Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
The FPMT is an organization devoted to preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha and based on that experience spreading the Dharma to sentient beings. We provide integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility and service. We are committed to creating harmonious environments and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion. Our organization is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught to us by our founders Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche.
Die Stiftung zur Erhaltung der Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) ist eine Organisation, die sich weltweit für die Erhaltung und Verbreitung des Mahayana-Buddhismus einsetzt, indem sie Möglichkeiten schafft, den makellosen Lehren des Buddha zuzuhören, über sie zur reflektieren und zu meditieren und auf der Grundlage dieser Erfahrung das Dharma unter den Lebewesen zu verbreiten.
Wir bieten integrierte Schulungswege an, durch denen der Geist und das Herz der Menschen in ihr höchstes Potential verwandelt werden zum Wohl der anderen – inspiriert durch eine Haltung der universellen Verantwortung und dem Wunsch zu dienen. Wir haben uns verpflichtet, harmonische Umgebungen zu schaffen und allen Wesen zu helfen, ihr volles Potenzial unendlicher Weisheit und grenzenlosen Mitgefühls zu verwirklichen.
Unsere Organisation basiert auf der buddhistischen Tradition von Lama Tsongkhapa von Tibet, so wie sie uns von unseren Gründern Lama Thubten Yeshe und Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche gelehrt wird.
La Fundación para la preservación de la tradición Mahayana (FPMT) es una organización que se dedica a preservar y difundir el budismo Mahayana en todo el mundo, creando oportunidades para escuchar, reflexionar, meditar, practicar y actualizar las enseñanzas inconfundibles de Buda y en base a esa experiencia difundir el Dharma a los seres.
Proporcionamos una educación integrada a través de la cual las mentes y los corazones de las personas se pueden transformar en su mayor potencial para el beneficio de los demás, inspirados por una actitud de responsabilidad y servicio universales. Estamos comprometidos a crear ambientes armoniosos y ayudar a todos los seres a desarrollar todo su potencial de infinita sabiduría y compasión.
Nuestra organización se basa en la tradición budista de Lama Tsongkhapa del Tíbet como nos lo enseñaron nuestros fundadores Lama Thubten Yeshe y Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
A continuación puede ver una lista de los centros y sus páginas web en su lengua preferida.
L’organisation de la FPMT a pour vocation la préservation et la diffusion du bouddhisme du mahayana dans le monde entier. Elle offre l’opportunité d’écouter, de réfléchir, de méditer, de pratiquer et de réaliser les enseignements excellents du Bouddha, pour ensuite transmettre le Dharma à tous les êtres. Nous proposons une formation intégrée grâce à laquelle le cœur et l’esprit de chacun peuvent accomplir leur potentiel le plus élevé pour le bien d’autrui, inspirés par le sens du service et une responsabilité universelle. Nous nous engageons à créer un environnement harmonieux et à aider tous les êtres à épanouir leur potentiel illimité de compassion et de sagesse. Notre organisation s’appuie sur la tradition guéloukpa de Lama Tsongkhapa du Tibet, telle qu’elle a été enseignée par nos fondateurs Lama Thoubtèn Yéshé et Lama Zopa Rinpoché.
L’FPMT è un organizzazione il cui scopo è preservare e diffondere il Buddhismo Mahayana nel mondo, creando occasioni di ascolto, riflessione, meditazione e pratica dei perfetti insegnamenti del Buddha, al fine di attualizzare e diffondere il Dharma fra tutti gli esseri senzienti.
Offriamo un’educazione integrata, che può trasformare la mente e i cuori delle persone nel loro massimo potenziale, per il beneficio di tutti gli esseri, ispirati da un’attitudine di responsabilità universale e di servizio.
Il nostro obiettivo è quello di creare contesti armoniosi e aiutare tutti gli esseri a sviluppare in modo completo le proprie potenzialità di infinita saggezza e compassione.
La nostra organizzazione si basa sulla tradizione buddhista di Lama Tsongkhapa del Tibet, così come ci è stata insegnata dai nostri fondatori Lama Thubten Yeshe e Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Di seguito potete trovare un elenco dei centri e dei loro siti nella lingua da voi prescelta.
