Villagers and nuns came together in Tsum to recite manis and Guru Rinpoche mantras, Rachen Nunnery, Tsum, Nepal, July 2016. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Lhundrup.

“During July, a nine-day community mani retreat was held in Tsum, Nepal, during which also Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava) mantras were recited,” shared Kopan Monastery’s Ani Fran Mohoupt. “On the last day, there was also 100,000 tsog offerings. The mani retreat was attended by a minimum of 200 people from the villages around Rachen Nunnery, a project of Kopan Monastery. For the day of tsogs, more than 500 people came.”

The Tsum community came together to practice extensively, Rachen Nunnery, Tsum, Nepal, July 2016. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Lhundrup.

The gompa where various practices were completed by the Tsum community, Rachen Nunnery, Tsum, Nepal, July 2016. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Lhundrup.

“At this time of the year it is raining a lot, but still people come from far away, walking for many hours, or by horse, to participate in this retreat. We collected over 39 million recitations of OM MANI PADME HUM and about 73 million recitations of Guru Rinpoche’s mantra.

Villagers offered dance and music at the end of the retreat, Rachen Nunnery, Tsum, Nepal, July 2016. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Lhundrup.

“Lunch was offered to everybody and, of course, tea several times a day. The expenses of the retreat were mostly covered from the donations of the local villagers, and lunch was offered by a group of sponsors from Malaysia.”

One of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for FPMT is having “one hundred thousand 100 million Mani retreats around the world.” Learn more at: //fpmt.org/fpmt/vast-vision/.

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