. Photo courtesy of Longku Center.
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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at the November Course at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, November 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
FPMT.org now makes dozens of videos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and other Buddhist teachers available for free to students anywhere in the world as part of its recently redesigned FPMT Video Resources page.
Students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche can access his teachings from the Kopan November Course, which took place in Nepal this December; the Bodhicaryavatara and Rinjung Gyatsa retreat held at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Australia in September and October; and the extensive Light of the Path 2014 teachings completed in North Carolina, USA in May. (The other years of Light of the Path have been condensed into the videos for the Living in the Path online learning program.) When time is limited, students can get a quick dose of inspiration by watching shorter, miscellaneous clips or checking out the preview for Mystic Tibet, the successful 90-minute documentary chronicling an important pilgrimage Rinpoche made to Tibet in 2002.
The site also features FPMT: A Documentary, a short video that explores the history and future of FPMT and the Mahayana tradition; and nine of the 13 videos that are part the Discovering Buddhism education program, introduced by Richard Gere and Keanu Reeves.
FPMT International Office is the administrative headquarters for the FPMT, an organization devoted to preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha, and based on that experience, spread the Dharma to sentient beings. Your support allows us to continue our work.
Austrian television crew filming Panchen Losang Chogyen’s animal liberation, October 2014. Photo courtesy of Panchen Losang Chogyen.
“A small action can often reach an unexpected number of people and beings, like as happened in Panchen Losang Chogyen Gelug-Zentrum in Vienna recently,” said director Stefan Seidler in late October. “For some years now, most Buddhist temples in Austria have been organizing an open house once a year. This day happened to be just some weeks ago. We, like many other groups in Vienna, had our doors wide open for an afternoon and were planning to liberate a few boxes of worms. To our delight and despite bright autumn weather, not only did many visitors come, but also Austrian television visited us. Our announcement of a ‘Life Saving Ceremony’ [animal liberation] made them curious, and the TV crew put together a wonderful report about the liberation of the worms. This program aired a week after. And the wonderful thing is, in addition to the freedom of the worms, was that the practice was seen by about 200,000 people, who probably didn’t know anything about it until now!”
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.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Tim McNeill, Boston, Mass., US, October 20, 2014. Photo by Sonam Zoksang.
In October, Tim McNeill, CEO and publisher of Wisdom Publications, had the opportunity to offer His Holiness the Dalai Lama a copy of the new book Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions, authored by His Holiness with Ven. Thubten Chodron and published by Wisdom. The book explores the similarities and differences within Buddhist traditions.
McNeill was able to see His Holiness at His Holiness’ talk on the “Eight Verses of Thought Transformation” at the Wang Theater in Boston, US, on October 30, 2014, organized by the Prajna Upadesa Foundation.
Ven. Chodron told Mandala about her work on Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions, during an interview published in Mandala October-December 2014:
“There were certain topics that His Holiness definitely wanted included, for example, the sixteen aspects of the four noble truths. The other topics were fundamental topics common to all the traditions: refuge, the three higher trainings, selflessness, the four immeasurables. The Pali tradition also speaks of generating bodhichitta and following the path of the perfections, so that, too, is included. These topics are vast but are presented as succinctly as possible in the book.
“Something I was enthused to talk about in the book is similarities between the traditions that I didn’t know existed before. Since the time I lived in Singapore, where there are a variety of Buddhist traditions, I’ve been aware that Buddhists have a lot of misconceptions about other traditions. For example, many Chinese think Tibetan Buddhists practice magic and that Tibetan Buddhism is degenerate because of tantra. Most Tibetans believe that the Chinese do blank-minded meditation and that all the people who practice in the Pali tradition are selfish. The Pali tradition looks at the Tibetans and says, ‘Do they practice vinaya? It doesn’t look like it,’ and ‘tantra isn’t the Buddha’s teachings.’ None of these ideas are correct.
