FPMT News Around the World

Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Bodhgaya, India, December 2011

On Saturday, June 23, FPMT brings you a live video webcast of Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching from Maitripa College in Portland, Oregon, USA.

The webcast is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. PDT (UTC -7 hours) on Saturday, June 23. 

Rinpoche will offer a teaching and oral transmission of:

• The short Lam-Rim by Je Tsongkhapa
• Praise to Avalokiteshvara by Songsten Gampo
• The long Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig) mantra

Check back here for updates. 

FPMT News Around the World

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la circumnabulating the stupa at Vajrapani Institute, California, June 2012. Photo courtesy of Vajrapani Institute.

FPMT spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche returned to Portland, Oregon, in the United States on June 21. Rinpoche traveled to Portland from California where he had spent the previous 12 days. Khadro-la arrived with Rinpoche in Portland, which is the home of the FPMT International Office and Maitripa College. This is Rinpoche’s first visit to the United States since he manifested a stroke in April 2011. 

While in Portland, Rinpoche will be offering a teaching and oral transmissions at Maitripa College the evening of Saturday, June 23. Khadro-la is schedule to give a teaching on “Wisdom and Compassion” on Sunday, June 24. 

In California, Rinpoche visited Vajrapani Institute in Boulder Creek and Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel, where they held a party welcoming Rinpoche and Khadro-la, who’s visiting the United States for the first time. You can see more photos of Rinpoche’s recent activities on the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Facebook page.

With 158 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FPMT News Around the World

From dalailama.com photo gallery: His Holiness the Dalai Lama with the Bishop of Manchester in Manchester, England, June 17, 2012. Visit dalailama.com for more news and photos.

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama returned to England on Friday, June 15, arriving in Manchester where he gave a series of teachings and public talks. On June 17-18, His Holiness taught on Eight Verses for Training the Mind and Nagarjuna’s In Praise of Dharmadhatu. On Tuesday, June 19, His Holiness spoke in London at Royal Albert Hall on “Real Change Happens in the Heart.”

Jamyang Buddhist Centre had a stall at the Manchester teachings, staffed by many volunteers. They gave out Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive books and leaflets for UK FPMT groups.

His Holiness focused on speaking to young people in Manchester on Saturday, June 16. According to dalailama.com, he told a gathering of leaders from youth organizations, “I belong to the twentieth century, an era that has now passed. It was a time when many people thought that violence was the way to solve our problems. Although the motivation to solve problems was often positive and good, the method, the use of force, was wrong, because invariably violence creates more problems than it solves. What have we learned? that we need to employ non-violence and dialogue to solve our problems.”

Later in the day, the Dalai Lama spoke at the youth-center event “Stand Up and Be the Change.” British comedian Russell Brand introduced and joked with His Holiness and moderated the question and answer period after the talk. More than 10,000 attended the event; tickets were offered free to those 25 and under.

Also while in England, His Holiness traveled to Leeds to speak to the Yorkshire International Business Convention on ethics and business and lectured at the University of Westminster on “Values of Democracy and Tibet.” In addition, he met with the press, a group of Gurkha soldiers based in Manchester and his old friend Laurence Freeman, a Benedictine monk, who has been active in promoting Christian meditation. On June 22-23, His Holiness will be in Scotland, speaking in Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness. Next week, His Holiness travels to Milan before returning to India. For more, visit His Holiness’ website dalailama.com.

With 158 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FPMT News Around the World

Jade Buddha in Vietnam, March 2009, at the beginning of its ongoing world tour

The Jade Buddha for Universal Peace continues its world tour in Thailand. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra officially opened the Thai showing of the Jade Buddha, which runs June 15 – July 7 at CentralWorld in Bangkok. Organizers are expecting 250,000 to 500,000 people will see the Jade Buddha during this visit to Thailand. To date, more than 5.5 million people have viewed the statue.

The 4.5-ton (4-tonne), 8-foot (2.5-meter) tall statue of Buddha is carved entirely from gemstone quality jade and modeled on the Buddha inside the Mahabodhi Stupa in Bodhgaya, India.

The Jade Buddha’s story itself offers inspiration and wonder. In 2003, then-FPMT board member Ian Green traveled to British Columbia, Canada, and first laid eyes on the gigantic Polar Pride jade boulder that would become the Jade Buddha. He reported what he saw to Lama Zopa Rinpoche who told him to “turn this giant gemstone into a holy object as an offering to the world.”

