Study & Practice News

Prayer wheel with 64 billion OM MANI PADME HUM mantras at Land of Medicine Buddha, California, US, January 2015. Photo by Laura Miller.

When someone tells you a prayer wheel contains so many millions or billions of mantras, do you ever stop and think, “How can they all fit in there?”

In the latest online feature from Mandala, Donna Lynn Brown shares the inside story on printing mantras on microfilm, which is not quite as simple as it sounds. FPMT student Tai Vautier, working with FPMT Education Services, has been involved for many years making high quality microfilm mantras accessible to Dharma students. Here’s an excerpt from the story:

“… Getting as many mantras as possible on the film, while keeping them legible, was Tai’s aim. At first, using an old Ditto machine, she copied mantras from Lorne Ladner’s book, Wheel of Great Compassion: The Practice of the Prayer Wheel in Tibetan Buddhism, but shrinking made these illegible. She then got the original of one set of Lorne’s mantras, which had come from the office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This she scanned and edited in Photoshop. She managed to get an astonishing 880,000,000 manis onto a 2,000-foot (610-meter) roll of microfilm. But although the mantra remained readable, the master, due to the shape of the Tibetan letters, was too fragile to withstand the constant duplication needed to fill large orders. While this master is still available for small jobs, a sturdier one was needed. Tai worked long hours in Photoshop to thicken some parts of the Tibetan letters and spread others apart, in effect designing her own font in order to create mantras that were readable after reduction, and didn’t cause the film to weaken with heavy use. …”

The microfilm printed from master copies that Tai helped create fills prayer wheels and stupas all over the world. Read more in “The Inside Story: Microfilm, Holy Objects, and the Passion of Tai Vautier.” 

More information on mantra microfilm, including ways to order it for stupas and statues is made available by FPMT Education Services on FPMT.org.

Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (LYWA) is in the midst of publishing a four-volume set of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings at the 24th Kopan meditation course, 1991. LYWA editors Gordon McDougall and Sandra Smith have adeptly conveyed the feeling of receiving the teachings directly from Rinpoche, and for the first time LYWA is publishing in an eBook-only format to bring you these precious archival teachings more efficiently. Practicing the Unmistaken Path is the first volume and explores topics such as compassion and universal responsibility, the view of emptiness and the disadvantages of the self-cherishing mind. The second volume, Creating the Causes of Happiness, includes clear discussions of karma, reincarnation and a spirited debate on whether or not past and future lives exist.  Please enjoy these intimate teachings from Rinpoche and watch for the third and fourth volumes coming soon.

FPMT Education Services is pleased to announce a new course available through Basic Program Online.

Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds, Part 1 comprises the first of a two-part series of teachings based on the Bodhicharyavatara. Shantideva’s inspirational verses on Mahayana aspiration and practice are widely regarded as the most authentic and complete guide for the practitioner dedicated to the enlightenment of all beings, the bodhisattva.

Geshe Jamphel Gyaltsen, who teaches the Basic Program at Nalanda Monastery in the South of France, explains the Bodhicharyavatara verse by verse with an emphasis on applying the teaching to daily life. Part 1 includes the teachings on the first five chapters.

This downloadable PDF file contains the enrollment key required to access this Basic Program Online course on the FPMT Online Learning Center.

 Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

Lama Chöpa Merit Field.

FPMT Education Services is pleased to announce the release of three new videos in which Lama Zopa Rinpoche chants the Lama Chöpa tunes in three ways: fast-paced, medium-paced, and slow-paced. These videos provide an incredibly precious resource for FPMT students as learning these tunes will help ensure that the lineage of this practice is preserved.

You can access a newly created webpage which has these three videos embedded. You may also download the video files (available in low and high resolution) onto your computer or device in order to access them while offline or in retreat.

The FPMT Foundation Store has many resources to enrich your practice of Lama Chöpa. You can also read Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s commentary on this important practice.

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

Ganden Buddhist Meditation Centre, FPMT’s Latvian center, will be hosting a Rituals Service Seminar with Ven. Angie Muir from April 10 – April 13, 2015.

This four-day Rituals Service Seminar provides in-depth instruction on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s method of leading the pujas and practices that he most often recommends for FPMT centers and students. Encompassing Essential Buddhist Prayers, Vol. 2 and Lama Chöpa, students learn how to set up the altar, lead motivations and meditations according to Rinpoche’s style, and the specific tunes used by Rinpoche for these pujas.

Ven. Angie Muir is also currently updating FPMT Education’s Rituals Training Manual with a team of other FPMT Registered Teachers to help support the success of more of these trainings throughout the world.

Registration in advance for foreign students is encouraged as the center cannot provide, but will be able to help students locate, accommodation.

€40 is the suggested cost to students for this entire training, but if the student is unable to offer this, they should contact the Spiritual Program Coordinator directly to work out a solution.

For more information including a complete schedule, please contact Agnese Bišofa by phone ( +371 275 51900) or by email (spc@ganden.lv).

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

Memorization becomes increasingly important to Buddhist practice and study as one learns, and commits to memory, many prayers, practices, mantras, sutras, lineage details and much more.

Recently, Mandala magazine published an online article about memorization by Ven. Tenzin Gache (Brian Roiter), an American monk and top memorizer and debater, who just finished his seventh year of study in Sera Je’s geshe program.

Here we include Ven. Gache’s memorization tips with the hopes that students can benefit from this valuable advice.

Tips for Memorization:

Ven. Tenzin Legtsok memorizing at Sera IMI House, India, November 2013. Photo by Sandesh Kadur|www.felis.in.

