FPMT News Around the World

Smoke from the CZU Lightning Complex wildfire billowing over Pacific Ocean, California, US, August 2020. Photo by Mike Chiodini, photo courtesy of Bureau of Land Management Facebook page.

FPMT students and centers in California in the United States have been affected by the wildfires blazing in many parts of the state. Vajrapani Institute, which is near the small community of Boulder Creek, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco, had to evacuate due to an ongoing wildfire.

“We all received an immediate evacuation order on the evening of August 18,” Liz Chisler, Vajrapani’s community relations coordinator, writes. “Many of us saw the glow and flames of the fire as we left. The fire was visible from our ridge. Land of Medicine Buddha (LMB) [the FPMT retreat center in Soquel] offered staff a place to stay. We have staff and community members either at LMB or staying with friends. We are all safe, well, and counting the days until we can return.”

Vajrapani staff are remaining in close contact with each other and continuing with their day to day work as much as possible. Elaine Jackson, the resident teacher at Vajrapani, continues with her weekly online program called Touching Peace: An Introduction to Meditation.

The fire that threatened Vajrapani is called the CZU Lightning Complex fire. As of September 2, the fire has spread over 130 square miles (340 square kilometers) and is only forty-six percent contained. Liz writes that they feel very thankful that the flames did not reach the retreat center. Vajrapani is east of the Highway 9 fire line. However, many in the Boulder Creek community have not been as fortunate. “We all have many dear friends that have lost their homes,” she writes. More than 900 homes have been burned by this particular wildfire and the number continues to rise.

Photo shared on Vajrapani’s Facebook page, September 2020.

“We are fortunate that we do not rely on utility companies for our water and power as these services have been badly damaged,” Liz explains. “However we do not have internet at Vajrapani as the two towers that our internet provider had were burned in the fire. We have no date of when these will be up and running again.” Vajrapani staff are hoping to be able to return to Vajrapani in the coming days. Liz says, “We have much gratitude for all the love, support, and prayers that have come from everyone.”

Dozens of wildfires are currently active throughout California. FPMT centers and students in many areas have had to cope with extremely poor air quality. Ven. Carol Corradi, center director of Tse Chen Ling in San Francisco, says that they’ve had several days of bad smoke and haze. Ven. Holly Ansett, FPMT Charitable Projects coordinator who lives at Kachoe Dechen Ling in Aptos, writes that the air has been extremely bad there and at times ash has fallen from the sky. Nadezhda Wein-Duffy, co-director Ocean of Compassion Buddhist Center in Campbell, reports that they’ve also had several days of very poor air quality due to smoke from nearby fires. Ocean of Compassion is located in the suburban South Bay area, so they aren’t directly threatened by fires.

At Land of Calm Abiding in the Central Coast area of California, they were on alert and ready to evacuate, but fortunately did not need to. Ven. Namgyal, the director of the retreat land, was in regular contact with the local officials getting updates.

Wildfires have been affecting other centers outside of California as well. A few weeks ago there was a fire close to Buddha Amitabha Pure Land in north central Washington State. The resident Sangha there were ready to evacuate, but did not need to leave and the fire was put out. Also at O.sel.ling Centro de Retiros, a retreat center located in the southern Spain, there was a fire in a nearby village. Helicopters came in and poured water on it. After two days, it was extinguished.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given advice on several occasions on practices to do in order to dispel and protect from fire, which can be found in the PDF “Practices and Advice to Dispel Fires.” This advice includes instruction on Medicine Buddha practice, White Umbrella practice, the Heart Mantra of Arya Vairochana, Kshitigarbha practice, Chenrezig practice, and more.

You can also find additional instruction on practice to do in Rinpoche’s short advice given in 2017 on California wildfires. The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive also has a page for Rinpoche’s advice on fires. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice “Practices and Advice to Dispel Fires” can be found here: 
https://fpmt.org/wp-content/uploads/teachers/zopa/advice/Fires-Practices-for-dispelling-1.pdf

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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 during tsog offering on the ninth anniversary of Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup’s passing, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, August 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, Losang Namgyal Rinpoche, Geshes, and Lama Gyupa monks offered Yamantaka self-initiation on the ninth anniversary of Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lhundrup Rigsel’s showing the aspect of leaving his holy body. The practice began at 2 p.m. at Kopan Monastery. Afterward the monks did Lama Chopa that went late into the night. 

