Projects

A practice session during one of the 108 Nyung Na retreats at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, June 2022.

The Nyung Na retreat is a two-day intensive practice that includes taking the 24-hour Mahayana precepts every day, with the addition of complete fasting and silence every second day. There are three sessions of about three hours each day, including meditation, prostrations, and mantra recitation. It is a powerfully effective, experiential practice that can be done by anyone with respect and faith for the practice. Nyung Na retreat is highly praised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche as a supreme method for transforming the mind.

Institut Vajra Yogini (IVY) in France has hosted it’s eleventh series of 108 Nyung Na retreats from November 2021-June 2022. One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization is to regularly sponsor 1,000 Nyung Na retreats, and Institut Vajra Yogini kindly began to host the retreats every year to help fulfill this vision.

Like last year, the pandemic created some new challenges and restrictions, including an outbreak in the group earlier in the year. To follow government safety protocols and help reduce the risk of outbreak, IVY had to remove the option for students to join for single sessions, which it had offered in years before the pandemic. To help accommodate more students, Ven. Charles, the retreat leader, offered the morning sessions online every morning as well as one complete two-day Nyung Na retreat online once a month, so more students could participate from home.

This year, three people have completed the full round of 108 Nyung Na retreats, please take a moment to rejoice in their practice: 

• Venerable Charles
• Valentino Giacomin, from Alice Project
• Jean Marie Tanpi de Campanema, from France

An incredible 1,188 Nyung Na retreats have been completed at Institut Vajra Yogini over this period by those practicing on site and at home online, although the exact count is difficult to know with the inclusion of the online retreatants. 

Participants during one of the 108 Nyung Na retreats being held at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, June 2022.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund. has been sponsoring the food and accommodation for up to ten people, each year, who undertake the 108 Nyung Na retreats. This year, the fund offered US$14,541 in support of the 108 retreats completed. 

Institut Vajra Yogini has already begun planning for the twelfth series of 108 Nyung Na retreats, which will be held from November 15, 2022 to mid-June 2023. The retreats are led in French but can be followed simultaneously in English and other languages. If you are interested in joining, or would like to help sponsor the retreats for others, please contact Institut Vajra Yogini’s Center Director. Lama Zopa Rinpoche is again offering sponsorship for up to ten people to commit to 108 Nyung Nas.

“Nyung Nas are a most powerful, most beneficial and quickest way for you to develop bodhicitta, to collect extensive merit to quickly achieve enlightenment, to become Chenrezig, to liberate sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring to enlightenment… This is an extremely powerful practice, it is an incredible way to develop bodhicitta.” —Lama Zopa Rinpoche

You can learn more about the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund as well as the other Charitable Projects of FPMT.

Find resources on the practice of Nyung Na in the Foundation Store.

Students of Shree Sangka Dhechholing Gonpa School in Taplejung, Nepal.

Since 2012 the Social Services Fund has been supporting schools in India and Nepal that have students of Tibetan, Nepali, Sherpa, and Indian heritage. Approximately 1,000 school-aged children in seven different schools benefit from this support. FPMT’s Social Services Fund provides the food, uniforms, and school supplies for the students and salaries for the teachers to these free schools. We invite you to rejoice in the support we have offered this year, helping break the cycle of poverty and destitution in impoverished areas, and in order to facilitate both a modern and Dharma education, as well as cultural preservation, for those who will benefit most greatly. 

Students of Ngari Institute in Ladakh, India, enjoying a meal together.

Founded in 2010, Ngari Institute in Ladakh, India, helps disadvantaged children from remote regions of Ladakh, especially from a borderline with Tibet, obtain a proper education. Ngari Institute enrolls children from impoverished families into school and provides free boarding, medical attention, clothing and other needs to the students. They also pay a tuition fee to three government schools where they send children for classes. The students are following the standard government educational curriculum during the day and learn about Tibetan Buddhism and culture during after-school hours. The Social Services Fund has been covering all the costs of the food for the 83 children and teachers for nine years. This year we offered a grant for US$32,270 for this purpose.

Students of Ngari Institute, Ladakh, India.

Young students of Shree Sangka Dhechholing Gonpa School in Taplejung, Nepal.

Shree Sangka Dhechholing Gonpa School in Taplejung, Nepal, was established in 2007 to serve the Buddhist community in the area. Eleven teachers currently educate approximately 100 students who start at age three. The curriculum is taught by eleven staff in English and Nepali and focuses on modern subjects as well as Buddhist teachings and culture. In 2022, US$29,799 was offered for all of the operating expenses of this free school. 

Samtenling Monastery is located just behind the Boudhanath Stupa in a beautiful Kathmandu valley. The monastery provides the young monks with a modern, progressive, secular education from kindergarten through grade eight. Most of the monks are from Nepal and are primarily Sherpas and Tamangs, but Tibetan monks also attend the monastery and school. The school had been operating without classrooms since it started, with the children sitting outside under a tin roof, with almost no protection from the sun and rain. Thanks to support from Unione Buddhista Italiana (U.B.I.) three years ago, a grant of US$157,785 was raised and over the following years we facilitated regular grants from this for the building of the school, finalizing this year with the last installment of US$26,976. We are so pleased that due to this grant they were able to build these new classrooms and a debate courtyard for the students.