“护持大乘法脉基金会”( 英文简称：FPMT。全名：Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) 是一个致力于护持和弘扬大乘佛法的国际佛教组织。我们提供听闻，思维，禅修，修行和实证佛陀无误教法的机会，以便让一切众生都能够享受佛法的指引和滋润。
護持大乘法脈基金會”（ 英文簡稱：FPMT。全名：Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition ）是一個致力於護持和弘揚大乘佛法的國際佛教組織。我們提供聽聞，思維，禪修，修行和實證佛陀無誤教法的機會，以便讓一切眾生都能夠享受佛法的指引和滋潤。
When others insult, rebuke and speak unpleasant words to us, although an intolerable pain arises like a thorn at the heart, if we comprehend the teachings then we can recognize the essenceless nature of these words which resemble an echo. So just as when an inanimate object is scolded, we will experience not the slightest mental turmoil.
The Foundation Store is FPMT’s online shop and features a vast selection of Buddhist study and practice materials written or recommended by our lineage gurus. These items include homestudy programs, prayers and practices in PDF or eBook format, materials for children, and other resources to support practitioners.
Items displayed in the shop are made available for Dharma practice and educational purposes, and never for the purpose of profiting from their sale. Please read FPMT Foundation Store Policy Regarding Dharma Items for more information.
Rinpoche making prayers in offering room overlooking Boudha Stupa, Nepal, April 2022. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
In January, Lama Zopa Rinpoche gave advice on how to collect “the most unbelievable merit” when making offerings, recently published as Offerings to the Boudha Stupa. Rinpoche offered this advice in relation to a rented room that overlooks Boudha Stupa, in Nepal, and that has been filled with offerings. Rinpoche’s advice was printed, framed, and hung in this offering room to serve as a reminder of how one should make offerings.
This advice from Rinpoche, however, can be followed whenever offerings are made to holy objects as it contains the essence of the meditation for making offerings, which Rinpoche elaborated in Extensive Offering Practice.
Offering room overlooking Boudha Stupa, Nepal, March 2022. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.
“There’s no question how much merit you will collect with each offering you make to the Stupa while thinking that, in essence, it is your root guru,” Rinpoche says in Offerings to the Boudha Stupa.
Boudha Stupa, Nepal, March 2022. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
“You collect the most unbelievable merit and it becomes purification as well. Please think this with any offering you make to the Stupa, and then offer it on behalf of all sentient beings: the offerings are theirs and you are offering them on their behalf. So then every sentient being gets merit—every hell being gets merit, every hungry ghost gets merit, every animal gets merit. For example, every ant gets merit, every mosquito gets merit, and every chick gets merit. No matter how tiny it is and no matter how big it is, every animal gets merit. Also, every human being, every asura, and every sura gets merit. In this way, the offering helps them to become free from their suffering of pain and to receive peace and pleasure.”
Rinpoche frequently goes to Boudha Stupa to circumambulate and to make offerings and prayers. In September 2021, Rinpoche recorded a Thought Transformation Teaching video called, “Making Offerings to Boudha Stupa.” At the beginning of this video, Rinpoche talks about doing a tsog offering practice at Boudha Stupa and the benefits of making offerings to stupas. He explains how offering tsog to stupas makes you achieve all the realizations; offering medicine to stupas stops diseases; and offering grains to stupas stops famine in the world. Rinpoche also discusses how important it is to consecrate stupas, including the benefit of eliminating war. Rinpoche then led an offering practice to Boudha Stupa accompanied by many senior Sangha members. (You can follow along with the offering practice by watching the video.)
Watch Rinpoche making prayers in the offering room next to Boudha Stupa:
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
View from Kopan Monastery, Nepal, May 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Two new cycles of theFPMT Masters Program, our most advanced FPMT Education Program, will begin in 2023 and 2024 with residential and online options. The in-depth program is being offered at both Nalanda Monastery in France and Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy. The opportunity to study the complete FPMT Masters Program (MP) happens once a decade. Students interested in deepening their knowledge and practice of Buddhism are encouraged to explore enrolling in the next MP now.
Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, in the beautiful Tuscany region of Italy, has decades of experience in developing and implementing the program and will host its fourth FPMT Masters Program, starting in February 2023. Lharampa Geshe Jampa Gelek is an experienced MP teacher. He is appreciated for the great depth and detail of his presentations and for his ability to enrich his teachings with an extensive knowledge of multiple commentaries. The program is being offered in English, Italian, and Spanish, and has residential and online options. Learn more.
Nalanda Monastery in the South of France invites students to join their second FPMT Masters Program, beginning in January 2024. Nalanda Monastery is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the West and offers Westerner lay and ordained students a unique opportunity to deepen their understanding and practice of Buddhism in a monastic environment. Lharampa Geshe Gyaltsen, who has been teaching at Nalanda since 2014, will teach the MP. Geshe Gyaltsen is widely admired by students for his deep and clear explanations. The program will be offered in English and French, and has residential and online options. Learn more.