Khensur Rinpoche, Kopan’s former abbot who was known to many as Lama Lhundrup, passed away into clear light meditation on the tenth day of the seventh month of the Tibetan Calendar in September 2011. He was born in Tibet in 1941 and studied at Sera Je Monastery in Lhasa before fleeing the country in 1959. He was one of the monks who studied at the refugee camp at Buxa Duar, where he met Lama Yeshe. He came to Kopan in 1973 at the request of Lama Yeshe to look after and teach the young monks of the newly created Kopan Monastery. 

Khensur Rinpoche stayed at Kopan for nearly forty years, offering service to Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and helping build the monastery and nunnery into the well respected institutions they are today. He is remembered by the monks, nuns, and international students who studied at Kopan as a kind, patient, and supremely caring person. (Read more about Khensur Rinpoche in “Mother, Father, Teacher, Friend: The Incomparable Kindness of Kopan’s Treasured Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup Rigsel,” Mandala October-December 2011.)

Ven. Thubten Kunkhen served as Khensur Rinpoche’s attended for nearly twenty years. He shares the story of Khensur Rinpoche in a video created earlier this year. Ven. Kunkhen talks about Khensur Rinpoche’s early history as well as about all he did for Kopan’s monks and nuns.

Scenes from the Yamantaka Self-Initiation on the Anniversary of Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lhundrup Rigsel’s Passing:
https://youtu.be/Ksm5PXIydo4

Watch Ven. Thubten Kunkhen tell Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Lhundrup Rigsel’s story:
https://youtu.be/ipOBExPLfO4

You can find all of Mandala’s coverage of Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup at this link:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/mandala-issues-for-2011/october/khensur-rinpoche-lama-lhundrup/

For more on Kopan Monastery, please visit:
https://kopanmonastery.com/

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.

His Eminence Ling Rinpoche, Avondale College Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand, March 2020. Photo by Peter Tram.

Due to the pandemic, some of the stories from earlier in the year were delayed. Here’s one of joyous events that took place in late February and early March. We share it now so that we may all rejoice in the merit created.

His Eminence the 7th Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche visited New Zealand during the Fifteen Days of Miracles from February 26 to March 21, 2020. Rinpoche visited FPMT centers Dorje Chang Institute for Wisdom Culture on February 29–March 2, Amitabha Hospice Service on March 3, Mahamudra Centre on March 6–8, and Chandrakirti Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Centre on March 10–15.

This is a short excerpt from the recently published online story “His Eminence Ling Rinpoche Welcomed to New Zealand for the First Time.” In this excerpt Dorje Chang Institute spiritual program coordinator Gyalten Wangmo shares the story about the visit to Dorje Chang Institute.

His Eminence the 7th Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche’s delightful and meaningful first visit to New Zealand started in Auckland at Dorje Chang Institute for Wisdom Culture (DCI).

During the visit, His Eminence Ling Rinpoche’s presence showed the aspect of relaxedness, acute precise awareness, warm friendliness, and a deep happiness and joyfulness. His Eminence offered such clear, precise, accessible, and practical teachings about how to get the experience of Dharma, emphasizing how to have realistic expectations about our practice. His Eminence taught on “Transforming Problems into Happiness: The Eight Verses of Thought Transformation,” “Compassion and Loving Kindness Meditation,” “Public Talk: A Peaceful Mind in a Turbulent World,” and “An Introduction to the Secret, Profound Practice of Tonglen.”

We hired an outside venue, Avondale College Theatre, to allow for greater attendance. In total we had approximately 428 attendees. This visit was supported by the generosity of volunteers and benefactors, big and small, who took responsibility to make meaningful contributions so that everyone could benefit.

His Eminence Ling Rinpoche, Avalon College Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand, March 2020. Photo by Dirk Jutzas.

Geshe Wangchen, our FPMT resident teacher, welcomed the opportunity to offer His Eminence Ling Rinpoche and his entourage—Ven. Kartsön (Yaki Platt), Ven. Tenzin Khentse, and Geshe Lobsang Yonten—outings to a variety of beaches and other places in Auckland. Geshe-la said that especially when they went for walks and swimming, it was an unforgettable time.

His Eminence Ling Rinpoche expressed, during a thank you tea with core visit volunteers, that His Eminence enjoyed the time at DCI, commenting that it is a beautiful center with so much green land—including jungle—and yet is so centrally located for people. The center was nourished by His Eminence showing the aspect of enjoying and appreciating DCI’s environment and center.

We sincerely thanked His Eminence Ling Rinpoche for all of the blessings and believe much benefit was offered through the visit through the precious teachings people received, the service they offered and the connections they made for the future.

While in Auckland, His Eminence Ling Rinpoche also met with and gave advice to the local Tibetan community in Auckland, and visited Tashi Gomang Centre and the Kagyu Buddhist Centre.