New school facilities at Samtenling Monastery thanks to a three year grant administered from the Social Services Fund.

Students of Maitreya School, Bodhgaya, India.

Maitreya School, which is a social service project of Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India, is a free school benefiting impoverished children from neighboring villages. The school offers 300 children living in one of India’s poorest states a precious opportunity. Not only do they engage in a traditional education but, more importantly, they receive life skills in compassion, honesty, and loving-kindness presented through Buddha’s teachings. The core of the training and vision of the school is: making lives meaningful. Since 2012 we have offered yearly support toward the operating costs and transportation needs. In 2022 we offered US$29,400 toward the annual costs of operating the school.

A student of Sera Je Secondary School receiving instruction.

Sera Je Secondary School offers education to students from the Tibetan refugee community but also to those from remote areas in India like Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. Additionally, young novices from Tibet, who do not have the opportunity to study under Chinese rule, have entered this school where they not only learn Buddhist philosophical texts and various aspects of Tibetan culture, but also receive modern education. We are so happy to offer support to this school in in 2022 with a grant for US$25,000.

Sagarmatha Secondary School in Chailsa, Nepal, is located 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 is a branch of Kopan Monastery and shares the school grounds. The monastery was initially founded to provide a spiritual center for the refugees who came from Tibet after 1959. In 2004 the Tibetan Government in Exile requested Kopan Monastery to take over the care and management of the school and Thubten Shedrup Ling and its resident monks. Kopan Monastery oversees all operations of this school which has a hostel accommodating children that live too far way to travel or who come from families who are too poor to care for them. There are 25 monks who live at the monastery but attend the school for their education. 

Since 2015 we have offered annual grants to the school that covers the salaries of teachers in addition to yearly text books and one set of school uniforms per year for the students.  We are very happy to continue this commitment this year with the very kind help of Yeshe Norbu Association and Unione Buddhista Italiana (U.B.I.). The annual cost is US$45,000 and will be offered at the end of 2022.

Location of Sagarmatha Secondary School in Chailsa, Nepal.

Some of the students of Rolwaling Sangag Choling Monastery School.

Rolwaling Sangag Choling Monastery School is a community run free school, situated on the lap of Mount Gaurishankar, in the Rolwaling Valley, Dolakha District, Nepal. This is the only school available in the valley and provides modern education in addition to promoting the local culture and Dharma. Established in 2010, this school educates thirty-two children from poor families across the Dolakha District of Nepal at the primary school level and provides free boarding, medical attention, clothing ,and other needs to its students with the help of four teachers. A number of monks from the local monastery also attend this school. Many Kopan monks come from Rolwaling, so FPMT’s relationship with this school is quite special. We were very happy to offer a grant of US$19,000 for their operating costs this year.

Please join us in rejoicing in another year of support offered to these beneficial schools due to the kindness of so many. Incredibly, US$220,947 was offered toward education this year. Thank you to all the kind donors who made it possible to offer this substantial support. If you would also like to be part of supporting the education for over 1,000 students please donate anytime to the Social Services Fund.

The Social Services Fund, established to support Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization, focuses efforts primarily in India, Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia. Funds help children, the elderly, sick, and very poor.

Some of the monks of Sera Je Monastery. Photo courtesy of Sera Je Monastery Facebook page.

This year on August 1 we celebrate Chokhor Duchen, one of the four annual holy days of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha which commemorates Buddha’s first turning of the wheel of Dharma and on which merit generated is multiplied one hundred million times. An amazing array of prayers will be happening simultaneously around the world, dedicated to all beings, particularly the entire FPMT mandala—centers, projects, services, students, benefactors, volunteers and all connected to the organization—and all beings who are sick or who have passed away.

The prayers and practices happening will be:

• Recitation of the Kangyur
• Recitation of the Prajnaparamita Sutra
• One Thousand Offerings to Namgyalma
• Namgyalma long life ritual
• Sixty-Four Offerings to Kalarupa
• Recitation of the King of Prayers
• Medicine Buddha Puja

These prayers are being offered by thousands of ordained Sangha in Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery, Kopan Monastery, Gyudmed Tantric College, Gyuto Tantric College, Sera Lachi Monastery, Gaden Lachi Monastery, and Drepung Lachi Monastery.

Nuns of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery, Nepal. Photo courtesy of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery.

During the prayers, offerings will be made on behalf of FPMT to the nearly ten thousand Sangha, including the IMI Sangha residing in monasteries and nunneries around the world. Offerings will also be presented to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus.

Sangha will also be making offerings of robes to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India; saffron color and umbrellas to the most precious Boudhanath and Swayambunath stupas in Nepal; printing sutras; creating stupas and Buddha tsa-tsas; and liberating animals.

Please rejoice in these incredible prayers and offerings that are being made on behalf of all within the FPMT organization. The Puja Fund is honored to sponsor these activities and if you would like to be part of these offerings at any time, you can donate any amount to the Puja Fund.

This is an incredible opportunity on August 1 to remember these activities and offerings, to rejoice that they are happening, and to dedicate the merits.

Thank you to all who make this possible and especially the Sangha who undertake these prayers and practices on behalf of us all. 

Please find collected practice advice for this merit multiplying buddha day, as well as other information about Chokhor Duchen. 

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

The monks of Sera Je Monastery receiving vaccines thanks to a grant from the Social Services Fund.

