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Mummy Max Mathews with Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Photo by Steve Nadeau, courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
The entire FPMT community shares the loss of one of FPMT’s precious pioneers, “Mummy” Max Mathews (also known as Sister Max), who passed away on February 16, 2024. We also share a sense of rejoicing in the kindness and generosity she offered in her life, to which the entire FPMT organization owes immeasurable thanks.
Lama Yeshe and Mummy Max in Berkeley, California, 1974. Photo courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Mummy Max contributed greatly and financially assisted Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in establishing Kopan Monastery and the FPMT organization.
As we put together a tribute honoring her life, we invite you to watch this interview from 2020, in which she shares spontaneous and intimate stories of her timeless relationship with Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche and how she provided unconditional and essential support for the lamas’ projects as envisioned by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This interview was filmed in July, 2020 in Santa Fe, New Mexico with images from Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe.
Mummy Max explains in Volume One of Big Love: “I felt I had come home and that Lama Yeshe was my guru. He just opened me up completely. I felt balanced and whole, like I was walking on air. I also felt committed. There was no going back.”
Mummy Max Mathews (center kneeling) with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Thubten Wongmo, Nick Ribush, and Lama Yeshe, enjoying a picnic in Lake Arrowhead, California, 1975. Photo courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
At the end of this inspiring video, Mummy Max shared: “The lamas gave me a reason to be. And it’s been my whole life. It’s the only thing that has made meaning in my life. It’s what the lamas have given me and tried to instill in me. It’s unreal. It’s unbelievable how much love and compassion they have. And I hope my life has been worth meaning for them. I tried, but I had such a long way to go. … I’m so grateful. I owe everything to the Tibetans. And anyone who gets a chance, if you pass it up, you’ll miss the greatest opportunity you’ll ever have. Thank you.”
Please pray that Mummy (Sister) Max Mathews may never ever be reborn in the lower realms, may she be immediately born in a pure land where she 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/).