Namgyalma

Land of Medicine Buddha (LMB) in Soquel, California, completed its tenth annual Namgyalma Retreat in October 2025, once again fulfilling the holy wishes of Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche to make it a yearly event.

The initial impetus for the practice was sparked by the incredible kindness of Kyabje Khenzur Jhado Chogtrul Rinpoche. Ven. Steve Carlier, LMB’s resident teacher who regularly leads the retreat, shares this account:

“When Kyabje Jhado Rinpoche returned to Sacramento in 2013, we invited him to teach at LMB, and accordingly, we sought his advice on the program. To our surprise, Rinpoche said it was his belief that Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche had named the center “Land of Medicine Buddha” because he hoped it would become a place for the study and practice of kriya tantra. Jhado Rinpoche added that he knew of a Namgyalma sadhana by Panchen Lozang Chokyi Gyaltsen that was pure kriya tantra, along the lines of Je Tsongkhapa’s writings on that subject. He thought it would be really good, therefore, if he were to teach that to us. He came the following year, conferred the Namgyalma initiation, and after his teachings, set us up in retreat while he went off to teach elsewhere, before coming back at the end of our retreat to conduct the compensating fire puja. 

“Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche got to hear about all this, and at the 2015 retreat in Guadalajara, Mexico, he told me that we should hold a Namgyalma retreat at LMB each year, to allow anyone who wanted to purify and cure illness, especially such illnesses as cancer, to recite 1,000 of the long mantra. Rinpoche also mentioned that it would be really amazing if someone could do a 100,000 Namgyalma long-mantra retreat for all the doctors and hospitals in the world to be able to cure all illnesses, and to immediately find cures for new illnesses as they emerge.”

Ocean blessing with blessed Namgyalma mantra water in the first retreat in 2016.

In accordance with Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes, since 2016, LMB has been hosting an annual Namgyalma retreat for the purpose that Rinpoche outlined. We also made it a point to dedicate our practice to the long lives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche, and Kyabje Jhado Rinpoche, until Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s sad and sudden departure in 2023 behooved us to dedicate for his swift return instead.

At the end of our second retreat in 2017, when we offered our accumulated recitations of 10,276 mantras to Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche, he had replied with this heartwarming message:

Dear Tsomo and all the kind retreaters,

Billion zillion times I thank all of you, from the heart to all of you who did the retreat. So much power when you recite for others and yourself; it has so much power, so much power. Even what expert doctors can’t cure, you can, if done 1,000 or more. Bless the cream by blowing on it after each time you recite the mantra; you can do that—becomes powerful healing method. And besides, that becomes incredible purification and accumulation of merit!

With much and prayers to all of you… big appreciation!

Lama Zopa

Ocean blessing with blessed Namgyalma mantra water in the eighth retreat in 2023.

When the Covid pandemic broke out in 2020, it did not disrupt our plans; we simply shifted the retreat online. This, in fact, turned out to be a boon. The medium offered both the benefits of a personal, solitary retreat and those of a group retreat. For example, according to the teachings on karma, each participant gets the merit of all the recitations accumulated by the group. The virtual format also made the retreat globally accessible. Hence, since Covid, the retreat has been offered online annually, reaching a wider community with students joining from across the United States and from such countries as Canada, Puerto Rico, India, New Zealand, Sweden, and Singapore.

We are especially happy to have accumulated 101,091 Namgyalma long mantras in the last ten years as this is the number that Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche had expressed would be beneficial. The total includes the mantras accumulated during the annual retreats as well as those recited during continued practice in between those retreats, organized by retreaters who wanted to keep the practice going throughout the year, particularly in earlier times, to dedicate the merits toward Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche’s good health and long life.

Ven. Steve informed us that after receiving the news of us finishing our tenth retreat, Kyabje Jhado Rinpoche sent us this encouraging message: “It’s fantastic that you’ve been able to do this retreat every year for ten years. You’ll find you become more experienced as the years go by. And you’ll get better and better. I rejoice.”

Of the sixty-nine individuals who have participated in the retreat since 2016, two have done the retreat all ten years; one did seven; ten did at least three each, and there were three returning retreatants in the last five years. Participants expressed gratitude for the practice and found joy in it. We usually parted after each session with big smiles all around, with appreciation for the group energy from practicing together.

Trish Crout, who had completed five Namgyalma retreats, shared:

“My introduction to Vajrayana Buddhism was my first Namgyalma retreat five years ago. I had absolutely no idea what I signed up for; I just knew I had to do it. Sometime during that retreat, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the practice and the all-encompassing love of the deity Namgyalma. Tears flooded my eyes uncontrollably. I cried out of sheer joy for finally finding my spiritual path, my home, my yidam; I had never experienced such beauty, such bodhicitta, such love, and I longed for all beings to have this experience.

“Ven. Steve has led this amazing, transformative retreat for ten years in a row now! His joyous effort and ease had me feeling comfortable right from the beginning. Slowly, slowly, I’ve become more fluent in the practice, and finally, in my fifth retreat this year, I reached 1,000 Namgyalma long-mantra recitations. It’s amazing! May the causes and conditions arise so that I may be fortunate to continue practicing Namgyalma until I become an enlightened being for the benefit of all.”

Land of Medicine Buddha does a monthly online practice of Panchen Chokyi Gyaltsen’s Namgyalma practice with the pure kriya tantra elements as taught by Kyabje Jhado Rinpoche; and will continue doing the annual 1,000 Namgyalma long-mantra retreat that Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche advised.

The 24-foot Medicine Buddha thangka raised for the annual Medicine Buddha Festival.

Written by Ven. Tenzin Tsomo, edited by Doris Low, Oct 2025. 

We also rejoice that LMB recently celebrated their 19th Medicine Buddha Festival with the raising of a 24-foot Medicine Buddha thangka and community event including the Medicine Buddha puja, a talk on Medicine Buddha and guided meditation, and the opening of their new food cart, The Big Love Cafe. One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization is for centers to display these large thangkas as a way to receive imprints for enlightenment for all who see them. 

We welcome the submission of news stories from those within the FPMT community. This can be a story about something you have personally completed or accomplished, about someone else who has done so, or about the FPMT center, project, or service of which you are a part. Ideal submissions will give readers reasons to rejoice, share ideas, and create connections between those in the international community. Have something to share? Please let us know!

Please explore the materials on Namgyalma and Medicine Buddha available to you.

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