The FPMT Social Services Fund offers grants to beneficial projects primarily in India, Nepal, and Mongolia, which are aimed at serving children, the elderly, the sick, and very poor. We offer grants for schools, hospices, health clinics, soup kitchens, and elderly homes. We would like to invite you to rejoice in some of the grants offered in 2022 specifically toward medical care, living expenses, and food to those most in need. We have offered US$191,965 so far this year for this type of aid. 

Patients of Shakyamuni Buddha Clinic waiting to be seen for treatment.

Shakyamuni Buddha Clinic, India

Shakyamuni Buddha Health Clinic, a social service project of Root Institute, Bodhgaya, began in 1991 as a home for the destitute and has evolved into a diverse community health program encompassing a wide range of medical and rehabilitative services and health promotion activities.

The clinic continued to do important work in the community in 2021-2022, some highlights are:

• Re-opening the clinic after 11 months of closure due to the pandemic. During the time of closure full staff salaries were paid for the first three months and then 50% of salaries were paid for the remaining period of the lockdown. Within two months after the first re-opening, the second lockdown was enforced due to the Delta variant and the clinic was closed again. As the numbers of infection and death declined, the staff took the initiative to open the clinic in June of 2021.
• Since 80% of Shakyamuni Buddha Clinic’s beneficiaries are approximately 80% female from traditional,
  conservative families, a female doctor was added to the staff. A roster of four male doctors and one female doctor now services the clinic.

This year we were very happy to offer US$$29,400 toward the operating expenses of this clinic. 

The Social Services Fund has been providing annual grants to the incredible work of Shakyamuni Buddha Clinic since 2012 and in total has offered over US$200,000.

MAITRI Charitable Trust, Bodhgaya

MAITRI is engaged in the eradication of leprosy, the control of tuberculosis (TB), medical assistance and care for expecting mothers and new born babies, life-saving assistance to malnourished small children, education of children and adults in rural areas, rehabilitation of disabled people, the provision of opportunities to women and other underprivileged people, promotion of a holistic development in villages, rescuing and care of animals, and awareness campaigns for all of these programs.

Highlights of their work from 2021 include:

Tuberculosis Care field work: Detection, verification, and management of 207 new cases that were registered for treatment;  the implementation of a humanitarian assistance program by identifying particularly needy under-treated TB patients and having them registered for the distribution of monthly rations at MAITRI; the implementation of the Information, Education, Communication program to raise awareness on TB in villages and by contacting community members to promote collaboration among
villagers; weekly clinics were held at headquarters where 119 people were tested in their lab and 22 others were confirmed and referred for treatment; 22 active patients were hospitalized; rations were distributed to 126 under treated patients; and blankets were distributed to TB patients in the winter.

Leprosy Care field work: Detection, verification, and management of 62 new cases that were registered for treatment; the implementation of the Prevention of Deformities program which instructs on self care for those with disabilities; the implementation of the Information, Education, Communication program to raise awareness on the identification and treatment of leprosy by contacting community members within villages; work at headquarters consisted of the hospitalization of 28 leprosy patients affected with ulcers and reaction;

Thanks to a generous benefactor of the Social Services Fund, a grant for US$78,400 was offered to MAITRI this year, contributing substantially to their operating budget and enabling them to start much needed extensive repairing of their buildings and to purchase a generator, a desktop computer, and a refrigerator. 

Lamp of the Path Mongolia NGO Soup Kitchen offering a meal to beneficiaries.

Lamp of the Path, Mongolia

Lamp of the Path NGO (LOP), part of Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, has offered social services to some of the poor and homeless living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for the past nineteen years. Current activities include the soup kitchen—which is its main program, a health clinic, a second hand clothing distribution project, vegetable gardening, and food aid for disadvantaged children and families. LOP also helps bring awareness to the epidemic of alcoholism in Mongolia and offers tuberculosis checkups for the disadvantaged in the area.

A grant for US$39,200 was offered to this beneficial project, covering most of their 2022 operating budget.

The Social Services Fund has been providing annual grants to the incredible work of LOP since 2012 and in total has offered over US$357,000.

Patient Care Trust, India

Patient Care Trust (PCT) is an NGO operating in India, with a large proportion of its field work being conducted in Northern India. The NGO facilitates access to quality healthcare and also organizes free medical camps with partner hospitals. The mission of this project is to provide timely access to affordable quality healthcare for the socially marginalized Tibetans living in exile. 

PCT’s experience and competency come from assisting thousands of Tibetan patients since 2012, with the support of the multi-specialty hospitals, leveraging its networks to remedy the current healthcare situation in the exiled Tibetan community. Currently, the most vulnerable Tibetans in exile are the key beneficiaries of PCT’s activities. Their two main programs are Destitute Aid which  enables the most destitute and critical patients be able to receive medical care despite their financial situation; and Patient Housing which is similar to the destitute aid fund and provides housing for very poor and critical patients and their retinue, with priority given to patients coming to New Delhi from afar.

From 2012 to January 2022 a total of 4,666 vulnerable patients have been assisted by PCT. With the introduction of free site medical camps in 2018, PCT managed to increase the number of Tibetans in exile benefiting from its services than in prior years. However, due to the pandemic and minimal resources, they faced many challenges and difficulties and were unable to arrange any medical camps from March 2020 to the end of 2021. 

