Projects

“Building stupas helps develop so much peace and happiness for numberless sentient beings. As a result, wars, disease, and desire will all be pacified. Instead of feeling hopeless, people will gain courage. This is about peace – for the beings who see it, for the whole country, for the entire world, for all sentient beings.”   –Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with project manager, Denice Macy at the stupa.

Land of Medicine Buddha is building a 39-foot-tall Mahabodhi Stupa in California on the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. This stupa will be the main attraction in a beautiful offering garden featuring an area to meditate, thousands of memorial stupas, places to perform prostrations, and ponds with spots for reflection.

Buddha statue which will live in the Mahabodhi stupa’s alcove.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche through the FPMT Stupa Fund has offered over US$100,000 toward this stupa project to date including a grant toward the creation of a life-size Buddha statue that will live in the alcove of the stupa. This statue, which took two years to complete, was made in Nepal by an extremely talented statue maker. About this statue, project manager Denice Macy said, “The engraving and detail on the statue is phenomenal. There are auspicious symbols on the arms and knees and finely detailed designs on the robes. When I wrote Ven. Roger after it came, I said, ‘Our minds are blown.’ That’s the closest I could come in my limited vocabulary to expressing my feeling. We are profoundly honored by how, since the very beginning, Rinpoche has been right there, engaged in every way, in bringing an inspiring holy object to our land. When people walk up the hill, they will first see the stupa, and then they will look into the alcove and see the statue in there and will be blown away.”

Construction site at the base of the stupa.

After installing a new entrance to the stupa project received a final approval from the County of Santa Cruz. This was a major milestone.

Grading around the stupa, which refines the site for beginning the garden layout has been completed and a deer fence was installed so that the garden would be protected from the deer which share Land of Medicine Buddha’s 108 acres.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited the stupa site in August 2018 and provided more advice on the layout of the grounds and decoration of the Mahabodhi stupa. Rinpoche stressed to Denice the importance of keeping the project moving along at a good pace. “We need to finish this because we might die, then the project might not be finished.” Rinpoche also met with Gelek, Land of Medicine Buddha’s resident artist and gave advice and instruction.

In April the team broke ground on the first of the walls of a dharmakaya mandala that will surround the stupa. Several sizes of smaller stupas will be placed in niches and on top of the mandala walls once the mandala walls are completed. These stupas will fulfill the center’s 100,000 Stupa Project which will be sponsored and/or dedicated by individuals around the world.

On May 19th Land of Medicine Buddha will begin accepting sponsorship of the gardens. A total of 23 trees will be planted at the site including: Weeping Cherry, Japanese Maple, Mimosa, Black Pine, Dogwood, Redbud, Flowering Plum, Hinoki Cypress, and Cryptomeria Japonica.

Please rejoice in the progress of this incredible stupa which helps fulfill Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Vision for the FPMT organization to build 100,000 large stupas around the world.

The Holy Objects Fund offers grants to the creation of holy objects around the world. All are welcome to donate to this fund to ensure grants like this continue long into the future. 

Offering robes to the Buddha statue at the Mahabodhi Stupa, Bodhgaya, India. Photo by Bill Kane.

Every month on the full moon as well as on all four great Buddha multiplying days, the Puja Fund sponsors a new set of robes made of high quality material for the precious Buddha statue inside the Mahabodhi Stupa in Bodhgaya, India. Root Institute kindly organizes this every month.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche frequently quotes Buddha’s teachings on the subject of offering to statues:

Any sentient being who, during the period of my teachings, makes charity well
(even if the material is the size of a hair),
For 80,000 eons there will be great results of great enjoyment:
No pain, no disease, and enjoyment of happiness.
Like that, one will be enriched with the desirable things.
At the end, you can actually achieve the result: the peerless cessation and completion (enlightenment).

Verse of OfferingRobes 

By offering these soft, light, divine clothes
With indestructible faith in
Those who have attained the adamantine holy body,
May I also achieve the vajra holy body.

Various garments that are strong like a bow string and extremely fine,
Whoever touches them experiences bliss,
To train my mind, I offer these precious, quality clothes
May I be adorned by the pure robes of patience.