Read the online story “His Eminence Ling Rinpoche Welcomed to New Zealand for the First Time”:
https://fpmt.org/mandala/in-depth-stories/his-eminence-ling-rinpoche-welcomed-to-new-zealand-for-the-first-time/

For more information about His Eminence Ling Rinpoche, visit Rinpoche’s website:
http://lingrinpoche.info/

For more information about Dorje Chang Institute for Wisdom Culture, visit their website:
http://www.dci.org.nz/

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.

Thangton Gyalpo Prayerathon, August 2020. Graphic by International Mahayana Institute.

In Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice to Protect Yourself and Others from the Coronavirus, Rinpoche instructs students on practices to counter the virus, including Thangtong Gyalpo’s prayer The Vajra Speech of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo: The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease.“* The International Mahayana Institute (IMI), FPMT’s community of monks and nuns, is organizing a weekly online Thangtong Gyalpo Prayerathon to recite this prayer, hosted by FPMT center Chenrezig Institute in Eudlo, Queensland, Australia. IMI director Ven. Losang Tendar explains about this special opportunity.

I would like to thank all of you who have contributed to the success of the big Heart Sutrathon on International Sangha Day. We received a lot of positive responses and were able to offer our teachers His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche more than 6,200 recitations of the Heart Sutra.

The great yogi Thangtong Gyalpo, a thangka in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s house, Aptos, California, US, 2020.

Ven. Joan Nicell—who is the Foundational Program Coordinator for FPMT International Office and who lives at Kopan Monastery, where she is currently creating the transcripts for Rinpoche’s thought transformation teachings—told Rinpoche about the Heart Sutrathon. Rinpoche took the opportunity to suggest that we do something similar once a week, reciting The Vajra Speech of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo: The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease“ until the COVID-19 pandemic declines. Rinpoche suggested Saturday. His main point was that we recite Thangtong Gyalpo’s prayer with OM MANI PADME HUM recitation for a period of twenty-four hours once per week.

The IMI sangha immediately implemented this suggestion, organizing the first full day of prayers on Saturday August 1, 2020.

Everyone—including Dharma centers and individuals—is welcome to join the Thangtong Gyalpo Prayerathon by watching the weekly livestream on the Chenrezig Institute YouTube channel and following along with their own copy of the text. (Download The Vajra Speech of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo: The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease” in English, French, Italian, or Spanish.)

Thank you in advance for visiting and reciting these prayers and mantras with us on this and many Saturdays to come! I am grateful to everyone who is helping to make this activity a success, especially our guru Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Chenrezig Institute multimedia team.

*The Vajra Speech of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo: The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease”comes from the great yogi Thangtong Gyalpo (1385–1464) and is for protecting and healing from diseases and epidemics. Lama Zopa Rinpoche advises that while doing this prayer, students should look at an image of Thangtong Gyalpo. Students can also choose to receive the oral transmission of the prayer from Rinpoche online.

To learn more about the International Mahayana Institute visit the website:
http://imisangha.org

To learn more about Chenrezig Institute visit their website:
https://www.chenrezig.com.au/

For more detailed advice on the practices recommended by Rinpoche and links to Rinpoche’s current thought transformation video teachings, please visit the page “Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche for Coronavirus.”

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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 ordained Sangha attending the Vajrayogini retreat, Institut Vajra Yogini, France, May 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Join us in celebrating Chokhor Duchen and FPMT’s eighteenth annual International Sangha Day on July 24, 2020. Chokhor Duchen, “Turning of the Wheel of Dharma,” commemorates the anniversary of Shakyamuni Buddha’s first teaching. The power of any meritorious actions performed on Chokhor Duchen is multiplied by 100 million as taught in the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic. The International Mahayana Institute (IMI), FPMT’s community of monks and nuns, is organizing a twenty-four hour Heart Sutrathon for July 24. IMI director Ven. Losang Tendar explains about this special opportunity.

This is a way for all FPMT students, centers, projects, services, and study groups to engage together in a worldwide Dharma activity. The Heart Sutrathon will be livestreamed on the Chenrezig Institute YouTube channel. We hope all of you will be able to watch and participate.

Each hour a monk or nun will recite the Heart Sutra while another monk or nun serves as the facilitator. Viewers can participate by simultaneously reciting the Heart Sutra. During some of the twenty-four hour period there will be recitations in Spanish, French, and Italian, as well as English. The sutra is short, will be easy to follow, and can be downloaded from the FPMT website.

