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Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
The FPMT is 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 spreading the Dharma to sentient beings. We provide integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility and service. We are committed to creating harmonious environments and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion. Our organization is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught to us by our founders Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche.
- Willkommen
Die Stiftung zur Erhaltung der Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) ist eine Organisation, die sich weltweit für die Erhaltung und Verbreitung des Mahayana-Buddhismus einsetzt, indem sie Möglichkeiten schafft, den makellosen Lehren des Buddha zuzuhören, über sie zur reflektieren und zu meditieren und auf der Grundlage dieser Erfahrung das Dharma unter den Lebewesen zu verbreiten.
Wir bieten integrierte Schulungswege an, durch denen der Geist und das Herz der Menschen in ihr höchstes Potential verwandelt werden zum Wohl der anderen – inspiriert durch eine Haltung der universellen Verantwortung und dem Wunsch zu dienen. Wir haben uns verpflichtet, harmonische Umgebungen zu schaffen und allen Wesen zu helfen, ihr volles Potenzial unendlicher Weisheit und grenzenlosen Mitgefühls zu verwirklichen.
Unsere Organisation basiert auf der buddhistischen Tradition von Lama Tsongkhapa von Tibet, so wie sie uns von unseren Gründern Lama Thubten Yeshe und Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche gelehrt wird.
- Bienvenidos
La Fundación para la preservación de la tradición Mahayana (FPMT) es una organización que se dedica a preservar y difundir el budismo Mahayana en todo el mundo, creando oportunidades para escuchar, reflexionar, meditar, practicar y actualizar las enseñanzas inconfundibles de Buda y en base a esa experiencia difundir el Dharma a los seres.
Proporcionamos una educación integrada a través de la cual las mentes y los corazones de las personas se pueden transformar en su mayor potencial para el beneficio de los demás, inspirados por una actitud de responsabilidad y servicio universales. Estamos comprometidos a crear ambientes armoniosos y ayudar a todos los seres a desarrollar todo su potencial de infinita sabiduría y compasión.
Nuestra organización se basa en la tradición budista de Lama Tsongkhapa del Tíbet como nos lo enseñaron nuestros fundadores Lama Thubten Yeshe y Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
A continuación puede ver una lista de los centros y sus páginas web en su lengua preferida.
- Bienvenue
L’organisation de la FPMT a pour vocation la préservation et la diffusion du bouddhisme du mahayana dans le monde entier. Elle offre l’opportunité d’écouter, de réfléchir, de méditer, de pratiquer et de réaliser les enseignements excellents du Bouddha, pour ensuite transmettre le Dharma à tous les êtres. Nous proposons une formation intégrée grâce à laquelle le cœur et l’esprit de chacun peuvent accomplir leur potentiel le plus élevé pour le bien d’autrui, inspirés par le sens du service et une responsabilité universelle. Nous nous engageons à créer un environnement harmonieux et à aider tous les êtres à épanouir leur potentiel illimité de compassion et de sagesse. Notre organisation s’appuie sur la tradition guéloukpa de Lama Tsongkhapa du Tibet, telle qu’elle a été enseignée par nos fondateurs Lama Thoubtèn Yéshé et Lama Zopa Rinpoché.
Visitez le site de notre Editions Mahayana pour les traductions, conseils et nouvelles du Bureau international en français.
Voici une liste de centres et de leurs sites dans votre langue préférée
- Benvenuto
L’FPMT è un organizzazione il cui scopo è preservare e diffondere il Buddhismo Mahayana nel mondo, creando occasioni di ascolto, riflessione, meditazione e pratica dei perfetti insegnamenti del Buddha, al fine di attualizzare e diffondere il Dharma fra tutti gli esseri senzienti.
Offriamo un’educazione integrata, che può trasformare la mente e i cuori delle persone nel loro massimo potenziale, per il beneficio di tutti gli esseri, ispirati da un’attitudine di responsabilità universale e di servizio.
Il nostro obiettivo è quello di creare contesti armoniosi e aiutare tutti gli esseri a sviluppare in modo completo le proprie potenzialità di infinita saggezza e compassione.
La nostra organizzazione si basa sulla tradizione buddhista di Lama Tsongkhapa del Tibet, così come ci è stata insegnata dai nostri fondatori Lama Thubten Yeshe e Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Di seguito potete trovare un elenco dei centri e dei loro siti nella lingua da voi prescelta.
- 欢迎 / 歡迎
简体中文
“护持大乘法脉基金会”( 英文简称:FPMT。全名:Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) 是一个致力于护持和弘扬大乘佛法的国际佛教组织。我们提供听闻,思维,禅修,修行和实证佛陀无误教法的机会,以便让一切众生都能够享受佛法的指引和滋润。
我们全力创造和谐融洽的环境, 为人们提供解行并重的完整佛法教育,以便启发内在的环宇悲心及责任心,并开发内心所蕴藏的巨大潜能 — 无限的智慧与悲心 — 以便利益和服务一切有情。
FPMT的创办人是图腾耶喜喇嘛和喇嘛梭巴仁波切。我们所修习的是由两位上师所教导的,西藏喀巴大师的佛法传承。
繁體中文
護持大乘法脈基金會”( 英文簡稱:FPMT。全名:Found
ation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition ) 是一個致力於護持和弘揚大乘佛法的國際佛教組織。我們提供聽聞, 思維,禪修,修行和實證佛陀無誤教法的機會,以便讓一切眾生都能 夠享受佛法的指引和滋潤。 我們全力創造和諧融洽的環境,
為人們提供解行並重的完整佛法教育,以便啟發內在的環宇悲心及責 任心,並開發內心所蘊藏的巨大潛能 — 無限的智慧與悲心 – – 以便利益和服務一切有情。 FPMT的創辦人是圖騰耶喜喇嘛和喇嘛梭巴仁波切。
我們所修習的是由兩位上師所教導的,西藏喀巴大師的佛法傳承。 察看道场信息:
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If you are suffering, use it as the cause to bring happiness to others. This way, whatever kind of life experience you have, you use it on the path. There is no interruption to Dharma practice and one’s life is most beneficial.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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The Foundation Store is FPMT’s online shop and features a vast selection of Buddhist study and practice materials written or recommended by our lineage gurus. These items include homestudy programs, prayers and practices in PDF or eBook format, materials for children, and other resources to support practitioners.
Items displayed in the shop are made available for Dharma practice and educational purposes, and never for the purpose of profiting from their sale. Please read FPMT Foundation Store Policy Regarding Dharma Items for more information.
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Obituaries
16
Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s uncle, Ven. Ngawang Yönten (affectionately known as Ashang, which means, “maternal uncle”) passed away peacefully at Lawudo, Nepal, on the morning of July 7, 2024. He was 98 years old and most likely one of the last of the local Sherpas to have known both Lawudo Lamas. Please read this beautiful account of Ashang’s life, written by Ven. Sarah Thresher with input and details from Anila Ngawang Samten, Gelong Ngawang Nyendak, Jamyang Wangmo (including consultation of The Lawudo Lama), and Ven. Tsultrim,
To visitors at Lawudo, Ashang was a constant presence at the lower retreat huts where he recited mantra continually from morning to night, stopping only to eat, sleep or go to the bathroom. He seemingly had no attachment to worldly things and Rinpoche would often fondly relate stories from his life of practice (see The Lawudo Lama).
Ashang was born in Thame in 1926, the Year of the Tiger. He was the youngest of six children—three girls and three boys—and his father (Rinpoche’s grandfather) died while he was still in the womb. Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s mother, Nyima Yangchen was the eldest child in the family. The family had five yaks and when he was young he would take care of them, bringing them up to Tengbo, and also help Rinpoche’s father with their yaks. When Rinpoche’s father passed away leaving the mother with three small children, he helped as much as he could.
In 1955, when he was in his late 20s, Ashang became very sick and nobody could help. Two years later when Rinpoche’s uncles decided to go to Tibet for pilgrimage, Ashang also came along, bringing their luggage on his five yaks as far as Dingri Ganggar. There he went to see a famous Tibetan doctor, but the doctor couldn’t help him. After visiting another doctor who also couldn’t cure him, he decided to go to Dza Rongphu to see Trulshik Rinpoche. Trulshik Rinpoche advised him that his sickness was due to karmic obscuration and could not be cured by medicines but only through purification practices. Ashang requested to be ordained as a monk and Trulshik Rinpoche advised him to do the preliminary practices first. Ashang stayed six months at Rongphu receiving teachings and then took getsul vows. He returned to Khumbu with his five yaks loaded with salt and decided to sell the animals and devote himself fully to Dharma practice.