For the second year, thanks to a grant from Italian Buddhist Union (UBI), we offered this project US$34,965.39 for their 2022 operating budget. 

Sera Je Health Care, India

US$10,000 was offered this year for the medical care of monks at Sera Je Monastery. Health care is one of the most fundamental needs we all share, and we are so happy to support the monastics of Sera Je in this way. This grant enabled the monks to receive oxygen tanks, vaccines, and other supplies needed because of increased illness due to the pandemic.

Rejoice!

Please join us in rejoicing in some of the ways that FPMT is offering direct support for those most in need in India and Mongolia by providing grants for medical and heath care, food, and other essential services. Thank you to the many who make these grants possible and continue to support the Social Services Fund.

All are welcome to support the Social Services Fund and help ensure we can continue to offer support toward the health of those in need.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering prayers to a rescued water buffalo Rinpoche named Bodhichitta. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has made it very clear that our job as Buddhists is to help all living beings achieve their highest potential, including the most vulnerable among us. While animals cannot create much merit on their own, there are many ways we can help them—saving them from untimely death, engaging them with holy objects so they can create merit and purify negativities, and helping to plant enlightening seeds for the future by exposure to the Dharma in a variety of ways. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and a Kopan monk blessing a cow of the Animal Liberation Sanctuary, August 2021. Photo by Pema Lama.

Among the many animal liberations happening around the organization, as advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, we are also so happy to be offering substantial support to three beneficial animal-centered projects this year. Nearly US$22,000 will be offered in support of these projects and we invite you to please rejoice with us! May all of these dear animals, as well as all sentient beings, receive the perfect care needed for the benefit of this and all future lives. 

Animal Liberation Sanctuary, Nepal

In countries like Nepal, the care and management of animals is very poor and animal sacrifices are common creating tremendous suffering for the animals and those involved. Since 2012 we have been supporting the Animal Liberation Sanctuary which is located on land near Kopan Monastery. The sanctuary benefits animals rescued by Lama Zopa Rinpoche—namely goats and buffalo, as well as other animals which have been saved, not only by freeing them from impending death, but also by exposing them to Buddha’s teachings. They regularly hear mantras and are led around holy objects. US$9,800 was offered to this sanctuary for support of the dozens of animals now residing there. If you would like to support the sanctuary directly: https://kopanmonastery.com/charitable/animal-sanctuary-nepal

Stupa at the animal shelter near Institut Vajra Yogini, France.

Animal Shelter, France

In an animal shelter in France, near Institut Vajra Yogini, a compassionate caretaker has taken responsibility for many abandoned, lost, and endangered animals who would otherwise be discarded to live out their lives in fear and imminent danger and death. The amount of animals being cared for here is unbelievable and includes the following: 80 dogs of various breeds and sizes, three ponies, seven endangered cows, 50 goats and sheep, 19 geese including endangered species, two black swans, two dwarf pigs, 580 ducks including endangered and rare species as well as ducklings, 800 roosters of different breeds and about 300 hens and 800 chicks of all ages, two turkeys, one peacock, 30 guinea pigs, and 40 exotic birds. 

Almost all of these animals are awaiting new homes so they can continue their lives in comfort and care. At the center of the shelter is a stupa so that the animals can create merit and purify negative karma, and mantras are played continuously for them to plant Dharma seeds and create positive karma for their future. The current focus of this shelter is the renovation of the dog area and the construction of a shelter for the cows. We were so happy to offer US$4,861 toward the important work of this compassionate project, and we have pledged to offer additional grants to this project in the coming months. 

Jangchub the horse residing at Aquila Nera Project, Italy.

Aquila Nera Horses, Italy

Aquila Nera Horses started in 2005 in order to save and benefit horses destined for slaughter or coming from clandestine races, as well as to recover horses which, due to particular behavioral problems, would be killed. Land with 44 acres (18 hectares) was purchased in order to carry forth this mission. An organic agricultural company was established in order to create all the facilities for the horses—fences, boxes, stables, staff and visitors services, restrooms, infirmary, and other amenities. This company produces fodder for horses and agricultural products as well as vegetables, and next year they will also have fruit available from their young orchard. All of this is in order to support the horses and as a means for self-financing. We continue to sponsor one horse this year, Jangchub, a three-year-old female horse who was born with a genetic problem with her feet. She is not able to run and can only gallop. Because of this, she was seen as useless and was going to be put down. We offered US$2,2067 for the medical care of this horse for six months. 

This project currently cares for 31 horses as well as 30 hens, six ducks, and six geese. They have ambitious plans for the future including the creation of a larger lake for the birds and other animals, as well as other humanitarian projects through the non-profit including activities for diabetic children, and initiatives to combat bullying in a school in the area. If you would like to support this incredible project directly: http://www.aquilanerahorses.it/

Please rejoice in another year of support offered to precious animals around the world who desperately need our help and cannot advocate for themselves or create merit on their own. 

All are welcome to contribute to the Animal Liberation Fund to help ensure that our work sponsoring animal liberations around the world continues. 

Some of the elders of Rabgayling Tibetan Family Welfare Association.

For the seventh consecutive year, the FPMT Social Services Fund has continued to offer essential support to 320 elderly Tibetans living in homes throughout India and in Nepal. This service has become an essential mission of this fund with nine elderly homes now receiving grants. 