IMI will count the number of recitations and offer the practice to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

International Sangha Day is intended to provide an opportunity for lay and monastic communities to come together and recognize our interdependence in the practice of Dharma. Therefore, there will be an opportunity for questions and answers with viewers near the end of each hour of recitations. Recitation leaders have been asked to share something inspirational about their experience of ordination or their local Dharma center, monastery, or nunnery after the recitations.

Download the Heart Sutra from the FPMT website:
https://fpmt.org/education/prayers-and-practice-materials/sutras/

Suggestions for merit multiplying days such as Chokhor Duchen can be found on the page Practice on Merit Multiplying Days and Eclipses:
https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/advice/practice-on-the-four-great-holy-days/

Suggestions for celebrating International Sangha Day include reciting the Sutra for Remembering the Three Jewels; showing respect for and appreciation of monastics; generating a deeper awareness of the Sangha Rare Sublime One; and making a donation to the Lama Yeshe Sangha Fund.

To learn more about the International Mahayana Institute visit the website:
http://imisangha.org

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.

Ms. Erdenechimeg, Ianzhina Bartanova, and two participants in front of the wall of stupas. Gaden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, June 2020. Photo by Ianzhina Bartanova.

The FPMT center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, organized a meritorious online art contest in May-June 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. Center director Ianzhina Bartanova shares the story.

Advertised through the Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling Facebook page, the online art contest encouraged everyone to draw the Boudhanath Stupa in Nepal. Ms. Erdenechimeg, a student at the center proposed the art contest to engage children from the Mahayana Children’s Program in meaningful activity while quarantined at home. The idea eventually spread to a much wider audience through word of mouth. More than 140 people participated in the online art contest. The youngest participant was just five years old and the eldest was eighty! Infinite reasons to rejoice!

Boudhanath Stupa drawing by a participant, age 5, Gaden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, June 2020. Photo by Ianzhina Bartanova.

While teaching about the benefit of holy objects—including stupas—at Atisha Centre on March 17, 2000, Lama Zopa Rinpoche said, “So powerful to purify, without hardship, just by going around, by seeing the holy object, even just by seeing and by touching, by circumambulating, by prostrating, by making offering, it purifies inconceivable defilements of negative karma, the cause of the suffering.”

Boudhanath Stupa drawing by a participant, age 22, Gaden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, June 2020. Photo by Ianzhina Bartanova.

Rinpoche also taught, “The most important benefit is that these holy objects help to purify the mind and collect extensive merit so that it is possible for people to have realizations of the path easily. That is the main function of these holy objects—to help us sentient beings have quick realizations of the path to enlightenment, by the power of the holy object.”

Through concentrating on the image of the Boudhanath Stupa, the online art contest participants had an opportunity to purify negative karma, collect vast merit, and plant seeds for full enlightenment. None of the contestants had traveled to Kathmandu, Nepal, but it seems the distance wasn’t an obstacle. This is so relevant these days.

At the conclusion of the online contest, and with the loosening of the quarantine rules, we had a chance to thank all the participants. We offered little gifts of books and sweets to some of the participants in a small ceremony. We shared the benefits of just seeing the Boudhanath Stupa and explained the purpose of the contest. We also devoted time to the practice of rejoicing.

All of the drawings will be placed inside of a large stupa being made by Ms. Erdenechimeg. The entire collection of drawings will be available for viewing in Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling’s library until the stupa is completed.

Boudhanath Stupa drawing by a participant, age 43, Gaden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, June 2020. Photo by Ianzhina Bartanova.

We would like to encourage all FPMT centers to consider involving children and adults in a similar virtuous activity of awakening talent. Drawing holy objects could be a good support for meditation, as well as a joyful and creative introduction to Buddhism for new students.

Boudhanath Stupa drawings, Gaden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, June 2020.

For more information about Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, visit their website:
http://www.fpmtmongolia.org/shedrub-ling-center

Learn more about stupas on FPMT’s Stupas: A Resource Guide.

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.

Graphic by Michaela Kirchem.

Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW), an international FPMT project, is offering a new online course and a free 16 Guidelines for Life–inspired publication parents and others can use with children. FDCW’s programs are based on Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom—a secular system of inner learning that cultivates and explores universal values such as humility, kindness, courage, compassion, and empathy—which is one of FPMT’s Five Pillars of Service. FDCW’s Executive Director Victoria Coleman shares the story.

FDCW is excited to launch a brand new course called Unlocking Your Potential in August 2020. This is the second course in a series drawn from The Art of Fulfillment program, which follows the launch of Building Balanced Empathy last year. The courses do not have to be taken in sequential order.