“Seeing this, I understood His Holiness’ reason for wanting to have this book show, from the side of the teachings, what we have in common and where we have differences. Then people can see that all the traditions adhere to the same basic teachings and that a lot of the misconceptions that we have about each other are just that – misconceptions.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama with Tim McNeill, Boston, Mass., US, October 20, 2014. Photo by Sonam Zoksang.
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.
Lawudo Gompa complex, Lawudo, Nepal, October 2014. Photo by Gregor Beer.
Gregor Beer, a student and helicopter pilot who has flown Lama Zopa Rinpoche to visit Lawudo Gompa and Retreat Centre and Tsum in Nepal, shared this amazing aerial shot of the Lawudo complex with Mandala.
Lawudo Gompa and Retreat Centre, located where Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s predecessor Lawudo Lama Kunsang Yeshe lived and meditated, is open to students who seek ideal conditions for personal retreat and reflection.
“The best word to describe Lawudo is ‘still,'” said Ven. Tenzin Namdrol (Ani Jan), a resident at Kopan Monastery in Nepal who recently visited Lawudo. “The mountains are big and unmoving. Even though the wind blows, the clouds come and go, the fog rolls in, the river below is always flowing, and small planes and helicopters pass through the valley – like the yaks – it’s quiet and still. If you meet a yak as you walk, he will just look at you with his big eyes. Still.
“Lawudo has developed a lot as Ani-la Ngawang Samten, Rinpoche’s sister and Lawudo’s caretaker, will tell you. There are many comforts to make staying there very pleasant. The Lawudo family cares for whoever walks through the gate or moves on that mountain side, visitors and locals alike. The cows are loved and cared for, as are the humans, with potato pancakes, Sherpa stew and the like. There’s even a warm shower.
“The Lawudo Lama’s meditation cave is like visiting a wonderland, blessed by one holy being’s decades of meditation. The blessings literally drip from the ceiling. The gompa has been renovated, preserving the devotion and labor of love that built it. There’s a bell ringing with the turns of the big prayer wheel, and a sunny deck overlooking the snow-covered mountains for library users who prefer a view.
“There’s also so much time and space. Time to do practice, uncluttered due to simplicity and the space is enormous. Welcoming rooms, complete with meditation boxes and altar await their occupants. Combined with the stillness, it’s a great place for meditation. Many people comment that it’s the best place they’ve been to!”
Read more about Lawudo on FPMT.org.
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.
Kopan Monastery at night, Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup’s stupa to the left, Geshe Lama Konchog’s stupa to the right and new light offerings on the trees, Nepal, December 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Many of the Western students who came to Kopan Monastery to hear FPMT founders Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche teach in the 1970s came from Christian backgrounds. Recognizing this, each year Lama Yeshe gave teachings that touched on these students’ experiences of Christmas celebration. In 1978, Wisdom Publications published a collection of these teachings called Silent Mind, Holy Mind. Here’s a short excerpt of Lama Yeshe’s teachings:
“… It is characteristic of materialistic people that they believe their happiness and frustration to be totally dependent on internal phenomena and possessions. If they do not receive enough ice cream and cake they are despondent: ‘I feel so empty. This Christmas has been such a flop I could die!’ For them, the success or failure of a religious holiday depends entirely on material things. They cannot discover peace and happiness within their own consciousness, depending instead on some external, physical sign of ‘love.’ It does not matter how much they might profess to be spiritual; their minds are completely obsessed by the gross, material level of reality.
“The investigation of such matters is Dharma, the true religious pursuit. Dharma study does not mean something coming out of the sky from another world. It deals directly with such questions as our motivation, what we are thinking and feeling right now in the midst of our everyday life.
“If we don’t not make an attempt to control the negative, confused mind, then there is no such thing as Christianity, there is no Buddhism, no Mahayana. There is nothing worthwhile! We must recognize the negative mind for what it is, and then slowly begin to find a solution for the pain it causes ourselves and others. In this way our mind can be brought to a state of everlastingly peaceful realization. If we do nothing to correct our motivation and distorted ways of thinking, then Christmas exists merely for the ego. Although supposedly making a celebration for Jesus, what we are actually doing is completely degenerate.