As the youngest son, Ashang was responsible to take care of his mother (Rinpoche’s grandmother) who was now old and blind and could not be left alone. He obtained permission from Charok Lama Kushog Mende to build a small hut under the cliff at Charok and he moved there with his mother. The hut was very small so Ashang would spend the night in a small square meditation box while his mother slept on a wooden bench next to the fireplace. He did prostrations on a wooden board outside the hut. In addition to his own Dharma practice, he did all the cooking, collected firewood and fetched water because his mother could do nothing except recite mani mantras.
Ashang spent eleven years in that hermitage and completed seven sets of the preliminary practices (prostrations, Vajrasattva, mandala offerings, guru yoga) while caring for his mother. Over the years his health improved so much that he never got sick again. His main teacher at that time was Gelong Ngawang Samten, a very pure practitioner who lived in a cave at Charok a short distance from the hut.
Later, Ashang bought a house from a nun at Thame gompa which he fixed up and then moved there with his mother till she died.
When Rinpoche returned to Khumbu as the Lawudo Lama, Ashang helped Rinpoche’s mother and sister with the building work and whatever else was needed to establish Lawudo Gompa until Tsultrim Norbu was sent up from Kopan; he also gave his own fields in Mende to Lawudo. Ashang also taught Tibetan to Rinpoche’s sister and brother when they were young, and later to Rinpoche’s niece, who is now a Geshema at Kopan nunnery. Ashang was always helping.
Following the earthquake of 2015, when Ashang’s house was damaged and his health deteriorating, Rinpoche advised him to come to Lawudo and asked Anila Ngawang Samten to take care of him. It’s said that when he left Thame Gompa for Lawudo everyone was crying because they all loved him so much. He was so humble and kind. During a video call in January 2023, Rinpoche told Ashang he had no need to worry at the time of death because he would definitely have a very good rebirth.
At the time of passing, Ashang was very strong and clear in his mind and the next day, Ngawang Nyendak came to recite the prayers for him. The Thame monks along with Charok Lama performed the fire offering rituals with full respect, dressing Ashang in the attire of the Sambogakaya, honoring him as the most senior Thame monk and for his lifetime of practice. It was a very moving ceremony and many locals came from around the valley to help and pay respects. Pujas were also sponsored for Ashang at Kopan and Thubten Choling
You can watch a playlist of short video clips of Ashang’s cremation, which occurred on Chokhor Duchen, July 9, 2024.
With tremendous thanks to Anila Ngawang Samten, Gelong Ngawang Nyendak, Jamyang Wangmo, Ven. Tsultrim, Merry Colony, and Alison Murdoch for their contributions and photos.
Please pray that Ven. Ngawang Yonten may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: obituaries, obituary
3
Beloved Buddhist scholar Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins passed away on July 1, 2024 in Vancouver, Canada, aged 83.
Dr. Hopkins published dozens of books, acted as His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s translator, and had a long academic career during which he trained many prominent Tibetan Buddhist scholars and translators. He was remarkably open in public about a wide range of matters, such as his initial lack of faith in His Holiness, past-life memories, a near-death experience, his youthful delinquency, his sexuality, and so on. Dr. Hopkins was known for his frank and honest style of discussing all matters, even those considered controversial or taboo. He was also an FPMT Registered Teacher in the category “Senior Teachers of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition.”
He was interviewed in 2014 by Mandala Publications, and we share that interview below.
Dr. Hopkins, what is the source of your frankness? Why are you so open?
I was born in 1940 in Barrington, Rhode Island, and I was in my teens in the 1950s. There was a group of us who were disgusted by the aims that were being presented to us: merely making money and so forth. There was a lot of rebellion that was focused against the dishonesty of society, which gradually in my own mind became a matter of seeking my own integrity. My own integrity meant a great deal to me.
I was part of a juvenile gang that got into difficulty with the law, in the sense of increasingly violent pranks, drinking and so forth. It was a relief when I went to a liberal prep school where students were given a great deal of responsibility for their own governance. Despite all my acting out at my public school, I responded very well in that kind of environment, and got excellent grades, because we were respected as people, which is something I had lacked prior to that. Then, in my first year at Harvard, I read Walden by Henry David Thoreau and I was inspired to leave Harvard for the woods of Vermont. I stayed in a small one-room cabin and read, wrote poetry, walked a lot, dreamt out my recurrent trapped dreams, and I believe at that point, began finding my own integrity. And I kept returning to that kind of life.
I was inspired by Herman Melville’s novel Typee, which is set in the Marquesas, north of Tahiti near the equator, and Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence about the artist Paul Gauguin, who painted in the South Seas. It was 1960 and when Vermont got too cold for the wood heater, I went to the woods in Rhode Island. When that got too cold, I shipped out of New York as a passenger on a freighter to Tahiti. I had gotten used to meditating in Vermont on the lake that was down below, and by gazing off into space. On the freighter I would lie on my back and stare upward, filling my mind with the blueness of the sky. The Pacific Ocean was clean and tremendously calm and I filled my mind with that. I didn’t have a visa for Tahiti and after a while some official noticed this and asked me to leave. I used all but my last $15 to take a seaplane to Hawaii. It was nuts, but it was a search for my own integrity.
You were among the earliest scholars to show respect for Eastern scholars, and acknowledge what you learned from them, rather than claiming that you knew more than your “native informants.” Where did your intellectual honesty come from?
This was related to my attitude of searching. Why would I pretend that what l learned from a Tibetan scholar was something I put together myself? Why would I treat these people as somehow different from myself? I thought it was very important, extremely important, to treat every Tibetan scholar fairly, to give them credit for their part in producing any book. I was criticized for this by other professors in my own field. But it just made more sense to have, say, Lati Rinpoche, be a co-author, than to footnote everything he said. In time, people came to understand what collaboration meant. The old saying of “East is East and West is West” doesn’t carry over to how you treat people on the title page of a book.
By making clear what came from others, you revealed that the Western scholar wasn’t always the final expert. Did other academics criticize you for that?
Yes, they did, and I just chose to ignore it. I spoke recently at the Tsadra Translation & Transmission Conference about singing my own song, and what I meant is that certain priorities needed to be righted, and we would right them by how we acted and what we did. It means acknowledging the help you receive and the roles others play, and if those roles are prominent enough, then the person deserves equal billing as the author or the translator. If I couldn’t have understood the text without somebody informing me of its meaning, then that person has played an equal role in its translation even if they don’t know English, because I couldn’t have translated it otherwise. Not to mention the person’s contribution to the footnotes or the explanation that goes along with the translation. This approach has come to be generally accepted. And then also I wanted to point out that many of the academic concerns that Tibetan and Mongolian scholars have are similar to ours. Both sides can learn from the other, though I don’t like talking about sides. I think we are all more or less in the same soup.
Sometimes in Dharma centers people avoid sharing their real views or feelings. This helps maintain harmony, but at a price. It makes me wonder about the balance between building community and nourishing the individual.
I would compare it to when I started in academia. At that time, there was a lot of shouting among scholars. I thought it had a lot to do with how little we knew about the subjects we were talking about. And I had to admit that of myself also. I was so egregiously, embarrassingly ignorant on many of these topics. I could see how I could stumble into trying to cover up my ignorance by shouting or making a big fuss over something I knew that somebody else didn’t know. And then I tried very hard to avoid doing that, and to create an atmosphere in which I was not doing this. I think as this profession and its members have become more educated, there’s been less need to yell at each other, and this may be true in Dharma centers also. I’ve found in the two translation conferences I’ve been to, and many of these translators are members of Dharma communities, that we have no need at all to shout at each other or show off what we know because we are deeply impressed by what we don’t know. We are really happy to hear about these topics from our colleagues and friends who do know something about them. Then it’s easy to get along.
A community’s insistence on people toeing a line may have a lot to do with being neophytes. And the number of times that neophytes repeat the name of their organization or their lama really strikes me as a sign of weakness. Let’s just stop doing that. Still, within the monastic community, there are rules. Outside of the community, you don’t say nasty things about the community, because that disrupts the image of the community, and spreads gossip and so forth. But that implies that there can be criticism within the community. You’ve got to air differences and so forth. You should. But you can’t be arguing all the time, or sharing everything you think. Nevertheless, a healthy community has to have some way of airing what’s going on. You can’t be covering up all the time because it will explode, and the disharmony that will result from that is not going to be helpful.
