From September 23 to 26, 2026, Kalachakra Centre in Saint-Cosme, France, hosted a Teacher Development Service Seminar (TDSS) bringing together sixteen participants for four days of learning, reflection, and connection. Facilitated by senior Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) teachers Andy Wistreich and Annelies van der Heijden, the seminar was supported by a dedicated team of volunteers who helped foster a warm, supportive, and engaging learning environment.

2026 TDSS Students and facilitators Kalachakra Centre September 2026. Photo courtesy of  Kalachakra Centre’s Facebook page.

The success of this TDSS was made possible through the expertise, guidance, and dedication of senior facilitators Andy and Annelies. We extend our gratitude to both for their thoughtful leadership and commitment to supporting participants. This seminar also provided a valuable training opportunity for emerging facilitators. We welcome Ven. Thubten Jamyang and Ven. Tenzin Palmo as they prepare to lead future TDSS.

The 2026 TDSS marked a new phase in training and support for registered teachers, prospective teachers, facilitators, and meditation leaders across the FPMT network. Designed to accommodate diverse schedules while preserving the depth and warmth of in-person connection, the seminar, used a three-part learning format:

1. Pre-seminar online modules: Through the Maitripa online platform, participants could engage in self-paced foundational study delivered by Ven. Yonten and Namdrol Adams. Core topics included the ethical qualities and discipline of a Dharma teacher, adult learning styles, trauma-informed pedagogy, and inclusive facilitation practices.
2. In-person residential seminar: Held over four days at the peaceful Kalachakra Retreat Center, the residential gathering offered immersive discussions, peer sharing, and hands-on practicum sessions focused on practical teaching application.
3. Post-seminar reflection: A final integrative module encouraged ongoing reflection, journaling, and goal setting, helping participants carry their learning forward into their teaching environments.

Beyond developing practical teaching skills, the seminar created meaningful opportunities for teachers and students to connect, share personal reflections, learn from one another, and build lasting relationships with peers across the FPMT community.

2026 TDSS Students and facilitators Kalachakra Centre September 2026. Photo courtesy of  Kalachakra Centre’s Facebook page.

Ven. Tenzin Palmo shared: 

“The TDSS brought together a diverse group of people from different backgrounds and with varied experiences—both ordained and lay—all united by an interest in teaching and sharing the Dharma through effective approaches … we explored the nuances of helpful versus unhelpful teacher qualities, alongside different teaching and learning styles. Through interactive pair and group discussions, we formulated ideas, shared insights, and received feedback in a safe, supportive environment. Throughout the program, we were encouraged to view every activity through a dual lens: participate while evaluating each technique for our future facilitation toolkits.

“A full day spent designing an introductory Buddhist course highlighted the complexity of curriculum planning. It revealed a wide range of approaches, as well as the joys and challenges of small-group collaboration. On the final day, an emergent dialogue on ‘what we can do in a world that is falling apart’ brought challenging reflections, yet left us with a sense of hope and togetherness. At the start, we were cautioned that we might not leave with answers to every question—but we left with plenty of food for thought and a rich network of new connections.”

Ven. Lobsang Gyaltsen shared:

“I think I can safely say that there was a sense of connection between us, and it felt supportive. We heard new approaches that some of us will probably use in our future teaching. For example, we learned to build a course together, which many of us had never done before. It was challenging for some, but in the end everyone found a way to work together, and the results were very good. There were older teachers, newer ones, and aspiring teachers, and each of us could take something helpful from wherever we were.

“One benefit is that teachers come together, share, and learn from one another, which can help us find better ways to present the Dharma to Western audiences. I think learning to collaborate is very beneficial; it also brings mutual respect, humility, and more wisdom. Because the TDSS asks how we can share the Dharma effectively, it creates a special space to explore that question. As teachers, we can get caught in our habits and don’t always take the time to think deeply about these questions, so the seminar opens a window to do so. For new teachers, it can be very supportive, giving them methods to develop their teaching skills. For more experienced teachers, it offers new approaches and a chance to share with peers. Older teachers can share their experience, and newer teachers can bring fresh perspectives.”

Participant Josep Manresa commented: 

“After this seminar, I will no longer feel alone when preparing courses, teaching them, or sharing the Dharma… because I will carry with me the inspiration, the tools, the skills, the humanity, the kindness, and all the other richness that we have shared during these four days at the Saint-Cosme Kalachakra Center. I will no longer feel alone because I now know that there are other people like me who are also engaged in preparing courses, teaching them and who care about finding the best way to share the Dharma.”

Participant Tahlia Lin said:

“Annelies and Andy guided us with the utmost care, wisdom, and professional expertise. We explored many key concepts related to teaching and sharing the Dharma within the FPMT framework. Through group discussions, course planning exercises, and the development of essential soft skills for “holding the space” for students, we gained a wealth of practical tools and insights. Participants openly shared their ideas, experiences, and perspectives, which greatly enriched the learning process for everyone. I left the training with renewed motivation, greater confidence, and a very joyful mind.”

Read here to find out more about either hosting or attending a Teacher Development Service Seminar or email the FPMT Service Seminar Coordinator on  fpmtss@fpmt.org

With gratitude to the entire TDSS team led by Wendy Ridley for their tremendous efforts in organizing this seminar.

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.

Ven. Roger Kunsang and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, ILTK, Italy October 2017.

Study Buddhism, a project of the Berzin Archives, is releasing a multi-part interview with Ven. Roger Kunsang. Ven. Roger has been a member of the FPMT Inc. Board of Directors since 1989. He served as CEO of FPMT Inc. from 2005 to 2026, and is now FPMT’s Interim Executive Director and Senior Advisor. In 1986, he became attendant and secretary to Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche. For the next 37 years, until Rinpoche passed away in April 2023, he lived and traveled with Rinpoche 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Four videos have been released so far, with more to come over the next few weeks. In these first videos, we hear Ven. Roger’s personal journey that landed him at his first Kopan Course in 1974; his decision to become a monk; the life of the early Western monks and nuns in India and Nepal; and an extremely moving personal account of serving as Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s attendant for nearly forty years. We invite you to enjoy this ongoing interview series, and we truly rejoice in Ven. Roger’s life of service, devotion, and effort to help make FPMT the organization it is today. 

Please watch the most recently released video, “I Lived With a Bodhisattva for 40 Years.”

The Study Buddhism channel features interviews with the world’s leading Buddhist masters, practitioners, and scholars.

Please also enjoy a recent interview with Ven. Roger discussing his fifty years in robes, conducted by International Mahayana Institute Director, Ven. Thubten Chokyi. 

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.

Scott Brusso was among the Western students who met Lama Thubten Yeshe in the early 1970s. He ordained, led the monks at Kopan Monastery, and served as spiritual program coordinator (SPC) at Chenrezig Institute and Tara House in Australia, where he also taught East and West psychology at Lama Yeshe’s request. After Lama Yeshe passed away in 1984, Scott returned to Chicago and built a career in the financial markets. Even in that environment, he never let go of the strength of Lama Yeshe and what he had learned. Scott’s life shows how the Dharma can be brought into the West, into any situation, without relying on Buddhist terminology, just as Lama Yeshe taught.

As part of our fiftieth anniversary celebration, Scott shares his pioneer story. What follows is largely in his own words.

Scott Brusso at Chenrezig Institute, Australia, 1979. Photo courtesy of Scott Brusso.

Something Was Missing

I can’t speak for other people, but I had a very different lifestyle from most of the people I grew up with. I was born in 1951 on the north side of Chicago, into a normal family with no religion.

When I was about five, I remember thinking about reincarnation, though I didn’t know the word. Just that people don’t end at this life but go on from life to life. When somebody finally told me what it was called, I was very happy, because it gave a name to something that was already inside me. I also used to ask myself, “Am I in somebody’s thumb? Is there a whole world inside my thumb?” Years later, when we learned about the body mandala, the tantric practice of seeing the body as a universe in itself, that question came back to me. So when I heard these teachings, it was like going home. It had always been there.

I was a pretty good kid for the most part, with a lot of energy; school didn’t make much sense to me. I didn’t know what I wanted to be. I just knew something was missing, and I always had the energy to find out what it was.

When I was about seven, or a little older, I had a very interesting experience. A lot of kids have this: you’re half-asleep, about to fall asleep, and you think there might be a witch outside the window. I felt that, and then it wasn’t a witch. I entered a timeless state, which I would call great bliss today. I had no sense of time, and I have almost never felt anything like it since. Later I came to think it was a blessing from Vajrayogini, a female Buddha. 

In my teens, I took up karate, and alongside it, hatha yoga, and I started combining that with my own kind of meditation. I felt there was much more to life than what the modern world offered.

At about nineteen, I picked up a friend in Tacoma, Washington, and we drove down to San Francisco with my two German Shepherds. Why San Francisco? Honestly, I don’t know. I just had a feeling. I had everything I owned in a Volkswagen van: a bicycle, a little TV, my personal things. One night my friend asked whether we should put the dogs in the van to protect everything. I said no; I wasn’t putting the dogs in the car overnight. In the morning I heard construction outside, looked out, and couldn’t find my van. It had been stolen, with everything inside. And I felt a deep sense of relief—I felt free! There’s always a little worry in your mind when you go to bed and when you get up, and now it was gone. Only later could I connect that feeling to renunciation, when you learn in practice about letting go of attachment.

