The monks of Sera Mey Monastery offering Extensive Medicine Buddha puja being during Losar on behalf of the FPMT organization.

During the Fifteen Days of Miracles (February 28-March 14), when any merit created is multiplied 100 million times, the FPMT Puja Fund has been sponsoring a number of pujas and prayers, including the recitation of the entire Kangyur, Guhyasamaja Root Tantra, 1,000 set of offerings to Namgyalma, and Extensive Medicine Buddha Puja.

We are so happy to share with you a few videos of the different powerful pujas that have been occurring. Each puja is being offered by ordained Sangha, who are all disciples of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with strong motivation and dedications for the entire FPMT organization— for the swift return of our most precious and kind Lama Zopa Rinpoche; for harmony among students and for obstacles to be removed; and for the long life and health of all the gurus and teachers who are benefiting sentient beings.

At Gaden Jangtse Monastic College, South India, the Sangha offered Medicine Buddha puja and Druk Chuma. Please watch a short video.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained that, “The Medicine Buddha encompasses all the buddhas. This means that when we practice the seven-limb prayer and make offerings with the seven limbs, we receive the same merit as we would if we had made offerings to all the buddhas. Similarly, when we recite the mantra of Medicine Buddha, we collect unbelievable merit, just as when we offer the seven-limb practice to Medicine Buddha.”

At Gyuto Monastery, Dharamsala, India, the Sangha offered 1,000 sets of offerings to Namgyalma and Druk Chuma. Please enjoy this  short video.

Rinpoche offered a beautiful visualization for the Namgyalma practice: “Visualize His Holiness the Dalai Lama and all the gurus. Beneath them are the Sangha, who help to preserve and spread the Dharma. On the moon disc are all sentient beings.” Read the full visualization.

The Sangha at Sera Mey Monastery offered Extensive Medicine Buddha Puja. Please watch this short video.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explained that, “The seven Medicine Buddhas, attainers of bliss, strongly prayed for the temporal and ultimate happiness of yourself and all sentient beings. They vowed that their prayers would be actualized during these degenerate times when the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha are in decline. As the buddhas’ holy speech is irrevocable, you can wholly trust in their power to quickly grant blessings to help all sentient beings in these degenerate times.”

Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery recited the entire Kangyur over two days. Please watch a short video of day one: 

And another video of day two:

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained the unbelievable merits in making it possible to read these holy scriptures by the Sangha members. The benefits are explained in The Condensed Jewel Quality:

“The merit created by reading, writing, keeping, making offering to, and paying respect to the Mother Prajnaparamita and Kangyur, taught by Buddha, who possesses the Ten Powers, the benefits are infinitely greater than: building a stupa of the sorrowless state, making the stupa from the seven jewels, making as many stupas as to fill many thousands of ten million worlds equaling the number of sand grains in the River Ganges, and infinite sentient being making offerings to these stupas three times a day for eons.”

Rinpoche also explained how important it is to have the Kangyur recited at the beginning of every year for the success of the FPMT organization and to create merit so the organization can be of most benefit to all beings.

The merit that is created from all these pujas is also your merit. So, you can dedicate all these merits to having realizations and to achieving enlightenment

Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery also recited the Ksitigharba Sutra. Please watch a short video.

Rinpoche often advised that prayers to Ksitigarbha are much more powerful than those made to other bodhisattvas, “This dharani mantra is the best one to do for any problems in any situation. Even reciting four or five times, just a few times, is very powerful. [The sutra] talks about so much power, how important the bodhisattva is; even reciting or just thinking of the name of the bodhisattva is very, very powerful.”

This recitation, following the advise of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, is specifically dedicated “to avert harm from the elements (fire, water, wind, and earth) such as tornados, hurricanes, heavy rain, storms, floods, earthquakes, fires; as well as disasters that destroy crops; disasters that destroy entire towns and cities within one hour; disasters that cause so many billions of dollars of damage and so much money has to be spent to rebuild the towns; disasters where so many hundreds and thousands of people die or lose their homes, have no food or clean water; disasters where so many animals and insects are killed and harmed.”  

Rejoice and Remember

During each puja mentioned above, FPMT is making a small money offering to each of the kind Sangha offering the prayers, as well as tea and breakfast. Rinpoche has said that there is nothing compared to making offerings to the Sangha of these monasteries, because they are all disciples of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other gurus. Offering tea to one disciple is better than making an offering to all the Buddhas.

Rinpoche has said that even just by remembering that these pujas are happening, rejoicing in the activities, and dedicating the merits—This is the best business and the best way to create the most extensive merit and these pujas are dedicated for anybody who needs these prayers, and the merit that is created from all these prayers is also your merit, so you can dedicate to having realizations yourself and achieving enlightenment.

This is the thirtieth consecutive year that we have arranged these pujas on each of the four holy Buddha multiplying days, following the advice of our most kind Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who explained how important these continual prayers are for the success of the organization.

May all of these powerful prayers be the cause of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s swift return, for peace and harmony within the FPMT organization and for obstacles to be removed, for the long life of all of our teachers, and for the success and benefit of all the FPMT Dharma activities around the world, long into the future.

The Puja Fund was established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to provide resources for continuous pujas dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to the success of all the FPMT centers, projects, services, students, benefactors and those serving the organization in any way. You can learn more about the Puja Fund, or FPMT’s other extensive charitable activity.