Please rejoice in this monthly offering. This is something amazing to rejoice in, to mentally offer yourself, dedicate toward, and participate in by donating any amount. 

You can learn more about the beneficial prayers, practices, and pujas sponsored by the Puja Fund, or about FPMT’s other extensive charitable activity. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India, January 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Recently Lama Zopa Rinpoche arranged for several practices, sponsored by the Puja Fund,  for the long life of Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la). 

Khadro-la in Kyichu Lhakhang, Bhutan, offering butter lamps with Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

57,232 animals were liberated by the Sangha at Kachoe Dechen Ling in California, and Buddha Amitabha Pure Land in Washington State. These animals were offered extensive prayers and blessed water before being released. Additionally, the Kangyur was recited by Drati Khagten; and Lama Zopa Rinpoche  led extensive Medicine Buddha Puja at Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore, four mandala offering pujas to Tara, and later on led Lama Chöpa Tsog with 3,000 tsog offerings dedicated to Khadro-la’s health and long life. During Lama Chöpa Rinpoche movingly spoke extensively about the incredible qualities of Khadro-la, and explained some of her extraordinary activities. 

This is one way that the Puja Fund is able to benefit our kind teachers. Thanks to all for continued support to this fund, please rejoice in these practices done for Khadro-la’s long life and may she remain among us for a very, very long time. 

You can learn more about the beneficial prayers, practices, and pujas sponsored by the Puja Fund, or about FPMT’s other extensive charitable activity. 

Water bowls and extensive offerings at Ganden Do Ngag Shedrub Ling Center, Mongolia, offered by a dedicated group of elderly volunteers.

Since 2000, a group of very dedicated volunteers have been offering over a thousand water bowls plus extensive offerings of flowers, incense, candles, and food daily at Ganden Do Ngag Shedrub Ling Center, Mongolia. In August, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered these volunteers lunch to thank them for their incredible kindness and perseverance. 

Most of the volunteers are retired women who have been providing this service every morning for a number of years. The average volunteer is 60-75 years old and there are two ladies who are 86. Despite hardships of weather (temperature lows can reach -20 °F) or physical challenges, the volunteers complete the offering practice daily. If 10-15 people participate, they finish in approximately 1.5-2 hours; if just a few participate, they need 2-3 hours to complete. At the conclusion of the daily offering activity, they all enjoy breakfast together. This is remarkable dedication on the part of these extraordinary volunteers. 

Volunteers enjoying lunch offered by Lama Zopa Rinpoche as thanks for their dedication.

This is one of a few places in the world where extensive offerings like this are happening every day. The only other locations are at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, (in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s rooms); Root Institute, India, (in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s room); Kachoe Dechen Ling, CA, USA; and Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington State, USA. Extensive light offerings occur at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore; and Chokyi Gyaltsen Center, Penang, Malaysia. 

“We are not aware of the limitless skies of benefits we achieve from the practice of offering, what we can achieve and enjoy from life to life. Even while you are in samsara, you enjoy good rebirths, wealth, and every happiness. Even just the samsaric perfections are amazing, without adding all those incredible realizations that allow us to offer deep benefit to sentient beings, liberating them from oceans of samsaric suffering and its cause, delusion and karma.”   — Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Please rejoice that these daily offerings are occurring in Mongolia and the other locations mentioned around the world. Lama Zopa Rinpoche often advises students, whenever making offerings ourselves, to visualize places around the world where extensive daily offerings are made, in order to greatly increase our own effort.  In this way, all are welcome to participate. Lama Zopa Rinpoche personally makes these offerings daily in his prayers before meals. 

Thanks to each of the dedicated volunteers who have committed to offering in this way daily despite external complications or obstacles. Truly amazing!

Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, March 2016 in front of Thousand-Arm Chenrezig statue. Photo by Ven. Losang Sherab.

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization is to sponsor 100 million mani retreats (100,000 recitations of 100 million OM MANI PADME HUM) around the world.

Rinpoche explained, “[I would like] for the organization to establish 100,000 recitations of 100 million OM MANI PADME HUM mantras. This can be retreats of 100 million recitations, so 100,000 different retreats in different parts of the world and where it is happening, then for it to happen regularly, each year.”

