receive our newsletters
join Friends of FPMT
Lama Zopa Rinpoche meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya, January 2020. Photo courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The creation of Holy Objects for World Peace is an important aspect of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s vast vision for the FPMT organization. Specifically, Rinpoche envisions the creation of many statues of Maitreya Buddha around the world. Currently, there are two separate FPMT projects to build very large Maitreya Buddha statues in India. One based is in Bodhgaya, Bihar, and one based in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
Ven. Roger Kunsang’s CEO letter for this year’s Annual Review was a concise overview of a challenging yet beneficial year for FPMT International Office and the whole FPMT organization. In this letter he shared an important update about the Maitreya Project land in Bodhgaya. We are pleased to share this update with you.
Another major highlight for 2020 is that Lama Zopa Rinpoche could finalize the offering of the Maitreya Project land in Bodhgaya to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This is an amazing offering and an incredible achievement for the organization that we can all rejoice in!
The donation of about thirty acres (twelve hectares) of valuable, prime land in Bodhgaya will help fulfill His Holiness’s wish to build an international institute in this most sacred place of Buddhism. His Holiness’s vision is that the institute will share the wisdom of the Nalanda tradition in order to create happiness and peace in the world. The project includes three aspects:
- To create a learning center for studying philosophy of the mind; emotional health; as well as methodology, etymology dialects, and meditation as embodied by Nalanda masters.
- To build a replica of the ancient Nalanda University to connect with Buddhists around the world and bring the world into the “ecosystem” of Bodhgaya.
- To promote the four principal commitments of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, inspired by the Nalanda tradition.
The plan to build a large Maitreya statue at this site has been integrated into the overall vision for His Holiness’s institute. FPMT will continue to sponsor the statue.
Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, the president of the Tibetan government in exile, wrote to me recently, thanking FPMT for the offering of the Maitreya Project land:
“I would like to sincerely express my gratitude to FPMT for offering land to His Holiness the Dalai Lama through the Nalanda Institute of Dalai Lama at Bodhgaya. The institute, as envisioned by His Holiness, will be a secular international institution that will preserve and promote India’s ancient wisdom that flourished at Nalanda University.
“The land offered by FPMT to His Holiness will be specifically used by the institute to provide an opportunity for people from around the world to study His Holiness’s philosophy and vision. The land will host seven core structures, which are the Maitreya statue, a temple, a museum, an international Buddhist library, a meditation center, classrooms, and a state of the art convention hall.”
In January 2020, Rinpoche had an appointment with His Holiness seeking advice on other matters. During the meeting, His Holiness expressed gratitude for the offered land and also for the role Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche have played in establishing the Gelug tradition in the West. His Holiness also praised Rinpoche’s generosity and other qualities as well as the work of the FPMT organization.
What Rinpoche has offered to His Holiness is something that helps to actualize a strong wish of His Holiness. As Rinpoche has taught, fulfilling the wishes of the guru is the most enjoyable thing in life. When Rinpoche told Khadro-la (Rangjung Neljorma Khadro Namsel Drönme) about the donation, she said that offering land to His Holiness for the institute is far more beneficial than building thousands of Maitreya statues. (Of course, we are still going to build Maitreya statues.)
So please rejoice in the merit created by the donation of Maitreya Project land to His Holiness. And also rejoice in the merit generated by all those who have helped with and donated to the Maitreya Project in Bodhgaya over the years. This generosity has created the conditions for Rinpoche’s amazing offering to His Holiness—all of this fulfilling the wishes of our gurus!
You can read Ven. Roger’s full CEO letter in this year’s Annual Review which includes many important and inspiring updates from 2020.
You can read about the many beneficial grants offered through the various funds of FPMT Charitable Projects in this year’s Annual Review.
If you would like to contribute to the building of holy objects around the world, you are welcome to offer any amount to the Holy Objects Fund which contributes to the creation of stupas, prayer wheels, and statues.