On a personal level, I try to make the chance of hypocrisy less by admitting in public some of the things that I’m up to. For example, I gave a talk in a city recently and I was really surprised when the people there gave me some money, in envelopes, afterwards. But then also, at the same time, I was very greedy about that money. I kept wondering how much was in each envelope. And I was very careful to put those envelopes down beside me (laughs) so that nobody would walk off with any of them. And I mentioned it to my host afterwards, admitting how greedy I was about it. I try to make this a habit. I don’t make up stuff to disclose, because there’s plenty of it without making anything up. I may not disclose everything, but at least a whole lot of it. Disclosing it relieves tension, whereas hiding is really counter-productive, because when you hide, you have to simulate the opposite – and, wow, you just get into trouble. I get into trouble!
Is this an aspect of the path? Does not being open reduce energy available for practice?
I think that’s very, very true. Energy is wasted by hiding, and what you are hiding gets worse and worse the more you hide it. It’s self-destructive. You know, sometimes when I talk about morality, I’ll just say, “I’m embarrassed about what I am saying, but in any case, I’m trying to present what the books teach as it’s written, and I’m not claiming that I can actually enact this, I want to be clear.” That makes it a lot easier to talk about it. If it’s compassion and the fact that I get angry in certain situations, then it’s easy for me to talk about what I get angry at and use that as an example. Being frank about myself undermines my own negative reactions.
But we have to be judicious about what we say. We can’t be stupidly open. It’s not easy.
Buddhadharma focused its Winter 2014 issue on abuses of power in Dharma communities. One theme was “no more secrets,” because abuses flourish when people deny, cover up, or ostracize those who speak out. What are your thoughts on this?
I’m not an active member of any group. I’m a member of groups, but from a distance, which gives me a certain safety valve. I don’t give any quarter to lamas and so forth who act contrary to moral codes. To me that’s simply improper. If I’m asked about that person, I just say what I’ve heard, I don’t cover up, or at least I hope I don’t. I’m open about what I’ve heard and I’ll say, “Beware.” Covering up or pretending that seemingly ill behavior is the way great lamas behave – I’m just not going to say that. I think that’s simply wrong.
You have mentioned that your relationship with His Holiness the Dalai Lama is very frank. How open should we be with our lamas?
It depends on what the lama can stand! The lama may not want to hear about it. And then what can you do? You may have to go find some other lama, if that’s what you need. Like with anyone, your friends for example, there are certain subjects that some people don’t want to hear about. Even your closest friend may not want to hear about your stomach troubles. So you don’t talk about it. And how much can anyone stand to hear about your sex life? Or your health problems? Even if you’re at death’s door, five minutes is the max. It’s a bore. You shouldn’t expect more than that.
Westerners seem to value openness more than Tibetans. Is there a cultural difference?
I don’t think Tibetans are different from us. Maybe they are getting away with being secretive about how they are running things here (laughs). They are just getting away with pretending that this is the way that they do it. Tibetans among themselves give each other a hard time. They hold each other to account. Whereas some of them come over here and act as if they are kings or queens. They’ll do whatever they can get away with. You don’t have to let them.
Some Westerners, like you, say they have past life memories. While this may come from a desire to be special, there must be some who really were practitioners in the past. Should people be open about memories if they have them? What about the narcissism factor?
I was faced with this during the five years I was at Geshe Wangyal’s monastery in New Jersey in the early 1960s. People would come to visit and talk about their past lives. They were usually princes and princesses. I was looking forward to the day when someone would come and say they were a garbage collector. It’s something that kept me from telling my own story because I didn’t want to be put in the category that I was putting these people in, which has to do with their own aggrandizing imaginations. With myself, I felt what memories I had were rather ordinary. I had to inspect those few memories to figure out what my so-called status was. I didn’t feel glorious. I had to deduce from a few pieces of information what my status might have been. It took a long time for that to come through. I’m suspicious of people who remember themselves as having been very glorious.
Still, I stay neutral on whether people should talk about memories. Although I’m suspicious, I’m not going to put it down. I know in my case that these are actual memories, so I know that does occur. But I wouldn’t blame anyone for being highly suspicious if I told my own story in any detail. They might think, “The guy’s a nut!” I’ve had that kind of thought with respect to others. But some people have related their stories to me, and their memories are not self-glorifying. I don’t have any reason to question them. I do accept for sure that people remember.
Dr. Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia looked into a lot of reincarnation stories, and checked some against facts he could track down. One of the points that he made was that quite a number of people remembered their past lives because they died in the midst of violence. It was quite often not a case of great spiritual attainment, but that there was some violence that impressed on them what was going on, and that caused the memory.
Canadian tulku Elijah Ary has been open since childhood about his past life memories and went through a lot of difficulties.
I know Elijah Ary. I find his story quite poignant. He and I had quite opposite trails. He has been open throughout and I’ve been closed throughout. I actually forgot it for quite a while and then even after I remembered, it was decades later that I was willing to talk about it at all except with a couple of people. It’s been quite a journey for him, and I really respect what he’s had to go through to be this open. He paid a huge price. For me, coming out as gay was a big step at the time I did it, but coming out as remembering your past life, as far as I’m concerned, is much larger than that.
What does it really tell us if someone has past life memories? Does that make them special now?
I think that Dr. Ian Stevenson’s story about people remembering because they died in the midst of violence indicates that it doesn’t automatically make you special. What will make you special is what you do in this lifetime. If you think about it, that is true of anybody, recognized or not.
Liushar Thupten Tharpa, who was the equivalent of foreign minister in the old government of Tibet, went out to greet His Holiness the Dalai Lama when he first came to Lhasa; Liushar told me he was watching the little child to see if this was the right one. But he didn’t come to any conclusion then whether this was the right or the wrong child. Later he was this Dalai Lama’s representative in New York, after which he came to our monastery in New Jersey, and then stayed on in the USA as a permanent resident. Then the Dalai Lama called him back to Dharamsala. There were a number of years during which Liushar had not seen this Dalai Lama in action on the home front, although he had visited India for important events. Anyway, after he went back to India, I saw him. He said, “Do you know what he is doing?” and he recounted to me how busy this Dalai Lama was conducting ordination ceremonies, teaching, giving initiations, all of the many things he was doing. And he said, “Now we can say he is the incarnation of Avalokiteshvara.” You see? By way of his actions! That question about whether there were signs that he was the last Dalai Lama was totally wiped out. It didn’t matter. His Holiness’ actions were sufficient. Whether he was or not didn’t make any difference because in his waking day he was endlessly performing these actions.
While you are open about many things, you also choose to keep certain things private, such as your own attainments, and ways you’ve helped others – for example, with their books or academic work.
There’s a tradition about not being open about your own attainments and your own deeper experiences, and I don’t even tell my friends. It’s out of the question, I feel, that I’m going to talk about these things. As for helping others, it’s important to do – and keep quiet.
Any final thoughts on honesty?
If honesty became one’s only watchword, one could become a pain in the ass, and narcissistic, and a total bore. I hope by giving an interview like this, pretending to be honest, I don’t create a trap for myself! That I would become infatuated with this – really. And start deliberately acting this way, thinking, “I’ve got to be honest! I’ve got to find something to be honest about!” And turning myself into not just a 25- or 50-percent jerk but a 75- or 90-percent jerk (laughs). Warn me if I do. Tap me on the shoulder and say, “Hey Jeffrey, you are turning into a 100-percent jerk.”
We are basically incapable of saying who we are, and when we start doing that, we really have to be careful, because we aren’t going to be right. There may be some grain of truth – but also some grain of foppishness. I’m trying. I’m still trying to find my own integrity.
Previously published as an online feature of Mandala Publications, “Jeffrey Hopkins’ Transmission of Honesty,” an interview conducted by Donna Brown, January 2015.
You can listen to Dr. Hopkins in a lively conversation about his life with Wisdom publisher Daniel Aitken in the Wisdom podcast, “Jeffrey Hopkins: The Life of a Buddhist Scholar: wisdomexperience.org/wisdom-podcast/jeffrey-hopkins/
Please also see Tricycle magazine’s obituary of Dr. Hopkins: tricycle.org/article/jeffrey-hopkins-obituary
Please pray that Dr. Jeffrey Hopkins may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: jeffrey hopkins, obituaries, obituary
19
The entire FPMT community shares the loss of one of FPMT’s precious pioneers, “Mummy” Max Mathews (also known as Sister Max), who passed away on February 16, 2024. We also share a sense of rejoicing in the kindness and generosity she offered in her life, to which the entire FPMT organization owes immeasurable thanks.