About the FPMT Masters Program
The FPMT Masters Program comprises six years of full-time study—combining a comprehensive curriculum with practice, training, service, and month-long retreats—and the integrating experience of a year-long lamrim retreat. This program profoundly deepens students’ Dharma knowledge and understanding. Graduates are confident and qualified to become teachers, and will go on to enrich the programs and courses offered in FPMT centers.
FPMT founder Lama Yeshe had the original vision for the FPMT Masters Program. Geshe Jampa Gyatso, who taught the first MP at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, told Mandala magazine, “Lama Yeshe’s aim, his wish in setting up this program, was to enable people to study and come to a deeper understanding of the Buddhist teachings, both the vast and profound, as well as sutra and tantra, so that they could then teach other people. His purpose was also to enable each person to develop his or her inner qualities, such as perfect love and compassion, to complete the six perfections, and to achieve final enlightenment. In this way they would be able to help other sentient beings by leading them from cyclic existence to the great city of enlightenment.”
FPMT centers are asked to assist and encourage interested students to join the FPMT Masters Program, the actualization of Lama Yeshe’s unique vision for FPMT education. For those who enjoy in-depth study and practice, this is a not to be missed, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
On Losar, Kopan nuns taking a pinch of chemar as New Year greeting, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, February 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
The Fifteen Days of Miracles—beginning on the first day of the Tibetan New Year, Losar, on March 3, 2022—commemorate the special time when Guru Shakyamuni Buddha showed miraculous powers in order to subdue six tirthikas, or non-Buddhist teachers, who lacked faith in him, and to inspire more faith in his followers. The Days of Miracles culminate on Chotrul Duchen on March 18, 2022, which is the full moon and the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar.
All fifteen days are merit-multiplying days, when the merit of virtuous actions performed on these days is multiplied by 100 million, according to the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.
Because of this, the Fifteen Days of Miracles are a time for pilgrimage and intensive Dharma practice. Many Tibetan monasteries, including Kopan Monastery in Nepal, participate in a Great Prayer Festival—Monlam Chenmo—for several days or even weeks, during which the sangha recite prayers from morning until evening. This year there will be a Monlam Chenmo at a monastery in Swayambhu that Kopan monks will be attending.
Advice for Losar and the Fifteen Days of Miracles
For the FPMT organization, Losar is a special time as it commemorates the anniversary of FPMT founder Lama Yeshe’s parinirvana at dawn of Losar in 1984. This Losar marks thirty-eight years since the passing away of Lama Yeshe. New this year is a short Tibetan text translated and commented on by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Advice for the Anniversary of the Guru’s Passing Away. This text explains the importance of making offerings on the anniversary of the passing away of one’s guru and can be integrated into Losar practices.
Please keep in mind: In accordance with the advice of Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, Lama Zopa Rinpoche observes all the auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar by Indian Standard time, instead of any other local time.
Puja Fund Activities for the FPMT Organization
Swayambhu Stupa to which offerings are made during merit-multiplying days, Nepal, March 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
On merit-multiplying days, the Puja Fund sponsors extensive pujas and sutra recitations. During the fifteen days of miracles, 650 monks at Gyurme Tantric College will recite the Prajnaparamita, and 600 monks at Gyuto Tantric College will offer Namgyäl Tong Chö. There will be smaller pujas offered at Sera Lachi, Gaden Lachi, and Drepung Lachi Monasteries.
These prayers are dedicated to all FPMT centers, projects, and services; all students, volunteers, and those offering service within the FPMT organization; and to all beings in general.
Offerings are also made to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus and to sangha in FPMT’s international sangha communities. In addition, robes are offered to the Buddha statue in Bodhgaya, new parasols and whitewash are offered to Boudha and Swayambhu stupas, and sutras are printed.
Please join us in rejoicing in these offerings, especially remembering them on the actual days, when one’s merit is multiplied 100 million times.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with group in front of the large Maitreya Buddha statue in Lagan, Kalmykia, Russia, 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive,” His Holiness the Dalai Lama says in his book The Art of Happiness. As students of Dharma know, love and compassion are essential to Buddhist practice. When we think about bringing more love into the world and into our practice, we can think about the Maitreya Buddha.