Please join us in rejoicing in the following support which is being offered for 2022. 

An elder from Lugsam Samduling Home for the Aged and Disabled, Bylakuppe, spinning a prayer wheel on the premises of the home.

Jampaling Elder’s Home, Dharamsala, this home offers accommodation, medication, monthly pocket money, and supplemental nutrition to the 73 residents. US$22,000 was offered for shortfall of their 2022 operating budget as well as building renovation and a new heating system. We have been supporting this home since 2016.

Lugsam Samduling Home for the Aged and Disabled, Bylakuppe, looks after 35 elderly individuals living in very modest conditions, all above the age of 75, the eldest being 99. US$16,855 total was offered to this home to cover budget shortfall for 2022. We have been supporting this home since 2016 including purchasing a new ambulance last year. 

Doeguling Home for Elderly and Disabled, located in the Doeguling Tibetan Refugee Settlement in Mundgod, cares for 63 elderly residents supported by eight staff, some who are HIV +, have cancer, psychiatric problems, diabetes, and chronic arthritis. US$37.203 was offered for food, medical expenses, and an investment into a corpus fund which contributes to the sustainability of this home. We have been supporting this home since 2016 and we are very happy that they have created a fund to help ensure longevity for this important operation. 

An resident of Doeguling Home for Elderly and Disabled, Mundgod.

Some of the elders of Rabgayling Tibetan Family Welfare Association receiving leg care.

Dhondenling Old People Home, Kollegal, is in one of the most remote and underdeveloped Tibetan settlements in southern India. The elderly home has 32 elderly Tibetans residents. US$24,760 was offered to cover 70% of their annual operating budget. We were so pleased to hear that this home also completed a renovation project this year, upgrading the whole facility. We have been supporting this home since 2018. 

Rabgayling Tibetan Family Welfare Association, Hunsur, has an elderly home serving 20 residents at this Tibetan settlement. US$28,036 was offered this year for their medical fund and recurring expenses. Last year we sponsored a 35-foot stupa near the elderly home on the settlement, so the elders can create merit and purify negative karma by going around this beautiful holy object. 

Some of the elders of Dhondenling Old People Home, Kollegal.

Old Age Home, Kalimpong, is home to 31 elders. US$13,985 was offered to this year for supplemental nutrition and medical support. This is the first year we are offering support to this home after being requested by The Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) which is the relief wing of the Central Tibetan Administration. The CTRC includes members from 53 Tibetan settlements in India, Nepal, and Bhutan; and coordinates the relief and rehabilitation works for thousands of Tibetan refugees.

Dhonden Old People’s Home, Chauntra, is home to 21 elders. US$13,985 was offered for renovation and the purchase of an overhead water tank and supplemental nutrition support. We started offering support to this home in 2021, as the The Central Tibetan Relief Committee requested our help. 

Odisha Phuntsokling Settlement Old People’s Home, Odisha, is home to 15 elders. US$20,127 was offered for their 2022 operational expenses. We started supporting this home in 2021 after they lost support from an organization that had been supporting them for over 20 years.

Tsering Elderly Home, Nepal, is home to 30 elders. US$7,341 was offered for supplemental nutrition and medical expenses. This is the first year we are offering support to this home, after being requested by The Central Tibetan Relief Committee.

This year a total of over US$184,000 has been offered to these 320 destitute elderly Tibetans living in care facilities in India and Nepal. This is an amazingly beneficial service FPMT is able to offer these precious Tibetan elders which we hope to continue long into the future, please join us in rejoicing!

It is thanks to the kindness of a generous benefactor that we have been able to offer support to these elderly homes since 2016 and in that time an amazing US$1,694,702 has been offered through the Social Services Fund. Thank you to everyone who makes it possible for FPMT to  offer this support.

All are welcome to support the Social Services Fund and help ensure we can offer direct support to the elderly.

Nuns of Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Thubten Choying.

This year on Saka Dawa, June 14, when merit is multiplied 300 million times, the Puja Fund, on behalf of the entire organization, will be arranging the following pujas and practices for the benefit of all beings:

• • 100,000 Praises to Twenty-one Taras offered two times by Gaden Lachi Monastery and Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery.
  • Recitation of the Prajnaparamita Sutra by Gyudmed Tantric College.
  • 1,000 sets of offerings to Buddha Namgyalma by Sera Lachi Monastery and Gyuto Tantric College.
  • Medicine Buddha Puja by Gaden Lachi and Kopan monasteries.
  • Namgyalma long life ritual  by Drepung Lachi Monastery.
  • Offerings to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus, to an incredible 13,500 Sangha who are performing these pujas and practices, and in IMI communities.
  • Offerings of robes to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, and saffron and umbrellas to the Boudhanath and Swayambunath stupas in Nepal.
  • Printing sutras, making stupas, and Buddha tsa-tsas, and liberating animals.

You can be part of these incredible collective prayers, which support the Sangha, as well as the offerings to holy objects, by contributing to the Puja Fund. All donors are included in the dedication prayers.

You can also join by rejoicing in the practices, remembering they are happening on the actual day, and joining in with your own collective prayers.

