Shine room and staircase for a large Buddha statue in Dalhousie, India.

Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche expressed in his Vast Visions his wish for the FPMT organization to build many holy objects everywhere, as many as possible. This makes it so easy for sentient beings to purify their heavy negative karma and create extensive merit, which makes it so easy to achieve the realizations of the path, liberation, and enlightenment.

The Holy Objects Fund is dedicated to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wish and provides the resources to create holy objects around the world for the success of the FPMT organization and for the benefit of all beings.

An incredible US$549,234 was granted for holy objects in 2024 and we are so happy to share some of the new holy objects that have come into being recently, and how grants from the Holy Objects Fund and other funds such as the Stupa of Complete Victory,  Stupa Fund, Padmasambhava Project for Peace, Offering Buddha Statues to His Holiness,  Prajnaparamita Project, and the Prayer Wheel Fund have been utilized, for rejoicing.

Stupa of Complete Victory  |  Enlightenment Stupa  |  Buddha Statues in Rural Areas  |  Shine Room and Staircase | 
Large Guru Rinpoche Thangka  |  Writing the Prajnaparamita Sutra  |  Prayer Wheel in Tahiti  |  Milarepa Center’s Stupa  | Tsa Tsas  |  Buddha Statues to His Holiness the Dalai Lama  |  Guru Rinpoche Statue  |  Zangdog Palri | Benefits | Thank you

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Stupa of Complete Victory at Kopan Monastery

Progress on the Stupa of Complete Victory, Kopan Monastery, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Tsultrim.

Enlightenment Stupa offered to Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery.

The Stupa of Complete Victory that is being built in Kopan Monastery, is dedicated for the swift return of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and accomplishment of all his wishes. This 42-foot high (13 meters) stupa was started in late 2023 and is now well underway having just reached the vase level.

Under the stupa there will be a gompa, as well as two meditation rooms. There will be 32 smaller stupas around the main stupa. The throne of the stupa has recently been filled with huge treasure vases and texts. The focus now is on the intricate outer decorations of the stupa.

In 2024 US$470,890 was granted toward the building of this precious stupa. We still need funds to complete this stupa, please consider supporting in whatever way you can.

Enlightenment Stupa at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery, Nepal

 A beautiful 52-inch gold gilded Enlightenment Stupa was offered to Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery, this stupa will contain a precious relic from Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The stupa will be in the main gompa, on the altar at the Nunnery. A grant of US$7,215 was offered for this stupa.

Offering for Buddha Statues in Rural Areas of Nepal

One of the Buddha statues delivered in rural Nepal. Photo thanks to Geshe Thubten Jinpa.

 Geshe Thubten Jinpa, from Kopan Monastery, arranged for several Buddha statues to be offered to remote Buddhist communities in Nepal, that otherwise didn’t have a large holy object. We were very happy to offer a grant of US$5,000 toward two of these Buddha statues.

The first statue was offered to Rigu village, a Tamang Buddhist community in the very remote place of Dolakha northeast of Kathmandu. It takes a day’s walk to reach this community, and they had just built a small gompa where the community gathers to do the practice. This statue will be the main holy object in their gompa.

The second statue was offered to far East Nepal, called Bhot Khola. The remote area is inaccessible by road. The community consists of about 87 families. Each statue offered was made of copper and gold plated and is 3.2 feet in size (1 meter). The statues are consecrated and delivered to these remote communities and in each place Geshe Thubten Jinpa also gave some teachings to the communities on how to make offerings and the practice of refuge and bodhicitta.

Shine Room and Staircase for the Large Buddha Statue in Dalhousie, India

The Tibetan Refugee community of Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh, India, consists of 118 families and 343 inhabitants. This small community sustains themselves through the operation of a handicraft center and running small shops in the town. The community recently wanted a large Buddha statue, and raised the funds locally to build this statue, however, due to shortage of funds, the main work on the shrine room and the construction of the staircase for the large Buddha statue was put on hold.

We were very happy to offer a grant of US$17,087 that enabled the community to complete the work of the shine room and staircase (pictured at the top of this page) so that the Buddha statue could be completed and become the main object of refuge in this small community. It was due to the kind help of a grant from Unione Buddhista Italiana (U.B.I.) that enabled us to offer this support

Displaying the 75-Foot Guru Rinpoche Thangka in Nepal

Large Guru Rinpoche thangka. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

 On December 3, 2024, in honor of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday we had the great fortune to again display the very large thangka of Guru Rinpoche at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling (Kopan Nunnery). The thangka, which is 75 feet (23 meters) high, and 87 feet (27 meters) wide is stitched in appliqué, and depicts the Padmasambhava merit field in the center. Lama Zopa Rinpoche personally designed and oversaw the creation of this huge thangka and raised funds for it.

Rinpoche has explained that displaying large thangkas is an auspicious way for anyone in the area to make a Dharma imprint and connection to the deity depicted. “You may think that a statue or thangka is just a statue or thangka,” Rinpoche has said, “but it is the transcendental wisdom of dharmakaya, which understands and directly sees absolute truth, as well as conventional truth.”

Each time the thangka is displayed, everyone in the local community is invited. The offering of 100,000 tsog to Guru Rinpoche (Guru Bumtsog ) is performed, as well as setting up all the extensive offerings, and lunch is offered to the thousands of people who attend.

We were happy to offer a grant of US$18,806 that covered all the expenses related to this one-day puja, including offerings to all the Sangha who attend, and the catered lunch for everyone. We would like to thank a kind benefactor who helped substantially this year with the costs.

This year we also took the opportunity to fix the brocade of the thangka which had some damage and replace the yellow cloth covering, with a new cover of a different stronger material that will offer more protection for the thangka.

