Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo, Japan, April 2020. Photo courtesy of Do Ngak Sung Juk Study Group.

Selina Foong, FPMT South East Asia regional coordinator, shares an update from the FPMT centers, projects, and services in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, and Taiwan.

There are movement control and lockdown procedures in place to varying degrees throughout our East and Southeast Asian region. At the time of writing, April 13, 2020, most of the FPMT centers in the seven countries here have closed in compliance with their respective government regulations.

A notable exception is Jinsiu Farlin, the FPMT center in Taipei, Taiwan. The center remains open, albeit with some restrictions, as Taiwan has been exemplary in keeping the coronavirus situation under control. While the center is avoiding hosting activities, which tend to draw large crowds, regular teachings and monthly pujas are continuing as usual.

An additional group session is held every Saturday afternoon to focus on the practices recommended by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche for pacifying the disease. Sessions typically attract fifteen to twenty participants, all of whom are required to wear face masks, sanitize their hands, and have their temperatures taken before entry is permitted. All sessions are also streamed online for those who prefer to stay at home.

Cherry Blossoms in Tokyo, Japan, April 2020. Photo courtesy of Do Ngak Sung Juk Study Group.

Online Dharma

For the centers that are closed, good use is being made of online and other platforms to maintain contact and offer encouragement, prayers, and teachings. As Tan Hup Cheng, center director of Amitabha Buddhist Centre, the FPMT center in Singapore says, “We are all well and trying to keep the Dharma alive.”

Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling, the FPMT center in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for instance, runs a very active Facebook page. Their recent post about advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche for coronavirus was shared 1,400 times and reached 88,000 people!

Their Facebook video uploads have also been well received. An ongoing series of thirty-minute video teachings on “How to deal skillfully with anger” by resident teacher Ven. Thubten Gyalmo is very popular. The thirteen videos already published have received 24,000 views to date. Even Mongolia’s TV9 channel took notice and has agreed to broadcast these videos free of charge whenever their program schedule permits. Another very effective medium of communication in Mongolia is national radio, which continues to air Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings twice a month.

Other online activities include recitations of the Golden Light Sutra and Sanghata Sutra. Do Ngak Sung Juk, the FPMT study group based in Tokyo, Japan, with members throughout the country, continues with this virtual practice just as they have done for the past twelve years. The study group conducts readings on the first and third Wednesdays of every month and are joined by participants from all corners of the globe. Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling also plans to launch recitations of these sutras online in April in order to dedicate strongly for world peace and the total elimination of COVID-19.

Several centers are turning to Zoom and Skype to conduct teachings, pujas, and meetings.

Geshe Jampa Tsundu, the resident geshe at Losang Dragpa Centre, the FPMT center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has resumed his regular teachings via Zoom. Geshe Jampa Tsundu also recently performed the Medicine Buddha Jangwa ceremony in an empty Losang Dragpa Centre gompa for the occasion of Cheng Beng (Tomb-Sweeping Day), which was streamed online to many participants.

Ven. Pemba Sherpa, is continuing to lead discussion sessions with Do Ngak Sung Juk via Skype video conferencing on the second Sunday of each month from his base as resident teacher at Cham Tse Ling (Mahayana Buddhist Association), the FPMT center in Hong Kong, where all activities have stopped since the end of 2019. Ven. Thubten Dechen is translating the weekly Jinsiu Farlin teachings as well as Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s current teachings from Kopan to a growing group of Chinese-speaking students throughout the world.

Amitabha Buddhist Centre conducted a Guru Puja on April 2 via Zoom for their first time. However, now that Singapore is in lockdown and Amitabha Buddhist Centre is closed, there are no further activities at the center for the time being. Even Vesak Day celebrations in May have been cancelled.

There is similar news from Chokyi Gyaltsen Centre, the FPMT center in Penang, Malaysia, and Potowa Centre, the FPMT center in Jakarta, Indonesia. Both centers are closed. Geshe Deyang, the resident geshe at Chokyi Gyaltsen Centre is performing prayers and pujas from his base at the center for the benefit of all. The center’s students continue to study and contemplate his teachings given to date from their own homes. As for Potowa Centre, their members are also staying home but continuing with various translation works and research on Borobudur.

Online Messaging Services

In addition to Zoom and Skype, some centers have found WhatsApp group chats to be useful in order to disseminate information quickly and effectively. Losang Dragpa Centre uses this platform to share practical information as well as Dharma news, including links to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s latest teachings and advice, in order to offer regular encouragement and support.

All in all, the centers and groups in our region are unanimously reporting that students are making good use of the resources kindly provided by FPMT and are practicing according to Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a sense that while these are indeed difficult times we can all do our part to bring about positive change. As Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling center director Ianzhina Bartanova says, “During this challenging time, Dharma is our top priority.”

Find links to these centers in the Asia section of the FPMT online directory:
https://fpmt.org/centers/#asia

Additional resources, including video teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Dharma study-from-home opportunities, can be found on the page “Resources for the Coronavirus Pandemic”:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/

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