“Therefore, if you want to come to this Christmas celebration and bring a present, the best present you can bring is a peaceful mind. If you can make such an offering with true love for one another, that is enough. …”
The above excerpt is taken from Mandala December 2006-January 2007.
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.
Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi with participants of the 1K Event 2014, Losang Dragpa Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 2014. Photo by Elenie Tan.
Candy Tan, spiritual program coordinator at Losang Dragpa Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, recently told Mandala about the center’s 15th annual 1K Event, a two-day prayer festival for the public.
Located just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from the heart of the city of Kuala Lumpur, Losang Dragpa Centre (LDC) was first established in 1993 and after a lengthy registration process at the local authorities, was formally registered in 1995 through the kindness of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In 1999, Rinpoche was scheduled to visit the center with a rich treasure of holy relics. In an effort to honor the presence of Rinpoche and these sacred jewels, the first One Thousand Offerings to the Buddhas event, now known at the 1K Event, was organized to enable as many people as possible to make connection with Rinpoche and the Dharma. It also had the unexpected but happy result of being a good fundraiser for the center’s activities.
Lama dance at the 1K Event 2013, Losang Dragpa Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 2013. Photo by Elenie Tan.
2014 marks the 15th anniversary of LDC’s annual One Thousand Offerings Event as it continues to open doors to our gurus, the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Why do we call it the 1K Event? Because LDC offers literally over 1,000 items, including gold leaves, crystal jewels, food, flowers, lights and water in cups and bottles.
Held over a weekend in a public hall, the 1K Event always presents an elaborately decorated stage complete with large Buddha thangkas, long altars with large photos of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama and a teaching throne. There are several altars dedicated to a different buddha, e.g. Medicine Buddha, Tara, Maitreya Buddha, each set up with beautiful offerings. The festival offers a wide range of Dharma activities to suit the various inclinations of the public. For instance, they can elect to participate in a range of activities such as incense puja; Medicine Buddha jangwa for the dead; Chabdu, a cleansing puja to clear health-related obstacles; oral transmissions by the presiding lama; Tara puja; sur offering; light offerings; public talks, etc.
These activities also serve as a platform to offer support to other projects like the Sera Food Fund and the Tsum Project. In more recent years, Sangha members from Kopan have been invited to perform special events like construct mandalas, perform lama dances and conduct house and office pujas upon request.
Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi offering a large jewel to Dzambhala during the 1K Event 2013, Losang Dragpa Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, October 2013. Photo by Elenie Tan.
Presiding lamas of the 1K Event bring blessings and their own brand of grace and skillfulness to their interactions with the public. The late Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lundrup, Dagri Rinpoche, Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi, just to name a few, have been among the high lamas presiding over this event. Their presence has given the Malaysian public a special opportunity to meet the Dharma and create merit.
Although enthusiasm runs high during an event of such a scale, it also means much hard work and has its share of logistical nightmares! Center members and our executive committee volunteer their efforts months ahead in preparation for the event. Amazingly, even non-members, including friends and relatives of members come forward to help!
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.
Geshe Tashi Tsethar, Zengwen Youth Activity Center, Taiwan, October 2014. Photo courtesy of FPMT Taiwan.
Ven. Thubten Dechen, who interpreted for Geshe Tsethar during FPMT Taiwan’s and Heruka Center’s first jointly organize lam-rim retreat, reports on the special event:
FPMT Taiwan and Heruka Center in Kaohsiung jointly organized its first guided meditation lam-rim retreat during Taiwan’s National Day weekend on October 10-12.
The retreat was held in Zengwen Youth Activity Center, a sanctuary sitting amid a ring of emerald green hills and bordered at one end by the largest dam in the country by volume, the Zengwen Reservoir.
Geshe Tashi Tsethar, resident teacher of Heruka Center, led the retreat which was attended by 46 participants from primarily the southern parts of Taiwan, one third of whom we met for the first time.
