Tenzin Ösel Hita with monks at Sera Je Monastery.

The Sera Je Food Fund began in 1991 when Tenzin Ösel Hita, the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe, entered Sera Je Monastery in southern India at age six. It is customary for a monk’s sponsor to make offerings to all Sangha on the day of officially entering the monastery and Lama Zopa Rinpoche wanted the offering to be of the greatest practical benefit to the monastery itself. After discussion with the abbot of Sera Je Monastery, it was determined that the most beneficial offering would be to create a food fund whereby all of the monks at Sera Je Monastery could be offered quality meals for free. Out of his incredible compassion, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was not simply offering lunch on the day of Lama Osel Rinpoche’s entrance to the monastery but, without precedent, taking on the responsibility of providing meals to every monk at Sera Je for the rest of their lives.

Initially, the fund offered money to each monk for lunch. At that time there were 1,300 monks and the annual cost was about US$25,000.

It became apparent that it would be much easier for the monks to have the meals cooked and offered, so in 1997, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered US$25,000 for a new kitchen and began paying the salary of seven fulltime cooks. At that time there were 1,900 monks and the annual cost was about US$175,000.

In 1997, six years after starting the fund, Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Sera Je Monastery. At that time, many of the older geshes, some with tears in their eyes, thanked Rinpoche and spoke of how the fund was benefiting the monastery. Monks could now attend all the morning debate sessions instead of taking time out to prepare meals. Additionally, the fund alleviated the great burden teachers carried while providing for students who had no resources.

In 1998, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Sera Je Food Fund took on the responsibility of offering dinner to each monk.

The Sera Je Food Fund supports 2,500 monks at Sera Je Monastery.

In 2003, in addition to offering lunch and dinner, breakfast began to be sponsored by the Sera Je Food Fund three months a year. At that time there were 2,300 monks receiving meals and the annual cost was US$240,000.

In 2008, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Sera Je Food Fund took on the responsibility to offer three meals a day to all monks of Sera Je. Osel Labrang took over management on the ground, ensuring the quality of the food and managing all aspects of buying and preparing the food.

In 2012 In addition to offering all the meals to all the monks at Sera Je Monastery the Sera Je Food Fund also took on the responsibility to offer breakfast to the 800 monks who attend the Sera Je school.

In 2017 the fund became self-sufficient through an endowment fund. At the beginning of the year, the abbot and monks of Sera Je Monastery offered a long life puja to Lama Zopa Rinpoche to thank Rinpoche and the FPMT organization for this incredible offering made over a quarter of a century. At that time we discussed with the monastery that the endowment and ongoing management of the food fund now be managed entirely by Sera Je Monastery.

We have been in discussion to ensure that this transition is smooth and that the endowment and ongoing interest raised will be used exclusively for the food fund. The official handover of the project began in May 2017 and the endowment will be transferred over a period of a few years to ensure the transition is going well. Therefore the Sera Je Food Fund is now closed as an FPMT charitable project.

Supporting monks and nuns is one of the highest priorities for Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the FPMT organization, because the preservation of the Buddhadharma is dependent on the existence of Sangha.

We invite you to join us in developing the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund which is offering support to monasteries, nunneries, and individual monks and nuns for food, accommodation, health care and education. This fund is not limited to any one institution and able to benefit many nunneries, monasteries and Sangha in need.

This Grand Hayagriva Puja was dedicated to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s quick recovery by all of the Sera Je Monastery monks in April 2011.

Photos • PowerPoint

After more than six years of development, FPMT was extremely pleased to announce the opening of the Amdo Eye Hospital, in Xining, the capital of Amdo, Tibet in July of 2010. This hospital is dedicated to providing continuous, sustainable and quality eye care to all and in particular those from underprivileged backgrounds. The hospital will also be offering smaller outreach microsurgery eye clinics in remote areas.

 Every five seconds, one person in the world goes blind. 37 million people in the world are blind, yet with access to quality eye care, 80% of the world’s blindness would be totally avoidable.

The first patients to have cataract surgery at the Amdo Eye Hospital.The province of Amdo (called Qinghai in Chinese) is home to people of both Tibetan and Chinese descent. Many are nomads living far from modern health care facilities, and due to the terrain and scattered population, mobile eye care providers cannot always reach them. As a result, the prevalence of blindness in Amdo is four times higher than the national average for China. The need is urgent for accessible eye care in Amdo. That is why Geshe Lhundub Sopa Rinpoche requested Lama Zopa Rinpoche to help with the building of Amdo Eye Hospital.

Please watch a short video on the Amdo Eye Hospital.