Writing the Prajnaparamita Sutra

Ven. Lobsang Tsering writing out the Prajnaparamita from Kopan Monastery. Photo by Yanzhina Bartanova.

 The Prajnaparamita sutra is being beautifully written in gold ink calligraphy daily and is now in its nineteenth year.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explained in a teaching in Bendigo, Australia, his clear wishes for the writing of the Prajnaparamita sutra to continue for as long as FPMT exists. Even when completing the twelve volumes of the sutra currently in process, Rinpoche asked that this project begin again and in this way the sutra is continually being written out, as it is a powerful holy object. Currently Ven.Tsering is on the fifth volume and Jane Seidlitz in the USA is writing out the second volume. This year Ven.Tsenla has also joined and is writing out the Amitayus Long Life Sutra in gold at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery.

The grant for this year of US$39,960 covered the cost of gold and other expenses (paper, pens, etc).

Prayer Wheel in Tahiti

Lama Zopa Rinpoche specifically entrusted the Naropa Meditation Center in Tahiti to construct a prayer wheel over water in Tahiti, to benefit the beings in the ocean, and particularly the nagas.

The Prayer Wheel will be filled with millions of mantras, and it will touch the water through its axis offering benefit to all sentient beings not only in French Polynesia but across the Pacific Ocean and more. It will emanate peace and harmony and serve as stabilizers for natural elements and societal conditions such as war, famine, and diseases.

We were very pleased to support this meaningful project and offered a grant of US$2,500 toward the prayer wheel.

The stupa at Milarepa Center, Vermont.

Milarepa Center’s Stupa Relocation

 The Milarepa Center in Vermont, US was recently offered a grant of US$7,000 toward the expenses to relocate their existing stupa, to a different part of the property. It had recently been discovered that the existing stupa that was originally built at Milarepa Center in 1995 was built in the middle of a state and federal highway right of way and therefore needs to be relocated.

Making Tsa Tsas for Those Who Are Sick or Have Passed Away

The Nalanda Monastery Art Workshop has kindly taken on the request from Lama Zopa Rinpoche to make tsa tsas daily for those who are sick or have passed away. For 25 years this was done at Kachoe Dechen Ling, CA, but now Nalanda Monastery has taken on this important commitment. Each day the three long life deities, Medicine Buddha, Mitukpa and stupa tsa tsas are made with strong prayers for those in need.

The Stupa Fund granted US$2,864 in 2024 for the material and small offering made to the sangha undertaking the practices. 

The Holy Object Fund offers yearly grants and also tracks progress of projects which have received funds in the past and may require funds in the future. In addition to the grants offered above this year, important progress continues on the following projects: 

Offering Buddha Statues to His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Buddha statues that are being made and will be offered to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

 In 2019 Lama Zopa Rinpoche first expressed his wish to offer one thousand Buddha statues to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and within that year we were able to make this auspicious offering. In 2023 during the long life puja that was offered by FPMT to His Holiness the Dalai Lama we offered another one thousand statues of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Rinpoche also expressed his wish that the FPMT continues to create and offering Buddha statues to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

In 2024 we continued to create these Buddha statues in Nepal, the incredibly beautiful statues are gold gilded, faces painted and are filled with mantras and consecrated and each year we will offer a few hundred to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on behalf of the entire organization.

Guru Rinpoche statue in Pokhara, Nepal

The Guru Rinpoche statue that is being built in Pokhara, Nepal, will seamlessly blend with the surrounding natural landscape, creating a serene and captivating environment. Covering a total site area of 3,226 square miles (34,728 square feet), the project will also include various features such as a meditation hall capable of accommodating 100 individuals, additional rooms and a prayer hall, a mantra wall, vast green areas, and a magnificent 15-meter-tall Guru Rinpoche statue.

Zangdog Palri: Guru Rinpoche Pure Land Project in Lawudo, Nepal

The Zangdog Palri: Guru Rinpoche Pure Land Project, will be building a three-dimensional Pure Land of Guru Rinpoche at Lawudo. This ambitious endeavor, which was very important to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, involves the construction of a four-story Guru Rinpoche Pure Land, although the building hasn’t yet started, groundwork has begun. It is expected it will take several years to build. Zangdog Palri refers to the Glorious Copper Colored Mountain and is the pure land of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche), the great tantric master who brought Buddhism to Tibet. Zangdog Palri is a highly and intricately detailed mandala representing the enlightened qualities of Padmasambhava.

Benefits of Holy Objects

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained:

“The moment holy objects such as statues of Buddha are completed on a rock, painted on paper with a brush and colors, taken with a camera or printed on paper etc.; the moment a holy object materializes it becomes a field of merit, like a field of crops, for sentient beings.  It becomes only a cause for them to achieve happiness.

“Generally, for an action to become virtuous and the cause of happiness the activity needs to be motivated by a virtuous mind, unstained by ignorance, anger or attachment – only then does the action become virtuous.

“With holy objects such as statues, stupas and scriptures you do not have to have a mind unstained by anger, ignorance or attachment to create merit. For human beings or even animals, simply seeing the holy object becomes the cause to achieve inconceivable awakening and enlightenment by purifying so many defilements. The special advantage is that just by their existence these holy objects make it easy for us ordinary living beings to create merit.

“It is explained by Buddha in 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.”

Thank you

Thank you to all who supported these different projects that enable the creation of new holy objects around the world for the benefit of all beings. In 2025 we will continue to be mainly focusing on actualizing the Stupa of Complete Victory for Lama Zopa Rinpoche and appreciate any support.

To help ensure our support to the creation of holy objects around the world, we invite you to offer a donation of any amount to the Holy Objects Fund.