Each day of the retreat began with Geshe Tsethar leading us through the practice of the six preparatory practices with steps of meditation and visualization clearly explained in great detail. The rest of the days were then spent, at intervals of an hour or so, in several sessions on the actual lam-rim meditation, prostrations to the 35 Buddhas, Q & A, and tea offering ritual to the protectors.
“One of the most touching facts of this retreat,” Heruka Center’s deputy director Dorothy Hung said, “is that you could see people really trying to help each other, the seniors helping the less experienced, and the younger ones assisting the elderly. You feel the togetherness of this group, and that is very beautiful.”
Many participants commented that they had never heard such lucid explanation on the six preparatory practices, while others mentioned that despite having studied lam-rim repeatedly for years, they had never learned how to put the instructions into practice until they attended this retreat.
Overall the retreat was very successful and beneficial, with many already expressed their wish to attend the next one! This marks an important milestone in FPMT Taiwan’s history – we are now a big step closer to actualizing Rinpoche’s vision in making lam-rim meditation retreat a regular practice in this part of the world!
Participants at the first annual lam-rim meditation retreat organized by FPMT Taiwan and Heruka Center, Zengwen Youth Activity Center, Taiwain, October 2014. Photo courtesy of FPMT Taiwan.
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.
Child visitor at Maitreya Loving Kindness Tour relic exhibition in Toronto, Canada, 2014. Photo by Thupten Wangyal.
“2014 has been an inspiring year for Maitreya Loving Kindness Tour,” said staff member Michael Fouts. “In Russia, the relics visited Gunzechoinei Datzan which is the oldest temple in St. Petersburg and has hosted teachings from both Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche. More than 3,000 people from many different backgrounds came to be blessed by the relics.
“In Canada, relic exhibitions were held in both Saskatoon and in Toronto where the relics were displayed at the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre. On Sunday morning during the Toronto exhibition, 100 Tibetan children of different ages came to do their weekly meditations and prayers – this time in front of the relics! Many of the children offered khatas to the relics while others made prostrations and circumambulated the altar while praying.
“Recent United States exhibitions included the cities of Des Moines, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Grand Rapids, where 3,000 people from many different walks of life attended. The Grand Rapids exhibition was profoundly moving for many of the local visitors. As Grand Rapids exhibition volunteer Eric Wilkins put it, ‘The relics radiate the very depths of a sacred silence that continues to welcome me home and they sing an ineffable unified chorus throughout my blood, bone and tissues.’
“As the events of 2014 draw to a close, the schedule for 2015 is already brimming full with events in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Vietnam, USA, Mexico, Canada and Colombia. The tour soon enters its 15th year with no end in sight. Please join us in rejoicing and giving thanks to the kindness of Lama Zopa Rinpoche for founding this historic and beneficial tour.”
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.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the eight stupas that are part of the Garden of Enlightenment at Chenrezig Institute, Queensland, Australia, September 2014. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
“An ABC National presenter visited us for the 40th anniversary of Chenrezig Institute [celebrated in September 2014] to include us in her show about the history of Buddhism in Australia. It has just been played [on Saturday, December 13] and will be replayed this week, but the link allows you to listen to it in full at any time. It was a well made show and had some interesting stuff about the 50s and 60s I was not aware of,” wrote Kathy Vitcha, a long-time Australian FPMT student.
The program “The History of Buddhism in Australia, as Practiced by Westerners,” will be broadcast again on ABC Radio National on Wednesday, December 17 at 1 p.m. local time. You can also listen to the program online at anytime.
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.
- The “Monk with a Camera”: An Interview with Khen Rinpoche Nicholas Vreeland
- “A Feast for Mind and Heart: A Report on the Tsadra Translation and Transmission Conference“ by Donna Lynn Brown
- “Parenting Unplugged: Self-Care“ by Kasia Beznoska
- And much more!