One evening in San Francisco I went to the beach with some friends. The waves picked up, and we all got soaked. When I got home, I realized I didn’t have my keys, so I went up to the roof to wait until morning. The temperature dropped, and because I was completely wet, I was very cold. Somehow, I sat there meditating and became aware of the heat inside my body. I concentrated on that inner heat. Years later, when I learned inner heat meditation (tummo), I remembered that night on the roof in San Francisco. After learning the practice, I felt that I must have learned it in a previous life.

While I was there, I was fortunate to take teachings from Suzuki Roshi. I was kind of a hippie, but mostly I was training in martial arts for tournaments, and through my Japanese teachers I was involved in Japantown. I didn’t have a real direction other than that. Then one day I was at the apartment of a girl I was dating, who I believe was either an assistant or a manager to the band Santana. Behind where I was sitting was a big shelf of medical books, about thirty of them in a series. I opened one and started reading, and I immediately felt a compassion for the world. A kind of bodhichitta experience. I also thought that studying all those books would take me forever, and that there might be a different way to heal people. That was a strong catalyst. I needed to go off and find something.

I got rent-free lodging at a macramé factory, where I worked in exchange, and put some money together to reach the Seychelles Islands. I had heard about them and thought, “That’s where I should do my retreat.” So I took a boat from Brindisi to Athens, spent some time there, and then went to Ios, where I spent time in a cave. Then it was Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, heading for southern India so I could reach the Seychelles.

Around 1972, I got off a bus in Dharamsala.

I had never heard of Tibet, but there was a Tibetan Buddhist there, and he gave me some direction.

That was really the start of that journey.

Meeting the Dharma

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Scott Brusso at Kopan Course, 1974. Photo courtesy of LYWA.

Every morning there were three classes at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, at nine, ten, and eleven to twelve, all with Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey. There were about twenty-five or thirty Westerners, such as Jon Landaw, Alex Berzin, and Ven. Sangye Khadro.

I wasn’t interested in the Seychelles anymore after I got to Dharamsala. That was it—my answers were lying right there in those teachings. I was already committed that I had found something!

Yogi, Venerable Jampa Kunchog, came to Dharamsala some time after I did, and from then on we were like Dharma brothers.

We stayed in lower Dharamsala, walked up to the Library every day, took the classes, and went back down for lunch. It was so mystical. The mountains, big horns sounding over the whole valley, and His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama leading huge pujas outside. It was like being in Tibet. It was so phenomenal! At the end of 1973 the Library went on break for the month, and many people went to Bodhgaya for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Kalachakra initiation. Yogi and I went too. Then I heard that Lama Yeshe was giving a talk at a Japanese temple, at night. So we went. It was very mystical, and with Geshe Dhargyey’s blessing we both decided to attend the sixth Kopan course that spring.

After the sixth Kopan course, in May 1974 Yogi and I took Lama Yeshe’s Heruka Vajrasattva initiation and teachings —from which came the book Becoming Vajrasattva. The Tantric Path of Purification.— We then joined the Kopan group retreat. The group retreat was about twenty-five or thirty students. Ven. Sangye Khadro sat across from me and Yogi was next to me. At the conclusion of your 100,000 mantras plus other requirements, you could leave, but I didn’t want to leave. Where was there to go? It was the most fantastic situation I’ve ever had! So, I stayed about five months, almost a double retreat.

Lama Yeshe with newly ordained monks at Tushita Meditation Centre in 1976. Among them are Scott Brusso, with a khata in the front row. Photo courtesy of LYWA.

After the retreat Yogi and I both asked Lama Yeshe if we could get ordained, and he was fine with that, and sent me to see my parents; he said, “I think I want you to go back and see your parents first, to make sure.” So while the others were ordained, I went back to the U.S. My parents were fine and had no problem with it, but it delayed my ordination.

In July and August of 1974 the Lamas went to the U.S. for their first international tour lectures. They gave a talk in Madison, Wisconsin, and I had sent my parents there, they were completely flabbergasted and enthralled. While I was in the U.S., the Lamas were giving courses in Nashville, Indiana, and I brought my friends and talked them into coming to Kopan with me.

I received novice ordination from H.H. Trijang Rinpoche in 1976, and my full vows were from Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche. After the ordination Yogi and I lived at Kopan, where Lama Lhundrup was kind enough to teach us debate. Yogi and I were both very stubborn; and we kept arguing and debating all through the years, right up until he passed away. It was no different from those early days at Kopan.  Yogi, Venerable Jampa Kunchog, passed away in April 2026.

Ordination of Scott Brusso, Tushita Meditation Centre, 1976. Photo courtesy of LYWA.

During this time Lama Yeshe made me the geko, so for a time I was in charge of the monks at Kopan. Here I did a long retreat in a house on the hillside, and when Geshe Sopa came from Madison to teach the Bodhicharyavatara at Kopan, I helped with the preparations. It was very special to just be able to sit with him there for hours and hours. Geshe Sopa was one of the most renowned Buddhist scholars in the world, and he was one of Lama Yeshe’s main teachers.

Ninth Meditation Course, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Lama Yeshe and Scott Brusso, 9th Meditation Course, Kopan, 1976. Photo courtesy LYWA.

Offering Service in Australia

At the end of 1978 Lama Yeshe asked me to go to Australia, to Chenrezig Institute, founded in 1974,  as SPC and in charge of the first Western residential sangha.

There were a few different communities on a couple of hundred acres: local people, monks, and nuns. Besides the Dharma teachings, we offered courses in medicine, tai chi, and yoga, things that weren’t being offered there, so that people could find other ways in and other ways to connect with themselves.

Scott Brusso during a meditation course in Bendigo (Australia). Photo courtesy of Scott Brusso.

In September 1979 Lama Yeshe conferred the Vajrayogini initiation and gave teachings on the tantric practice of Vajrayogini to a group of students preparing for retreat at Chenrezig Institute in Australia, and I led the Vajrayogini retreat for about twenty-five students.

After a couple of years at Chenrezig Institute, Lama Yeshe sent me to Melbourne, to Tara House, which is now Tara Institute. A geshe had been sent out to be the resident teacher, and I was helping give teachings too. Every week I went to Monash University to teach about the psychology of the mind. I also went around Australia and New Zealand giving East and West psychology courses with Patrick Jansen, a Jungian analyst and a student of Dora Kalff. We put together an East and West understanding of the mind, looking at what was close to being the same and what was different. People liked us, and Lama Yeshe was very happy, because he enjoyed working with Dora Kalff.

In 1981, Lama Yeshe bestowed his historic teachings from a two-week Mahamudra retreat in Australia, which were eventually published in Mahamudra, How to Discover Our True Nature. The retreat was held at Sandhurst Town, on land that Ian Green had donated for courses, and I was the retreat leader. There was no Great Stupa there then; the place was just called Sandhurst Town. I would lead the meditations and take Lama Yeshe back and forth.

Scott Brusso leading meditation during the Mahamudra retreat in Bendigo, Australia, 1981. Photo courtesy LYWA.

The townspeople were invited for a whole day on a Saturday. At a committee meeting the week before, someone asked Lama Yeshe, “What if it rains?” I expected him to say we’d have umbrellas or big tents. Instead he said, “Don’t worry, it won’t rain.” They asked, “But what if it does?” and he said, “Don’t worry.” I had complete faith in Lama Yeshe and believed anything he said. But in the car going back I said, “Did you have to say ‘I guarantee?’ Couldn’t you just say, ‘We should be okay?'” He turned to me, his eyes went big, and he said, “You doubt me?” I didn’t doubt him. I was worried about what other people would think. This was my Lama, and I wanted everybody else to believe in him too. I believe that created some negative karma for me, and I’m still purifying it! On Saturday morning of the retreat week, the sky was full of thick clouds. I came to get Lama Yeshe ready to go over to Sandhurst Town, and he was on the little front veranda, doing a fire puja. A short while later there was not one cloud in the sky. No rain, nothing. The whole day was clear and beautiful. That was so powerful for me.

Lama Yeshe, with Scott Brusso, bestowing his teaching “A Letter to a King” in Australia, 1981. Photo courtesy LYWA.

The same year Lama Yeshe led a puja at Tara House, in Melbourne. Two days later he gave a weekend course to eighty people on Nagarjuna’s Letter to a King. During the teaching I was picking random questions from the audience out of a basket. While he was answering one question, I was picking out the next. I read it then decided it wasn’t very good. So I put it back and went to choose another. This was all quite invisible to everyone else and done below the lip of the basket. But Lama stopped in mid-sentence, turned to me and said, “Don’t discriminate! Give it to me now—that one!”

Zong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe (to his left). In the front row, from right: Scott Brusso, Max Mathews, and Peter Kedge. Tushita Meditation Centre, First Enlightened Experience course, 1982. Photo courtesy of LYWA.

First visit of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama in Australia, here with Scott Brusso. Australia, 1982. Photo courtesy of Scott Brusso.

The year after, in June 1982, was the “First Enlightened Experience”, a landmark gathering organized by Lama Yeshe in Bodhgaya to offer special initiations, transmissions, and retreats for Western monks, nuns, and lay practitioners. By then I was also part of the committee that brought His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama to Australia for the first time in 1982. It was a quiet, low-profile visit, but a lot of people were working on it.