The new course is designed to explore how conditioning shapes our experience and how this may influence how we show up in our lives. Participants will learn tools empowering them to reflect more deeply on their potential to find fulfillment and meaning in life.

FDCW is offering the course online from August 2 at two different times to make it accessible in all time zones. Course fees start at £15 under FDCW’s new accessible pricing policy.

Facilitator training for Unlocking Your Potential will be offered in September and October 2020.

Graphic by Michaela Kirchem.

In June, FDCW released the “Happy Toolbox for Kids,” the latest free resource for parents, carers, teachers, and anyone working with children. More than one hundred people from twenty-three countries have already downloaded the “Happy Toolbox for Kids” to try with their families or in schools and communities.

“The Happy Toolbox for Kids” contains a selection of mindfulness exercises and one activity idea for each of the 16 Guidelines for Life so adults can playfully explore mindfulness and ethical values with children. The activities are designed with groups in mind but can be easily adapted by parents to use with their children at home.  All activities require only minimal materials and provide a meaningful context to explore the 16 Guidelines for Life together with children. Activities include “Patience – 20 Breaths,” “Kindness – Sunshine Jar,” and ”Forgiveness – Just Perfect as You Are.”

The creation of the “Happy Toolbox for Kids” was inspired by the new course 16 Guidelines for Children and Teens.

FDCW is grateful to FDCW facilitators Cecilia (“Ceci”) Buzón, Wendy Ridley, and Denise Flora who contributed to the creation of the new free resource and the included activities. FDCW also appreciates Elaine Jackson, who offered some of her delightful and inspiring drawings to illustrate the book. Elaine said, “It is just a fantastic offering. It is beautifully created, expertly crafted, and I love the design. The graphics are engaging. The text is excellent. The examples are wonderful. I think there will be much benefit.”

To learn more about the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom, “Unlocking Your Potential”, and the “Happy Toolbox for Kids,” visit the FDCW website: https://www.compassionandwisdom.org

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.

Choden Rinpche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, September 2013. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Mastering Meditation: Instructions on Calm Abiding and Mahāmudrā, a compilation of teachings by His Eminence Choden Rinpoche, is being released by Wisdom Publications on June 30, 2020.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote in the book’s forward, “I am glad that Choden Rinpoche’s teachings on these two topics are now compiled into this book, Mastering Meditation.”

Choden Rinpoche was a celebrated scholar, a debate partner to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and an accomplished yogi. He was virtually unknown outside of Tibet until 1985. He neither escaped his country after 1959 nor was imprisoned. Instead, he lived in a house in Lhasa, never leaving his small, dark, empty room for nineteen years.

Choden Rinpoche was one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers. “Choden Rinpoche is a virtuous friend who has pacified his mind by living in the training of moral conduct, who has pacified his mind by the training in concentration, and who is extremely pacified due to the training in great insight,“ Lama Zopa Rinpoche said in an October 2002 teaching at Land of Medicine Buddha in California.

Mastering Meditation: Instructions on Calm Abiding and Mahāmudrā.

This book’s translation, introduction, and annotations are the work of Ven. Tenzin Gache, a student of Choden Rinpoche and Lama Zopa Rinpoche and a Western IMI monk in the geshe studies program at Sera Je Monastery.

Ven. Gache first met Rinpoche when Rinpoche visited the FPMT center Kurukulla Center in Medford, Massachusetts, US, in the fall of 2004. Rinpoche invited the then-college student, who had already decided to ordain after graduation, to come live and study at Lhopa Khangtsen, his regional house group within Sera Jey Monastery after the completion of his studies. 

Of Mastering Meditation, Ven. Gache writes, “The first part of this book contains instructions for developing calm abiding, an unshakable single-pointedness of mind. The second part offers advanced instructions on using calm abiding as a platform to develop mahamudra, a specialized meditation that uncovers subtle, hidden levels of mind and utilizes them to pierce into the ultimate nature of self and reality, leading finally to complete enlightenment.

“It is my hope that this translation of Rinpoche’s instructions for developing concentration and insight will offer a coherent picture for those interested in examining the mind’s potential and serve as accessible instruction for those wishing to make steps toward actualizing that potential.”

For more information, visit Wisdom Publications’ page for Mastering Meditation:
https://wisdomexperience.org/product/mastering-meditation/

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.

Statue of Lama Tsongkhapa at Kachoe Dechen Ling, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s home in California, 2015. Photo by Chris Majors.

A new video series shares the story of the life of Lama Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) as told through fifteen thangkas depicting his life. The videos are the result of a retreat at Choe Khor Sum Ling (CKSL), the FPMT center in Bangalore, Karnataka State, India, led by Ven. Tenzin Legtsok, an FPMT registered teacher who is in the geshe studies program at Sera Je Monastic University in India.