Thanks to all who make these offerings possible. This is a truly meaningful way to offer support that benefits the entire FPMT organization and all who serve it in any way, to ensure the organization’s success in helping others far in the future, to help fulfill Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes for these activities to occur according to his instructions, and to create extensive merit for every living being through dedication. 

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

Some monks of Gyudmed Tantric Monastery, Hunsur, India, enjoying a meal offered through the new Food Fund.

Since 1433, Gyudmed Monastery has been providing the highest education to many of the top Buddhist scholars and teachers. Through the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund, and the kindness of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, we are pleased to now be supporting this monastery’s new Food Fund which will provide support for quality meals to 575 monks studying at this extremely important monastery. The Food Fund has also created an endowment fund to cover annual costs from the interest of this fund.

History of Gyudmed Tantric Monastery
Gyudmed Tantric Monastery was founded by Jetsun Sherab Sengye, one of the four supreme disciples of Lama Tsongkhapa who was entrusted with the responsibility of the preservation and the promotion of the most sacred lineage of Guhyasamaja Tantra. Based on the personal instructions received from Lama Tsongkhapa, he established Segyud Monastery in upper Tibet and Gyudmed Monastery in Central Tibet in 1433. Of the two, Gyudmed Monastery flourished and became the most important seat for the study and practice of Guhyasamaja Tantra in Tibet over many centuries.

When His Holiness the Dalai Lama came into exile, around 180 monks from the Gyudmed Monastery followed him to India. They initially established the monastery in a transit camp at Dalhousie in northern India, which was then re-established in Hunsur in Karnataka state in 1972. The unique traditions, such as the sacred chanting, rituals, and other practices, have been continually maintained consistently through the years. 

Gyudmed now has around 575 monks and is one of the only two established Gelug lineage centers for studies of Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet. Apart from the studies of the great Guhyasamaja Tantra and its commentaries, this monastery also contains the sacred lineages of chanting rituals, the art of making sand mandalas, butter sculptures, and so on—lineages which have survived intact from Lama Tsongkhapa. Geshes, who have more than twenty years of sutra studies, come to this monastery to do further studies on tantra. Additionally, whomever holds the seat of the great Ganden Tripa or the Throne Holder of Ganden, the figurehead of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, has to come through this Gyudmed Monastery.

Food Fund Project
At the time of its re-establishment in South India, there were 370 monks at the monastery. In the early years they had to do farming, construction, carpet making, and other jobs in addition to their academic responsibilities. The situation improved after 1989, when the monks were able to devote more of their time to their study and practice. The tough schedule of the monastery requires very strenuous long hours of study from early morning to late night. The health of the monks was affected in early years due to lack of nutritious meals. Individual monks had to find their own meals and teachers who had many students had to work hard to feed their students.

Monks of Gyudmed Monastery receiving a meal offered through the new Food Fund.

This led to the creation of a meal program for the saṅgha, so the food and nutritional needs of all the monks would be taken care of by the monastic administration. For many years the monastery has worked hard to provide three nutritious meals a day to the monks but has recently faced many challenges due to inflation, lack of gas, and a concrete source of funds for the meal program. 

The administration came up with a concrete plan to address this challenge by setting up a Food Fund project. This project will help protect the monastery against the seasonal variations of food prices and the overall general inflation in prices seen in India. Moreover, the administration can have a stable source of funds for the monks’ meals. Like the highly successful Sera Je Food Fund, the concept would be to build up an endowment fund large enough to support the long-term health of their own food fund, whereby the interest from the endowment would cover the annual costs associated with offering meals daily for all the monks of Gyudmed Tantric Monastery, for as long as the endowment remains.

The Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund is delighted to have already offered US$500,000 toward the creation of this new Food Fund. This great monastery has an excellent reputation and has produced so many educated and highly realized practitioners which benefit the world in incalculable ways. To sustain this high level of achievement it is essential that the monks can dedicate themselves completely to the extensive studies at the monastery. 

Please join us in rejoicing in this wonderful opportunity for the monks of Gyudmed Tantric College to be able to devote their precious time to their studies, without the strenuous burden of providing for their food, and please consider also contributing to the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund, so that we can continue to help sangha with essential needs such as food and education.

To learn how the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund is directly benefiting monasteries and nunneries around the world, you can read all the latest news of this project: fpmt.org/projects/fpmt/supporting-ordained-sangha-fund/supporting-ordained-sangha-fund-news/

Ven. Roger Kunsang offering a mandala to Lama Zopa Rinpoche during the April 19, 2021 long life puja at Kopan Monastery

Every year Ven. Roger Kunsang, on behalf of the FPMT organization, checks with Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus and/or Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la), to determine what practices should be done to help create the conditions for Lama Zopa Rinpoche to have a long life and good health for the coming year. 

The first offering to Rinpoche arranged this year will be a White Tara long life puja on March 11, 2022, at Kopan Monastery. This special long life puja will involve seven days of preparation led by Khadro-la with the Kopan monks. At a later date there will be a Most Secret Hayagriva tsog kong and a Guru Rinpoche bum tsog also offered according to the advice received. 

Khadro-la making an offering during a long life puja to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, April 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Our prayers have tremendous power and we invite you to join us by rejoicing in the puja being offered, generating your own prayers for Rinpoche’s health and long life, or making an offering toward the expenses associated with the pujas and practices for Rinpoche’s health and long life.