Mummy Max contributed greatly and financially assisted Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in establishing Kopan Monastery and the FPMT organization.
As we put together a tribute honoring her life, we invite you to watch this interview from 2020, in which she shares spontaneous and intimate stories of her timeless relationship with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche and how she provided unconditional and essential support for the lamas’ projects as envisioned by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This interview was filmed in July, 2020 in Santa Fe, New Mexico with images from Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe.
Mummy Max explains in Volume One of Big Love: “I felt I had come home and that Lama Yeshe was my guru. He just opened me up completely. I felt balanced and whole, like I was walking on air. I also felt committed. There was no going back.”
At the end of this inspiring video, Mummy Max shared: “The lamas gave me a reason to be. And it’s been my whole life. It’s the only thing that has made meaning in my life. It’s what the lamas have given me and tried to instill in me. It’s unreal. It’s unbelievable how much love and compassion they have. And I hope my life has been worth meaning for them. I tried, but I had such a long way to go. … I’m so grateful. I owe everything to the Tibetans. And anyone who gets a chance, if you pass it up, you’ll miss the greatest opportunity you’ll ever have. Thank you.”
Please pray that Mummy (Sister) Max Mathews may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may she be immediately born in a pure land where she can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: mummy max, obituaries, ven max mathews
2
Venerable Thubten Gelek (Max Redlich) passed away on November 26, 2023 in New Delhi, India.
Venerable Gelek, born July 13, 1944, was an IMI sangha member who offered many decades of service to the Dharma, starting in the early years of the FPMT organization. Below we share words from friends, and passages from Big Love: The Life & Teachings of Lama Yeshe, to celebrate Ven. Gelek’s devoted service to Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and the FPMT mandala.
An excerpt from the Tara Newsletter by Pete Giuliano gives praise to Ven. Gelek’s contributions to Tara Institute in Melbourne, Australia:
“Max was instrumental in the founding of Tara Institute in the early formative days of the center. He had been Co-Director of Tara House with Uldis Balodis in Kew up to 1982 . At the completion of his service, Lama Yeshe apologized for having pushed him too hard. Max did a lot of the work in finding 3 Crimea Street and famously predicted we would outgrow it within five years. We moved to Mavis Avenue in 1987, where he stayed with us over several different periods. He has been based in India for many years but would often return to Melbourne.
Adele Hulse, the author of Big Love shares about Ven. Gelek:
“His father was from a family of successful Jewish butchers and Redlich Butchers is still trading. His mother was a non-Jewish woman from Vienna, a model who once had to pose for Hitler. Max got into the meat trade. He wore white boning-room clothes and white boning-room boots and had a car and a driver because he was so busy and so successful. Then he heard Lama Yeshe speak in Melbourne and realized he had to change his entire life.”
More from Adele on her memories of Ven. Gelek:
“I had a very young child who was in and out of hospital when Max asked me if I would run a fashion business, importing from Ven. Marcel in Kathmandu and from the Delhi Centre. I had no business experience whatsoever. A week later $150,000 worth of baled stock arrived at my house and I ordered racks and got a secretary. Max arrived early every morning for a week, bearing beautiful fruit and cakes from Acland Street and made me breakfast while lecturing me about business. He started at the beginning and ended by telling me how you close a business. Everything happened just as he said it would. Three years later it was time to shut the business down because the purpose had been served – to create a profile to convince a bank to give a loan – and we were not in the fashion business. Max was unfailingly kind and patient and wrote me long letters about business.
I still have them.”
Longtime Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive director, Nick Ribush, recounts Ven. Gelek meeting the Dharma:
“I knew Max in Melbourne in the 60’s, several years before either of us had even heard the word ‘Dharma.’ I didn’t know him well, but he did seem to live the fast, high life of someone with plenty of money. Then, after I had left Australia in 1972 and finished up at Kopan, I didn’t hear of or from him until 1977, when I was giving a ten-day meditation course near Melbourne and he came up to see me there. He looked very cool, with long red hair down to his waist and a beautiful svelte girl on his arm, wondering what it was that I and, by now, many of his friends had gotten into. He wasn’t about to stay for any of the course, so I told him that if he really wanted to know he’d have to go to Kopan for the November course and hear it directly from the Lamas themselves. He did, and the rest is history.”
A excerpt from Big Love shares this first experience at Kopan in Ven. Gelek’s own words:
Many of his friends had become Lama’s students, but he found their devotion ridiculous. “[Lama Yeshe] was talking about emptiness and this guy asked if you would lose your personality if you realized emptiness. Lama said, ‘No!’ and shrieked with laughter. The guy was ready with more questions, but Lama was just bursting with laughter and I think that’s when he got me.”
More from Big Love on Ven. Gelek’s early connection and service to Lama Yeshe:
At first skeptical of the level of devotion evident among so many of his friends, Max had changed after watching his father die. He became super-devoted and ran around trying to do good in any way he could. Lama called him “Max Relics” and found plenty for him to do. There was no end to Lama’s orders and Max tried to do it all.
“One day I was tearing around trying to do everything as usual and a drop of rain fell,” Max recalled. “So I raced around, found an umbrella and came back only to tear off to do something else. I was erratic and overly busy. Lama just gave me this disparaging look, shook his head and said, ‘Jewish army!’ I’d been in the Israeli army during the Six-Day War in 1967, so Lama was indicating I was anything but disciplined. Whenever we were looking for praise, he made sure we didn’t get it.”
… Max was asked to help Lama Yeshe pack. “I gathered it was a big deal to be asked to do this, but I had no idea what to do. I was just standing there waiting for instructions when Lama asked me to sit on the bed. I had a hunch he was about to play a trick on me and sure enough, a rubber spider suddenly appeared. He thought it was so funny when I instinctively moved out of its way. I stood up and Lama actually picked me up and walked with me around the room, carrying me. Lama Zopa Rinpoche was there too. I just didn’t know what to think,” Max recalled.
“[1978] Then it was time to go. Lama sat in a rocking chair in this big sitting room at the back of Manjushri Institute and about a hundred people lined up to say goodbye to him. They came in the door and bent low as they gave him a khata. The warmth and love between them each time was palpable. He treated each individual student as if they were the only one in the whole world, even though they were with him for just sixty seconds. It actually gave me some idea of what he meant when he said, ‘Communicating, dear? You communicating?’ Lama definitely communicated.
“I assumed it was Nick who had arranged for me to become Lama’s lay attendant that time. He knew I had made quite a lot of money from my business in Melbourne and probably thought that if I had the privilege of carrying Lama Yeshe’s bags to London I would become more interested in the Dharma. Then they could get some money out of me.” Max had made his fortune in the meat trade. Lama Yeshe got him to set up a number of businesses associated with Dharma centers to “purify” the money, but not all were successful.
Peter Kedge, a longtime FPMT student and former member of the FPMT Inc. Board of Directors, offered the following words when hearing of Ven. Gelek’s passing:
“Max was always so kind and helpful. I traveled with Lama and Rinpoche and organized their world teaching tours from 1976 to 1979. There was no money apart from that which centers sent in advance and some couldn’t manage that. We had to use cash and traveler’s cheques which made travel quite difficult. Max was a serial entrepreneur and ran a successful business in Melbourne.
“He asked how he could help with the tours and when I explained, he immediately arranged a Diners Club card which we could use and then reimburse Max when the bills were due. That was a huge help and one of many ways Max helped Lama and Rinpoche develop FPMT.
“He was always thinking of ways to make money for FPMT. When we were first trying to establish business in Hong Kong, Max opened an electronics store in Melbourne so we could ship electronic goods to him.
“Later after Lama Yeshe had passed, Rinpoche wanted to ask Osel some important question. Rinpoche asked Max to personally represent him and ask Osel. Rinpoche’s reason to ask Max was that Max had had a very pure relationship with Lama Yeshe and so was the right person to approach Osel on Rinpoche’s behalf.
“Max served and contributed in many often unseen and unsung ways.”
John Douthitt (Pelgye) recounts Ven. Gelek’s role in his taking ordination and some stories Ven. Gelek shared with him:
“In 1977 Max and I sat our first Kopan course together and quickly became friends. I arrived determined to be a monk, I would have taken robes the day I arrived had that been an option. Max spent the entire month coming up with one reason after another why I should NOT take ordination. I did take ordination after the course and then heard that someone had anonymously offered a generous yearly donation to cover my needs. I didn’t know anyone who had spare money except Max so I asked him and yes, it was him. I said, ‘But you’ve been trying to convince me to NOT take ordination.’ He told me he had wanted me to be sure it was what I really really wanted because it was too important of a decision to make without fully thinking it through.
