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.