For additional recent advice from Khadro-la on mantra recitations to do for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the entire FPMT organization see: fpmt.org/lama-zopa-rinpoche-news-and-advice/mantra-recitations-for-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-lama-zopa-rinpoche-and-fpmt

Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

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

One of the stupas which are part of the 1,000 Buddha altar at Kopan Monastery.

Holy objects are so powerful one can purify negativities and create merit just by seeing them. According to the Sutra of the Mudra of Developing the Power of Devotion, “The minute you see a holy object you create infinite merits, so no question, if you actually make prostrations, offerings and so forth, you create far greater merit.”

The Holy Objects Fund provides the resources to create holy objects around the world for the success of the FPMT organization and to benefit of all beings.

We are so happy to share with you of some new holy objects that have come into being recently. 

Large Dzambala and Ganapati statues

Two new statues have been sponsored and will be at Kopan Monastery. These statues are specifically for the success and abundance of the whole FPMT organization. Special offerings will be made daily to each and regular practices will be done in front of them as advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. These statues were jointly offered by FPMT International Office and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche greeting the new Dzambala statue on arrival to Kopan Monastery.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche manifested joy when the 3.5 ft Dzambala statue arrived at Kopan, personally welcoming the statue with prostrations, five-colored khata offering, mandala offering, and tsog, Rinpoche had written a special requesting letter to Dzambala with prayers and requests for the organization and all beings, and Rinpoche offered this letter of requests to Dzambala. Please enjoy this very precious video of Dzambala’s arrival to Kopan:

The new Ganapati statue at Kopan Monastery will be based on this statue.

Rinpoche has also advised for a Ganapati statue, which is in the process of being built. It will be 7 ft tall and based on the details of this smaller Ganapati statue (to the right) at Kopan Monastery.

Prayer Wheel in Thame, Nepal

The Mount Everest region of Thame, Nepal, is a special place for FPMT. Lama Zopa Rinpoche was born there and it is located near Lawudo which was the home of Rinpoche’s previous incarnation.

A new 9 ft x 6 ft prayer wheel is being built outside of the house where Rinpoche was born. Rinpoche explains, “My sister Ani-la Ngawang Samten, the key person at Lawudo Gompa, initiated the project to build this prayer wheel near the house where I was born. She herself offered several 100,000 rupees toward the building of the prayer wheel as she wanted very much to see it actualized. I became involved because she alone could not afford to sponsor this prayer wheel containing 100 trillion mantras on microfilm (using nanotechnology) and more than 1.5 billion mantras on paper, along with the building needed to house it.”

Rinpoche wrote an extensive dedication prayer for this project, dedicating the merit of sponsoring and commissioning the building of the prayer wheel to the Guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, for all the benefactors and generous people, for all evil beings (those who cause harm), for all the sentient beings of the six realms and intermediate state,  and also dedicating the merit to stop the dangers caused by the four elements.

Rinpoche mentions: “I dedicate all the merits of building and sponsoring this prayer wheel to everyone who comes here to see it and to everyone who turns it. I dedicate all the merits of building and sponsoring the prayer wheel to all the sentient beings who rely on me, all those for whom I have promised to pray, and all those whose names have been given to me, both the living and the dead. May they all achieve the peerless happiness of enlightenment as quickly as possible. I dedicate all the merits of having built this prayer wheel for everyone in this world to achieve temporal and ultimate happiness.”

Eight Aspects of Stupas

1,000 Buddha altar at Kopan Monastery. Eight more stupas will join the holy objects which are already there to help Ven. Roger create as much merit as possible while circumambulating on the phone.

Eight new stupas are being added to the 1,000 Buddha altar outside of Rinpoche’s room at Kopan. Rinpoche wanted to add an extra eight stupas to this extensive altar “for Venerable Roger Kunsang’s quick enlightenment, as Roger spends so much time on the phone doing business, while walking around the 1,000 Buddha altar, so to add eight more stupas will allow him to have more holy objects to circumambulate.”  These eight different aspects of stupas are in the process of being made and will be placed at either end of the 1,000 Buddha altar.

Rinpoche previously offered advice on how to make talking on the phone beneficial by circumambulating holy objects while doing so.

Tremendous thanks to Kopan for helping to actualize all these new holy objects.

Tara Statue for a Retreat House

Khadro-la with the Tara statue recently offered to her by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

During Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s seventy-sixth birthday at Kopan Monastery, a large Green Tara statue was offered to Rinpoche during the Sixteen Arhats long life puja by a number of students and FPMT International Office. Rinpoche proceeded to offer this beautiful statue to Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme (Khadro-la) for her retreat place.

The Benefits of Holy Objects

Holy objects provide easy opportunities for one to purify negative seeds in the mind and to accumulate merit needed on the path to enlightenment. Further, they provide inspiration as they represent the limitless potential (and perfection) of our own body, speech, and mind. They remind us that liberation is possible, they habituate our mind toward happiness rather than suffering, and they help to preserve the Buddhist culture of which we’re a part.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained, “Every time you look at holy objects – pictures of the Buddha, statues, scriptures, stupas – they plant the seed of liberation and enlightenment in your mental continuum. So every time you look at them they purify your mind. How? When you look at them they plant a seed or positive imprint on your mental continuum so that later when you meet Buddhadharma, either in this life or in future lives, you are able to understand the words and the meaning of the teachings. From that, you are able to practice the meaning of the Dharma you have understood, which causes you to cease the gross and subtle defilements by actualizing the path and then your mental continuum becomes omniscient mind. This is what is meant when we say that by seeing holy objects it plants the seed of enlightenment on the mind – it contains the whole path from guru devotion and the three principles up to the two stages of tantra and enlightenment.”

