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Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, Singapore, September, 2018. Photo by Lobsang Sherab.
Recently Lama Zopa Rinpoche shared a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported the Sera Je Food Fund for twenty-seven years of operation. The food fund provided free meals to all of the monks of Sera Je Monastery for nearly three decades before handing over an endowment to the monastery which allows this offering to continue long into the future.
Rinpoche wanted to send his sincere thanks to all who made the food fund and endowment possible, an achievement for the entire FPMT organization which is truly worth rejoicing about:
Thank you very, very, very much! Thank you very, very much! So much merit you created, so many lifetimes to enjoy, to meet Dharma, to achieve enlightenment, not only to be free from samsara, but to achieve enlightenment. Free the numberless sentient beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering by you, and bring to enlightenment. So, thank you very much.
Rinpoche explains the incredible benefits of having offered food to Sangha through the Sera Food Fund for so many years:
You have to recognize the good karma, how much unbelievable good karma you collected. So many years, so many years, so many years, wow! You have to rejoice, rejoice! No time for depression, no space for depression in the life! Can’t imagine! For so many years, you have offered dinner, lunch, breakfast, can’t imagine, wow!
On the impact on the lives of all who benefit from the monks’ education and training including the Sera Je monks who go on to teach in FPMT centers around the world:
Now, in many countries in the world, so many people are receiving lamrim teachings, philosophy teachings. Those people who offered food, they developed their education, they got their education and so many people in the world are receiving benefit from them. This is not material benefit but this is benefit for the mind!
Rinpoche discussing the merit of offering food to those who share one’s guru:
All those Sera Je monks, they are His Holiness’s disciples also. So, you are making offerings to the pores of your guru. In that case, every day, every breakfast, every lunch, every dinner, even if it was just one time, the merit you collect by making offering to one disciple of the same guru, His Holiness, you collect FAARRRRRRRRR more merits than offering to numberless Buddhas, numberless Dharma, numberless Sangha, numberless statues, numberless stupas, numberless scriptures. They become so small compared to offering to one pore of the guru, a disciple.
On behalf of all who have been involved in the Sera Food Fund for the last twenty-seven years we would like to join Rinpoche—who made this project possible due to his incredible courage, kindness, and compassion—in thanking everyone from our heart. Thank you for your kind support, time, effort, and service over so many years. Many people came together to make this possible.
You can watch this entire message from Rinpoche on YouTube. An edited transcript of this message is also available via PDF.
Please also enjoy this recent in-depth look at the accomplishments and historical context of the Sera Je Fund over the last twenty-seven years. All are welcome to view this article in eZine or PDF format.
You can read more about the history and impact of the Sera Je Food Fund.
If you want to help Sangha, please learn more about the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund and the ways it supports monasteries and nunneries around the world.