Lama Yeshe with Scott Brusso and Piero Cerri in Bodhgaya, India, during the First Enlightened Experience in 1982. Photo by Ina Van Delden. Courtesy of LYWA.

After almost five years in Australia, Lama Yeshe wanted me to go to Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa  in Italy, to be the SPC there. He also wanted to send me to Vajrapani Institute in Santa Cruz, but because I was so attached to Australia I didn’t go and I think this really impacted my karma negatively. 

Meanwhile, I was giving a one-month course in Australia, I kept sensing something about my mother. When the retreat ended I called her, and she said everything was great. I went back to Melbourne and it kept coming back to me, so I called again from Tara House. “No, I’m good, everything is good.” It didn’t stop, so I made the decision to fly back to Chicago. Not long after I arrived, she became seriously ill. I spent the next year taking care of her, and she passed away at the end of that year (1983).

In 1984, I was in California, visiting a friend, when Lama Yeshe passed away on March 3. I went to Vajrapani Institute, where Lama Zopa Rinpoche and others were. I sat meditating next to Lama Yeshe’s body all day.

At that point I was still a monk, but I was living pretty much as a Westerner. I was still going places and giving teachings, at friends’ centers and at yoga centers. As time went on, it became apparent to me that maybe I should make a change and become, essentially, a Westerner. If I had listened to Lama Yeshe and gone to Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa or Vajrapani, I don’t know if that would have happened…

Lama Yeshe

Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings were a little hard on Westerners sometimes when they started hearing about death and dying and making use of your human rebirth and so on—not for me. I was enthralled because of Dharamsala too, but then Lama Yeshe came in. He’d pick just the right time to come in and give a talk, and everything would change. He’d be saying something, and then all of a sudden, he’d break into laughter.

I remember a student was saying something about being an actor, and Lama said, “I’m an actor, you know?” and this is what Lama Yeshe could express. He could manifest differently to everybody because of that power, of his strength. Coming from emptiness, coming from the empty nature, he can become anything. Lama Yeshe could change, like an actor, into anything at any time to give teachings. No matter how few words he had, he got the meaning across. Lama would manifest differently to others. He could get through to everybody, no matter who it was. 

We’d be inside the meditation tents and there would be 200 people there, many of them were doubtful, but Lama Yeshe had them all in hysterics. He’d get the ideas across. If his words weren’t coming out exactly right, he would start acting it or something. Lama Yeshe had the power of communication. The meaning of the Tibetan words and the Sanskrit words are pretty clear in their language, but Western language is very different. So this is something Lama Yeshe, even with his imperfect English he learned which types of Western terminology and expressions might evoke a proper intellectual understanding. We need to go past our intellectual understanding and have deep realization but these are the steps to that. It’s leading the way. He can’t give us the realizations, but he can lead the way with this. And so he was very powerful; his understanding of the human mind was so complete. I’ve taken teachings from every different Tibetan tradition, as well as from Zen and others in my life. I’ve never been with a lama like Lama Yeshe, my root guru, and I’ve never had things happen to me like they happened with him. And as well, with Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Lama Yeshe, Tsenshab Serkong Rinpoche, and Scott Brusso at the 10th Meditation Course at Kopan Monastery in 1977. Photo by Jan-Paul Kool. Courtesy of LYWA.

Lama Yeshe had no resonant titles, Lama was simply Lama Yeshe. He looked like a simple monk, and yet he was unbelievable. Lama Yeshe was just beyond belief. I’d never been in that kind of energy before. The whole gompa was filled, and Lama Yeshe controlled the entire environment. It was a completely mystical experience for me. 

I can say that every single time Lama Yeshe spoke I would have an awakening, taking place inside my mind. It was phenomenal. When he gave teachings, they woke my mind up to a tremendous degree, and I received them live. Even today I use some of the things he said, because he was so clear. He would say your mind is like a mirror. A mirror can reflect, but when there’s dirt on it, the reflection is distorted. The dirt and the mirror are not one, so you can clean it, and then you see clearly. Or your mind is like the ocean. When storms come, the waves are thirty or forty feet high and you can’t see anything. But go down into the depths and it’s calm and clear. That exists within ourselves in every moment of our lives.

One day at Kopan, Lama Yeshe came to give a talk, and somehow I found myself up in his room, talking to him. He held my head like Tibetans do touching foreheads. I never felt our foreheads touch; I only felt something like an electric current. It was very powerful. Years later I asked him and he said: “Psychic energy, darling!”

A note from Lama Yeshe to Scott Brusso: “To a successful monk.” Photo courtesy of Scott Brusso.

At one point Lama Yeshe was teaching a course near Santa Cruz, California, and I went and stayed with him. Not as his attendant; I just came and stayed. I believe it was then that he gave me a damaru, which I still have. On another visit he gave me a photograph of himself, which is on my mantel. On the back he signed it, “To a successful monk.” At that stage I was. I didn’t stay one, but at that stage I had done enough retreats and teaching that I hadn’t deteriorated badly.

In 1974 during Lama Yeshe’s Heruka Vajrasattva initiation and teachings  I came out of the retreat. I was just trying to stay in the present, right there, and in a small section of the Kopan library there was a sandbox, like the ones used for sandplay therapy, and I saw a drawing of little places set out all over the world. “What is this?” I asked Lama Yeshe. “This is where I’m going to have centers.” He had a vision of what FPMT was to become all over the world. My mind was blown. He was so far beyond.

His name, Yeshe, means wisdom, like primordial wisdom in Tibetan, and Lama Yeshe was the embodiment of the Buddha’s wisdom. Lama Yeshe had the wisdom, the wisdom of Mahamudra, the wisdom of the Vajrayana teachings, the wisdom of Dzogchen. That’s all the same wisdom, the complete wisdom of emptiness and understanding. 

Looking back at that little sandbox with these things inside of it, I’m now thinking…everything to do with FPMT today, that it exists, is because of Lama Yeshe.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and Scott Brusso at the First Enlightened Experience in 1982. Photo by Ina Van Delden. Courtesy of LYWA.

Hearing teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche was on a different level. They weren’t on the intellectual level of “this is point one, this is point two, this is point three.” In a one-month course, point one might take him three weeks to finish, at two sessions a day. The sessions were supposed to last a couple of hours, but he wasn’t on the level of conventional time, as many of the older students can tell you.

What it did inside was a transformation of the consciousness. He would take you to levels inside yourself. The teaching was a journey inward. I believe he stayed on a subject for such long periods because in a course of 200 people, some students pick things up very quickly and others take longer and longer. He would try to transform everybody in the room, finding every different angle. That was more than fifty years ago, and the impact has never left me, because it hits on such a deep level. That is the difference when teachings come from someone’s own practice, and his practice was continuous.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Scott Brusso on the roof of the old Gompa, Kopan. Photo courtesy of Scott Brusso.

I was with Lama Zopa Rinpoche many, many times, including walking in the mountains of the Solu Khumbu region, and he was never different. Walking, sitting in meditation, praying, eating, it was always the same. Everybody knew he hardly slept, if at all.

We learned how to act as monks, physically, by watching him. His hand mudras and gestures in pujas were a thing of beauty. He was teaching us through his actions, not only through what he was saying at that moment.

Once, for reasons I don’t know, he gave me a hat. Most lamas wear yellow hats, but the Nyingma and Sakya wear red, and this one was red, because in his previous life, as the Lawudo Lama, he was a Nyingma yogi. The hat had been stored away for a long time, so it was wrinkled and not perfectly straight. My interpretation was that my mind was not straight. My mind was crooked.

Scott Brusso with the hat donated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Photo courtesy of Scott Brusso.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche used to like to recite a prayer on bodhichitta, and I think about it a lot. As I remember it:

The precious bodhichitta, the cause of all happiness and success—may it be born within all living beings’ minds, and within our minds, in an instant. And anything that has been lost before, may it be brought back again.

Coming Home to Chicago

Scott Brusso at Lawudo, 1977. Photo Courtesy of LYWA.

I was back in the U.S. (1984) like somebody who came from another planet, in my mid-thirties. Other people had a big resume, with university and internships and jobs, and I had nothing. Because of Lama Yeshe and the power of the teachings, I was able to move forward.

As a monk, and even when I was living in the city of Melbourne, you’re pretty much protected. Here you have to find your way. I think my years as a monk are why I was able to meet the challenges of Western life. In Buddhism, everything is what we make of it, and when we learn that the Dharma has a way to work with all these situations, every one of them can be worked with. That was Lama Yeshe’s teaching, always: we can learn from the situation.

I married, started a family, and built a career in the financial markets, mostly foreign exchange. I had learned a little about foreign exchange intuitively, from living in different countries.

On my first day on the trading floor at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, there were different pits for each currency, and a board up on the wall where the prices change. It hit me. It’s very strange, because I’ve spent a lot of my time praying for peace, happiness, and freedom from suffering for all beings. And here many people buy something at five dollars and pray it goes to six, or sell it at six and pray it goes to five. It was strange to see all that mental energy being spent that way. It helped me keep a lot of perspective.

