February 2012: Dried food was distributed to about 2,550 of our Sera Je monks! No, not to celebrate Valentine’s Day but because our main kitchen will be closed during the coming two weeks Losar (Tibetan New Year) holidays.

Each monk received 2.5 kg of rice, 4 kg of flour and 0.5 liter of cooking oil. In total, we have distributed 6375 kg of rice, 10,200 kg of flour and 1275 liters of cooking oil!

A BIG Thank You to all the Sera Je Food Fund sponsors!

August 2011: Cherok Lama generously sponsored a new bread-making machine for the Sera Je Food Fund kitchen. This was offered on the occasion of his Rik-Chung ceremony in August of last year. 

This new machine has reduced the need for kitchen helpers (who are all monks studying in the monastery) by 50%. This means that these monks will have more time for their studies and practices!

Please enjoy this short video of the bread-making machine in action.

On the first day it managed to produce more than 800 loaves of bread for the day’s lunch in two hours, and again in the afternoon, 1,200 loads of bread for next day’s breakfast! This is a great improvement for the Sera Je Food Fund kitchen.

We also thank Cherok Lama for offering US$13,000 for a new refrigerator for the Sera Je Food Fund kitchen.

Animal Liberation Fund helped saved the lives of 120 yaks that were going to be killed in Nepal in 2011. December 2011: Geshe Jinpa from Kopan Monastery arranged for 120 yaks that were going to be killed to be purchased and taken to families who pledged to care for the yaks for the rest of their lives. The trip took over a week on foot and there will soon be a documentary released about the liberation. The fund offered US$7,715 to sponsor half of the 120 yaks, students from Singapore sponsored the other half. Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessed 120 giant pieces of cloth for the yaks to wear as blessing “strings.”

108 Yaks: A Journey of Love & Freedom, a 30-minute documentary, follows the project from its origins, from Geshe Jinpa receiving Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice to save the yaks, to the 19-day expedition driving the yaks across the Himalayan range of northeast Nepal to their remote sanctuary in the holy valley of Rolwaling.

November 2011: During Thanksgiving 25 turkeys were bought and liberated at Buddha Amitabha Pureland in Washington State.

October 2011: When Rinpoche heard how hundreds of thousands of animals in Nepal would be sacrificed during Dashain (a yearly, 15-day Hindu religious festival), Rinpoche immediately started to check what prayers and pujas should be done to help all the animals have a good rebirth as well as to help those who perform the sacrifices. Rinpoche then requested over 10,000 Sangha members from the three great monasteries and many other monasteries and nunneries to do extensive Medicine Buddha puja as well as nyung näs with strong dedications for all animals that are killed, especially those being sacrificed during Dashain as well as for those who do the killing. The cost of all the pujas was over US$15,000, which Lama Zopa Rinpoche and students sponsored.

June 2011: The Animal Liberation Fund donated US$25,000 to liberate two million lives, dedicated especially for the health and long life of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. This animal liberation was organized by Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore.

August 2010: A US$5,000 donation was given to the MAITRI Charitable Trust in India for their amazing ongoing work to save animals from harm.

His Holiness the Sakya Trizin with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, April 2012. Photo courtesy of Sakya Drolma Phodrang.April 2012: The Preserving the Lineage Fund sponsored initiations given by His Holiness the Sakya Trizin to many high lamas including Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Dhakpa Rinpoche, Dagri Rinpoche and others from the Sakya tradition, as well as many of the Sangha of the Sakya Monastery and Nunnery.

This is the fifth year of a series of initiations given by His Holiness the Sakya Trizin at his monastery in Dehradun, India. This is a rare and utterly precious opportunity to receive the entire collection of initiations from His Holiness the Sakya Trizin called Wangya Norbu Tangwa (Garlands of Jewels of Hundreds of Initiations).

The Preserving the Lineage Fund offered breakfast, lunch and dinner to more than 800 Sangha (including about 65 Gelug lamas) attending these most critical initiations, as well sponsorship of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin’s household and attendants.

An elaborate long life puja for His Holiness the Sakya Trizin is part of the event and offered at the end of the teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Preserving the Wangya Norbu Tangwa has become a matter of urgency as the lineage of the initiations had completely died out in the Gelug tradition. Initially, Rinpoche with other Gelug lamas, including Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, received the first half of these initiations from His Eminence Chobgye Trichen Rinpoche in 1991, but age and poor health stopped him from giving the transmissions in their entirety.