He was, back then, wealthy. He’d figured out how to take the unwanted scraps of meat production and make them into something which WAS wanted. He told me stories about buying a Bentley solely on the basis that it was the only car he could find which was more expensive than a Rolls Royce and he had one of the 3-4 cellphones in the whole of Australia at the time in his Bentley; another of those cellphones in his other car.
He told me that he lived in a simple one bedroom apartment but, since he could, he figured he ought to buy a bluestone, one of the most expensive houses he could buy. After rattling about in that big house for a spell, he put in a ramp so he could drive his motorcycle up into the front room but eventually that lost its luster, too, and he realized that he was not occupying hardly any more space in the house than he had in the one bedroom apartment so he sold he house and moved back to a small apartment.
From longtime IMI sangha member, Wongmo,
“Max and I were quite close friends when we lived at Tushita Retreat Center, as it was known in those days…late 70’s-mid 80’s. He was an interesting character, having had an energetic youth and then Dharma practitioner. He’d tell me colorful stories of being in the family abattoir business in Australia.
“Max was known for his penchant to forever be searching for mystic, psychic observations. He’d carry around his I Ching book that was so well used that its pages were torn and dirty. Goodness only knows what questions he had for people he found for mos, predictions, and so on. He even traveled all the way to Land of Medicine Buddha in California to be near Pemo, to ask her for mirror readings.
“Our dear Max suffered from strong rlung (Tib.; Sanskrit: prana), and would often hold his hand to his heart area while speaking with you.
“He was so enthusiastic about the teachings, lamrim and so on, and well spoken, that I’d beg him to teach courses at Tushita but all he ever agreed to do was lead group discussions, which people so enjoyed. Then he served as director of Tushita for a couple of years.
“After Lama Yeshe’s passing, Rinpoche asked Max to oversee the building of Lama’s stupa at Tushita. Max did complete that project, but with great difficulty trying to organize the local Indian builders and so on. After that Max wanted to do some retreats but Rinpoche asked him to oversee the building of Gen Jampa Wangdu’s stupa.
“There was something about Max that made it just so interesting and nice to be around him.”
After hearing news of Ven. Max’s passing, Geshe Kelsang Wangmo put in prayer requests for Ven. Gelek at a number of monasteries in India, and Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala requested prayers from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and many other high lamas. Its was reported that His Holiness made prayers holding a photo of Ven. Gelek at his heart. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche offered prayers in front of relics of the Buddha while in Vietnam. Tushita also made generous offerings on Ven. Gelek’s behalf to the many meditators surrounding Trijang Rinpoche’s stupa in Dharamsala on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, December 8, 2023.
Ven. Gelek was cremated in Delhi, India on December 2, 2023. Kabir Saxena, spiritual program coordinator of Tushita Meditation Centre in Delhi and longtime friend of Ven. Gelek, asked Ajeer Vidya, who was born in the same village as the renowned Kunu Lama Rinpoche (who gave teachings to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Shantideva’s famous text), to oversee the cremation and immersion of Ven. Gelek’s ashes in Delhi. Ajeer met Ven. Gelek some years ago and respected him. Following the cremation, Ven. Gelek’s ashes were immersed into the Yamuna River, which flows through Delhi and meets the Ganga,(Ganges), before the latter reaches Benares (Varanasi).
Please pray that Ven. Gelek may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: obituaries, obituary
19
Sim Hong Boon passed away of cancer on August 13, 2023 at age 76 in Singapore.
Sim Hong Boon was a longtime member of the FPMT Inc. Board of Directors and helped the Maitreya Project.
He was an ardent supporter of Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, since its founding in 1989. ABC Director, Hup Cheng, shares some details about Mr. Sim’s contributions.
Sim Hong Boon has contributed substantially to the growth of the Amitabha Buddhist Centre. He was appointed by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche to oversee the construction of the new building at 44 Lorong 25A, Geylang. Mr. Sim, an architect by profession, drew up the plans for the new building, submitted to the authorities for approval, and put it out to tender for the construction. He did this all by himself, to save costs, and he even waived his professional fees. We are deeply deeply grateful to Mr. Sim for this monumental task of completing the new building for ABC.
Mr. Sim was appointed by Rinpoche to be a trustee of ABC’s Board of Trustees, in 2005. The trustees are appointed to hold the fixed assets of the center.
In 2018, when the ABC childcare center needed to be expanded, he again offered his services to build an additional wing so we could accommodate more pre school children.
Mr. Sim has been a pillar of strength behind ABC’s growth in the last 35 years. His contribution has been outstanding. We would not have come this far without the enormous effort put in over the years. We will miss Mr. Sim’s presence, but he has left behind an enduring legacy, that will benefit many future generations.
Please pray that Sim Hong Boon may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: obituaries, obituary
12
Venerable Jangchup Phegey passed away peacefully in his sleep on November 25th 2023.
Written by Jacob Lindsley
Ven. Jangchup leaves behind a life of Dharma practice, friendship, and service. Born Hawkins Mitchell in San Diego, California, Ven. Jangchup earned a PhD in developmental psychology, worked as a clinician, traveled the world, and worked as a writer. He heard the Dharma in the late 1980s, took refuge with Geshe Geltsen and was soon ordained by Lati Rinpoche at Ganden Shartse Monastery in India at 51 years old.
Ven. Jangchup was known for his humor and generosity. He spent his later years deep in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz mountains at Vajrapani Institute, in a hermitage disguised as an airstream trailer tucked away in a bend of dirt road leading to the ridgeline where Lama Yeshe was cremated. His door was always open to visitors and travelers to Vajrapani Institute, and he made countless friends with his contagious joy and earnest curiosity. He cared deeply about people and animals alike.
Ven. Jangchup was unconventional, creative, graceful, and filled a room with light. He was a deep thinker and had strong conviction in the Dharma. He was devoted to Lama Zopa Rinpoche and spent many years completing Nyung Na retreats, praying, meditating, writing, and comforting those around him.
Former director of Vajrapani Institute, Ven. Thubten Drolma, shared, “His door was always open for people. For years I’d stop by on my way home and he’d make me a cup of tea. He was one of the best conversationalist I ever knew. His was a generous and warm heart.”
He is grieved by his family and friends. May our precious teachers take good care of him in all future lives. We hope to meet again, Venerable.
Ven. Jangchup was a frequent contributor to the Vajrapani blog as well as the San Diego Reader.
Please pray that Ven. Jangchup may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: obituaries, obituary
8
Arunas Antanaitas, 62, passed away peacefully on Vesak, May 5, 2023 in Dundas, Ontario, Canada, of cancer.
Arunas had embarked on his cancer journey 17 months prior with grace, dignity, and a contagiously positive outlook. His last days were filled with prayers, surrounded by his loved ones. Arunas will be remembered for his compassion, love of conversation, propensity for playfulness, and unwavering desire to help others.
Arunas served as the center director for Lama Yeshe Ling, seeing the center transform from a meeting place in his and Sharon’s basement studio to hosting our resident teacher Geshe Sonam Ngodrup (Geshe Sega) and Tibetan language interpreter Venerable Jamyang Khedrup. Our community supported Arunas in his wish to serve as director until his last breath, with Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s last advice to Arunas being for him to rejoice in his having served Rinpoche in this way. During his illness, Arunas was able to fulfill all of Rinpoche’s advice, along with the support of our community. For example, Geshe Sonam conveyed the Amitayus Long Life initiation, we did many group recitations of the long life sutra, and an animal liberation. A month earlier, Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Delek taught at Lama Yeshe Ling and conferred the initiation into Arunas’ main practice. Khensur Rinpoche remarked that he was impressed that Arunas attended every event despite it being so very clear that Arunas was very weak and in pain.
In one of the last letters to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Arunas asked if Rinpoche agreed with the doctor’s view that he had now become ‘palliative’. Rinpoche’s reply was: “a good practitioner is always palliative”. Arunas had discussed and coached his family and the hospice staff about the Buddhist view and practice of dying, and everyone was supportive of how he wished to die. They found a hospice that supported leaving his body undisturbed for three days. At the hospice, Geshe Sonam and Khedrup came to visit, as well as fellow practitioners several times coming together to meditate and pray. Moments after Arunas’ last breath, Geshe la, Khedrup la, and a small group of sangha and family performed the Guru Puja, with Geshe la leading us in visualizing Arunas receiving the four initiations, and the dissolution of the guru in the heart.
