Projects

Over 1,000 homeless dogs are cared for at Auntie Mee Fah’s Dogs’ Shelter in Malaysia.

While in Malaysia recently Lama Zopa Rinpoche heard about a dog shelter, Auntie Mee Fah’s Dogs’ Shelter, which is caring for over 1,000 at-risk dogs with food and shelter. Rinpoche very much wanted to visit the shelter to bless the animals, but falling short on time, students from Losang Dragpa Center (LDC) visited on Rinpoche’s behalf, blessing the dogs with mantras and also putting up Namgyälma mantras in every dog cage.

LDC members blessing the shelter dogs on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s behalf.

Rinpoche also committed to offer six month’s worth of food for the dogs. When hearing this, LDC took on the responsibility to try to raise as much of this offering as they could, to support Rinpoche’s generous gesture. LDC was able to quickly raise US$7,824 and Rinpoche offered the remaining US$1,800 needed for the dogs’ food. 

A tremendous amount of food is needed to keep so many dogs healthy. Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered the cost of food for six months.

These dogs are homeless animals with no one to care for them. It is clear how happy they are to have their basic needs met at this shelter, and are now given the chance to make a connection with the Dharma!

Without support from this shelter, these dogs would surely die or live in miserable conditions on the street.

In a letter to the the students of LDC, in response to them raising the majority of money needed for the six months of food for the dogs, Rinpoche said, “Thank you very, very much — a billion, zillion, trillion times, to all the students and all the friends, especially for your inspiration. Please give everyone my billion, zillion, trillion, (on and on) thanks for the support to the dogs and to the lady (running the shelter).” 

Dogs, like every living being, just want happiness and don’t wish to suffer. This dog shelter is helping give the dogs their basic needs and exposing them to Dharma.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered the following quote from Buddha to the shelter management:

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 result 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).
After hearing that there is the great result — who  wouldn’t want to collect merit?

Happy dogs making new friends at their home.

Please rejoice in this offering of food for six months for these precious animals and in LDC’s generous effort to raise the majority of this offering, all in support of Rinpoche’s wish to benefit these dogs. 

You are welcome to offer any amount to the Animal Liberation Fund so that offerings such as this can continue. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given extensive advice on how to benefit animals. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche making offerings to the Hayagriva statue on the altar at Idgaa Choizinling College in Mongolia.

Through the Puja Fund, Lama Zopa Rinpoche sponsors continuous light offerings to two precious statues in Mongolia and India. 

Electricity is sponsored for lotus light offerings to all the holy objects on the altar at Idgaa Choizinling College in Mongolia. The lights are offered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Among the holy objects on this altar is an incredible Hayagriva statue. The annual 100 Million Mani Retreat, which is one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions, is also held in the Idgaa Choizinling gompa.

In Phakpa, a small village in Garsha Khandroling (Land of the Dakinis), India,  light is also offered to a self-emanating statue of Chenrezig. The statue is said to actually be Chenrezig, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested that continuous light be offered for as long as the statue remains. The light is offered through a giant eighteen-gallon silver butter lamp which is in front of the statue.

Self-emanating statue of Chenrezig said to be the actual deity itself in Phakpa, Garsha Khandroling, India.

Buddhism first came to Garsha Khandroling two thousand years ago and over the centuries, pilgrims and holy beings have visited the valley’s sacred sites to practice. Many miracles have been reported in connection with Phakpa over the years such as the statue speaking and dripping with nectar. 

Extensive offerings of light are being sponsored all over the world for the success of the entire FPMT organization. Every day you can join in on these offerings by rejoicing in the continual light being offered. You are also welcome to donate any amount to the Puja Fund to help cover the costs of materials for this offering. 

Light Offering Prayer

Composed by Lama Atisha

The butter lamp offered to the Chenrezig statue will burn as long as the statue remains.

May the light of the lamp be equal to the great three thousand worlds and their environments,
May the wick of the lamp be equal to the king of mountains – Mount Meru.
May the butter be equal to the infinite ocean.

May there be billions of trillions of lamps in the presence of each and every buddha.
May the light illuminate the darkness of ignorance of all sentient beings
From the peak of samsara down to the most torturous hell,
Whereby they can see directly and clearly all the ten directions
Buddhas and bodhisattvas and their pure lands.