We invite you to rejoice that 29 of these retreats have been completed so far according to Rinpoche’s wishes. Only 99,971 to go! You can read details of the completed retreats on our newly designed 100 Million Mani Retreats page. 

“The benefits of reciting OM MANI PADME HUM are infinite, like the limitless sky.” 
                                                                                                                               — Lama Zopa Rinpoche

The next 100 million mani retreat is scheduled for October 7-20, 2019 in Kalmykia, Russia with Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Geshe Tenzin Zopa serving as the retreat leader. Please email Ganden Tendar Ling for more information about the retreat. 

The Practice and Retreat Fund provides grants and sponsorships for students engaged in retreats such as 108 nyung nä retreats, 100 million mani retreats, recitations of sutras and long term retreat.  

Large Guru Rinpoche thangka displayed at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling every year.

For the forth year a very large thangka of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) was displayed and an auspicious 100,000 tsog offering event (Guru bumtsog) took place at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling, Nepal, also known as Kopan Nunnery. The thangka, which is 75 feet (23 meters) high and 87 feet (27 meters) wide depicts in stitched appliqué the Padmasambhava merit field in the center. The incredible weight of the thangka and raising it safely up large scaffolding to display requires tremendous skill and effort. All Sangha present (approximately 1,000) received offerings for their participation. The Holy Objects Fund sponsors this ceremony, the cost in 2018 was US$11,850. Tremendous thanks for the kindness of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling for hosting this incredible event and catering lunch for all involved. The entire set up for this requires a solid week to execute. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has encouraged, as part of the Vast Visions for FPMT, to support, create, and display very large thangkas, and to host thangka festival days where many people can gather to enjoy their beauty and power, participate in making offerings, and other virtuous activities.  Rinpoche explained, “My wish is for the big centers in FPMT to have these large thangkas. This is a way to leave imprints for all these people [who see them], for enlightenment.”  

Sangha participating in Guru bumtsog at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling during the display of the giant Guru Rinpoche thangka.

“These holy objects help other sentient beings easily purify inconceivable negative karma and create the causes of happiness, merit, and extensive happiness, which definitely brings them to enlightenment quickly. Because it makes them create extensive merit, allowing them quickly to realize the path, it also helps them to improve their life very soon; from a very difficult life with many problems—business problems, relationship problems, and many other things—to an easy life having perfect enjoyments, external and inner prosperity at the same time, realizations of the path and a very happy, peaceful, inspiring death.” — Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Please rejoice in this annual event which is fulfilling Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions and has profound effects on clearing obstacles of all types in Nepal and the world. 

The Holy Objects Fund offers grants to the creation of holy objects around the world. All are welcome to donate to this fund to ensure grants like this continue long into the future. 

Long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, December 17, 2018. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Every year, Ven. Roger Kunsang, assistant to Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the CEO of FPMT, Inc., checks whether any practices need to be done to contribute to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s health and long life.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khadro-la, February 2018. Photo by Ven.Roger Kunsang

This year, Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khandro Namsel Dronme) advised that a 16 Arhat Long Life Puja, with additional recitations of Tenden Dukpa, would be beneficial.

This long life puja will be offered at Kopan Monastery on April 6. Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi is flying in from Singapore to preside over the ceremony.

All are welcome to participate in this puja by offering any amount toward the costs, or doing prayers during the day while this is happening. 

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Additionally, you may download one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s long life prayers to use at any time.

The official long life puja offered every year on behalf of the FPMT organization and students will take place at Kopan Monastery on December 7.

^{The Long Life Puja Fund contributes to long life pujas offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You can also learn about the many Charitable Projects of FPMT and discover the many ways the various funds and projects are benefiting others.}.

Students of Sagarmatha Secondary School.

Since 2015, the Social Services Fund has been offering support to Sagarmatha Secondary School in Chailsa, Nepal. The school stands on what was once a Tibetan refugee camp. It currently serves 170 students, including 79 young lay students who live at the school hostel and 25 young monks who live at Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery, which shares the school grounds. Eleven teachers and one additional employee support these students. 

Recently, a US$28,000 grant was issued to the school for the 2018 academic year. This was only possible due to the kindness of people supporting the Social Services Fund. Thank you for making this possible.