After that my life was like a tornado. When the winds of karma catch up to you, they blow you in certain ways. I traveled all over the world for work and didn’t run into the Lamas much. Chicago has never been a great center for spirituality. For some reason I don’t understand, there hasn’t been much here over the years, and when the Lamas came to the U.S., they went up to Madison, or to California, or to New York. Nobody told me to open a center in Chicago, and I didn’t. I went by what the Lamas do: the Buddha only taught when people asked him, and teachings happen when people ask for them. 

Lama Yeshe taught that we can bring the Dharma to the West without leaning on Buddhist terminology. When I think about my own life, in the middle of the financial markets, I’d say that’s right: in a way, that is what has been happening. Lama Yeshe’s teaching was always that we can learn from whatever situation comes our way. He said that poisons can be turned into medicine. That’s what he taught everywhere he went, even when he was walking around.

The very basics of what I had learned, and the strength of Lama Yeshe—those I never let go of.

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama with Scott Brusso, in Madison Wisconsin 1998. Scott recalls that, as His Holiness was leaving the parliament building, He walked past the waiting crowd and came directly over to greet him. A similar encounter took place in August 1999, when His Holiness visited Chicago’s Field Museum and stopped to bless Scott and his son Zack. Photo courtesy of Scott Brusso.

“An action is considered to be a part of Dharma practice solely on the criterion of its effect on the mind. If delusions are eradicated and sufferings diminished by what we do, then this is Dharma. Thus even if we spend most of our time working inside an office in a crowded city or doing menial labor and the like, we can still be practicing Dharma. The essential thing is that our delusions decrease in strength. Any type of action can be transformed into a Dharma practice if it is done with the proper motivation. If we keep in mind the importance of working to eliminate our ignorance so that we can more effectively help others overcome their suffering, whatever we do is Dharma.” – Lama Yeshe, in Wisdom Energy: Basic Buddhist Teachings, Wisdom Publication, 1976

We are grateful to Scott Brusso for sharing this story as part of FPMT’s fiftieth anniversary celebration, and we would love to hear from other pioneer students with memories of their own to share. Were you there at the beginning? Do you have a story to share about how you met Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche, or about the impact they have had on your life? We would love to hear from you.

Please explore all of the resources we have compiled related to FPMT history, and use the hashtag #50YearsFPMT in your social media posts so we can all be connected.

Foundation for the Preservation of the 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.

FPMT Global Mani Retreat (GMR) Coordinator Selina Foong and members of the GMR team had the privilege of meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama last Saturday, October 17. Harald Weichhart -GMR multimedia manager and FPMT media resource manager shares more about the audience in his own words.

Global Mani Retreat team, Dharamsala, October 17, 2026. Photo by Ven Tenzin Choklang.

On Saturday, October 17, 2026, ten representatives of the Global Mani Retreat team traveled to Dharamsala from all corners of the world for an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

1. Dale Davis, FPMT, Inc. board member
2. Selina Foong, GMR coordinator and FPMT regional coordinator for East and Southeast Asia
3. Frances Howland, GMR assistant coordinator and FPMT regional coordinator for South Asia
4. Ven. Thubten Gyalmo, resident Western teacher at the Mongolian FPMT center Ganden Do Ngag Shedrup Ling 
5. Shanti Yajnik, co-director at Tushita Meditation Centre, India 
6. Andrey Lomonosov, director at Ganden Tendar Ling, Russia
7. Cristian Cowan, GMR sessions for FPMT North America and spiritual program coordinator at Vajrapani Institute, California
8. Irina Hueso Roldán, GMR Spanish parallel series and FPMT national coordinator for Spain
9. Harald Weichhart, GMR multimedia manager and FPMT media resource manager
10. Jasmine Mohtashami, GMR graphic designer and people and community manager at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London

On behalf of the entire FPMT organization, the group offered the Mani practice, together with one hundred Shakyamuni Buddha statues, for His Holiness’s good health and long life.

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama with Selina Foong, Dharamsala, October 17, 2026. Photo courtesy of OHHDL

Harald says: “Seeing His Holiness the Dalai Lama in person is a rare opportunity. It was a great honor to be part of the Global Mani Retreat group in McLeod Ganj and to represent FPMT as we offered His Holiness this year’s 100 Buddha statues.

“At 91, His Holiness looked to be in good health and seemed to defy his age. He does not speak with those attending, but each of us could place a personal request with him. Simply holding His Holiness’s hands is an experience of a lifetime.

“The atmosphere at the temple was magical. By coincidence, the Geshema graduation ceremony was happening at the same time, with the nuns debating in full force all around us.

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama with Dale Davis, FPMT, Inc. board member, Dharamsala, October 17, 2026. Photo courtesy of OHHDL

“Our group was wonderful and full of joyful people, and everybody connected right away, whether we had met before or not. Many of us had to overcome real obstacles just to get there. Andrey topped them all. His flight was canceled, then airport security held him over his bell and he missed the next flight by five minutes. He traveled via Amritsar instead and arrived just in time. Clearly, it was meant to be.”

Upcoming Teachings

Khandro Tseringma Rinpoche will offer a teaching on Sunday, October 25, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (UTC). The topic is “How to Generate Chenrezig in Daily Life.” The closing session will take place on Saturday, November 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (UTC).

You are welcome to follow all the details of the Global Mani Retreat on our webpage and to join the Facebook Group. You can send your mantra count through this form until Monday, November 2, 2026, 8:00 a.m. (UTC)

With under two weeks left in the retreat, the numbers reported are already outstanding! We look forward to sharing the grand total at the Closing Session on Saturday November 7th.

With gratitude to Harald Weichhart for sharing this story, and to the entire GMR team led by Selina Foong for their tremendous efforts in organizing this global online retreat.

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.

Animal blessing at Tara Institute, Oct 4, 2026. Photo courtesy of TI.

On October 4, 2026, Tara Institute in Australia celebrated World Animal Day, an international day of action for animal welfare. The community gathered for an animal blessing ceremony, an animal liberation, and candle offerings for lost or ill pets. Their event reflects the wishes of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who has taught extensively on benefiting animals.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche wished for FPMT centers to host animal blessing events to bring new people to the Dharma and to benefit all the animals. In his words: ” The pets and the people get so much benefit from these events. This is a new thing that I would like to start. As much as possible for there to be animal blessing events when I visit the centers.”

The Dharma community offered an animal blessing ceremony led by Geshe Lobsang, an animal liberation, and candle offerings in remembrance of lost or ill pets. Forty dogs, one cat, and one chicken took part in the animal liberation, and twelve containers of worms were given a second chance to live out their natural lives.

Animal blessing ceremony led by Geshe Lobsang, Photo courtesy of TI.

By holding these practices, the community at Tara Institute is helping to realize the wish of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche and his vast vision for the animals’ lives. Lama Zopa Rinpoche shared about animal blessings: “The purpose is to bring peace to the animals and to make their lives meaningful, so sooner or later they can be fully awakened and achieve highest happiness.” 

There are many ways we can help animals, including rescuing them from untimely death, caring for their health, and helping plant imprints that purify their karma, create merit, and become the causes that can ripen their future enlightenment.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has explained the benefits of the practice of animal liberation: “By doing prayers and chanting powerful mantras for the animals, they receive a higher rebirth and liberation. This practice purifies immediately the oceans of samsaric suffering.”

Lama Zopa Rinpoche blessing a dog at an animal blessing in Moscow, Russia, 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.

Tara Institute also raised funds for the FPMT Animal Liberation Fund as part of its World Animal Day activities. The fund has supported ongoing animal liberations throughout the FPMT organization for many years, including weekly liberations and blessings. The Animal Liberation Fund and has also offered substantial support to projects that rescue and benefit animals like Kopan Monastery’s Animal Liberation Sanctuary, and others.

Animal Liberation Resources Available

FPMT Education Services has also published a number of prayer and practice resources that are available to engage in animal liberation practice at home, including ebooks and PDFs, a printable liberation bug catcher tool designed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and audio recordings. .

Resources for Benefitting Animals 

• Advice page for benefiting animals
• Recitations for Animals audio album
• Charity to Ants PDF
• Animal Liberation Tools
• Liberating Animals from the Danger of Death PDF
• Blessing the Animals in the Ocean PDF
• Liberating Animals eBook & PDF
• The Five Powerful Mantras for Liberating Sentient Beings from the Lower Realms:
• Wish Fulfillment for All Animals: Their Happiness and Liberation—Powerful Buddha Names and Mantras and the Benefits of Reciting Them

Thanks to Tara Institute and to everyone who takes part in these practices, helping Rinpoche’s wishes for benefiting animals become a reality. 

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has taught extensively on methods for benefiting sick and dying animals. You can find Rinpoche’s advice on the “Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche” page and also on Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive’s“Lama Zopa Rinpoche Online Advice Book”   and “Benefiting Animals”

To learn more about FPMT’s Animal Liberation Fund, which directly supports Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes to protect animals from danger and expose them to the Dharma, and to offer support to ongoing animal liberation activities, visit the Animal Liberation Fund page online.

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.

Our latest newsletter is now available!

In addition to precious advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, we are happy to share many causes for rejoicing from last month, and we hope you will take the time to enjoy news and updates from around the world, including a roundup of recent beneficial activities supported by FPMT Charitable Projects.

You will also find information on new study and practice resources and opportunities available to you, and important changes in the organization. 

Please read this month’s newsletter in its entirety. 