The 600th anniversary of the parinirvana of Lama Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, was celebrated in 2019 by Gelug students around the world, including at many FPMT centers.

Celebrating 600 Years of Lama Tsongkhapa, Selangor, Malaysia, November 2019. Photo courtesy of the Organizing Committee of Celebrating 600 Years of  Lama Tsongkhapa  Malaysia.

In February 2019, Lama Zopa Rinpoche instructed three Western monks who have finished or are in the process of finishing their geshe studies at Sera Je Monastery—Geshe Tenzin Namdak, Ven. Tenzin Namjong, and Ven. Tenzin Legtsok—to translate five texts having to do with the life and teachings of Lama Tsongkhapa.

One of the five completed translations is related to the fifteen thangkas that illustrate the sacred biography of Lama Tsongkhapa, Cittamani Rosary Spreading the Buddha’s Teachings; Great Ocean of Benefit and Joy: A Method for Depicting the Sacred Biography of The Great Jetsun Tsongkhapa on Painted Cloth in One Hundred and Fifty-Three Parts by Kunkhyen Jamyang Shepai Dorje.

Rinpoche gave advice to FPMT centers on how to celebrate the 600th anniversary of Lama Tsongkhapa’s parinirvana. This advice includes inviting someone knowledgeable about Lama Tsongkhapa to discuss the fifteen thangkas, reciting prayers after seeing each thangka, and rejoicing in the “unbelievable good karma to be like that.” Rinpoche said, “Celebrating Lama Tsongkhapa in this way can make those who have studied his teachings feel unbelievably fortunate to have this opportunity.”

Ven. Tenzin Legtsok, 2019. Photo by Capucine Redon.

In 2019, Choe Khor Sum Ling organized a retreat following Rinpoche’s advice led by Ven. Legtsok. The students did the Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga practice, recited prayers by and about Lama Tsongkhapa, and studied his biography. Center director Shanti Yajnik said it was very powerful to do this at an FPMT center.

Working together, the center and Ven. Legtsok made sixteen short videos, in which Ven. Legtsok discusses the thangkas featured in Lama Tsongkhapa’s biography.

In the first introductory video of the series Ven. Tenzin Legstok says, “This year I’m going around India to different Dharma centers to present that biography. I thought maybe it’s also good for people who can’t actually be there for the presentation to make some short videos to put up on YouTube so people interested all over the world can get this unusual experience of Lama Tsongkhapa’s life.”

The videos were filmed by Capucine Redon and edited by Shanti Yajnik.

Watch the videos on the Choe Khor Sum Ling YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLULNrUA0R-pFxG11ub8aOFqP2cBuxJZUB

To learn more about Choe Khor Sum Ling, visit their website:
https://cksl.in/

Download Cittamani Rosary Spreading the Buddha’s Teachings; Great Ocean of Benefit and Joy: A Method for Depicting the Sacred Biography of The Great Jetsun Tsongkhapa on Painted Cloth in One Hundred and Fifty-Three Parts from the FPMT website:
https://fpmt.org/wp-content/uploads/teachers/zopa/advice/rinpoches-recommendations-for-the-600th-anniversary-of-lama-tsongkhapas-parinirvana-on-december-21/ltk_bio_chintamani_rosary_a5.pdf

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.

Nalanda monks and Ven. Tenzin Namjong during their visit to Swayambhunath, Nepal, March 2020. Photo by Nalanda Monastery monks.

In March, Fifteen monks from Nalanda Monastery, the FPMT monastery in Lavaur, France, traveled to Nepal to participate in the Monlam Chenmo (Great Prayer Festival), organized by Kopan Monastery.

Kopan has been convening a Monlam Chenmo for the Gelug monasteries and nunneries in Nepal for the past fifteen years. Lama Zopa Rinpoche told the Nalanda monks that the idea for organizing the Monlam Chemno goes back to 1975, when Lama Yeshe expressed how good it would be to have a Monlam Chenmo at the monastery, which at that time was too small to host it.

This year’s Monlam Chenmo was held March 5-10 at Gosok Phuntsok Choling Monastery in Swayambhunath. During the event, prayers were made for the gurus’ long lives, the survival and spreading of the Dharma, and world peace. Jangtse Choeje Venerable Gosok Rinpoche led the daily prayers and taught from the Jataka Tales.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Nalanda monks and Ven. Tenzin Namjong, Kathmandu, Nepal, March 2020. Photo by Nalanda Monastery monks.