Khen Rinpoche Geshe Thubten Chonyi with the students of Sagarmatha Secondary School.

This grant covers the salaries of teachers in addition to yearly text books and one set of school uniforms per year for the students. Grants are also offered for prize distribution for exams, sports competitions, as well as other extra curricular activities. Last year, Lama Zopa Rinpoche sponsored the school uniforms plus shoes and warm socks. The students of this school are ethnically Tibetan or Sherpa, and some come from meager means. The school tries to help in any way, such as finding outside support for the children’s additional clothing needs.

An educator with students of the Sagarmatha Secondary School.

Sagarmatha Lower Secondary School is a government-registered school which means it is recognized by the Nepalese government and can participate in nationwide exit exams. The school has to expand to best support students. Without expanding, the children will have to go to boarding school in Kathmandu to finish their educations. This is prohibitively expensive for many local families and they would simply have to drop out once their education at the school finishes. Kopan Monastery manages the school as well as the hostel.

Students of Sagarmatha Secondary School having a meal.

We invite all of you to rejoice in the ongoing support offered from the Social Services Fund to schools such as Sagarmatha Secondary School. 

Sagarmatha Secondary School and hostel.

“Among the virtues, rejoicing is the best, because it is the easiest one to practice. It simply involves our mind thinking, and the merit we accumulate is infinite…. Generally in our life we should practice rejoicing as much as possible. We should rejoice whenever we see good things happening to other people.” — Lama Zopa Rinpoche

In 2018, the FPMT Social Services Fund offers over US$104,000 to six schools providing education to children of Tibetan, Nepali, Sherpa, and Indian heritage. This is made possible by all those who contribute to the Social Services Fund. 

If you would like to support the Social Services Fund and help ensure grants such as this can continue, you can read more about the charitable projects this fund supports, or donate any amount to the fund itself. 

The monks of Gaden Tharpa Choling Monastery in front of the new Nyung Nä temple.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with the reincarnation of Domo Geshe Rinpoche at Sera Je Monastery, Bulakyppe, India, December 2015. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Gaden Tharpa Choling Monastery in Kalimpong, India, was founded by the First Domo Geshe Rinpoche in 1912 while traveling on pilgrimage. Lama Zopa Rinpoche established a connection with the Domo Geshe Rinpoche lineage when he took ordination at Domo Drugkar Gompa in Tibet, also established by the First Domo Geshe Rinpoche. Since 2015, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has also been supporting the current reincarnation of Domo Geshe Rinpoche by sponsoring food offered to him daily, as well as the salaries for some of his teachers. In a letter of thanks to Tharpa Choeling Monastery in 2010, Lama Zopa Rinpoche further explains the connection. 

The new temple during construction.

Due to the kindness of a benefactor, the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund was pleased to offer a US$25,000 grant toward the building of a Nyung Nä temple at the monastery. About this retreat practice Rinpoche commented, “Nyung näs take such a short time, but bring strong purification. So many eons can be purified in this life; it makes it so easy to have attainments.” Nyung nä practice is an intensive two-day purification retreat that includes fasting, precepts, prostrations, prayers, mantra recitation, and offerings. Nyung nä is a practice based on the deity, Thousand-Arm Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion, and is extremely powerful for healing illness, purifying negative karma, and opening the heart to compassion.

We are happy to report that this temple has now been completed. Please rejoice that this is now finished and will facilitate many powerful and beneficial retreats long into the future. 

If you want to help Sangha, please learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries around the world. 

Medicine Buddha statue at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, Washington.

Monks offering extensive Medicine Buddha puja.

Every month on the Tibetan 8^th day the Puja Fund sponsors all the monks of Sera Mey Monastery to offer the extensive Medicine Buddha puja composed by the Fifth Dalai Lama dedicated FPMT centers, projects, services; all students who are ill or having life obstacles; benefactors of the Puja Fund, and to all beings.

The Puja Fund offers a small money offering, tea, and bread to each of the approximately 2,000 monks performing the puja as well as the cost of light offerings and torma offerings.