Have the e-News translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page.

Jamyang Buddhist Centre (JBC) sits in the heart of bustling London, with around 10 residential volunteers at any time and a network of about 100 more, local and remote, who serve in roles from hospitality to tech to blog writing. Hundreds of students join its teachings in person and online, and new volunteers are constantly onboarding. To serve this community well, JBC created a new role in 2025 dedicated to the center’s volunteers and community life, and welcomed its first People & Community Manager, Jasmine Mohtashami.

Here she shares what she has learned in the role so far, and what it might offer centers across the FPMT mandala.

Ven. Thubten Drolma, JBC executive director, with Miguel Espinosa, JBC carpenter and artist, and Robin Bath, JBC trustee. JBC, 2026. Photo by JBC London.

What Prompted JBC to Create this Role?

Maintaining relationships with volunteers and community members takes sustained investment. Other volunteers often did this work, but people move on, roles go vacant, and communication styles differ. Investing in community is investing in the Dharma, and a center’s long-term success depends on healthy, responsible, and transparent relationships with its volunteers and community members.

What Turns a Visitor into a Community Member?

A visitor becomes a community member at two key stages: first, when they’re new, before they’ve started courses or formed a relationship with the Dharma; and later, when they begin offering service, a time when interpersonal challenges can cut their time at the center short.

The answer often lies hidden – how many parts of someone’s identity are we speaking to? Are we making space for communal vulnerability, for productive tension, for random joy? Are we able to hold the business of tight deadlines amidst Lama visits, while also sitting with community members in crisis (and take care of ourselves at the same time, knowing when to say no and take a day off)?
Investing in community work is fundamentally investing in the Dharma, ensuring that centers continue to benefit beings for many more years.

When I first discovered the Dharma, it struck me how different Buddhist organisations that I visited had different kinds of communities: in some of them, people practiced together daily, taking on much responsibility amidst busy lives, travelling great distances to see each other, helping each other move and taking care of one another during hospital visits.
In others, people met once a year, and communication was fragmented. There was a lot of movement in service positions, groups that folded, and people who left the dharma entirely was normalized.

The Dharma was wonderful everywhere – but the quality of community was different.

And the more I started becoming engaged at Jamyang London Buddhist Centre (JBC), studying the Exploring Buddhism course and volunteering for Lama visits, the more I asked myself: How can I safeguard this incredible community I have found?
And when the new position of People & Community Manager was advertised at JBC I knew that my spiritual home too understood that community doesn’t sustain itself – it needs tending.

I was thrilled to join the team at JBC. Having worked in campaigning and volunteer management before, I took note of what made Dharma community engagement seamless and sustainable:

• Transparency and support in offering service. A way in to the center was accessibly advertised and meaningful in shaping the center and held throughout the experience. Resources were designed bottom-up and frequently updated in collaboration with the people they were for.
• Professional and kind communication, time-sensitive and personal, suiting individuals accessibility needs.
• Spaces to be other than “student”, but together – affinity groups such as LGBTQ+ and BIPOC spaces which are easy ways in; or informal, creative spaces in the Kindness Cafe, easy ways to make friends and ask questions on how others engage with the Dharma.
• An openness to name tensions. People are people, and each obstacle can be used on the path, individually and as a community. Fair and clear pathways for listening and resolution help people find a way forward. This is the thinking behind our new Wellbeing Framework, which sets out how we raise concerns, resolve disagreements, and repair harm with care — and which other centers are welcome to draw on for their own communities.

But I want to be honest about something here too – naming tension well is harder than it sounds. People are, understandably, wary of anything that resembles a process, because being asked to “attend” something can feel like an accusation before a word is even spoken. So in practice, we might not name the wellbeing framework or walk through formal steps, which still let people know their voice is fairly valued. Instead, we make space for listening, and where it feels right, gently probe into mind training: whether the situation is really as fixed as it appears, what our own part in it might have been, where compassion for a flawed and struggling person might open something up.

Not everyone wants to talk. Not every conversation resolves. Sometimes people aren’t in a place where continuing to engage is safe or right for them. But being genuinely available, and not shying away from difficult conversations, has made a real difference. The aim was never to keep everyone in the room, or to keep every relationship comfortable – it’s to engage compassionately, safely, and in a way that means the center responded responsibly when it mattered.

What Are the Main Responsibilities of the People & Community Manager?

• HR for staff
• Holding the relationship with our Kindness Café facilitators, who offer free secular activities
• Volunteer infrastructure: keeping records up to date, ensuring everyone completes training, and ensuring equal opportunities, treatment and feedback channels across every department
• The Wellbeing Framework, which lets people raise concerns or questions transparently and know what follow-up to expect
• Supporting the team to onboard volunteers responsibly and sustainably
• The residential Karma Yogi programme, making it sustainable and enjoyable

Iris, a translator, Kate on the Cafe team, Zola from hospitality and Ven Jampa on the ritual attendant team, chatting with Jasmine Photo Courtesy of JBC’s newsletter

How Does the People & Community Role Add Value to Day-to-Day Operations?

The power of community comes from repetition. It’s from these strengths being demonstrated again and again. Being a familiar face. A gradual accumulation of small moments of trust and recognition.

Volunteering creates the conditions for exactly that. When someone commits to turning up regularly, something opens up – relationships deepen, the center starts to feel genuinely familiar, and the teachings begin to find expression not just in meditation but in how we show up for one another. That’s a kind of practice in itself.

On any given week I might be coaching our different coordinators on the various needs of volunteers, training up new facilitation leaders for self-held affinity groups, discussing communication styles with our residential volunteers, writing up HR policies for the team or organizing a day to celebrate our volunteers. I’m also building out our onboarding and resource training systems so that people – whether they’re joining as volunteers or staff – have a real sense of what they’re stepping into and how they belong. A year in, the volunteer infrastructure feels grounded and built-out, and we’re turning our attention to mentoring long-term students into leadership positions, incorporating mind training into the very ethos of our residential program, and so much more – the community speaks, and we listen.

What Concrete Changes have Happened During the First Year?
Much of the first year was systematising: building structures that don’t depend on one person. 

• Volunteer infrastructure that was ad hoc is now sustainable and tangible. Volunteers in every department, remote or on-site, receive the same opportunities and follow-up.
• All community members can raise concerns, such as accessibility needs and special requests.
• We’ve built relationships with long-standing community members and listened to their feedback.
• We’re engaging the local community, for example giving building tours to the Lambeth heritage community.

Two examples show the impact.

Shared structures for volunteers
We replaced ad hoc arrangements with structures that are clear and open to everyone:

• An updated Volunteer Agreement that sets out what is expected and what protections volunteers have, so nothing is left to assumption
• A transparent Wellbeing Framework, available to all, with a clear route for raising concerns and knowing what follow-up to expect
• One digital hub holding every form, resource and way to get involved, so remote volunteers get updates and can take part just as on-site volunteers can

Looking after our people at the front line
Front-facing volunteers and facilitators have taken part in group reflective practice sessions hosted by our Inclusivity Ambassador, Matt, where they can share what it’s like to serve the public. We also held one-to-one conversations with team members and created an incident log where people can flag difficult encounters. Together these give people a space to feel heard.

What Does JBC Hope to Develop Next?

• Bringing back our Inclusivity Ambassadors, championing and mentoring people from minority backgrounds to hold some of our activities.
• Revamping the residential Karma Yogi program around lojong and mind training, so participants leave having achieved something and deeply engaged with the Dharma.

A Thought for the Wider FPMT Community

I’ve been reflecting on what it means for a center to consciously invest in this kind of role, and I think it’s worth sharing with the broader network.

Every center has people at its edges – those who attend regularly but haven’t yet found their way into a deeper sense of belonging, or volunteers who give generously without always feeling fully seen into community, or those who have co-created spaces for years, sometimes decades, but burn out or face immersion aversion. Tending to those people isn’t peripheral work. It’s some of the most important work a center can do.

That doesn’t have to mean a dedicated staff role – it might look very different depending on the size and context of your center. But it does mean asking the question: who is actively looking after the human experience of our community members? Who ensures that volunteers feel valued, that newcomers are genuinely welcomed, and that long-term members are able to take time off?
These questions aren’t secondary to educational programs, they are what keep them alive for many more years to come.

Some lessons from our first year that other centers could adapt:

• Invest in volunteer management. Onboarding more people than you can support means people fall through the cracks. Long-term members get overlooked, treatment becomes uneven and resentment grows.
• Build more than a work relationship. A relationship with volunteers differs from one with employees. If we only turn to volunteers when we need work done, and don’t create safe, transparent ways to communicate, it can damage both the centre and individuals. Social spaces help.
• Build infrastructure that outlives volunteer coordinators. Keep the database current and know who has signed the ethical policies. It’s basic, but it makes a big difference, and it doesn’t require a dedicated post.
• Look after the core team. People who offer service risk giving too much. Ask who is looking after them.
• Create feedback loops. Centers rely on volunteers and community members but rarely have capacity to learn from them. Even small, gradual efforts to hear and act on people’s experiences, including those of people with different abilities, make an impact.

After all, our community spans beyond our center walls and remote students, and includes the entire FPMT family. Building a warm, sustainable and courageous home for the Dharma takes all of our initiative – what a privilege and joy it is to be of service to the Dharma together!