All are welcome to contribute to the creation of holy objects and support Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes. Rinpoche has expressed, “My wish is for FPMT to build many holy objects everywhere, as many as possible. Making it so easy for sentient beings to purify their heavy negative karma and making it so easy for sentient beings to create extensive merit. Which makes it so easy to achieve the realizations of the path and so easy to achieve liberation and enlightenment.”

To help ensure grants like this continue toward holy objects, we invite you to offer a donation of any amount to the Holy Objects Fund.

Monks of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery engaged in debate.

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, located in Bylakuppe, Southern India, and seat to the Panchen Lama, has grown significantly over the last few decades and is now home to 415 monks and one of the major centers of Tibetan Buddhist study and practice in exile in India.

Tashi Lhunpo Monastery was founded by His Holiness the 1^st Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gedun Drupa in 1447, and became the most vibrant monastery in U-Tsang province of Tibet. Over the years, the monastery flourished as a center of learning, and played a vital role in the preservation of Mahayana Buddhist Philosophy and practice. By 1959, this monastery was responsible for the education of 7,000 monks from within and outside of Tibet. Following the Chinese invasion of Tibet, the monastery was not able to continue in its previous form. In 1972, under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and with determination of the senior monks, the monastery was re-established in Bylakuppe, Karnataka State.

The monastery is comprised of Tashi Lhunpo Monastic School for young monks, Higher Buddhist Studies which takes twenty-four years to complete, and Tashi Lhunpo Tantric College to complete the lifetime study curriculum and program. 

As the monastery continues to grow, additions are needed to support the conditions needed to ensure quality education. A courtyard was added in 2012, a new prayer hall was completed in 2015, an expansive library was added in 2016, and now we are so happy to offer a grant for a new 27,000 square foot debate courtyard being built with permanent canopies over it. This courtyard was needed for several reasons. Primarily, during monsoon season the monks have limited space to debate due to the months of heavy rain. Additionally, the heat can become intolerable without shade and when the monks are cramped into limited indoor space, the echo of their voices disturbs the quality of sound and understanding each other properly during debate becomes difficult.  An additional benefit of this extension will be that the monastery can utilize this space for ceremonies, functions, and for grand debate sessions with additional monasteries (Upper Chotok Chemo). In short, this new courtyard will enable the monks to debate uninterrupted through the year without any external hindrances and space limitations.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche wanted very much to support the monastery with this project and through the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund, US$430,575 was granted for this debate courtyard which will benefit the monks studying there for generations to come. 

Site of the new debate courtyard being built at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery.

Debate is a very special way to develop wisdom and explore different subjects and helps the monks understand the teachings in a deep and clear way. This way, Dharma education becomes very real and sharp, not shallow or just words. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained, “It is like an inner science of the two truths: absolute truth and conventional truth.”

Please join us in rejoicing in the offering of this grant which will benefit this monastery and help spread and preserve Mahayana Buddhism far into the future. 

Monks of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery on the site of the new debate courtyard.

To support Sangha and learn how the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund is directly benefiting monasteries and nunneries around the world, you can read all the latest news of this project: fpmt.org/projects/fpmt/supporting-ordained-sangha-fund/supporting-ordained-sangha-fund-news/

Continued progress on the new temple for Dekyiling Tibetan Settlement, Dehru, India.

A priority for FPMT Charitable Projects is to offer support to Tibetan settlements in various ways. Over 94,000 Tibetan refugees currently reside in India, where our support is focused. Dekyiling Tibetan Settlement is located near Dehru Dun, India. The Social Services Fund recently offered a grant to this settlement for funds needed to renovate their temple which is used for various Dharma activities, pujas, public teachings, initiations, and for welcoming high lamas and geshes. Their current temple would become too congested during gatherings and they lacked space for holy objects. Thanks to a kind and generous benefactor, US$35,105 was raised for this project.

According to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Buddha explained in the Mindfulness Sutra the benefits of setting up rooms for monks, shelters, monasteries, and temples where there are holy objects of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha– and holy objects of statues, stupas, and scriptures. This is called the abiding place. Abiding there is Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. So the abiding place is a great, great place to subdue the mind, collect extensive merit, and to achieve enlightenment.

Some of the holy objects that need a proper temple for veneration at Dekyiling Tibetan Settlement.

Recently, the first foundation for the new temple was dug and laid, columns positioned and cast, brickwork and formation of window and door openings were completed. The metalwork support for the concrete roof is complete and they will soon be ready to pour the concrete. This will have to be left for twenty-one days to dry and then they can remove the supports and start the plastering inside and outside. Once that is dry, the painting can begin.

Beginning stages of renovation on the new temple at Dekyiling Tibetan Settlement .

Please join us in rejoicing that the support offered will assist this settlement maintain a vibrant and active community Dharma program at their temple, and contribute to the preservation of Tibetan culture within the population in India. 

All are welcome to support the Social Services Fund and help ensure we can continue to offer direct support to Tibetan settlements.