About Medicine Buddha Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said:

The Medicine Buddha encompasses all the buddhas. This means that when we practice the seven-limb prayer and make offerings with the seven limbs, we receive the same merit as we would if we had made offerings to all the buddhas. Similarly, when we recite the mantra of Medicine Buddha, we collect unbelievable merit just as when we offer the seven-limb practice to Medicine Buddha.

To recite the Medicine Buddha mantra brings inconceivable merit. Manjushri requested the eight tathagatas (Guru Shakyamuni Buddha and the seven Medicine Buddhas) to reveal a special mantra that would make the prayers they (the eight tathagatas) made in the past (prayers to be able to actualize the happiness of sentient beings by attaining the path to enlightenment and pacifying various problems, to be able to see all the buddhas, and for all wishes to be quickly realized) to quickly come to pass, especially for those sentient beings born in the time of the five degenerations who have small merit and who are possessed and overwhelmed by various diseases and spirit harms.

Please rejoice in this monthly offering that brings so much benefit to the entire FPMT organization. Every Tibetan 8^th day, please remember that this puja is happening and you can mentally join in. This is something amazing to rejoice in, to mentally offer and dedicate toward, and also something you can contribute to by donating any amount. 

You can learn more about the beneficial prayers, practices, and pujas sponsored by the Puja Fund, or about FPMT’s other extensive charitable activity. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche outside of The Great Stupa visiting the Peace Park, Bendigo, Australia, May 2018. Photo courtesy of Ian Green’s Twitter page.

In May of 2018, Lama Zopa Rinpoche spent six-weeks teaching on Bodhicaryavatara (A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life) and offering Rinjung Gyatsa Retreat at the Great Stupa of Universal Compassion in Bendigo, Australia. 

At the conclusion of this teaching event Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered US$30,000 to the FPMT entities in the area in support of their work: The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, Machig Labdron Nunnery (a new nunnery at Atisha Center), Thubten Shedrup Ling, and Atisha Center. Rinpoche also offered the incredibly beautiful White Tara statue, which had been offered offered to him during the long life puja, to the new nunnery.

The retreat was attended by a cross section of FPMT students, traveling from near and far, including more than sixty-five ordained Sangha. 

Please rejoice in Rinpoche’s kindness in offering these teachings and investing in the precious Dharma activity of the area. 

“It is said in the teachings that among the virtues, or good karmas, the best one to practice is rejoicing. In other words, if we want to create good luck, rejoicing is the best way. People usually think that luck is something that comes from its own side. That’s completely wrong. It is not that luck suddenly comes from outside, without our having to create it. Luck comes from our mind. If we experience good luck, it’s luck that we have created with our mind.” — Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Rinpoche gave an unprecedented number of teachings during this Australia retreat, all of which were streamed live online and are now available to watch as streaming video.

You can learn more about the many beneficial activities of the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund or other Charitable Projects of FPMT.

Beautiful wall of eight stupas at Centro Muni Gyana, Italy.

We invite you to rejoice that eight new stupas have entered the FPMT mandala at Centro Muni Gyana, Palermo, Italy. The Holy Objects Fund was pleased to offer a grant to sponsor the creation of these stupas which will benefit all who come in contact with them, as well as the entire area.

As Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained, rejoicing in the creation of holy objects brings one closer to enlightenment. Even rejoicing one time in the completion of these supas, so much merit is generated for oneself. According to Rinpoche, “among the virtues, rejoicing is the best, because it is the easiest one to practice. It simply involves our mind thinking, and the merit we accumulate is infinite.”

Please enjoy these photos of the new stupas with tremendous thanks to Stupa Onlus for making these stupas and arranging their arrival. 

Geshe-la blessing stupas made by Stupa Onlus.

View of Palermo, from the side of the stupas.

Arrival of the stupas to to Centro Muni Gyana.

Recent FPMT regional meeting participants with the stupas.

“Rejoicing increases merit, like investing $100 and then constantly receiving interest until we have thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and then millions of dollars. When we rejoice, the merit increases greatly.”  — Lama Zopa Rinpoche

If you would like to contribute to the building of holy objects around the world, you are welcome to offer any amount to the Holy Objects Fund which contributes to the creation of stupas, prayer wheels and statues.