In our print issue, we share reports from the CPMT 2014 meeting held at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Australia; the official obituary of Geshe Lhundub Sopa and the prayer for his swift return; plus a feature on the women who took on the role of the five dakinis in the long life pujas for Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered at the Great Stupa.
If you would like to receive the print issue of Mandala, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT. Friends of FPMT also receive a downloadable PDF of the issue that can be read on computers and tablets. Have all the new teachings and practice advice is at your fingers, with or without a computer!
Jhado Rinpoche explores a tablet computer with Andy Wistreich and Geshe Kelsang Wangmo ready to assit, Dharamsala, India, July 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala, India, shares its news and access to downloadable teachings recorded at the busy center with Mandala readers:
Tushita continues to keep the Wheel of Dharma spinning with packed course after packed course and waiting lists of prospective students thirsty for spiritual knowledge. By the time of closing for our annual winter break, we’ll have had 16 introductory courses, six Intermediate-level courses and five group tantric retreats in 2014, as well as our popular daily drop-in sessions, regular pujas and special events attended by thousands.
In the second half of the year we hosted special guest teachings by Geshe Lhakdor, Jhado Rinpoche and Gen Gyatso.
Geshe Lhakdor teaching at Tushita on Choekor Duchen, Dharamsala, India, July 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
We celebrated the festival day of Choekhor Duchen on July 31, 2014 in the company of Geshe Lhakdor, who gave a wonderful teaching on the meaning of Buddhism. Audio of this teaching can be streamed or downloaded.
Geshe Lhakdor has been the director of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala since 2005, after serving as His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s official translator for 16 years. (He still occasionally travels with His Holiness as a translator.) We felt so fortunate we are to have him come to teach here!
To wrap up the day, we had an inspiring Medicine Buddha puja led by Ven. Kabir Saxena and a light offering at our stupa. It was an amazing day and photos of our Choekhor Duchen events can be seen on our Facebook page.
Tushita took an unusual break this monsoon as most of our staff and students attended the Kalachakra initiation conferred by His Holiness in Leh, Ladakh, from July 3-14. During this period, Tushita was closed and there were no courses or drop-in events between these dates.
After the initiation in Leh, in order to support practitioners new and old, Tushita held two special Kalachakra related courses and retreats led by Kalachakra expert Andy Wistreich. On July 29, students on the “Harmony in Kalachakra” course were particularly fortunate in receiving special instruction from Jhado Rinpoche in the Vajrasattva gompa.
Jhado Rinpoche was unbelievably kind in also finding time to give a short talk to the “Introduction to Buddhism” students, and also checked in on the progress of our gompa painters to whom Rinpoche has given extensive advice on the painting of our four ceiling mandalas in recent months.
Gen Gyatso teaching at Tushita, Dharamsala, India, September 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
We also struck it lucky – once again – by having our very dear friend Geshe Kelsang Wangmo act as translator during all these events, as she also did at the teachings of Gen Gyatso, who led a three-day non-residential introductory lojong teaching entitled “Healing the Aching Heart” in September. Audio from these three-day teachings are available as are photos from this event.
We held an interfaith event by marking the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur on October 4. We were happy to grant the request of 17 Israeli students to allow them to observe Yom Kippur and to prepare for and break their fast with special meals. This post-fast feast was made possible by the kindness of Ven. Namgyel and Ven. Rita Riniker, who sponsored the meal. Ani Rita was in Israel at the time, and wrote:
I just wanted to thank Tushita for giving me the opportunity to be part of this and also for supporting the Israeli and Jewish students in their fast by giving them proper food on Friday. They will appreciate it very much and I am sure they will never forget how an institution of another religion supported the Jewish fast. This will be something new for them and maybe it will put the idea in their minds that different religions can not only live peacefully together, but also support each other. This is what has to happen in this area. Tushita started with being a great example of this.
Israeli guests celebrating Yom Kippur, Dharamsala, India, October 2014. Photo courtesy of Tushita Meditation Centre.
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.