• Set aside some time each day, preferably early in the morning for new material and late in the evening for re-reciting what you memorized in the morning.
• Sit up straight or gently pace in an open area, preferably somewhere where your recitation won’t disturb others.
• Before memorizing, “warm-up” with recitations like Praise of Manjushri, Prayer to Achieve Inner Kalarupa, and Chanting the Names of Manjushri.
• Start by reciting one half a line. When you can recite this five times without looking at the book, recite the second half. Then recite them together. Then do another line. Then add the two together. Continue in this way, gradually adding to the total, until you finish a verse or a few lines of prose. If you are able, start again with a second verse. Then recite the two together. Over time, you may be able to increase the number of verses you can do in a day
• Once you have something committed to memory, continue to recite it once or more a day until it becomes stable. Then gradually decrease your recitation to once every two days, three days, etc. If you have something very well memorized, you may only need to recite it once a month, but getting to that point will take time.
• During your daily activities, minimize distraction and stimulation, especially loud music. Just as when meditating, keeping your mind clear will enhance your practice sessions.

Some Additional Suggestions (optional):

• Before beginning to memorize something, simply recite it every day for one month.
• When you have memorized something well, stop reciting it for some time. When you start again, it will take a little time to bring it back, but it will become more stable.
• Ask a friend or teacher to examine you on what you have memorized – preparing for an exam can enhance your focus.

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages

FPMT French Translation Services translators participated in a successful two-day training this February.

Thirteen members of the FPMT French Translation Services team met for a two-day training from February 14-15, 2015. The meeting was a mix of old and new translators and offered a rare opportunity for translators to meet each other in real life, share difficulties and experiences, learn some translation methodology, and brainstorm on topics such as:

Translators benefited from the experiences and insight of one another.

• What qualities should a Dharma translator possess?
• What is a good translation?

According to Ven. Lobsang Détchèn, French Translation Services Coordinator, “It was a very harmonious, inspiring and humbling meeting. It was especially inspiring to see the wealth of experience, knowledge, wisdom, dedication and sense of humor that was collectively gathered. Each one of us left the training with an uplifted mind and renewed energy to translate the Dharma.”

You can learn more about FPMT’s French Translation Services:

• Website
• Facebook
• Twitter

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

In this free collection of studio recordings, Lama Zopa Rinpoche chants several deities’ mantras at different speeds, allowing students to become familiar with Rinpoche’s pronunciation and also Rinpoche’s preferred tunes. 

This collection of MP3 recordings include:

• Green Tara mantra 
• Maitreya mantras 
• Chenrezig’s MANI mantra fast and slow 
• Manjushri mantra with and without the mala recitation of DHIs at the end
• Medicine Buddha long and short mantras 
• Shakyamuni Buddha mantra fast and slow 

Total length of collection: 12 minutes 45 seconds.

Volume 2 of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Mantra Recitations is currently underway so please stay tuned for an announcement of this next installment in the series.

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

Lama Yeshe teaching at Olinda, Australia. On July, 26 1976, Lama Yeshe gave a public lecture in Melbourne. That same evening a weekend course for eighty commenced at Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges outside the city. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (lamayeshe.com).

What if your dear mother were caught in a blazing fire? You would not relax and say, “Let her burn. I don’t have time to get her out right now. I’ll do it later.” Of course you would stop whatever you were doing, no matter how seemingly important, and immediately rush to rescue her. We must regard all beings as our mother – and they are indeed trapped and burning in the fire of wrong conceptions and negativities. We must not be lazy about this! We must transform every action – eating, sleeping, working – into Dharma wisdom.

But we are lazy, aren’t we? Our impure mind lets us live life as if it were a tea party: “Let my mother burn – I’ll pull her out of the fire when I’ve finished enjoying myself.” Of course, we do not say these words, but our inner feeling, beyond words, reflects this attitude. Be careful; we often behave like this.

All the same, we don’t need to get too emotional about all this. If I pump you up too much, you’ll get overexcited and not want to do anything but run off to the mountains to meditate or run off preaching that everybody should practice Buddhism just like you do. That becomes another problem.

– Lama Yeshe, from When the Chocolate Runs Out, published by Wisdom Publications

Lama Yeshe was the founder of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Sangha at the beach doing offerings to pretas, Italy, June 2014. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

The practices of offering charity to spirits, pretas and nagas are often recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche – both for the benefit of the practitioner and for the benefit of the beings to which the practices are dedicated. This new PDF compilation, Practices to Benefit Pretas, Nagas and Spirits, includes advice and commentary from Lama Zopa Rinpoche as well as translation and commentary from Julia Graves.

An excerpt from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s commentary:

“The Tibetan word “sur” (Tib. gsur) refers to the smell of roasted flour that is offered to spirits. The best times for practicing sur are in the evening or at night. You do this practice during a break from sitting meditation – not a break time from Dharma practice but a break time from sitting meditation. The text says “night time;” I think that evening or night time are best because these are the times when spirits wander. This is also the time when dakinis gather. It’s easier for the intermediate state beings to get what you offer at those times. If you cannot do it at those times, then other times are acceptable, but those are best.”

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.

FPMT Education Services is pleased to release Prostrations to the Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas as a standalone practice. This practice was previously only available as part of the Preliminary Practice of Prostrations booklet and in other practice compilations.

Prostrations to the Thirty-Five Confession Buddhas is one of the most powerful methods available to purify harmful actions we have done in the past. By doing this practice mindfully, we can prevent unwanted sufferings from occurring in the future. In addition, this practice clears away obstacles to our practice and opens the mind to gain realizations on the path. It is said that if you do this practice first thing in the morning, all your other prayers and activities of the day will be empowered. 

Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, training seminars, and scholarships, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.