OM VAJRA ALOKE AH HUM E MA HO

I offer these beautifully exalted clear and luminous lights
To the thousand buddhas of the fortunate eon,
To all the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the infinite pure lands and of the ten directions,
To all the gurus, meditation deities, dakas, dakinis, dharma protectors,
and the assembly of deities of all mandalas.

 “Extensive Offering Practice,” by Lama Zopa Rinpoche is available through the FPMT Foundation Store

All are welcome to donate to the Puja Fund and directly support these most precious offerings. 

Ngari Khangtsen at Sera Je Monastery.

While at Sera Je Monastery recently, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was requested to help Ngari Khangtsen raise money needed to build extended accommodation for this community. Each khangtsen (hostel in Tibetan) is linked to a region in Tibet and has to accommodate the monks that originate from a particular area.  The khangtsen functions independently from the main monastery with each house having the responsibility to provide the living necessities for their own monks including housing, medical care, and educational needs. Each khangtsen has its own prayer hall where all the monks gather to do prayers, pujas, and practices. 

Ngari Khangtsen was originally founded in Western Tibet. In 1970 it was reestablished at Sera Je Monastery in South India. Currently Sera Je’s Ngari Khangtsen has over 140 monks who are mostly ethnic Tibetans from the Himalayan regions of India, Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. 

Ngari Khangtsen is very dear to FPMT. Khensur Jampa Tegchok, former abbot of Nalanda Monastery and resident geshe of many FPMT centers over the years, lived in Ngari Khangtsen while receiving his education at Sera Je Monastery. FPMT also supports school children of Ngari Institute of Buddhist Dialectics by offering daily meals. This school was started by the monks of Ngari Khangtsen.

A new prayer hall is needed for the Ngari Khangtsen as their current gompa can only accommodate 50 monks.

Due to the kindness of donors, the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund was able to issue a grant to Ngari Khangtsen to help with the building projects needed to support the monks of this community. 

With this grant and other money raised, Ngari Khangtsen is currently building a new prayer hall as the old 1983-built gompa cannot adequately accommodate all of the monks during puja. The new prayer hall will provide more room for the monks to practice together. Having the right conditions for study and practice is essential support to these monks who are helping to preserve the most precious tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa. 

The monks of Ngari Khangtsen are on tour, actively fundraising for this project. All are welcome to support the monks directly. 

You can learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monks and nuns. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has offered a grant for the translation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler’s Art of Happiness series from English into Tibetan. These translated books will be offered to the Tibetan community free of charge, thus giving Tibetan-speaking students access to His Holiness’s practical and universal teachings which are very well suited for lay students and will appeal very much to the younger generation of Tibetans who may not have had the opportunity to engage with the teachings in this format. 

Making His Holiness’s teachings available in this way is also one critical way we can help preserve Tibetan culture and support its relationship with the West. 

We will update on this important project as it progresses. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund enables Rinpoche’s compassionate service to others to flourish. All the offerings from the fund are used toward the creation of holy objects around the world; sponsoring young tulkus, high lamas and Sangha in India, Nepal, Tibet and the West;  supporting FPMT centers, projects and services; sponsoring Dharma retreats and events; funding animal liberations, and much more.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche visiting Lugsung Samdupling Tibetan Settlement in Bylakuppe.

Due to the kindness of a generous benefactor, FPMT has been able to invest more resources into taking care of the elderly Tibetans living in India, many of whom fled Tibet starting in 1959.

In 1950 His Holiness assumed full political leadership of Tibet after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) invasion of the eastern province of Kham. While the Chinese believe that Tibet has been part of China since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Tibetans have maintained an independent identity and systems of governance separate from China for over a millennium. The Tibetan government which was in place when the PLA invaded, was founded in 1642 by the Great Fifth Dalai Lama.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama meeting an 82 year old Tibetan lady during Lam teachings in South India, 2015.

On March 10, 1959, Tibetans in Lhasa believed His Holiness to be in danger of capture by the Chinese military. In response, people in Lhasa rose up against the Chinese, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilian Tibetans and the destruction of the Sera, Ganden and Drepung Monasteries. Within days of the uprising, His Holiness secretly left Lhasa and escaped to the safety of India and about 80,000 Tibetans followed. Over the past fifty years, approximately 150,000 Tibetans have found refuge in India. Of the early refugees still living, all are elderly and some without care and support from family, due to having fled Tibet and their families. 