Written by Jasmine Mohtashami, People & Community Manager for JBC. Jamyang is very happy to offer more information about the development of their People & Community Manager role, should any FPMT center wish to pursue creating a position like this to suit their own community’s needs. 

We welcome the submission of news stories from those within the FPMT community. This can be a story about something you have personally completed or accomplished, about someone else who has done so, or about the FPMT center, project, or service of which you are a part. Ideal submissions will give readers reasons to rejoice, share ideas, and create connections between those in the international community. Have something to share? Please let us know!

On September 5-6, 2026 FPMT Australia and Langri Tangpa Centre organized 110,000 tsog offerings to Guru Rinpoche, also known as a Guru Bumtsog practice. This powerful practice, offered every two years, was led by Geshe Rabten from Atisha Centre, Geshe Tsultrim from Chenrezig Institute, Geshe Choden from the Tibetan community and Geshe Tenzin Zopa. Students from across Australia took part in the powerful, joyous multi-day event. Here, Miffi Maxmillion, Spiritual Program Coordinator of Langri Tangpa Centre, shares a personal account of the Guru Bumtsog.

Sangha at the Guru Rinpoche Bumtsog held at Langri Tangpa Centre in Brisbane.

Over a year in preparation, six months of buying tsok (we had to taste-test before buying in bulk!), a week to set up, two invigorating days to offer, and a week to pack down — that was the Guru Bumtsog 2026 that came very slowly and then suddenly very fast, and then dissolved into rainbows filling our hearts.

We built the room around the drums, literally and metaphorically. The drum is the binding, driving force of the puja, almost shamanistic, consciousness riding on the rhythm. In Guru Bumtsog the drum becomes like a magnetic pulse, drawing in your own energy and that of the universe, and aligning it with enlightened love and compassion. So we placed the drums in the center of the room facing each other, at the end of the seated row, forming a U-shaped configuration, very inclusive for puja.

Gompa with drums prepared for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

One of the drums came from Kopan in a colorfully carved frame and sounded perfect when we unpacked it, but after the reduced humidity of the plane wore off, it went from boom-boom to tack-tack. We replaced it with a synthetic drum after driving all around Brisbane on a detective hunt. It was a kid’s drum with cartoon jungle animals, so I covered it with brocade and painted the inside gold. The other drum was a shaman’s drum from America, also synthetic, and it sounded a little deeper. We commissioned a similar frame from the Men’s Shed, a minimalist echo of the Kopan frame, and Helene 3D printed the Dharmachakra and deer for the decoration.

We had spent the previous “holidays” constructing geshe thrones, with the bases from the Men’s Shed, decorating them with found antique objects from my mother’s cupboards, [Inta McKimm, who founded the Langri Tangpa Centre], with new mass-produced imitation Louis XIV flimsy wood carvings we painted gold, and with small metal dragons and flaming Norbu headers from Nepal. Like embroidering with wood, each throne-back had its own theme — the Rustic Nepali, the French Chateau, the Naga King… Geshe Zopa was so impressed! He said: “Why do we need to send for overseas? We can make them here, just as good!” Spending many construction hours to “offer a throne” created the merit for the coming year of preparations to go well and everything to come together on the day. 

With the seats of enlightenment set, and the drums in prime position, we could start layering the decorations and piles of offerings. One hundred jams, three hundred pieces of fruit, six swirl-turrets of chocolate, nine double-decker platters of coconut slices and wasabi peas, a fence of chips standing guard, and a mountain of biscuits arranged in peaks along the window ledges. The flowers on the main altar were about five feet (1.5 meters) high, framing the Buddha, with the gold-leaf tsa-tsas and other holy objects underneath like presents under a Christmas tree. The ‘torma’ was a three-tiered glass container of white sugar almonds, red jaffas, and blue jellybeans; a sturdy spinal column of OM AH HUM.

Financially, it took a courageous commitment! But FPMT Australia impressed upon us the importance of generosity. Over the weekend, more sponsorships came in: many people donated; one sangha member donated $500 to the puja; and an anonymous benefactor donated $20,000 to replace the cracked gompa windows.

Flower Team for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

Behind the scenes was much more than the hard work of setting up marquees and serving breakfast and lunch and homemade cakes and chai — there were hidden moments of exquisite care. Barbara came to me and said, “I’ve lost a quite precious thing — someone gave it to me and I wrapped it in a serviette and it’s been cleared away with the cups.” So I enlisted Maureen and Gary, who had prepared our sanitary plan and cleaned all the bins in preparation — one bin for recycle cups and plates, one for toilet rubbish — which turned out to be greatly appreciated and not overkill at all! They tipped over and searched through every bin. Barbara found the takeaway cup with the half-eaten banana bread still in the bottom — but no precious thing! They kept looking, unwrapping, burrowing, until — success! There it was, still wrapped in a serviette, right near the cup, at the bottom of the third bin! That makes it clear that the care and kindness of the LTC volunteers are the beating heart of Guru Bumtsog. Twenty volunteers tag-teamed, serving and sitting in on a session, working harmoniously to bring this event to fruition.

A heat wave hit Queensland over the weekend, the searing sun a tangible reminder of the perils of samsara, beautiful but deadly. It’s hard to appreciate the enormous merit we create deep in this karmic storm; — redirecting climate change, social dislocation, wars, and glacial upheavals. These global crises hovered in the back of our minds, a continual backdrop as tangible and oppressive as the heat. The Guru Bhumtsok prayers became a cry in the wilderness for all sentient beings, and a balm for the mind.

Prayers for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

They say that when people sing together, your heartbeats begin to synchronize. We feel it when suddenly in the Twenty-One Tara Praises we are all chanting in unison, literally creating harmony within our hearts. The same thing happens when you set off a bunch of metronomes; over a short time they all synchronize. A puja, and especially one as energetic as a Guru Bhumtsok, does this with our own mind – we are harmonized with each other and with the enlightened energy of Guru Rinpoche, drawn into his gravitational field, forcefully aligned with altruism and wisdom. There were moments in the puja where people said they were transported to some parallel reality, suspended there in continual reverence, connected for a moment to Guru Rinpoche’s world. It also helped that many of us already knew the tunes, as we have been doing Lama Chopa together for years, and recently added Guru Rinpoche prayers on protector days along with the usual praises to Mahakala and Hayagriva.

Geshe Rabten from Atisha Centre, Geshe Tsultrim from Chenrezig Institute, Geshe Choden from the Tibetan community and Geshe Tenzin Zopa for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

Geshe Tenzin Zopa, who so kindly and enthusiastically led the weekend’s events, said, “The Geshes mentioned again and again in last few days that this Guru Bhumtsok has been one of the best arrangements as far as concerned of organisations wise, as well as the perfections and energy of the pujas etc. All areas were perfect and we are rejoicing so much in the vast merits.” 

We easily reached the 100,000 tsog offering count, as well as Lama Tsongkhapa guru yoga each morning and offering Lama Chopa in the final sessions. The geshes stayed in a “geshe palace,” and all the sangha had a rare opportunity to catch up with each other over delicious lunch and beautiful table settings.

Dharma goodie bag contents for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

The goodie bags — Dharma show-bags full of delight and surprise — were our offering to all the attendees. We scoured the cupboards discovering many blessed objects – mani pills, Hayagriva powder, long life pills. But all the packaging was in Tibetan – which was which? On the day we were labelling them, Ven. Yeshestomo visited from Dharamsala, and she got on WhatsApp and conferred in real time with her tutor to translate the mysterious packets for us. We prepared a mini bubble maker with the verse from the Diamond Cutter “A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream…”. We made a puzzle book on Guru Rinpoche and LTC with excellent prizes for anyone who completed all three. Everyone received a welcome khata, a Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (LYWA) book, a long-life mantra bracelet, blessing cords from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, robes from offerings at Bodhgaya, and we also offered the sangha long-life pills. 

Prayers for the Guru Bumtsog practice, September 2026, Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of LTC.

During the puja a continuous flow of people offered khatas to the geshes and to the thrones of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness, and red envelopes to all the sangha. Over the weekend Demi developed a system where we could contribute to a pool of offering money and put our names on the roster for each session. Then Demi divided the money between 20 or so envelopes, and we offered in pairs during each session. As the weekend progressed the pool of money grew rather than diminished! This was a cultural adaptation that meant everyone could be involved no matter what amount they could offer.

One attendee said: “I’m so inspired by what you have developed at Langri Tangpa Centre. It feels you have a real family feeling for members that develops their minds and hearts very well. It makes me wish I lived in Brisbane again.”

And one of the volunteers said: “Thank you Miffi, Stacey, Maria, Ian for being such exceptionally gifted and compassionate Captains of this huge life raft of Dharma to lift all sentient beings quickly out the ocean of samsara to enlightenment. Much appreciated to be part of this journey.”

Thank you! Thank you everyone who came along, who donated, who prayed — and you too who are rejoicing! I hope to meet you all someday in the wonderful land of Orgyen!

With grateful thanks to Miffi Maxmillion for submitting this thoughtful piece! 

You can read more about the previous Guru Bumtsog practice in Australia. 

The FPMT Australia Community’s Second Annual Guru Bumtsog

The Power of Guru Rinpoche: The Heart-Opening Guru Bumtsog Experience

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.