One of the palliative care nurses mentioned that everyone she had cared for there was afraid of death, as was she. It was remarkable for her to observe that Arunas was not afraid, and neither were the people around him. Arunas wanted to live longer, and he did everything possible to do so, for he had more he wanted to offer. It is sad that this good person is no longer with us here. However we know this isn’t the end, and we pray that Arunas finds the way to manifest again as a good person, to connect very early with the Dharma, and continue his path of service to the guru for the benefit of beings.
Please pray that Arunas may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: obituaries, obituary
7
David Williams passed away at the age of 65 years in his room at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia on January 25, 2023. Ian Green, the director of the Great Stupa, reflects some on David’s life and kindly reached out to friends to share what they admired most about David, who became a student of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the early 1980’s. We invite you to read the inspiring reflections about a longtime Dharma friend below:
“David came to the stupa in early 2021”, shares Ian Green, “and spent his first year completing the massive water bowl offering commitment that he had made to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. After this was fulfilled, he threw his energy into volunteering at the stupa. This work included plastering and painting the enormous walls inside the stupa, painting prayer wheels and other holy objects, and even floors in the stupa and the new library. Most recently, David completed waterproofing on the stupa and he was making preparations for the filling of the huge Ksitigarbha statue. David was liked and admired by members of the works and arts teams at the stupa. As we rejoice in his wonderful achievements, we know he will be sadly missed by us all at the stupa.”
Angelica Geiger reflects that David was true to himself and devoted to the Dharma, “From our first meeting at Kopan in 1983, he always did his Dharma practices without question. He was committed to fulfilling his promise to Lama Yeshe to do one million prostrations which he completed in the early 1990’s. He loved a well-made cup of tea and a Dharma chat that touched one’s heart and raised the spirit. He also cared for his mother with kindness, warmth and humor.”
Brian Ashen describes David as a hidden gem of a practitioner, “I first met David at the 1984 Kopan course where I observed David would not follow the rules of the retreat by observing silence. He kept chitchatting and we thought he would not progress much. How wrong we were.”
Frank Brock remembers of David, “I first met David in 1983 at Tushita Retreat Centre in Dharamsala where his good humour and concern for others meant he was able to offer support to those who were struggling with the retreat. I think for those who had the pleasure of knowing him he was the very embodiment of the term ‘good heart.’”
Murray Wright and Roy Fraser recall David’s contribution in New Zealand. As Murray explains, “David was part of the group that did the first one-year Vajrasattva retreat at Mahamudra Centre in the 1980’s. He lived at Dorje Chang Institute for over 10 years, was generally quite private, but very friendly and helpful. He worked with William Hursthouse building the stupa at DCI in 1996.”
John Wright recalls meeting David at Atisha Centre in the 1980’s and then at Tara Institute around 2014. “David was not one of the scholars or academics, or people who got involved in leadership, but just kept things simple and operated with Dharma as a priority.”
Helen Cameron remembers David fondly, “He was such an Aussie. You’d never know he had a spiritual side until you got to know him.”
Please join us in rejoicing in the life of David Williams, a hidden gem of a practitioner whose Dharma practice and efforts for the Great Stupa will be remembered as causes for inspiration for us all.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests that students who read obituaries pray that the person mentioned finds a perfect human body, meets a Mahayana guru, and becomes enlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the tantric teachings exist and they can become enlightened.” While reading obituaries we can also reflect on our own death and impermanence prompting us to live our lives in the most meaningful way. More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: obituaries, obituary
19
The 102nd Ganden Tripa Rizong Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus, passed away on December 8, 2022 at Drepung Monastery, Karnataka, India, at age 94.
Ganden Trisur Rizong Sras Rinpoche was born in Ladakh, India in 1928, to an aristocratic family, his father being a prince of Ladakh. At age four, he was recognized as the previous Sras Rinpoche by the thirteenth Dalai Lama, who had founded the well-known Rizong retreat hermitage. After being recognized, Rinpoche entered monastic life. In 1948, Rinpoche moved to Tibet to continue his studies at Drepung Loseling Monastery in Lhasa. He remained there in Tibet until the Chinese invasion in 1959, when he fled back to India.
Back in India, Rizong Rinpoche would later be named the abbot of the Drepung Loseling Monastery in India by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in 1984. Rinpoche later became abbot of Gyume Tantric Monastery, and then served as Ganden Choje, the position held before becoming Ganden Tripa (Ganden Throneholder). In 2009, Rinpoche was appointed as the 102nd Ganden Tripa, the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage, and served the traditional full-term of seven years, retiring from the position in 2016.
The Central Tibetan Administration offers some of Rinpoche’s biography:
“Rinpoche …made the practice of meditation his principal focus in life, and has conducted numerous extensive retreats, including a three-year tantric retreat on the Yamantaka mandala in a remote hermitage in Ladakh. Through his achievements in practice and scholarship, he represents the pinnacle of the Sutra and Tantra traditions.
Rinpoche was renowned for his Tantric powers, and [was] frequently called upon by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to lead ceremonies for healing and other similar purposes.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama shared some words on December 9, 2022, the morning after Rizong Rinpoche’s passing, while at a conference on secular education:
“Today, many old friends have gathered here. It’s with sadness that I’ve heard this morning that Kyabje Rizong Rinpoche, the former Ganden Throneholder, passed away last night. Although his passing away is a natural part of life, I’m sad because he was one of my teachers.
“I once visited him in Ladakh at a time when he was completing a long meditation retreat. He received me sitting on the very seat where he had been meditating so long and gave me the transmission of Nagarjuna’s Six Collections of Reasoning. His death reminds me of the Four Seals:
All conditioned phenomena are transient.
All polluted phenomena are unsatisfactory or in the nature of suffering.
All phenomena are empty and selfless.
Nirvana is true peace.
“Unless we cut the chains of ignorance, we will be unable to stop the cycle of suffering. We have to understand that no matter how they appear, things have no independent or absolute existence.”
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, and the Kopan Lama Gyupa monks offered Yamantaka self initiation upon the news of this great lamas passing.
We are profoundly sad at the incredible loss of this remarkable meditation master, scholar, and teacher, who was one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus. We hope this outline of his life will be cause of rejoicing in his many good deeds and deep impact.
While reading obituaries we can also reflect on our own death and impermanence prompting us to live our lives in the most meaningful way. More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
16
Geshe Thubten Soepa. 67, passed away at a hospital in Mysore, India, on November 2, 2022 from a heart attack.
Geshe Soepa was well regarded as a scholar with extensive knowledge about both sutra and tantra, and not only well versed in the Gelugpa texts, but also in those of the Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu schools. A cremation ceremony occurred on November 7, 2022. We share a brief account of his life below for rejoicing and inspiration:
Geshe Thubten Soepa was born in Zanskar, India in 1955. As a young child he and his mother were advised by His Holiness Ling Rinpoche and His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche that it would be good if he ordained, and he soon followed their guidance. Geshe Soepa began his Dharma studies at age 14 at Domo Geshe Rinpoche’s monastery in Kalimpong, India, where he studied and learned ritual for four years. From there he transferred to Sera Je Monastery in Bylakuppe, India, where he would complete his geshe studies 21 years later, earning the highest honor of Geshe Lharampa, in 1993.
In his first three years serving as a geshe, he taught philosophy and Tibetan grammar at Sera Je and Dzongkar Chose monasteries. Geshe Thubten Soepa then received a request from Lama Zopa Rinpoche to teach in the West. Geshe Soepa agreed to Rinpoche’s request and moved to Munich, Germany. For ten years he continuously taught at FPMT centers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, while also traveling to other centers around Europe to offer teachings. After his time in Europe, the next decade of his life was mostly spent in North America, offering teachings at FPMT centers in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Recognized as a Tulku
In his short autobiography, Geshe Soepa shared that he was told that he was the reincarnation of a high lama on three separate occasions. The first declaration was made by His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche in 1974, then again by His Eminence Zong Rinpoche in 1978. The last affirmation came from the great yogi Choden Rinpoche, during a public teaching Rinpoche was giving on the Six Yogas of Naropa in Munich, 2004. Geshe Soepa shared his shock and disbelief at hearing the news each time, even asking Choden Rinpoche if he was teasing him. Choden Rinpoche looked at Geshe Soepa and forcefully confirmed it was not a tease! Despite being recognized, Geshe Soepa was never formally enthroned or named after the particular teacher. In 1974, His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche shared with Geshe Soepa that a formal enthronement would not be necessary, foretelling that Geshe Soepa would “spontaneously be doing well at Dharma, and that [he] would like it.”
