receive our newsletters
join Friends of FPMT
Study & Practice News
This 400+ page book, compiled and edited by Ven. Robina Courtin, takes much of the material in FPMT’s Heart Practices for Death and Dying and Heart Advice for Death and Dying (both published in 2008), but radically restructures and reorganizes it into an easy-to-use manual.
As Ven. Robina explains in the introduction:
“For a Buddhist, the ideal way to die is to die gradually, contrary to an often-stated view that it’s best to die in our sleep so that we don’t know about it. And the reason is clear: given that most of us live in denial of this natural event, our loved ones need time to get ready for death, at peace and unafraid, so that they can, indeed, go happily to their next rebirth, either a precious human rebirth in which they can continue to practice their spiritual path or rebirth in a pure land, such as Buddha Amitabha’s, in which they can easily become a buddha and thus be qualified to perfectly help others.
“As Rinpoche says in the Prologue: ‘When suddenly one day one of your loved ones dies and you don’t know what to do to help, you’ll feel so confused, so lost. Knowing how to help others at the time of death is such important education to have.'”
Wisdom Publications will be publishing this material as a book entitled Preparing for Death: How to Meet Life’s Final Challenge without Fear in 2016.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has given extensive advice on preparing for death and caring for others at the time of death. You can access all of this advice and practices on fpmt.org/death.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Root Institute, March 2015. Photo by Andy Melnic.
During February and March of this year, Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught in Bodhgaya at Root Institute. FPMT International Office is happy to make these teachings available to the public as videos and MP3 downloads via Rinpoche Available NOW.
Topics covered by Rinpoche in these talks include:
- the importance of practicing patience
- definitions of Dharma
- precious human rebirth
- emptiness
You are welcome to explore all that Rinpoche Available NOW has to offer. You will find many archived teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche freely available to you.
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.
The following prayers and practices are recommended in response to the devastating earthquake (and subsequent aftershocks) which hit Nepal April 25, 2015.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche leading prayers for all those affected by earthquake. April 26, 2015
Prayers & Practices for Controlling and Preventing Earthquakes
Kshitigarbha mantra y Buddha’s name mantra en Español
Prière de Kshitigarbha et mantra du nom du Bouddha en français
Kshitigarbha mantra and Buddha’s name mantra in Chinese
Prayers & Practices for Those Who Have Died Due to the Earthquake
You can also keep up on news related to the Nepal earthquake disaster or donate to the Nepal Earthquake Support Fund.
Le Editions Mahayana est heureux de vous proposer d’étudier en ligne sur le les modules de Découverte du bouddhisme.
Découverte du bouddhisme est un programme d’étude de la FPMT composé de 14 modules. Chaque module est composé de fichiers audio et vidéo d’enseignements, de méditations guidées (audio et PDF), de lectures, de forums de discussions (entre étudiants et avec un aîné) et d’une évaluation.
Ce programme n’est pas destiné à offrir une simple étude académique du bouddhisme mais vise à vous aider à transformer votre vie.
Nous sommes heureux de vous proposer les modules français sur la base d’une donation libre.
Un nouveau module vient d’être créé : n° 6 “Tout sur le karma”. Apprenez ce qu’est le karma et comment fonctionne la loi de cause à effet. Découvrez des solutions pour vivre votre vie de la façon la plus positive possible!
Les autres modules sont en cours de développement et seront progressivement mis en ligne.
Découvrez les autres activités et ressources offertes par Editions Mahayana: Site internet, Liste de diffusion, Facebook, Twitter.
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
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, AUS, September 2014. Photo by Kunchok Gyaltsen.
In this new collection of studio recordings, Lama Zopa Rinpoche chants several prayers and mantras at different speeds, allowing students to become familiar with Rinpoche’s pronunciation and also Rinpoche’s preferred tunes.
- Chenrezig, homage and the longest mantra
- Heart Sutra Mantra
- Homage and Praise to Shakyamuni
- Invoking the Buddhas
- Namgyälma Mantra, short
- Namo Gurubhya, LC3
- Offering Cloud Mantra
- Offering Prayer
- Praise to the Mother Prajnaparamita
- The Power of Truth, short
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:
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.