Modeled on the already successful Lhasa Eye Clinic, the Amdo Eye Hospital provides high quality cataract surgery. Dr. Sanduk Ruit – who founded the highly successful Tilganga Eye Center in Kathmandu, the Lhasa Eye Clinic and the Nepal Eye Program – will be training the Amdo Eye Hospital staff and is committed to oversee operations for the next two years, ensuring the highest standards (Please read a letter of support from Dr. Sanduk Ruit).

The Simplest Miracle

Dr. Sanduk Ruit performing cataract surgery.Intraocular surgery can be performed in minutes. First the eye is washed to reduce the risk of infection. A local anesthetic is injected below the lower eyelid, blocking sensation in the eyeball. After the clouded interior of the lens is removed through a tiny incision on the side of the eyeball, the intraocular lens is inserted into the empty lens capsule. Dr. Ruit calls this surgery, “The best thing a human can do in five minutes.”

For the past six years FPMT has been committed to raising the funds to build the Amdo Eye Hospital along with the the kind contributions of many benefactors, in particular The Tanoto Founda­tion and Compassion Paris. The land the hospital was built on was offered free of charge by the local government and the total cost to build the hospital was US$605,970.

The annual cost to run the Amdo Eye Hospital is US$125,313 (800,000 CNY).

By offering to the Amdo Eye Hospital you are benefiting others who are in great need, in particularly the people in Tibet who are blind, helping them to open their eyes and see, what an incredible joy and happiness you are giving them! However many hundreds and thousands of people who receive help from the Amdo Eye Hospital, for as long as it exists, they receive this unbelievable benefit because of your kindness and generosity. From this you are creating unbelievable causes of happiness and success that will be achieved in this life and in future lives. This is the nature of the karma: from one cause you experience the result for hundreds and thousands of years.

—Lama Zopa Rinpoche

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for FPMT is for FPMT centers to display large thangkas and host festival days where these thangkas can be enjoyed. 

Large Padmasambhava thangka at Kopan Nunnery, Nepal, December 4, 2015.

Thangkas are painted or appliquéd depictions of deities, venerated spiritual figures, or common religious symbols, usually framed by colorful brocade.

“My wish is for the big centers in FPMT to have these large thangkas.” Rinpoche explained. “This is a way to leave imprints for all these people [who see them], for enlightenment.”

About holy objects, Lama Zopa Rinpoche has said, “You may think that a statue or thangka is just a statue or thangka, but it is the transcendental wisdom of dharmakaya, which understands and directly sees absolute truth, as well as conventional truth.”

Large Thangkas & Festivals Around the World

• In 2011-2014 Lama Zopa Rinpoche, through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund, commissioned a 55 ft x 40 ft high stitched appliquéd thangka of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava). More info on this project….
• Chenrezig Institute, Australia, large 1,000-Arm Chenrezig thangka is displayed at the Festival of Tibet each year and seen by over 5,000 people and is the backdrop to political discussions, meditations, concerts, and dharma talks.
• Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, has a large Maitreya thangka which they show during Buddha multiplying days (weather permitting) and during any great occasions at the center.
• Medicine Buddha Festival Day with large thangka (24 ft), Land of Medicine Buddha, CA, USA. Painted by Peter Iseli.
• Ksitigarbha Festival Day with large thangka (9.5 ft), Land of Medicine Buddha, CA, USA.
• Vajrasattva and consort thangka (11.5 ft), Land of Medicine Buddha, CA, USA. Painted by Peter Iseli. 
• Pamtingpa Center, Washington, USA, has a large Tara thangka to which they offer 21 Tara dance.
• Losang Dragpa Centre (LDC), Malaysia. LDC unveiled a large Medicine Buddha thangka as part of their 1,000 Offerings Event, with Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi presiding. This thangka will be featured in an annual festival and offerings event.
• 21 Tara thangka at Institute Vajrayogini, France, 14 meters (46 ft) high and 9 meters (30 feet) wide.
• 35 Buddha thangka, Kopan Monastery, Nepal painted by Peter Iseli. Several smaller copies of Peter’s are also used for display at Kopan. 
• Amitabha Buddha in his pure land accompanied by the eight great bodhisattvas (50 feet x 31 feet), sewn entirely by hand by Tibetan artists in south India. Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore.
• 21 Tara thangka, Tara Institute, Melbourne, Australia. Painted by Peter Iseli. 

Please enjoy a photo gallery of many of these large thangkas being created around the world.

Large Thangka Workshop

Having a workshop to create huge thangkas has long been one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes. After many years of planning and discussions with Swiss artist Peter Iseli, this project has become a reality at Institut Vajra Yogini in France. The workshop is 8.5 meters (28 feet) tall. Rinpoche’s first order was a 21 Tara thangka that is 14 meters (46 feet) high and 9 meters (30 feet) wide.

Peter Iseli working on a large 21 Tara thangka in the workshop that Lama Zopa Rinpoche had built for large thangka painting in France.

Peter Iseli: Helping Manifest Rinpoche’s Vision