For many of the Nalanda monks who attended, this was their first trip to the East. Expenses for their journey were covered by a generous sponsor. Kopan Monastery provided accommodation and food for them. “When we arrived we met with Kopan Abbot Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi who kindly welcomed us and shared advice,” Ven. Losang Gyaltsen said.

Ven. Tenzin Gendun said, “The Monlam Chenmo prayers being so precious and holy, Lama Zopa Rinpoche thought that it would be wonderful for the Western Sangha—specifically the Nalanda Sangha—to attend the Monlam Chenmo in Nepal. He mentioned this idea in various teachings. During the 2019 Institut Vajra Yogini retreat one woman kindly proposed to sponsor this project.

“During our visit with Rinpoche in Nepal there was some discussion about how Nalanda could organize a Monlam Chenmo in France. Rinpoche agreed that some of the prayers could be read first in English and then chanted in Tibetan. He suggested we adapt the normal Monlam Chenmo schedule by adding other various activities to attract more people.”

Ven. Thubten Lektsok and Ven. Losang Thubten at Gosok Phuntsok Choling Monastery, Swayambhunath, Nepal, March 2020.

The Nalanda monks learned how to do the prayers from Geshe Sherab-la, Kopan’s umze (chant leader) who has been the Monlam Chenmo umze for many years, and Kopan monks who serve as the second umze. Ven. Tenzin Gendun said, “Geshe Sherab-la kindly gave us a lot of advice on how to hold a Monlam Chenmo in France and even proposed that we meet with him via Skype sometimes to receive trainings.”

The Monlam Chenmo was attended by 1,800 monastics and representatives from eight monasteries and two nunneries and drew around 1,300 attendees daily.

“Thanks to Ven. Tenzin Namjong from Sera IMI House and others,” Ven. Thubten Jamyang said, “we were easily able to follow the prayers using English translations and Tibetan phonetics.”

“Our experience with the other monks and nuns of Kopan Monastery proved to be a harmonious expression of unity. I believe that we have accumulated much merit and purified many obstacles during this festival. Hopefully one day we can introduce the Monlam Chenmo to Nalanda Monastery, albeit on a smaller scale!”

Ven. Tenpa Gyaltsen said, “We were privileged to attend korwas and prayers with Lama Zopa Rinpoche one evening at the Boudhanath Stupa.” Following Rinpoche’s advice, the monks visited Swayambunath and the Mahakala Temple in Kathmandu, as well as Pharping and Namo Buddha with Ven. Sarah Thresher, who taught about the holy sites.

Monlam Chenmo, Gosok Phuntsok Choling Monastery, Swayambhunath, Nepal, March 2020.

Ven. Tendar and Ven. Zoksang said, “On March 29 Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme) welcomed us with warm hospitality, as if we were her own family. After offerings of khatas and gifts (and of course an invitation to return to Nalanda!), we shared tea, laughter, and inspiring stories.”

Ven. Losang Gyalsten said, “All our gratitude to our most precious Guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who initiated this event, to Geshe Sherab-la and the monks for their kind help, to Kopan Monastery who hosted us, and to our kind sponsors who have so much faith in the Dharma.”

For more information about Nalanda Monastery, visit their website:
https://nalanda-monastery.eu/index.php/en/

For more information about Kopan Monastery, visit their website:
https://kopanmonastery.com/

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.

Graphic by Michaela Kirchem.

Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW), an international FPMT project, is offering online programs in response to the challenges of the coronavirus crisis. Victoria Coleman, executive director, shares the story.

Following a swift move into the online environment to support the global Universal Education community in April, Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom offered our popular courses Building Inner Strength—16 Guidelines for Life (Level 1 and 2) and Building Balanced Empathy in April and May. Participants from around the world took the opportunity to join the courses and experience the unique style of experiential and interactive learning with FDCW.

Sandra Faber, from Australia, appreciated the advantages of the online programs for those living in remote locations. Sandra said, “As I live in a remote location, face-to-face courses offered in the past have been prohibitive. A thousand loving thanks to FDCW!”

Elaine Jackson, resident teacher at Vajrapani Institute, an FPMT center in California, US, remarked about the benefits of joining the secular training path of the 16 Guidelines for Life. Elaine said, “I’m feeling inspired to take the next course in order to expand my vocabulary and understanding of how to express our remarkable heritage in secular terms.”

Starting in the beginning of June, former 16 Guidelines for Life participants will have the opportunity to join the 16 Guidelines for Life follow-up course Building on the Basics (BoB) for the first time online. BoB is an opportunity to deepen our practice of the 16 Guidelines for Life and explore how we can bring them into our lives and communities in practical ways over the course of ten weeks. The course has a very different format and is delivered in a mix of live online sessions and self-study weeks.