Over the last six months FPMT Charitable Projects has assessed the needs of older Tibetan refugees and found four residential facilities in need of support. To date, a total of US$135,996 has been offered in grants to help these homes carry out their work.

Jampaling Elder’s Home, Dharamsala
Jampaling Elder’s Home, situated in Dharamshala, is about 15 minutes walking distance from the main temple of His Holiness the Dalai Lama with many prayer wheels lining the way. The resident elders are able to attend all the teachings of His Holiness at the main temple. This home was set up to look after the elders who are scattered in different Tibetan settlement without appropriate facilities and also for destitute ex-army members without any family. It also houses elderly who are unable to earn a living due to old age and who have no one to rely on. This facility provides food, shelter and medical services to residents. 

Modest accommodation for elderly Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala.

156 residents (30 of whom are ordained) and 13 staff members reside in this home. The facility was offered a US$19,887 grant to hire an additional caretaker, make repairs to the facility, build a recreation/community room, accommodate special dietary needs, and provide pocket money for residents.

Lugsung Samdupling Home for the Aged and Disabled in Bylakuppe
A US$40,927 grant was offered to this facility that is home to 46 people. This grant will cover the shortfall of the home’s operating expenses and provide resources for a new waste management initiative.

The residents occupy extremely humble accommodation.

Antique equipment is used at this home which has very little means to operate properly.

The kitchen facility.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited this home and spent time with the elderly residents who are living in extremely modest conditions, many with health issues due to the advanced age. 

Mundgod Home for the Elderly and Disabled
A US$15,043 grant was offered to this home made up of 103 people. This facility will use the funds to meet the expenses of its operating budget. This home serves the elderly who have no family or who have children who are also destitute and unable to provide any support to them. One kitchen and three cooks provide food for all of the residents.

One block of the Mundgod home requires round-the-clock care for the residents.

Images of His Holiness the Dalai Lama can be found throughout these homes providing comfort and blessings to the elderly Tibetan residents.

One block of this facility has residents who are in need of round-the-clock care due to mental and physical deterioration. This facility was in dire need of funds as many donors have suspended support in recent years due to, according to the home’s management, “the financial crisis in world economy.” 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering prayer and blessings for the residents of Hunsur Old Aged Home.

Hunsur Old Aged Home, Gurupura
A US$60,139 grant was offered to this 20-resident home. The grant will be used for the cost of running this facility, particularly the costs of food, and the construction of five additional rooms.

A simple but nourishing meal provided at Hunsur Old Aged Home.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited this home and was able to bless the community living there as well as assess the accommodations and need for support. 

Elderly residents of Jampaling Elder’s Home in Dharamsala.

Without such homes, many elderly first-wave Tibetan refugees have very little prospect of accommodation or support as many are without families of their own. Offering support in this way is one way that FPMT can help repay the kindness and bravery of the Tibetan people. Lama Zopa Rinpoche avows the profound importance of His Holiness, the Dharma Kings, Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava and the Tibetan people in general. He has said that, because of them, the “sun of Tibetan Buddhism has now risen in the West.”

The courage and bravery of Tibetan refugees is unfathomable. As they live their final years, FPMT is committed to provide support for those who are not able to care for themselves or have no families to offer any assistance.

We’re eager to provide similar support to Tibetan refugees in Nepal. We’ve already started the process of assessing their needs.

Elderly residents of Lugsung Samdupling Home for the Aged and Disabled.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has encouraged us not to only address residents’ physical needs, but also their spiritual ones. With this in mind, we’ve already started to determine where and when we’ll be able to construct holy objects such as stupas and prayer wheels.

FPMT Charitable Projects is honored to support the homes of the eldest and destitute Tibetan refugees. You can show your support by making a donation to the Social Services Fund. 

FPMT is committed to assisting Tibetan communities in need. You can read about recent support to a Tibetan settlement for refugees in South India including a grant toward a new community center and food for an elderly home. 

Stupa-makers finishing stupas at Chenrezig Institute on Saka Dawa this year.