Lama Yeshe, who founded FPMT with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, taught on the yoga method of Maitreya Buddha at Maitreya Instituut, the FPMT center in the Netherlands, in 1981. These teachings were collected in the book Universal Love: The Yoga Method of Buddha Maitreya. In it, Lama Yeshe says, “Maitreya is the manifestation of the love of all the buddhas—the supreme beings who have achieved limitless, universal love.”
“Countless eons ago, having made many offerings, Maitreya took bodhisattva vows from the Tathagata Great Power in front of many other buddhas. From that moment on he has led countless sentient beings to enlightenment, guiding them along the path of the three higher trainings of discipline, concentration, and wisdom by means of the three vehicles: Shravakayana, Pratyekabuddhayana, and Mahayana.
“While practicing as a bodhisattva he specialized in the meditation on great love. He not only taught this path to others but also meditated upon it continuously himself, often stationing himself at the gate of a city and contemplating deeply on loving kindness. His meditation was so powerful that people passing by close enough to touch his feet would themselves receive the realization of great love. This greatly pleased the tathagatas of the ten directions, who rejoiced in his actions and predicted that in all his future lives as a bodhisattva and a buddha he would be known as ‘Love’ [Skt: Maitreya; Tib: Jampa]. This is how he received his name. …
“In the absolute sense Maitreya is subject to neither death nor rebirth; he is forever benefiting all mother sentient beings. Furthermore, he once declared, ‘Anybody keeping just one vow of moral discipline purely during the time of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings will become my personal disciple when I appear and I shall liberate all such disciples,’ and he faithfully keeps this promise, his sworn oath and pledge.
“Therefore, those of us fortunate enough to have met the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha and maintained some level of pure discipline are guaranteed to make direct contact with Maitreya, become his disciple and quickly achieve enlightenment.”
Rinpoche has explained the benefits of reciting this dharani as follows:
By listening and reciting the mantra daily, and reflecting and meditating on the meaning, one will not be reborn in the lower realms. Even if an animal hears the mantra, it does not get reborn in the lower realms.
One will be reborn as a Wheel-Turning King for thousands of lives with a lifespan lasting thousands of eons of devas’ lifespans.
One is able to engage and live in the path of the ten virtues.
One receives all the enjoyments one is looking for.
Maitreya Buddha will never let this sentient being suffer poverty and so forth.
Even when a sentient being is in hell, Maitreya Buddha will definitely come and look for it and will give the prediction of enlightenment by causing the being to reincarnate in the human realm.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche giving a teaching at Boudha Stupa with Khadro-la, followed by taking Bodhisattva Vows, Nepal, December 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
The international FPMT mandala spans more than thirty countries around the world. To meet the study and practice needs of our non-English speaking students, many practice resources, texts, study programs, and teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche are made available in a variety of languages. Here’s a summary of the resources available through FPMT.org, the Foundation Store, and the Online Learning Center.
Practice Materials in Different Languages
FPMT’s Foundation Store offers hundreds of Dharma practice resources that have been translated into various languages in addition to English. Common FPMT prayers and practices have been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, German, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Chinese, and other languages.
Many of these materials and programs have been translated by FPMT students working with language specific translation groups and publishing houses. (Find links to FPMT translation houses.)
Teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Translation
Students can watch hundreds of hours of video teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, which have been translated into several languages by dedicated volunteer interpreters:
Many other teaching events with Rinpoche have been translated and are available on our Rinpoche Available Now video pages. Check each event’s page to see what languages are available.
Teachings in Tibetan
An exciting opportunity for Tibetan speakers began this year as Rinpoche started offering video teachings in Tibetan. About twenty videos have been recorded. A few practices, some created by Rinpoche, were made available in Tibetan.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Pechas at Lawudo Gompa, Nepal, 2019. Photo by Harald Weichhart.
In order to make it easier for FPMT students to find prayers and practice materials, we’ve created a new page: “Full Catalogue of Prayers and Practices.” From this page, you can find a collection of all FPMT Education Services prayers, practices, and advice materials that are available as downloadable PDFs, ebooks, and audio MP3s.
This collection is organized into the following categories:
Deity Practices & Prayers
Other Prayers & Practices
Mantras & Holy Names
Sutras & Dharani
Teachings, Advice & Commentaries
Other Texts & Translations
Pilgrimage Manuals
You can find these additional materials and resources on our new catalogue page:
Printable images of deities, mantras, protection items, Dharma verses, and quotations
Audio recordings of Buddhist teachings, chants, meditations, supplementary materials for study programs, and more
Link to our microfilm resources page, which has information about mantras on microfilm and how to acquire them for filling stupas and prayer wheels.