Promoting Vegetarianism and Protecting Life
Geshe Thubten Soepa was deeply passionate about promoting vegetarianism, especially to those living a monastic life. He would go on to write a number of books and articles on the practice of not eating meat, relying on sources such as the Lankavatara Sutra, Great Cloud Sutra, Great Nirvana Sutra, and the Anguli Mala Sutra, to communicate the Buddha’s teachings. His first book was titled Protecting the Lives of Helpless Beings: The Udamwara Lotus Flower, which is now available as an ebook through the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. In 1996, while His Holiness the Dalai Lama was visiting Munich, Geshe Soepa was able to offer His Holiness a copy of his book. His Holiness told Geshe Soepa that he read the whole book, was very pleased by the text, and encouraged Geshe Soepa to continue his efforts on the topic.
In the years following, he would write four texts on vegetarianism that were translated in five languages and distributed freely. In 2012, Geshe Soepa published a short text on the Hinayana Vinaya teachings on monastics refraining from eating meat. During the 2017 Kalachakra initiation offered by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya, India, Geshe Soepa was able to meet with Lama Zopa Rinpoche and offer Rinpoche this short text. Lama Zopa Rinpoche was also quite pleased by Geshe Soepa’s writing. Geshe Soepa told Rinpoche that he was planning to write another text to clarify further points, and Rinpoche expressed that the text should be translated into English, in order to be easily translated into many languages later. Geshe Soepa would go on to publish another text in Tibetan in 2018 for monastics. The text included teachings on performing animal liberations and advice for working to free people who were wrongly imprisoned.
Geshe Soepa concluded the short telling of his life story with the message: “I sincerely wish that all of our mother sentient beings be free from suffering and being killed.”
Read Geshe Thubten Soepa’s short autobiography, dictated to Robert Baptist, from which the above obituary was based, courtesy of Land of Compassion and Wisdom FPMT study group in Austin, Texas, who had a strong connection with Geshe Soepa and have hosted him often.
We invite you to download the ebook, Protecting the Lives of Helpless Beings: The Udamwara Lotus Flower, through the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, and read an article by Geshe Soepa called “Protecting Animal Welfare“. A French translation of his text Heart of Joy, Message of the Buddha, is also available as a free PDF.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests that students who read obituaries pray that the person mentioned finds a perfect human body, meets a Mahayana guru, and becomes enlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the tantric teachings exist and they can become enlightened.” While reading obituaries we can also reflect on our own death and impermanence prompting us to live our lives in the most meaningful way. More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: geshe thubten soepa, obituaries, obituary
27
Jo Marie Galt, 71, died in Santa Cruz, US, on September 1, of cardiac arrest resulting from various contributing health factors.
By Elaine Jackson
Jo Marie Galt (Jody) was loved by her Dharma family at Vajrapani Institute where we met in the late seventies and early eighties. She is remembered as always being the first one to volunteer for the hard jobs with a smile and determination. She will be deeply missed.
Jody was born on March 31, 1951, in Missouri, but most of her childhood, which she described as really difficult, was spent in Spokane, Washington. She was fourteen when her mother took her own life. Then, at sixteen, Jody ran away from home making strong prayers for answers.
Traveling in Mexico, Jody met Jim Ezell, her first husband and father of her daughter, Alicia, who was born in May, 1970. After Jody and Jim separated, Jody settled in Selma, Oregon where, together with Andy Robbins, she built a log cabin. It was here that their son, Ben, was born in 1978.
Jody had prophetic dreams. She described one dream where a book fell from the sky with one word on the page: “Vipassana.” She had no idea what that meant but became curious, went to the library, and began to read Dharma books.
In May 1980, Lama Yeshe led a Chenrezig retreat at Grizzly Lodge near Mount Shasta. It was sponsored by Vajrapani Institute. Jody sold her trailer to raise money to attend that course. It was there that she met Diney Woodsorrel and George Galt. After that course, Jody and her family moved to Berkeley.
Judy Weitzner recalled, “When Jody and Andy moved to the Berkeley Dharma House just after Grizzly Lodge, Jody was invaluable in her efforts to keep things organized. She was an exceptionally hard worker and contributed with cleaning and cooking. She attended many teachings and classes. Geshe Thardo was the resident teacher, but Lama Yeshe, Lobsang Chonjor, and Zong Rinpoche, as well as others, also offered teachings. It was at the Berkeley Dharma House where Jody first met Shasta Wallace, who was living at Vajrapani Institute at the time.” When the Dharma House closed in 1981, Jody moved to Vajrapani.
Jody said that Berkeley was too wild for her, so she went to Vajrapani. She and Andy had separated by then, but Andy came to Vajrapani from time to time, and eventually settled in Boulder Creek.
Shasta, a founder and long-time Vajrapani resident, recalls that Jody was always willing to jump in and help no matter how daunting the job. Shasta remembers such a job. It was cleaning and restoring a grease-laden, dilapidated-looking, commercial cookstove bought in San Francisco from an old restaurant in the Mission District. It looked like a wreck, but it needed to be functional for a retreat in one week. Jody told Shasta that not only could it be done, but it would be done. She helped take it apart, soak the encrusted parts and scrub it until it shined. It served as the cookstove in the Vajrapani kitchen for many years.
Initially, Jody and her children, Ben and Alicia, lived at Vajrapani in the “Dzome,” a canvas structure originally built by Rick Crangle and Jacie Keeley in 1978. It had an outdoor shower, an outhouse, and a small separate hut used for a kitchen. Jody was no stranger to rustic living. As she recalled, “Ben was three and Alicia was eight when we moved into the Dzome. That’s where I did my retreats – Tara and Vajrayogini. At 3:00 a.m. I would wake up. I loved it there so much. I wanted to be part of the community. I paid my $40.00 every month, hauled cement bags, and did what I could. In those days, we joked that I was living at Vajrapani, where you pay to work.”
Jody remembered working on the trails around the Chenrezig Gompa, while it was under construction, when Bill Kane came down with a terrible case of poison oak. Since Jody seemed to be immune, it became her job to pull the poison oak, and pull it she did, for two or three weeks. She ended up also getting the worst case of poison oak she had ever seen.
Janet Brooke recalls, “I met Jody when she arrived at Vajrapani in early 1981 following Lama Yeshe’s course at Grizzly Lodge. We were both mothers at the time. Her son Ben was a year older than my infant, Lise. There were many other children at Vajrapani who were close in age at the time, so Jody and I inevitably shared a lot of time around children.
“Jody and I also connected with the hard work needed to build this wonderful retreat center. We shared a love of gardening. Jody was very knowledgeable and experienced in this area. I learned so much from her. Together we had the opportunity to plant and create the garden beds around the stupa and surrounding the Vajrapani Gompa. This was all done under Jody’s expert guidance and skill and with great joy at being able to make such a wonderful offering. It was fun and, when working with Jody, it was guaranteed that somewhere along the way, no matter how hard the job, there would be a lot of laughter. Jody had a great sense of humor, and we shared a lot of laughter. There was hard work and there was laughter, and there were difficult times too. It was during the most difficult times in my life that Jody did her best, despite her own difficulties, to be there for me, as much as she was able, and I will be forever grateful.”
Jody had started a landscaping business and employed a few Vajrapani women who needed to make some money. Bev Gwyn remembers that two of Jody’s clients were Dick and Ramona Andre, who bought Lama Yeshe’s house in Rio del Mar (Santa Cruz), after Lama’s passing. Ramona loved Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Jody and maintained a relationship with Bev and Jody until her passing this year. Dick still lives in Lama’s house.
Following torrential rains, Jody’s beloved Dzome became unlivable when the roof collapsed. The family moved to Boulder Creek. Jody refers to Tom Waggoner as her “guardian angel,” who built her a house on Vajrapani land so she could move back about a year later. As she said, “It was the biggest gift of kindness.” Then, as luck would have it, that new house was irreparably damaged by a mudslide the following winter. Jody and the kids had to climb out a bedroom window to escape. They moved back to Boulder Creek.