For many years, Chenrezig Institute in Eudlo, Australia, has hosted stupa-making sessions on the four holy days of the Tibetan calendar and the finished stupas reside in the center’s gompa. Chenrezig Institute estimates that 2,000 stupas have been created in this way. Volunteers who help make the stupas are offered lunch at the center as part of the day’s offering and celebration.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said, “The plan is to build stupas all over the world, individual people or centers [can do this], no matter how many years one puts effort into building stupas, the benefit that this gives to sentient beings every day in so many ways is unimaginable.” 

Rinpoche translated, “Padmasambhava’s Instruction on Offerings to Stupas” which details the benefits of prostrating to, circumambulating, making offerings, and offering service to stupas.

Please rejoice in the creation of stupas at Chenrezig Institute four times a year. Building or sponsoring stupas is a very powerful way to accumulate merit and purify negative karma.

The Puja Fund sponsors prayers and practices offered by up to 15,650 ordained Sangha members on every Buddha Day, such as Losar, when merit is multiplied by 100 million times. The fund also contributes to the offering of lunch for the stupa-makers on Saka Dawa.

The Lawudo Retreat Centre sustained substantial damage following the April 2015 earthquake and aftershocks.

The Lawudo Retreat Centre, situated high in the Himalayan mountains of eastern Nepal, holds particular significance for FPMT. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the reincarnation of the Lawudo Lama, Lama Kunzang Yeshe, who lived and practiced in Lawudo until his passing at age 81. The Lawudo Retreat Centre was built over several years and completed in 1972 under direction from Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The gompa was built so that young monks in the area could receive a good education with favorable conditions. Since that time, Rinpoche’s mother (who passed away in 1991), sister Anila Ngawang Samten, and brother Sangay Sherpa have cared for the Lawudo Lawudo Retreat Centre and welcomed pilgrims, retreatants and locals to this extremely blessed and remote place. 

The property suffered damage from the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks which struck in April 2015 and renovations were needed quickly so that those living in Lawudo would have protection from the monsoon season. Fortunately, the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund was able to quickly offer US$50,000 to begin the rebuilding process. From that grant, approximately 90% of the work was completed but a few major projects remained unfinished due to lack of funds. The remaining work was estimated to cost US$36,000 and included renovation to the west side of the main gompa, rebuilding of two houses, and the renovation of a third. 

Due to a US$20,000 donation from benefactors in Singapore and a US$16,000 grant from the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund, hopefully this essential work can now be completed. 

Sangay Sherpa, Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s brother, is the director of the center and is overseeing the repairs and rebuilding and submitting progress reports and updates.

Damage done to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birth home.

Help is still needed for renovation and repairs throughout Nepal as the region does not yet have its basic infrastructure back to normal. Your donations to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund will allow for more grants to be distributed as needed. To date, an incredible US$835,719.77 has been distributed from this fund. All areas which have received support are monitored to make sure that the resources are being properly utilized and that ongoing needs are accounted for.

It is a high priority for FPMT to continue to offer direct support in this way to the people of Nepal. Tremendous thanks to all who have contributed to these efforts and please rejoice that rebuilding from this substantial damage is underway. 

All are invited to donate to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund. 
https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/

You can learn more about Lawudo Gompa and the history of Lawudo. 
http://www.lawudo.com/About

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, June 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Recently when Lama Zopa Rinpoche was visiting Sera Je Monastery, he was requested to help with a new elevator at Sera Lachi.  Sera Lachi is made up of Sera Je and Sera Mey Monasteries in southern India. 6,000 monks study between the two monasteries. 

The Sera Lachi monks. Photo courtesy of the Sera Lachi Facebook page.

Entrance to the new elevator at Sera Lachi.

The elevator will be used to bring His Holiness the Dalai Lama up to his rooms at Sera, which are located on the top floor. As His Holiness is now eighty years old, climbing all of those stairs has become difficult, and the monks wanted to have an elevator to easily bring His Holiness to his rooms and also to facilitate elderly monks getting to different levels of the building to access offices, rooms, etc. 

Rinpoche was very happy to make an offering of US$69,000 toward the cost of the elevator through a grant issued from the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund. 

“Proper devotion to the guru, or virtuous friend, is the root of all success, from success in this life up to enlightenment, just as the trunk, branches, leaves and fruit of a tree depend upon its root,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches in The Heart of the Path. 

The new elevator installed at Sera Lachi.