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche and the pilgrims in Anuradhapura Sri Maha Bodhi tree .

For many FPMT students, His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche needs little introduction. A former abbot of Namgyal Monastery — His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s own monastery in Dharamsala — and one of the most highly regarded lamas of the Gelug lineage, Rinpoche has for decades been treasured by Sanghas around the world for the clarity of his teaching and the warmth of his presence.

From July 18-25 2026, Rinpoche led a group of students from Mongolia, Singapore, Australia, and beyond on a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka — a country not usually associated with Mahayana Buddhist activity, but one whose place in the history of the Dharma runs far deeper than most of us realize. Over nine days, the pilgrimage brought Theravada and Mahayana practitioners together in ways not seen on the island for centuries. This is an account of that journey, told partly in the words of Venerable Tenzin Lekdron and partly in the words of fellow pilgrims and the Sri Lankan people who welcomed them.

Venerable Tenzin Lekdron met His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche briefly in Bendigo, Australia. Not long after, she was asked if she would be available to accompany Rinpoche and his Mongolian and Singaporean students on a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka — an invitation she was delighted to accept.

“I could see two great opportunities in this journey,” she recalled. “The first was to meet with the head of all Theravada Buddhist lineages in Sri Lanka, the Malwatte Mahanayaka Thero, and to further that relationship. The second was to offer the Sri Lankan people a rare and extraordinary chance to receive the Avalokiteshvara empowerment — a ceremony that had not been given on the island since the twelfth century.” Here we share the story of this pilgrimage from Ven. Lekdron:

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche fulfilled both wishes, and many others, meeting every situation with extraordinary kindness and wisdom in a country as volatile as it is unpredictable. The Malwatte Mahanayaka Thero shared that he had visited Lhasa ten years earlier and, through what he saw there, had developed great admiration for Tibetan practitioners — for their courage and their commitment to the Dharma. “We cannot imagine organizing so many monks in a single monastery, thousands, what it takes to feed and educate them. I admire them very much,” he said. When His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche asked if he had any advice, the Mahanayaka Thero replied: “Unity is the most important thing among us. No matter what path we follow, we must be united.”

Most Venerable Thibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera. The Malwatte Mahanayaka Thero,  the chief prelate of the Malwatta Chapter of the Siam Nikaya in Sri Lanka.

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche also shed light on just how special Sri Lanka has been in the history of Buddhism, explaining that the Buddha is said to have visited the island more than three times, with references to this found in the Kangyur and Tengyur. Sri Pada, one of the island’s most sacred mountains, is said to be a place where many teachers taught Sutra and Tantra — a rare glimpse into a past most of us can barely imagine.

Stephanie McGrane, a pilgrim from Atisha Centre in Bendigo, shared:

“On 18 July 2026, the day of Chökhor Düchen, His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche offered the oral transmission of Chapters 4 and 5 of The Sutra of Sublime Golden Light (31-chapter version) in Sri Lanka, in the peaceful garden setting of the Walpola Rahula Buddhist Institute. The Institute is renowned for welcoming people of all faiths to participate in its meditation programs, making it a particularly meaningful setting for this auspicious occasion. Approximately 80 people attended in person, while a further 750 joined online. It was truly an international gathering, with Sri Lankan nationals sitting alongside members of Jhado Rinpoche’s pilgrimage group from Mongolia, Malaysia, Ukraine, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, and many other countries.”

Welcoming His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the event was that it had been confirmed only a week beforehand. Despite this short notice, the FPMT family spread the word with remarkable speed, enabling 750 people around the world to join the precious transmission online — a response that reflects the deep yearning people have to connect with authentic Dharma masters such as His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche, and to take part in activities that contribute to peace and harmony throughout the world, the very benefits traditionally associated with sutras such as The Sutra of Sublime Golden Light. Venerable Dhammananda, the Institute’s current resident teacher, called it an auspicious event, noting that its founder, Walpola Rahula Thero, was among the earliest monks to work for Buddhist unity. It was, she said, a fitting way to mark Chökhor Düchen before the group set out on pilgrimage to the island’s holy sites.

The Empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig, Anuradhapura

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche during the Empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig, Anuradhapura

Hirushan, facilitator and translator for the Tara Lanka study group, offers the following account:

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche bestowed the empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) at the historic Abhayagiri Stupa Monastery in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, on the twentieth day of the sacred Esala month, according to the Pali lunar calendar.

The ceremony brought together 120 people, including 53 pilgrims — Rinpoche’s students from Mongolia and devotees from Australia, Singapore, France, and Sri Lanka. Significantly, around 25 Sri Lankan Theravada monks also took part, together with local Sri Lankan devotees, with the coordination of Venerable Pepiliyawala Narada Thero, coordinator of the Pali and Sanskrit Exchange.”

His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche during the Empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig, Anuradhapura

Sri Lanka has a profound and ancient connection with the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The Karandavyuha Sutra preserves two remarkable stories linking Avalokiteshvara with the island of Simhala, an ancient name for Sri Lanka, the Land of the Sinhalese. In one account, Avalokiteshvara manifests as a divine horse and helps the Bodhisattva Gautama Shakyamuni escape the Rakshasis who held him captive on the island. In another, Avalokiteshvara appears as a handsome prince, subdues the Rakshasis, and teaches them the Dharma.

Abhayagiri and the Bodhisattva Tradition

The Abhayagiri monastery holds significant archaeological evidence connecting it to the Mahayana and Bodhisattva tradition. A marble statue discovered at the summit of the stupa’s sanctum depicts Amitabha Buddha flanked by the Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthamaprapta, and a bronze statue of Avalokiteshvara has also been found at the site. Another notable structure, identified as an Abhisheka Mandapa, is thought by scholars to have been used for the ritual ablution (abhisheka) of Buddha and Bodhisattva statues — and possibly for ritual initiations or tantric empowerments.

Tales of Three Nuns

The story of this empowerment can also be traced through the lives of three remarkable Buddhist nuns whose histories, in different ways, connect Sri Lanka, the Buddhist monastic tradition, and Avalokiteshvara.

First, Arahant Sanghamitta Mahatheri, sister of Arahant Mahinda Thera — who formally introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the third century BCE. Arahant Sanghamitta later travelled to Sri Lanka carrying the sacred sapling of the Sri Mahabodhi, still venerated today in the holy city of Anuradhapura. She established the bhikkhuni ordination lineage in Sri Lanka, which later spread as far as China at its height before eventually disappearing in later centuries.

Second, Bhikshuni Lakshmi, associated with the lineage of the 1000-Armed Avalokiteshvara practice and, through it, with the tradition of Nyung Nä retreat. According to the traditional account, she was born in Oddiyana and abandoned by her family after contracting leprosy. With profound faith in the Compassionate One, she undertook twelve years of intense Chenrezig practice, sustaining herself on one meal every two days, until she encountered Avalokiteshvara directly and attained enlightenment.

Third, Venerable Tenzin Lekdron, a Sri Lankan-born Australian nun, who requested that His Eminence Jhado Rinpoche bestow this sacred empowerment in Sri Lanka. She played a leading role in organizing the ceremony, with the support of the Tara Lanka Study Group.

A Tradition That Never Completely Disappeared 

Although the Mahayana tradition institutionally declined and largely disappeared from Sri Lanka after the twelfth century, veneration of the Bodhisattvas — particularly Avalokiteshvara and Tara — continued for centuries, gradually becoming woven into mainstream Theravada culture. Avalokiteshvara survived on the island in a particularly distinctive form: the deity known today as God Natha, one of Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist deities, is widely understood by scholars to be connected with Avalokiteshvara, although he is popularly identified with Maitreya.

Seen this way, the empowerment of 1000-Armed Chenrezig at Abhayagiri is more than an isolated, contemporary Buddhist ceremony. It marks a meaningful moment in the revival and reconnection of Sri Lanka with a strand of its own ancient Buddhist heritage — one in which Theravada, Mahayana, the Bodhisattva ideal, and the long veneration of Avalokiteshvara have intersected throughout the island’s history.

A young Sri Lankan student named Sahan summed up the day best:

“When I heard the Avalokiteshvara abhisheka was being given in Sri Lanka by a prominent Tibetan Rinpoche, I dropped everything and made my way to Anuradhapura. I am familiar with Avalokiteshvara practice and the mantra, as I join Tara Lanka events. What I saw in the Abhayagiriya hall was beyond anything I could have imagined — Theravada and Mahayana monks sitting side by side, a Tibetan lama offering empowerment with rituals unfamiliar to us, and all of us participating as though it were the most ordinary thing. I can say this was a miracle. I know Sri Lanka, and I know that for such an event to happen, and come to completion without incident, was a miracle. Please keep coming back, offering us opportunities to follow the Bodhisattva path. I am so very grateful to all of you. It’s not easy for us to travel, so please come to us.”

With special thanks to Venerable Tenzin Lekdron for sharing this story, to Amitabha Buddhist FPMT Centre in Singapore for sponsoring the Avalokiteshvara thangka used in the empowerment, to all the pilgrims for their offerings at the holy places visited, and to the Tara Lanka study group members for their hard work.

Jhado Rinpoche is currently on tour in Europe. Please see the full schedule to take advantage of the opportunities available. 

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.