In 1983, Lama Yeshe gave his last teaching a Vajrapani Institute when he taught the Six Yogas of Naropa. It was attended by so many of his beloved students, including Diney, George, and Jody. Diney was soon diagnosed with terminal cancer and died at the end of that year. Jody helped George as caregiver for Diney and also his three children, Shyela, Bodhi, and Sanje.
In October 1988, George and Jody were married. Jody continued to work in landscaping and engaging in other creative projects. She attributed her creativity to her mother who was an artist. Her parents had lived in Japan and her mother was greatly influenced by her time there. When Jody was living in the Berkeley Dharma House, she was quilting. Judy Weitzner shared that she gave Jody her old dresses which were cut up and returned to Judy in the form of a quilt with the Tara mantra on all four sides. Judy said it was the most heartfelt gift she ever received. Jody responded, “It was because of how much I treasured the gift of Dharma you gave me.”
Jody once shared, “Lama told me it was always going to be really difficult for me to see him. I was very shy and had such low self-esteem that I felt I should not be bothering someone for whom I had so much respect. At Grizzly Lodge, on the last day, Lama said that anyone could come in to talk with him. I told myself, ‘OK this is it.’ I was intimidated, but Lama said, ‘I think you have something you wanted to ask me.’ I said, ‘Lama, if you appear in my dream and give me teachings, is that what I should take as the truth?’ Lama replied, ‘Whenever I appear to you, you can believe what I’m telling you, even in a dream form.’ That was so encouraging to me.”
Judy explains, “Vajrapani is a miracle. It is magnificent. Lois (Greenwood) and I were talking about how when Lama spoke, people heard different things. People often took different pieces of his vast vision to make real.”
For the last many years of her life, Jody lived in pain from a degenerative spinal disease which led to half a dozen surgeries. Additionally, Jody’s immune system was attacking her nervous system leading to pain, numbness, and loss of motor control, for which she endured ongoing medical procedures.
About this period, Jody once shared, “Twice when I was in the hospital, very sick, Lama and Rinpoche and Chenrezig appeared in my room. I was delusional. I didn’t know where I was. When I saw them, they weren’t just figures. They were glowing, sparking, alive entities that I could feel radiating love out to me. Then, I knew they were there, whether I could see them or not. I thought, ‘OK, I gotta trust you.'”
Jody continued, “Once when I was in the hospital, they thought I had meningitis in my spine so I was in isolation. The man next to me was dying. I started saying prayers. I asked the nurse if he was going to make it. She told me it was doubtful. When they called a code blue I just said prayers. Ten minutes later he was OK. The nurse said, ‘I don’t know what kind of prayers you are saying, but they are sure powerful.’”
Jody found the practice of tonglen helped her the most. About this practice she said, “Thinking about the suffering of others almost always takes me away from focusing on my own pain and my own problems. I have other meditations, like Tara, but my go-to constantly is tonglen. Rinpoche is always sending me so much energy. He sends beautiful chants and prayers for when the pain gets very bad.”
Once while Rinpoche was visiting Jody in her home and offering advice, Jody asked Rinpoche what karma she had to have so much suffering. Rinpoche told her that by suffering that pain, she was taking it on so Rinpoche did not have to suffer it. Jody relied on Rinpoche’s words for inspiration and consolation.
When asked what practices she did during the difficult times, she said, “It is hard, but I think, if in any way I could take on the suffering of others and relieve them, how great that would be. Every two weeks I go to the hospital. I remember that the blood I get comes from others, and I see others sick with cancer, so I hold that in my mind. I bear the pain for others.”
Jody died peacefully in the hospital surrounded by George, her daughter, Alicia, and Shasta. Often in her decline, Tom Waggoner was also at her bedside. The practices from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice were followed. There was a stupa at her crown, a prayer wheel at the bend of her left arm, a Namgyalma mantra over her heart, and the prayers Rinpoche designed, with all the important mantras to be recited, gently resting on her chest. Breathing evenly and peacefully, when the last breath left her body, Rinpoche was notified, prayers were recited, including Medicine Buddha, The King of Prayers, and many mantras. Medicine Buddha puja was also done at Vajrapani Institute that evening and will be continued every seven days until the forty-ninth day.
We cherish our memories and pray; may Jody be free … at last.
We offer grateful thanks to Elaine Jackson and all of Jody’s dear friends and family who contributed to this obituary.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests that students who read obituaries pray that the person mentioned finds a perfect human body, meets a Mahayana guru, and becomes enlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the tantric teachings exist and they can become enlightened.” While reading obituaries we can also reflect on our own death and impermanence prompting us to live our lives in the most meaningful way. More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: jody galt, obituaries, obituary
29
Rejoicing in the Life of Gen Ngawang Namgyal
Gen Ngawang Namgyal died in Kathmandu, Nepal, on July 5, 2022.
Gen Ngawang Namgyal was one of the first monks at Lawudo and Kopan Monastery. Before his passing on July 5, Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited him at Karuna Hospital, offering prayers and pujas for him, at his bedside. We invite you to rejoice in his life, living in morality and serving the Dharma. Please offer prayers at this critical time for him, that he may quickly attain enlightenment or be born in a pure land where he can become enlightened quickly.
Gen Ngawang Namgyal was born in Solo Khumbu, Nepal. His father had a close connection with Lama Zopa Rinpoche when both he and Rinpoche were young. He ordained as a child and split his early life between the villages of Thame and Lawudo, sometimes receiving teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche when Rinpoche would visit Lawudo in the very early days. He later arrived at Kopan Monastery from Lawudo during Kopan’s very first days, receiving teachings from Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Khensur Lama Lhundrup, and others, as the monastery began to take form.
Gen Ngawang Namgyal shared the following from a June 2020 interview about his time during the founding of Kopan:
“At Kopan Monastery also texts were rare. At night we would copy out Tenets and prayers and other texts on our own notebooks, then Lama Yeshe would teach us how to recite prayers and so forth. We carried on like that. From that time, I’ve stayed at Kopan, for a long time. The number of monks has gradually increased, the studies and facilities and so forth gradually becoming better and better without much trouble. We all work together very well. It’s not that those of us here from the beginning have done everything. Everybody has worked very hard to make it what it is.”
While the monastery was developing, Gen Ngawang Namgyal would continue to travel back to Lawudo. Life was challenging there, and the small group of Lawudo monks had to beg for potatoes at times for food. Eventually, as the number of monks increased at Kopan, and trips to Lawudo became more difficult, he moved to Kopan permanently, where he would spend the rest of his life.
To conclude the 2020 interview about his life at Kopan, Gen Ngawang Namgyal shared:
“In dependence on [the lamas’ and so many supporters’] kindness our monastery has developed and improved. The main improvement is subduing one’s own mind, improving oneself depends on subduing the mind. It’s just as it says in the prayer:
‘Bless me that my mind becomes Dharma, that Dharma becomes the path, and that path be without obstacles.’
“And then if one can make effort until reaching the state of buddhahood that is excellent. Just external development is not development. In order to develop internally we need study, but to study and not understand how to use that to develop internally one becomes very strange. To use the studies one has put within to develop and improve as a person we need to work at using methods to subdue our minds through practice. When we have external needs fulfilled with favorable conditions, these are just external things. The main thing is to improve our minds by improving our studies and improving our practice in order to gradually achieve liberation and enlightenment. You all probably know all this. So, this is what little I have to say.
“May Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche have a long stable life, and all his holy activities spread, and whatever Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche intends, may this be effortlessly and spontaneously accomplished. Then also, may all the various foreigners who have helped our monastery develop through sponsorship and their efforts caring for the monastery, they have really wonderfully served the monastery, then all the ordained Sangha, and the teachers, for all the benefactors, and for all I offer prayers. We should not pray just for ourselves alone that we achieve the state of enlightenment, that’s not good, but if we can pray for all sentient beings to achieve the state of enlightenment that’s best.”
Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests that students who read obituaries pray that the person mentioned finds a perfect human body, meets a Mahayana guru, and becomes enlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the tantric teachings exist and they can become enlightened.” While reading obituaries we can also reflect on our own death and impermanence prompting us to live our lives in the most meaningful way. More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: ngawang namgyal, obituaries, obituary
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*powered by Google TranslateTranslation of pages on fpmt.org is performed by Google Translate, a third party service which FPMT has no control over. The service provides automated computer translations that are only an approximation of the websites' original content. The translations should not be considered exact and only used as a rough guide.Renunciation of samsara is not only the business of monks and nuns. Whoever is seeking liberation or enlightenment needs renunciation of samsara.