“Or we can think that guru devotion is like the fuel in a car or a plane, without which the vehicle cannot take us where we want to go. Without guru devotion, nothing happens – no realizations, no liberation, no enlightenment – just as without the root of a tree there can be no trunk, branches, leaves, or fruit. Everything, up to enlightenment, depends on guru devotion.

“Guru devotion is the root not only of ultimate success, achieving full enlightenment and bringing sentient beings to the ultimate happiness of liberation and enlightenment, but also of temporary success and happiness. This practice is the foundation of the development of the whole path to enlightenment, as well as the foundation of all happiness. Since everything comes from the practice of guru devotion, it is called the root of the path. …”

You can read more of Rinpoche’s teachings on guru devotion in “Why Do We Need a Guru?,” the first chapter of the book The Heart of the Path: Seeing the Guru as Buddha by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, published by the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund enables Rinpoche’s compassionate service to others to flourish. All the offerings from the fund are used toward the creation of holy objects around the world; sponsoring young tulkus, high lamas and Sangha in India, Nepal, Tibet and the West;  supporting FPMT centers, projects and services; sponsoring Dharma retreats and events; funding animal liberations, and much more.

Enlightenment Stupa at Land of Calm Abiding, California, April 2014. Photo courtesy of Land of Calm Abiding.

Land of Calm Abiding, a 485-acre (196-hectare) wilderness ranch in Big Sur, California, is dedicated to supporting long-term solitary retreats.

The property was gifted by Mary Alice Baldwin in 1995. Located miles from any human settlement and surrounded by thousands of acres of wild public lands on the central coast of California, this off-the-grid location provides extremely unique conditions for engaging in meaningful retreat. 

Due to the kindness of a benefactor, the Practice and Retreat Fund was recently able to offer a US$28,500 grant to this retreat center to help with operational and maintenance needs. 

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for FPMT is to support the Dharma practice of students and foster realizations among practitioners. Please rejoice that this grant was offered to Land of Calm Abiding so that it can continue serving as retreat land for those ready to practice deeply in this way. 

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. Grants are also given to develop retreat centers.

The monks and lay students of Idgaa Choizinling College are offered lunch every day through the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund with help from Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

For the last few years Lama Zopa Rinpoche has been offering the food for the monks studying at Idgaa Choizinling College in Mongolia.

Recently US$5,564 was offered to cover the costs of offering lunch to all of the thirty-five monks and young boys studying at the college for the next 13 months. The community is made up of two monks who have taken gelong vows, ten monks who have taken getsul vows, two monks who have taken rabjung vows, and twenty-one lay students awaiting ordination. 

Offering food to those studying at Idgaa Choizinling College contributes to the goal of helping to re-ignite and preserve Buddhism study in Mongolia.

US$503 is needed every month to make this offering and there is a current gap in what is raised each month for this. Lama Zopa Rinpoche kindly covers the US$428 needed each month, as the sponsorship of lunch to this community is important to the goal of re-igniting and preserving Buddhism in Mongolia. 

The Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund was recently established to support to ordained Sangha (monks and nuns) as well as monasteries and nunneries. The fund is an essential component in helping to fulfill Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization. This year we are very happy to be able to support Rinpoche and to take on this offering and hope that as the fund grows more support can be offered to more Sangha in need around the world.

The main mission for this fund is to provide support for food, accommodations, education and health care for Sangha and will also provide the necessary resources for Sangha who wish to engage in retreats.

By supporting this fund you enable more support to monks and nuns in need around the world. Thank you for all who make this possible.

You can learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monks and nuns. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche reciting the Sutra of Golden Light at Mahabodhi Stupa, Bodhgaya, India, March 2014. Photo by Andy Melnic.

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for FPMT is for students to recite the Sutra of Golden Light for world peace. Specifically, Rinpoche has said, “The most beneficial thing to have peace and to stop the wars is reciting the Sutra of Golden Light.”

FPMT Education Services has created a resource page to help students learn more about and start reciting the Sutra of Golden Light. You can receive the oral transmission from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, download the sutra in 12 languages, report completed recitations, share your experiences, and ask questions about the text itself.

In 2014, Lama Zopa Rinpoche told the following story to help illustrate the power of this particular sutra: 

“If you have any problems or danger in your life, even just hearing or listening to the name of the Golden Light Sutra can give protection and pacify those problems. I want to tell you a story, one time when I was in Malaysia at the invitation of a rich family, I was eating lunch and just as I put the first spoonful of rice in my mouth I got toothache. So I thought of the Golden Light Sutra and how remembering it was supposed to stop the pain. I didn’t think very strongly about the Golden Light Sutra and I didn’t take very strong refuge in it, I just thought about it in passing and the pain went away.