Most materials can be ordered through the Foundation Store by donation, which goes toward supporting our future Dharma publications.
FPMT Education Services has also been making more practice materials and prayers available as ebooks. In addition, editors are regularly updating existing materials based on advice from Rinpoche and to ensure consistency across our publications. You can use these links to find all new arrivals and updated materials available on our Foundation Store.
Please visit our Licensing page if you have questions about our distribution, licensing, and copyright guidelines.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Monks making light offerings at Kopan Monastery in Nepal on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, December 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Ganden Ngamchoe, literally “Ganden Offering of the Twenty-Fifth Day,” is also known as Lama Tsongkhapa Day. It is a celebration of the anniversary of the parinirvana of Lama Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), the founder of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This auspicious and holy day is celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of the tenth month of the Tibetan calendar, which is December 29 this year.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche encourages FPMT students to engage in a variety of practices on Ganden Ngamchoe to celebrate and create merit, including making light offerings. While at Kopan Monastery last year on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, Rinpoche said, “Light offering is very important, in particular, by making light offerings you are able to dispel the darkness of ignorance and develop Dharma wisdom. Any light offering can dispel darkness, it doesn’t have to be just a butter lamp. You can offer electric lights and even the sun.”
Many FMPT centers are offering celebrations on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, both on site and online. For students unable to attend a celebration at an FPMT center or join an online celebration, the main practice recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche is Lama Chopa with extensive light offerings if possible. If one is unable to arrange Lama Chopa, Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga is also recommended. In addition, recitation of any or all of the Lama Tsongkhapa-related prayers and texts is encouraged.
Puja at Kopan Monastery on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, Nepal, December 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Rinpoche has also given detailed advice about practices to do at FPMT centers, projects, and services. Please see the page “Practices for Ganden Ngamchoe, Lama Tsongkhapa Day” for details on these practices. Here are some of the prayers and practices recommended by Rinpoche for a celebration of Lama Tsongkhapa Day, which can also be done by students as they are able:
French materials, including “Prière pour le développement de Lama Tsongkhapa” and “Hymne au Bouddha Shakyamouni pour son enseignement sur la production dépendante,” are available through Les Éditions Mahayana. You can also find more practice materials related to Lama Tsongkhapa, including practices in Spanish and other languages, in the Foundation Store.
* In accordance with the advice of Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, Lama Zopa Rinpoche observes all the auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar by Indian Standard time, instead of any other local time.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
We’re excited to announce that the Liberation Tibetan Calendar 2022has just arrived to us from the Liberation Prison Project and is available to order today!
This calendar for 2022, the year of the Water Tiger 2149, is available as a PDF from the Foundation Store. It includes lunar dates, dates for merit multiplying days, and information about more than thirty kinds of practice days as well as the auspicious and inauspicious days for each month. The calendar is an invaluable tool for supporting your Dharma practice and helping it become most beneficial.
The calendar was prepared by astrologer Paksam Ngawang Thartho based on the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute’s calendar, with additional advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Geshe Ngawang Dakpa.
By ordering this digital format calendar, you are directly supporting the Liberation Prison Project, an FPMT project that works with Dharma students in prison.
These images are made available as high quality PDFs that can be printed as cards for your home and altar. Many of these images have been created on the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche to offer protection and purification. Here are a few examples:
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche writing the Prajnaparamita Sutra in gold, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, August 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Sutras are records of teachings given by the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. The Buddha’s discourses were memorized by his disciples and later written down in various languages, the most complete collections of teachings being in Pali and Sanskrit. Because sutras contain the actual words spoken by the Buddha, by reproducing that speech ourselves during recitations our voice becomes a conduit for the spread of Buddha’s teachings in the world. A special set of sutras called dharmaparyayas or “transformative teachings,” including the Sanghata Sutra, function to transform those who hear, recite, or write out them in particular ways, in the same way as meeting a buddha in the flesh.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has offered advice on and oral transmission of many significant sutras so that FPMT students can include sutras in their Dharma practice, including reading, reciting, and writing specific sutras. FPMT.org offers a “Sutras & Dharanis” resource page that contains links to digital versions of these sutras for you to download. Some sutras have audio files so that you can listen to a sutra or play it for others, such as animals. In addition, many sutras have links to Rinpoche’s practice advice and commentary on the benefits of sutras.
