2024 Anniversary Pilgrimage participants gathered at the Thame Stupa, Nepal, May 2024. Photo courtesy of Ven. Sarah Thresher.

Following the success of the first anniversary pilgrimage last year, Lawudo Retreat Center is happy to announce that it will once again be offering the chance to visit, reflect, pray and meditate at the holy places of the Lawudo Lamas on the second anniversary of Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away. Pilgrims will be able to pray for Rinpoche’s swift return while also absorbing the blessings of these holy places and deepening one’s understanding of the unique Sherpa culture of which Lama Zopa Rinpoche was a part. Dharma talks and discussions will be led by Charok Lama Sherpa Rinpoche and pilgrimage leaders will be Ven. Sarah Thresher and Ven. Angie Muir. Ven. Sarah Thresher shares the details of this most precious opportunity:

View from the Lawudo Lama’s cave, looking toward Thamserku. Photo by Ven. Sarah Thresher.

Honoring Our Spiritual Master Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche, the Second Lawudo Lama,
On the Second Anniversary of His Passing

By Ven. Sarah Thresher

Pilgrimage is always uplifting—but to visit and practice in the holy places of one’s own teacher is especially powerful and moving. This anniversary pilgrimage to the Khumbu region—and particularly Lawudo—is therefore especially poignant on the second anniversary of Rinpoche’s passing.

The Khumbu region with its soaring mountains, clear skies, roaring rivers, waterfalls and ancient settlements is not just a place of breathtaking beauty, it is also a hidden valley (beyul) blessed by Padmasambhava to nurture and support spiritual practice and realization. Generations of yogis have meditated in its caves and hermitages and the landscape is enriched by the presence of stupas, prayer stones, prayer wheels, prayer flags, holy images, temples and hermitages.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lawudo, Lawudo Retreat Centre, Nepal, 1978. Photo by Ueli Minder. (photographer)

This is where our spiritual master Lama Zopa Rinpoche in his past life as the Lawudo Lama showed the aspect of accomplishing the highest stages of Dzogchen Atiyoga in the Lawudo cave and earth holes around it. It is also where Rinpoche took rebirth in the picturesque village of Thame and first became a monk at Thame monastery. It is where Rinpoche built his first monastery, ordained the first Kopan monks and where his sister still lives. In recent years, Rinpoche also put much effort to help the local people by restoring the huge stupa of Thame-teng, constructing a 100 trillion mantra prayer wheel in Thame and sponsoring the reconstruction of temples, prayer wheels, artwork and more in the surrounding areas.

The Lawudo Anniversary Pilgrimage is an opportunity for students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche to visit and connect (or reconnect) with the holy places of Rinpoche’s past and most recent life as the Lawudo Lama. During these fifteen days of pilgrimage we will be doing prayers and practices taught by Rinpoche and specifically focused on clearing obstacles and creating auspicious conditions for his swift return. There will also be time to reflect, contemplate and absorb the blessings of these inspiring places. For the three days of retreat at Lawudo, Charok Lama Rinpoche will give teachings on the Wheel of Sharp Weapons thought transformation text and there will be prayer sessions throughout the day in Lawudo cave for Rinpoche’s swift return.

Cherok Lama teaching in Lawudo.

With thanks to Ven. Sarah Thresher for sharing details of the upcoming pilgrimage. Registration is now open for this precious opportunity. 

Charok Lama Rinpoche was recognized at the age of three as the reincarnation of the revered hermit-yogi Kusho Mangde who was a friend of the first Lawudo Lama and meditated in the Charok Cave nearby. As a young child he demanded to go to Kopan monastery to study as a monk and from there he attended Sera Monastery, where he excelled in debate and philosophical enquiry. Charok Lama’s early travel and exposure to Eastern and Western culture has given him a special insight into the challenges faced integrating Tibetan Buddhism to other cultures. He is a gifted and joyful Dharma teacher, public speaker and motivational coach.

Pilgrimage leaders Ven. Angie Muir and Ven. Sarah Thresher—seen here on pilgrimage together in Thame last year.

Ven. Sarah Thresher met Buddhism in 1982 at Kopan and almost immediately began working for Wisdom Publications editing and preparing Dharma materials. In 1986, after ordaining in Bodhgaya with His Holiness Dalai Lama she made her first trip to Lawudo. She has traveled and taught around the world, but her special focus is preserving and spreading the teachings, practice and chanting lineage of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In 2023/4 she has spent eight months in retreat and pilgrimage at and around Lawudo and looks forward to sharing the magic of Khumbu with others. Ven. Sarah will be helping to introduce the pilgrimage places and lead the prayers and practices.

Ven. Angie Muir was born in Scotland, in 1970, and obtained a Bachelors Degree in 1992. Feeling disillusioned with her prospective career path and life ahead of her, she left Scotland and combined traveling with work in Asia for three years until in 1995 she felt a calling to go to India to explore meditation and find her life path. Within a few months she met her main spiritual teacher Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and ordained. Ven. Angie has been a Buddhist nun for over 25 years and during this time, she has served at Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s residences in the USA for 13 years. She shares a love of Rinpoche’s practices and of pilgrimage.

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.