In a 2011 interview, Green told Mandala, “My goal is that the Jade Buddha will inspire billions of beings in this universe to follow the peaceful path. And that it will leave a legacy of lasting peace wherever it tours in the world.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Jade Buddha in France, September 2011

The Jade Buddha was completed in late 2008 and began touring the world in March 2009 in Vietnam. Since then, the Buddha has toured Australia, North America and Europe, returning to Asia in 2012.

In May, the Jade Buddha visited Taiwan. Organizers report 80,000 visitors coming to the exhibition, which was hosted by the Chinese Buddhist Temple Association. 

From Thailand, the Jade Buddha travels to Sri Lanka and India, visiting Colombo, Kushinagar and wrapping up 2012 in Bodhgaya at the Mahabodi Stupa. Tour organizers hope to bring the Jade Buddha to China in 2013. The statue is scheduled to make return visits to the United States, Vietnam and Australia. Eventually, the Jade Buddha will go to its home at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia, where it will be a symbol of peace to inspire the world for millennia to come.

With 158 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

Liberated yaks just after their arrival in Rolwaling Valley, Nepal, September 2011

In 2011, more than 108 yaks’ lives were saved in Nepal through the efforts of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Geshe Thubten Jinpa and with the support from FPMT’s Animal Liberation Fund and Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore. In order to document the liberation, Geshe Jinpa brought along a camera crew and has just released an exciting new video called 108 Yaks: A Journey of Love and Freedom.

108 Yaks tells the story of the 19-day journey made by the rescued yaks from Dhudkunda, Nepal, where they were sold to Geshe Jinpa, to their new home in the lush pastures of the sacred Rolwaling Valley in northeastern Nepal, where the foot prints of Guru Rinpoche are said to be. The video takes us along on the stunning trek as a team of 22 herders and porters guides the gentle and peaceful yaks over rugged and treacherous mountain terrain.

“Rinpoche first spoke about his wish to rescue yaks in January 2011. He had heard rumours about the trading of yaks for meat up in the Himalayas of Nepal and expressed his concern,” Amitabha Buddhist Centre’s newsletter Tashi Delek reports. Rinpoche sent Geshe Jinpa to investigate. Eventually, Rinpoche arranged for the liberation of 115 yaks and for their care by the villagers living in Rolwaling.

As Lama Zope Rinpoche has advised, animal liberation is not just about saving animals from slaughter, but making sure the animals receive positive Dharma imprints for the rest of their lives through circling holy objects, hearing mantras and so forth.

Geshe Jinpa explained to Tashi Delek the reasons for rescuing the yaks and making the film 108 Yaks :

My whole point of doing this animal liberation is to dedicate for Rinpoche and the gurus’ long lives. But also it is to promote animal liberation, to tell people what animal liberation is and how it should be done. And also [share] what Rinpoche does to benefit sentient beings, with his words, his teachings and actions. Through that we contribute to the welfare of the animals. I mentioned to Rinpoche, by doing so, maybe this can get some support for Rinpoche’s animal liberation projects – building sanctuaries everywhere to accommodate these animals.

You can order 108 Yaks from The Foundation Store.

Liberated yaks in Rolwaling, Nepal, wearing cords blessed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, September 2011

With 158 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FPMT News Around the World

Saka Dawa light offerings in Bodhgaya, India, organized by Root Institute. Photo courtesy of Root Institute.

FPMT centers, projects and services around the world celebrated Saka Dawa, the day commemorating Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana, yesterday. We rejoice in all of the events and activities that took place!

Here are highlights from a very few celebrations of Saka Dawa:

At the Mahabodhi Stupa in Bodhgaya, India, the Festival of Lights and Merit (FLAM) offered 100,000 lights June 3-5. FLAM is a project of Root Institute and makes light offerings and prayers during the four great Buddhist festivals. In addition to the 100,000 rainbow-colored electric lights that are carefully hung among the trees and walls of the entire Mahabodhi Stupa grounds, offering and dedication prayers are made on the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, increasing the power of the offerings even further. 

Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore reported on Facebook that on Saka Dawa they liberated “about 800,000 lives (about 7 tons of la-la [clams] and cockles).”

Saka Dawa food offerings at Sera Je Monastery in India. Photo courtesy of FPMT Sera Je India.

