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Brian Rae at Dorje Chang Institute, New Zealand, at end of year potluck lunch, December 13, 2020.
Brian Rae passed away suddenly of a heart attack on September 12, 2025 in Taupo, New Zealand.
The following words celebrating Brian’s qualities, interests, and years of service in the FPMT mandala were prepared by Simon Harrison, a FPMT-registered teacher, with input from Brian’s sister Susan, his wife Paula, and Ven. Gyalten Wangmo, the spiritual program coordinator of Dorje Chang Institute.
Brian can be best summed up with 3Hs: hats, hugs, and happiness. He was a big-hearted, big-chested, big-smiling man, for whom nothing was too much trouble. He filled many roles around Dharma centers in New Zealand. He served on the board of Mahamudra Centre and was a trustee of Dorje Chang Institute from 2021 until he passed away on Friday, September 12, 2025, with no warning signs, shortly after completing his morning prayers.
Brian first connected with Dorje Chang Institute (DCI) around 2009, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited New Zealand and has been a constant support for both DCI and Mahamudra Centre ever since.
Brian Rae with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Zealand, 2013.
He took on the role of national coordinator for FPMT New Zealand in 2014 to coordinate the visit by Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche the following year. He continued in the role until after His Eminence Ling Rinpoche visited in 2020, after which Covid kept us all in our own little bubbles.
Brian loved his family: his wife Paula; three daughters, Ella, Lucy (husband Jake) and Georgia (husband Oliver); and three grandchildren, Luca, Fleur and Leah. There were many times the family would gather with Brian at the heart of it, building Legos with the kids and regaling the rest with extensive stories of the latest “new” thing. He and Paula had just completed building their retirement retreat overlooking Lake Taupo, close to the grandchildren, when he was so suddenly taken from us.
His Dharma journey was infectious. Joined by his sister, Susan, together they would appear for teachings or to offer service at Mahamudra Centre or Dorje Chang Institute. Always humble, his passion for the centers and his devotion to his teacher defined him.
At DCI, he recently oversaw the refurbishment of the stupa. He expressed his love of trees as groundsman supervisor. His memory stays with us in the trees and other greenery around the property, as well as being the star of the training videos for groundskeeping equipment.
DCI Stupa Refurbishment Project, with Brian Rae assisting Geshe Wangchen, April 6, 2024.
While managing the house build, fulfilling a demanding job with Auckland Airport, sharing his loves for family and trees, and serving on DCI’s board, Brian managed to complete a full round of the FPMT Basic Program with Geshe Thupten Wangchen at DCI.
His final lesson to us all is the fragility and impermanence of this precious rebirth, and the manner of making it happy and useful.
We pray that all of his merit through service, study, practice, and warm-heartedness will serve him well into the future up to his enlightenment.
Please pray that Brian may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may he be immediately born in a pure land where he can be enlightened or to receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and meet a perfectly qualified guru and by only pleasing the guru’s mind, achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. More advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).