BoB is open to anyone who has taken a 16 Guidelines for Life course in the past. It will be offered at two different times to enable participants in the different time zones to join. The first course option, led by Craig Mackie, starts on Tuesday, June 2. The second course option, led by Mabel Odessey, starts on Wednesday, June 10.

FDCW is offering a new course fee structure beginning in May to ensure that courses remain affordable and accessible to everyone.

To learn more about the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom and their online programs, visit their website:
https://www.compassionandwisdom.org 

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.

Celebrating the LRZTP8 graduates, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, March 2020. Photo by LRZTP.

Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program (LRZTP), an FPMT project in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, celebrated the graduation of their most recent cohort of students, LRZTP8, in March 2020. Filip Majkowski, former director, shares the story.

LRZTP8 began on March 13, 2018, with a grand opening ceremony. We welcomed new teachers and team members Dr. Filip Majkowski and Alex García, a graduate of LRZTP7, as well as our students who came from Australia, the United States, Taiwan, Vietnam, Spain, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel, Mexico, Poland, and Russia. Most already had some knowledge of the Tibetan language but still considered themselves beginners.

The adventure began with classes in vocabulary and grammar, classical Tibetan, listening comprehension, reading comprehension and drilling, and conversation classes with native Tibetan speakers. Later on in the first year, students began learning and practicing the u-me script. They gradually switched from classes taught in English and Tibetan to classes taught only in Tibetan. Once they had learned the most basic principles of Tibetan grammar and everyday vocabulary they began studying Buddhist words and phrases.

In the second year our great teacher Geshe Tenzin Wangdak began his lamrim classes in Tibetan, completing the full text by the end of the ninth module. (The course was composed of a total of ten modules.) The students learned the basics of drubtha (tenets), dudra (authentic knowledge), studied tantra with Geshe Ngawang from the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, and learned The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva and sem chung (mind factors). They also began learning how to translate and interpret Dharma teachings by studying the theory of interpretation in classes taught by Alex García. Students later paired up to practice interpretation and also translated in front of the whole class.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with LRZTP 8 students and LRZTP teachers, staff, and other participants, Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India, December 2019. Photo courtesy of LRZTP.

Unfortunately the grand graduation ceremony we had planned for March 20 had to be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic and local government restrictions that put limits on the movement and gathering of people. Students received their certificates of completion individually on March 18 after successfully passing their final exams.

We would like to celebrate some of the things that happened during these two years. LRZTP had the privilege of organizing two residential Tibetan language courses for beginners taught by Gen Julia Wilson la, who is also the program’s current director, and Gen Thupten la. Participants came from India, Italy, Germany, Singapore, Russia, Mexico, and South Korea. We also had the privilege of participating in the University of Virginia’s Tibetan language summer course as well as their autumn and spring programs. We also offered private online and in-person Tibetan language classes to students from around the world.

LRZTP’s entire staff and students were blessed with a private audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on December 2, 2019, and had the opportunity to host our precious guru, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, at our school in September 2018.

Now that LRZTP8 has come to a close we would like to thank LRZTP staff members Yaron Bahir, Filip Majkowski, Geshe Tenzin Wangdak, Alex García, Martha Urbina, Thubten la, and Rinku Ram. We would also like to thank FPMT International Office, FPMT India, Khyentse Foundation, Tushita Meditation Centre, University of Virginia, Root Institute for Wisdom Culture, Vikramashila Foundation, Tibet House New Delhi, the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Mr. Sandeep Kakkar. Thank you to our wonderful Board of Trustees: Professor Renuka Singh, Mr. Ranjit Walia, and Mrs. Sadhana Kumar. We also wish to give a big thank you to all of our donors.

We are forever grateful to our wonderful teachers Geshe Tenzin Wangdak, Geshe Ngawang, Filip Majkowski, Alex Garcia, Thubten la, Julia Wilson, and all the Tibetan language tutors. We are forever grateful to the wonderful and invaluable former LRZTP teacher Franziska Oertle, author of the textbook The Heart of Tibetan Language used by our students. Finally we wish to thank all of our students, because without the students there wouldn’t be a school. We wish our graduates all of the best and are thankful for the contributions they will make as Tibetan language and Dharma interpreters, translators, teachers, and researchers.

We are looking forward to LRZTP9, the opportunity to meet new people, and the chance to continue serving our most precious gurus and the Buddhadharma.

For more information about the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program in Dharamsala, India visit their website:
http://www.lrztp.org

FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 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.