“So I would suggest that if you have any kind of health problems such as cancer and especially diseases that cannot be cured by medicine, like black magic or spirit harm, sicknesses that doctors cannot do anything about, one very good solution is to read the Golden Light Sutra. Especially for world peace, it is unbelievably powerful to read this sutra in countries where there is a lot of fighting and killing.”

Institut Vajra Yogini decided to take on the commitment of reciting the Sutra of Golden Light as a group daily once they heard Lama Zopa Rinpoche explain the benefits of this sutra. 

There are so many ways to engage with this powerful sutra which will help fulfill Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes for the FPMT organization and the world. 

There are many sutras available to you which can help with many particular karmas or difficulties. 

You can learn more about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization. 

Since 1991, the Sera Je Food Fund has been offering three meals a day to every monk studying at Sera Je Monastery. Some monks do not need to rely on this service due to various reasons such as having personal benefactors who sponsor their food directly, but the food offering is available to every single monk who would like to receive it. 

Three meals are offered every day to any monk studying at Sera Je Monastery.

Recently, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT CEO Ven. Roger Kunsang, and Charitable Projects Coordinator Ven. Holly Ansett spent a month at Sera Je Monastery with the Sera Je Food Fund team and attended a number of meetings with Ven. Ngawang Sangye who has been working for the food fund since 2007 while completing his geshe studies degree in 2016. He does an incredible job helping to manage this massive operation with the help of Vens Kalden and Rabten. They work with FPMT International Office on budget and cost analysis, which can become quite complicated when shopping and cooking for up to 2,500. 

In these recent meeting, the team discussed improvements that could be made to the program, advice and recommendations from a dietitian who was consulted last year, how to utilize seasonal produce, and the general food preferences of the monks. Recently, the entire menu was redesigned based on feedback from the monks and discussion with the kitchen management. The food fund will continually assess and make adjustments and improvements to operations, procedures, and services offered to help ensure that this project is bringing the most benefit to those it serves.The Sera Je Food Fund not only covers the cost of all food, it is also responsible for the entire kitchen operation, paying cooks, utilities, and equipment upkeep. 

8,700 pounds of flour and 6,500 pounds of rice are offered every month through the Sera Je Food Fund Kitchen.

Every day each khangtsen (monastic house made up of monks from the same regions) informs the Sera Je Food Fund Kitchen how many monks will be joining for meals so the cooks can always prepare the right amount of food. There is almost no waste from the kitchen because any leftovers are offered to monks who engage in evening debate or classes allowing the monks to enjoy a second dinner if they are studying or debating late. Any food bought by the kitchen that is not used is sold back to the market making the waste for the kitchen extremely low. This is quite impressive when considering the volume of food being prepared and cooked.  An incredible 8,700 pounds of flour and 6,500 pounds of rice are used every month in addition to large quantities of other foods such as vegetables, fruits, spices, grains, tea, milk, and other ingredients. 

Typically, about 50 monks are assigned to kitchen duties every day.  They help ensure that the ingredients are top quality, that the kitchen is always hygienic and efficient, and that the food is tasty for the monks. Lunch is often eaten as a group in the Sera Je gompa when there are pujas or practices happening. 

The monks gather in the gompa for lunch when there are prayers and pujas organized around lunch time.

Twenty-five years ago Lama Zopa Rinpoche initiated the Sera Je Food Fund as a way to offer daily benefit to all of the monks studying at Sera Je, enabling them to focus on their studies without having to worry about meals or the burden of food expenses and preparation. Since that time Ven. Roger has worked with support from Ven. Holly to help actualize this vision through continual work with the monastery and the benefactors who make this fund possible. 

Please take some time to rejoice in this incredible daily offering and the kindness of all the extremely generous donors who contribute to the success of this program. From the prep cooks, to the dishwashers, to those who do the shopping, to those who help manage the operation, to the accountants, to the food vendors, the Sera Je Food Fund is a massive collective effort on the part of many.

You are welcome to join in on this offering by donating any amount, or by following the news and updates of this beneficial daily offering of food to hundreds of monks.