January 2012: Tenzin Ösel Hita visited Sera Je Monastery and made a point to check out the Sera Je Food Fund kitchen.

A Typical Day’s Food Offering for the Monks of Sera Je Monastery through the Sera Je Food Fund

Breakfast

1-2 pieces of large bread (10-12 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick)
Choice of Tibetan or Chai Tea

More photos of SJFF breakfast.

 Lunch

Tofu
Dahl
Rice or Bread
Vegetables
Fruit

More photos of SJFF lunch.

Dinner

Rice and curried vegetables
or noodles and vegetables
or thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup)

More photos of SJFF dinner.

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Tenzin Ösel Hita with monks at Sera Je Monastery.

The Sera Je Food Fund began in 1991 when Tenzin Ösel Hita, the reincarnation of Lama Yeshe, entered Sera Je Monastery in southern India at age six. It is customary for a monk’s sponsor to make offerings to all Sangha on the day of officially entering the monastery and Lama Zopa Rinpoche wanted the offering to be of the greatest practical benefit to the monastery itself. After discussion with the abbot of Sera Je Monastery, it was determined that the most beneficial offering would be to create a food fund whereby all of the monks at Sera Je Monastery could be offered quality meals for free. Out of his incredible compassion, Lama Zopa Rinpoche was not simply offering lunch on the day of Lama Osel Rinpoche’s entrance to the monastery but, without precedent, taking on the responsibility of providing meals to every monk at Sera Je for the rest of their lives.

Initially, the fund offered money to each monk for lunch. At that time there were 1,300 monks and the annual cost was about US$25,000.

It became apparent that it would be much easier for the monks to have the meals cooked and offered, so in 1997, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered US$25,000 for a new kitchen and began paying the salary of seven fulltime cooks. At that time there were 1,900 monks and the annual cost was about US$175,000.

In 1997, six years after starting the fund, Lama Zopa Rinpoche visited Sera Je Monastery. At that time, many of the older geshes, some with tears in their eyes, thanked Rinpoche and spoke of how the fund was benefiting the monastery. Monks could now attend all the morning debate sessions instead of taking time out to prepare meals. Additionally, the fund alleviated the great burden teachers carried while providing for students who had no resources.

In 1998, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Sera Je Food Fund took on the responsibility of offering dinner to each monk.

The Sera Je Food Fund supports 2,500 monks at Sera Je Monastery.

In 2003, in addition to offering lunch and dinner, breakfast began to be sponsored by the Sera Je Food Fund three months a year. At that time there were 2,300 monks receiving meals and the annual cost was US$240,000.

In 2008, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the Sera Je Food Fund took on the responsibility to offer three meals a day to all monks of Sera Je. Osel Labrang took over management on the ground, ensuring the quality of the food and managing all aspects of buying and preparing the food.

In 2012 In addition to offering all the meals to all the monks at Sera Je Monastery the Sera Je Food Fund also took on the responsibility to offer breakfast to the 800 monks who attend the Sera Je school.

In 2017 the fund became self-sufficient through an endowment fund. At the beginning of the year, the abbot and monks of Sera Je Monastery offered a long life puja to Lama Zopa Rinpoche to thank Rinpoche and the FPMT organization for this incredible offering made over a quarter of a century. At that time we discussed with the monastery that the endowment and ongoing management of the food fund now be managed entirely by Sera Je Monastery.

We have been in discussion to ensure that this transition is smooth and that the endowment and ongoing interest raised will be used exclusively for the food fund. The official handover of the project began in May 2017 and the endowment will be transferred over a period of a few years to ensure the transition is going well. Therefore the Sera Je Food Fund is now closed as an FPMT charitable project.

Supporting monks and nuns is one of the highest priorities for Lama Zopa Rinpoche and the FPMT organization, because the preservation of the Buddhadharma is dependent on the existence of Sangha.

We invite you to join us in developing the Supporting Ordained Sangha Fund which is offering support to monasteries, nunneries, and individual monks and nuns for food, accommodation, health care and education. This fund is not limited to any one institution and able to benefit many nunneries, monasteries and Sangha in need.

This Grand Hayagriva Puja was dedicated to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s quick recovery by all of the Sera Je Monastery monks in April 2011.