Also on this resource page, you’ll find a collection of dharanis (Skt, dhāraṇī), or zung in Tibetan (Tib. gzungs), which has the connotation of “to hold or maintain.” Rinpoche explains that it can also mean the “unforgetting wisdom for abandoning nonvirtue and abiding in virtue.” A dharani usually consists of Sanskrit phrases and mantras, and can also be a short summary of the essential teaching contained in a much longer sutra text.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Inspired by the success of last year’s online celebration the Big Love Festival 2020, which recognized forty years of Universal Education, the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom (FDCW) has organized this year’s Compassion and Wisdom in Action 2021. The conference will be a space to explore the potential for compassionate and wise action in all aspects of lives, including in relationships and the world around us.
FDCW is especially happy to share a welcome address from FDCW Patron His Holiness the Dalai Lama for this year’s conference. His Holiness emphasizes the importance of inner peace and cultivating a compassionate mind in his short video talk, which is introduced by Victoria Coleman, FDCW’s executive director.
Taking place November 15–20, 2021, the Compassion and Wisdom in Action 2021 conference will have talks and workshops across four themes:
Values—Exploring what guides us and what matters most
Mind—Inquiring deeply into the latest science and ancient wisdom
Healing—Nurturing hearts, bodies, and minds with compassion
Engaged Action—Serving the world through wise and compassionate action
On the conference’s opening day, Alison Murdoch hosts a global conversation with Osel Hita. Other speakers include Ven. Robina Courtin, Ven. Tenzin Chogkyi, and Andy Wistreich. For the closing day, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FDCW’s honorary president, is giving a specially recorded video message. Additional speakers over the six days come from a wide range of Universal Education projects. All are welcome to join the conferences sessions, which are offered free of charge.
FDCW’s programs are based on Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom—a secular system of inner learning that cultivates and explores universal values such as humility, kindness, courage, compassion, and empathy. Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom is one of FPMT’s Five Pillars of Service.
FPMT founder Lama Thubten Yeshe first shared his vision for Universal Education in the mid-1970s, and since then his unique and innovative approach has inspired many individuals as well as many projects in schools, universities, hospices, workplaces, healthcare, youth groups, and community centers around the world. In an interview in 1983, Lama Yeshe described his radical idea in more depth. He said, “We have to get rid of people’s old concepts and give them a new imagination; a new, broad way of looking at themselves and the world. That’s what I mean by ‘universal.'”
FDCW was established in 2005 and provides training, programs, and resources inspired by the values and vision of Universal Education. FDCW’s programs are grounded in Buddhist teachings and presented in secular language, using modern learning methods both online and in person. The focus is putting secular ethics into practice in everyday life. Over the years FDCW’s programs have reached many thousands of people through a dedicated and growing network of facilitators around the world.
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from 150 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
Losang Namgyal Rinpoche, Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Gen Tenpa Choden offering five color khatas to Boudha Stupa, Nepal, January 2021. Photo by Ven. Lhundrup Topgye.
Lhabab Duchen, one of the four great holy days of the Buddhist calendar, takes place this year on October 27.
Lhabab Duchen celebrates Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s return to Earth from the God Realm of the Thirty-Three. That is where Buddha taught Dharma for several months to the gods, including his mother, Mayadevi, who had died a week after Buddha’s birth and been reborn there. As a merit multiplying day, the karmic results of actions done on this day are multiplied 100 million times. This amazing result is taught in the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.
Specific practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for these special days include:
Lama Zopa Rinpoche making light offerings at Boudha Stupa, Nepal, September 2021. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
A longer list of recommended practices can be found at “Practices for Merit Multiplying Days and Eclipses.” Of course, it is also good to do any of the other meritorious activities often advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche on these great holy days. (Advice specifically for merit-multiplying days can also be found in French. You can also find Dharma practice materials in other languages.)
In accordance with the advice of Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, Lama Zopa Rinpoche observes all the auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar by Indian Standard time, instead of any other local time.
Offerings on Lhabab Duchen
Every merit multiplying day, the Puja Fund sponsors a large number of pujas and practices performed by thousands of Sangha. During this Lhabab Duchen, the Puja Fund will offer on behalf of the entire FPMT organization and all students, benefactors, and beings:
Recitation of the Prajnaparamita Sutra by Gyudmed Tantric College
Offerings to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus and to over 10,000 Sangha, including those in International Mahayana Institute Sangha communities
Offerings of robes to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, and saffron and umbrellas to the Boudhanath and Swayambunath stupas in Nepal
Let’s rejoice in all of the meritorious activities that will be happening in the FPMT and around the world on this auspicious merit-multiplying day!
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