FPMT Sera Je India shared photos on Facebook of Saka Dawa food offerings at Sera Je Monastery in India. [In other rejoicing news: This month, FPMT’s Sera Je Food Fund received US$115,000, which covers the next six months’ worth of meals for all 2,600 monks currently studying at Sera Je.]

On Saka Dawa, Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (ILTK) consecrated their new Geshe Jampa Gyatso stupa. Geshe Jampa Gyatso taught 27 years at ILTK. Jhado Rinpoche presided over the cemerony. You can see more photos from the creation of the stupa on ILTK’s Facebook page.

Consecration of Geshe Jampa Gyatso stupa, Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, June 2012. Photo by Sirianni.

FPMT International Office celebrated Saka Dawa online by inviting students and supporters of Lama Zopa Rinpoche around the world to contribute to the Work a Day for Rinpoche fund, which supports the continuing realization of Rinpoche’s vast compassionate vision. Response thus far has been fantastic.  

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FPMT News Around the World

An image of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on a bus advertisement in Taiwan, May 2012

The smiling face of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is traveling around Taiwan on the sides of 30 buses. Seeking to raise the profile of Tibetan Buddhism and His Holiness in Taiwan, advertisements have been placed on buses wishing His Holiness a happy 77th birthday and requesting he remain in the world. The bus ads also invite people to a series of events celebrating His Holiness’ birthday throughout the country. 

The ads and events are being organized by an association of Tibetan Buddhist groups in Taiwan. FPMT Taiwan is part of this group and sponsored five of the buses and will have volunteers at the birthday events. 

The face of His Holiness the Dalia Lama on a bus in Taiwan, May 2012

Ven. Thubten Osel, director of Jinsiu Farlin, writes, “I think this is such a good idea to have His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s photos going around the entire country and letting whoever lays eyes on the buses plant some good imprints for their future lives.”

There are three FPMT centers in Taiwan, a country of 23 million people. The centers have active and well attended programs, each led by their own resident teacher. Jinsiu Farlin is located in Taipei on the north end of the island. Shakyanuni Center is in Taichung City, in central Taiwan. Heruka Center is in Kaoshiung in southern Taiwan. 

His Holiness’ birthday is celebrated on July 6.The advertisements are running from May 10-July 10.

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FPMT News Around the World

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Tushita Meditation Centre, May 15, 2012. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala has been abuzz with activity. FPMT’s spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s two-week visit earlier this month brought with it many blessing for Sangha and students. On May 15, he gathered the 100 students there for the course together to share with them a piece of the torma (ritual cake) from Khadro-la’s retreat.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Tushita Meditation Centre, May 15, 2012. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Two days earlier, Lobsang Sangay, the Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister of Tibet), visited Rinpoche at Tushita with Kalon Pema Chinnjor (the Minister for Religion and Culture). They met privately, and then Rinpoche led the Kalon Tripa on a tour of the center. Ling Rinpoche also paid Lama Zopa Rinpoche a visit at Tushita on May 10. Ling Rinpoche received a tour of Tushita as well and took time to address students.

Tushita celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The center offers a full range of courses for both beginner and experienced Dharma students. In 2011, more than 9,000 people from all over the world attended their residential courses, retreats and drop-in sessions, with many more visiting for personal retreat and special events. Tushita will be featured in the next issue of Mandala, which comes out soon.

You can see many more photos from Rinpoche’s visit to Tushita, find links to recent teachings and learn about other happenings at the center on Tushita’s Facebook page. 

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FPMT News Around the World

Men-Tsee-Khang, Dharamsala, India. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Are you curious about Tibetan medicine and astrology? Men-Tsee-Kang, the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute, was established in Tibet by the 13th Dalai Lama in 1916 and reestablished in 1961 by the 14th Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. The institute is, in part, dedicated to promoting and practicing gSowa-rigpa, the Tibetan system of medicine, astronomy and astrology. The institute’s website is a rich source of information on these topics.

Now the FPMT Foundation Store is happy to announce a new relationship with Men-Tsee-Kang. The Foundation Store just received in its warehouse three new items produced by the institute. Sorig Loong Lotion and Sorig Loong Massage Oil are herbal healthcare products from Men-Tsee-Kang intended to help pacify loong disorders. Loong, or lung, is sometimes called the meditator’s disease. Ven. Nyingje, an experienced meditator and FPMT register teacher, writes in a Mandala article on lung that it can be thought of as a strained nervous system.

The Foundation Store also offers Men-Tsee-Kang’s Sorig Tibetan Incense. As part of Men-Tsee-Kang’s mission, they are committed to creating all their products in an environmentally sensitive manner.

