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His Holiness the Dalai Lama smiling at guests gathered for a long life ceremony for His Holiness, Dharamsala, India, June 24, 2022. Photo by Tenzin Choejor, courtesy of DalaiLama.com.
The 2025 CPMT Summit at Kopan Monastery has commenced with 195 participants from 70 FPMT centers, projects and services represented from 25 different countries.
This momentous meeting, entitled: Actualizing Our Guru’s Vision of a World Guided by Compassion and Wisdom, began this evening, Sunday, April 6, 2025 and will be followed by the commemoration of Lama Zopa Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away on April 13.
Kopan Abbot and FPMT Inc. Board member Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi welcomed all to the event and led the initial motivation, and FPMT Inc. Board member Ven. Pemba Sherpa shared a letter of support and encouragement for the meeting from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. We share this letter with great rejoicing!
Letter from His Holiness the Dalai Lama to CPMT Participants
I am pleased to know that representatives of all the centers belonging to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) in different parts of the world will be meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, to discuss the future direction of the organization.
First of all I want to recall the contribution your founder teachers, Lama Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa have made to the Dharma. Through this organization they have enabled many people to appreciate the potential of the Buddha Dharma to contribute to the wellbeing of sentient beings. Since 1979 at their request I have also given teachings to your members on many occasions – so we have established a special bond with each other.
Since both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa have now passed away, it is appropriate that you discuss the future direction of your community. Soon after Lama Zopa passed away, members of the FPMT Board came to see me. One of the issues they raised was the future of the organization. As I understand it, the FPMT has a sound structure, with teachers and prominent disciples holding leadership positions, which you can reinforce on the basis of discussion and agreement. As I told them, I will continue to offer the FPMT encouragement and support in your service to benefit others.
Buddhism is a source of wisdom-you can use it to transform your minds. This involves reading or listening to the teachings, thinking them over again and again, then meditating on what you have understood. I sometimes describe this as the way to be a 21st century Buddhist.
These days there are also growing numbers of people, interested in understanding the workings of the mind and emotions as explained in Buddhist psychology which are both scientific and of practical value. I hope you will be able to provide opportunities for people to learn aspects of Buddhist knowledge purely from a secular approach.
In terms of what is of practical value, some of you may have heard me say that as soon as I wake every morning, I generate the awakening mind of bodhichitta, the aspiration to attain enlightenment to help other sentient beings, as well as the view that things do not exist as they appear. I find this very helpful-it warms my heart and brings me peace of mind. It can do that for you too.
With prayers and good wishes.
May this meeting achieve its mission to actualize our gurus’ vision of a world guided by compassion an wisdom!
We will share news from the event in the coming days.
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.