In addition to offering herbal products, the institute has a college, where students study Tibetan medicine and astrology in a five-year program. Through a network of clinics, Men-Tsee-Kang also provides free or subsidized healthcare to Tibetan refugees, the poor and needy, monks and nuns, and those over age seventy.

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FPMT News Around the World

Osel Hita speaks at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, April 2012. Photo by Sirianni.

“The first step for harmonious communities is to be aware of your own actions and thoughts,” Osel Hita told a group of students in April 2012. 

A 50-minute recording of the talk is now available online. This was the first time Osel had spoken to a group of Western Dharma students in over a decade. Gomo Tulku also joined the discussion, which took place at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy.

In 2010, Osel Hita and Gomo Tulku along with Ling Rinpoche and Cherok Lama participated in a roundtable discussion with Mandala about being recognized as reincarnated “lamas” and the future of Buddhism. The young FPMT notables offered fresh and original views on how Buddhism fits into the 21st-century world.

“Religion is moved by the people,” Osel told Mandala. “It is connection between the unknown and known universes within and outside of us. Like many other religions, Buddhism is one more way of understanding and growing closer to our true essence.” 

Gomo Tulku, perhaps even more than his compatriots, is pushing into new territories, pursuing a long-held interest in becoming a musician. He has just released his second music video today, called “Let Me Down.”

You can learn about new recordings and teachings along with the latest FPMT news by reading the FPMT International Office News, a monthly e-newsletter. Subscribe online to have it delivered directly to your email inbox.

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FMPT News Around the World

Kadampa stupa construction at Kadampa Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, May 2012

Kadampa Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, is making impressive strides with its project to build a new Kadampa stupa. The center reports, “For two months, we had been designing and building all the remaining concrete parts for the stupa ‒ an ‘upper cylinder’ to complete the vase section, a lid for the cylinder, and a harmika. These have all been built to sizes and shapes that we have been taught by Jampel Lama, who of course is with us every day in person, and by his comrades who are back in Nepal.”

Jampel watches as the assembled upper cylinder, lid and harmika are moved by forklift.

With the aid of a forklift, center members moved the concrete pieces weighing well over 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) each, making sure they all fit together.

With the completion of the last concrete parts, the stupa is ready for the blessing and filling ceremony. At the blessing ceremony, the cylinder will be filled with mantras and precious substances, and then the lid and harmika will be lifted into place and the ceremony completed.   

Jampel, who supervised the construction and decoration of the stupa at Kurukulla Center, will be adding more decorations to the harmika. You can see some of the decorations (above) that have already been completed on the throne section.

The stupa is situated in view of both passing drivers and those traveling by train on nearby tracks as advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. 

With 159 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.

FPMT News Around the World

Lama Yeshe meditating in the botanical gardens, Berkeley, California, 1974. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

It’s no surprise that meditation continues to draw the media’s attention. More and more, its positive effects on the mind and body are being documented by scientists and its techniques are being taught in clinical settings. A 2007 national survey in the United States found that “9.4 percent of respondents (representing more than 20 million people) had used meditation in the past 12 months – compared with 7.6 percent of respondents (representing more than 15 million people) in a similar survey conducted in 2002.” In fact, U.S. National Institute of Health has a dedicated webpage on meditation’s health benefits, which include helping with anxiety, pain, depression, stress, insomnia and coping with chronic illness. All signs indicate this interest will only continue to grow. The inaugural International Symposia for Contemplative Studies recently brought together more than 700 neuroscientists, educators, and contemplative scholars from around the world to share cutting-edge research on the nature and workings of the human mind. We can sincerely rejoice in the benefits that people throughout the world may experience from this increased interest in and use of meditative techniques.

But for students of Mahayana Buddhism, a meditation practice has benefits beyond improved health (which is still important). Developing the ability to calm the mind facilitates one’s ability to progress towards enlightenment, when one can be of most benefit. Fortunately, FPMT offers many resources online to support the development of this kind of meditation practice. Discovering Buddhism’s Module 2 “How to Meditate” is available free of charge on the Online Learning Center as well as instruction on shiné or calm abiding meditation. In addition, Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive offers many teachings from Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and other qualified teachers on meditation. These resources are freely available to you to deepen your Mahayana meditation practice and to share with others who might want to take the altruistic path of Dharma.

With 160 centers, projects, and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.