As FPMT marks its 50th anniversary, we have been honored to share the important history of FPMT’s early students. Here Ven. Thubten Chokyi, Director of IMI (International Mahayana Institute) in conversation with Ani Karin Valham, goes through her road to Kopan that lead her to the Dharma and to 51 years of ordination! We rejoice for this inspiring example!

Lama Yeshe and ANi Karin at the 11th Meditation course, 1978, Kathmandu, Kopan Monastery, Nepal. Photo courtesy of Ven. Karin Valham.

Thubten Chokyi: As FPMT celebrates 50 years, it’s truly a delight to have this precious opportunity to hear from Ani Karin Valham, who was ordained at Kopan in 1975 and stayed. So, Ani Karin, thank you for agreeing to share a glimpse of your personal biography and a few highlights from your journey in ordination, drawing on your vast wisdom and experience. First of all, Ani Karin, can you talk a little bit about what brought you to the Dharma? I believe you were traveling, and you ended up in Sri Lanka, and the guy at the photo shop suggested you go to Kopan because you were interested in meditation. So how did that happen?

Ani Karin: Yes, it’s, of course, a long story, but it doesn’t have to be so long. Let me just start from when I was in Sweden. I’m from Stockholm in Sweden. When I was young—18, 19 years old—finishing school, I had no idea what to do with my life. Not the faintest idea.

But slowly, gradually, I gravitated towards wanting to do some social work. I always felt happier with people, you know, and doing something for people, even if it’s just small. My mother didn’t think I was going to be very studious in my life, so she suggested I become a secretary. That was the limit of what she thought I could manage. Since I had no idea myself at all, I just went along with it and went for two-year training as a secretary. I have much use for that training, actually, though I never became a secretary.

I got a good job afterwards and saved up some money for traveling, because I was always into traveling in my free time to look at new places and meet people. So this time, I thought if I’m going to go for a long education as a social worker, I need to take a break first.

That break took me to Sri Lanka. I was going to travel for 6 months, then go back and go to school—I promised my parents. I had no particular aim; I just liked to travel around from place to place. There were no mobiles, no internet—nothing. You were completely on your own if you went somewhere where they weren’t used to tourists.

Somehow, I spent time there and came across my first Buddha statue—a beautiful, smiling Buddha statue. I got really impressed by that and started to wonder what he actually taught. In Sweden, we were not religious people, so you hardly ever had contact with Buddhism in those days back in ’73.

I traveled around there, then went to India and up to Darjeeling, where I also met Buddhists and drank my first Tibetan tea. Then I went slowly, gradually to Thailand, and again—Buddhists! I was surrounded by Buddhist people wherever I went for some reason.

Then I went down to Indonesia; that was my end station. There, I visited the most beautiful temple in Borobudur. They were restoring it, so we couldn’t go out there normally, but after some time we managed to talk them into giving us permission. We went out there three times, and every time, sitting on top meditating was so special. You really felt you were in the presence of the Buddha, and there I decided I must learn to meditate properly in order to see what the Buddha really taught.

From then on, wherever I went, I was looking for teachings. Eventually, I came to Northern Thailand, in Chiang Mai. I was in a monastery, and a German monk there said, “We don’t teach here, so you can’t stay in the monastery. But you may want to go to Nepal; there’s a monastery there that does courses for Westerners.” That was my introduction to Kopan.

He tried to teach me the Wheel of Life and Dependent Arising. I was sort of intrigued, but left with more questions than answers because it’s very complicated when you hear it for the first time.

So I hurried up a little bit to get to Nepal. I didn’t know the exact date the course was going to start, but it so happened that I arrived on the second day—the 2nd of November. It was in Kathmandu that I met the man in the photo shop who also told me about Kopan. Two people actually guided me in that direction. So, yeah, I came to Kopan in ’74, and the rest is history.

Lama Yeshe with Ven. Karin Valham, Lama Lhundrup, Lama Pasang and Kopan monks at a picnic in Bhalaju, Kathmandu Valley, 1976. Photo courtesy of Ven. Karin Valham.

Thubten Chokyi: So how did it eventuate that you decided to ordain while at Kopan?

Ani Karin: I think that was the easiest decision I ever made in my life. It was the first decision I made that didn’t involve my parents or outside guidance. That was the first time I realized: this is for me.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche was teaching the course sharing his profound wisdom and compassion with us, and Lama Yeshe appeared now and then to teach us how to integrate Buddhas teaching in daily life. It changed my mind completely. Even if I didn’t understand reincarnation or the difficult subjects, the whole atmosphere and the kindness of the Western monks and nuns who were already there, the wonderful teachings completely changed your mind overnight.

I was a very skeptical person, but I couldn’t refute the basic Tenets of Buddhism, even though it was just my first course. After that, I took the November course every year for 5 years. You go deeper and deeper and find a clearer faith in the teachings, that makes a big change. Once those clean seeds start to grow, there’s no limit to what you want to understand, it rolls on by itself

After the course we did a one month lamrim retreat and then Rinpoche gave the eight Mahayana precepts and refuge, as well as a Vajrasattva initiation. I took all of that as it came. I felt it was completely right. I’m not a person who jumps into things spontaneously—I’m a very cautious person—but here, I felt I had come home in terms of the Dharma teachings. I felt so safe and secure.

After that I did a retreat, I had a meeting with Rinpoche that didn’t go very well, because I’m so ignorant! Out of the blue, Rinpoche  said, “You have to go home and see your mother.” “Why?” I blurted out! But of course, he was right. I had to go and see my parents to ask for permission to become ordained. So I did that during the summer, came back, and took my first ordination vows. Since then, I’ve felt true happiness.

Rinpoche with Ani.Karin with French translation of her book on lam rim, Nepal 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang

Thubten Chokyi: What are some of the challenges you faced over the years?

Ani Karin: It was mostly in the beginning—there were a lot of challenges from my own side with attachments. You have to expect that problem when you think about renouncing the eight worldly concerns (eight worldly dharmas). Taking ordination is a sign of renunciation, so you become much more aware of the dangers of attachment, but it’s hard to eliminate. Sometimes you get very emotional or disturbed, I had to change so many habits, and so many things, rather than trying to say something wrong.

After about 2 years, when I overcame that initial phase, I became happier and happier. I still feel very happy about what I did.

Thubten Chokyi: What has sustained you in such longevity of ordination over all these years? What do you think is the key?

Ani Karin: Staying close to the Lamas. I always tried to be where the Lamas were as much as I could manage, I was trying to be close to them.

Also, I always liked all the Sangha. Having gratitude and recognizing that we are supported by the Sangha—and that we are the Sangha—sustains you.

Lama Yeshe and Ani Karin at Istituto Lama Tsongkhapa, Italy, 1983. Photos donated by Merry Colony.

Thubten Chokyi: For Westerners who are thinking about ordination, what are some things you think they need to consider before taking that step?

Ani Karin: Everything is so well-organized now compared to the ’70s! If someone is thinking about ordination, it is a must to go to a pre-ordination course to hear directly from the Sangha what it is really like and what one needs to prepare.

It’s wise to spend at least 3 to 5 years taking basic program teachings, studying, and meditating.

Living in a community is also absolutely essential. Now there are monasteries opening up, like Nalanda, there are a few other smaller ones in different places, as well as Kopan or Dharamsala. Dharamsala is a very inspiring place. Whatever one can manage, it is most important to live in a community and not stay alone by oneself or get lost in the world.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Ani Karin Valham, at Insitut Vajra Yogini , France 2019. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.

Thubten Chokyi: Is there any other word of wisdom you’d like to share?

Ani Karin: Lama Yeshe always used to say, “Use your own wisdom, dear.”

Wisdom comes little by little. It is best not to be satisfied with the amount of wisdom we currently have, but to keep growing the inner wisdom. Because people are functioning in different ways, Dharma works in different ways. The more you understand, the more you can benefit others in daily life. Your work in the centers becomes more satisfying the more you have studied and prepared yourself. Whatever it’s in the monastery, or in the centers, or anywhere, the more wisdom you have, in the sense that the more you have studied.

Thubten Chokyi: Wonderful! Thank you so much, Ani Karin. It has been really wonderful to hear your story and share this from the heart.

Ani Karin: Thank you! Bye-bye

Ani Karin during the 2025 CPMT at Kopan monastery, Nepal.

With grateful thanks to Ven. Thubten Chokyi for conducting this interview and to Ani Karin for graciously sharing her story!  Please read her original Road to Kopan story published in Mandala in 2012, “She is Not Looking for Another Man.”

Are you an early student of FPMT who was there at the beginning? Do you have a story to share about how you met Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche or the impact they have had on your life? Have you personally achieved or actualized a request, advice, practice accomplishment, or project given to you by Lama Yeshe or Lama Zopa Rinpoche? We want to hear from you!

Please explore all of the resources we have compiled related to FPMT history. We look forward to all of your creative ideas on how to bring this year-long celebration to your own local activities and personal practices! Please use the hashtag #50YearsFPMT in your social media posts so we can all be connected in this way. 

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.

His Eminence Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche embarked on a three-month European tour beginning in May 2026, we are delighted to share an overview of his visits to FPMT centers compiled by Rommy Johnson.

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche at Institut Vajra Yogini, France, July 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson.

There is a particular kind of joy that moves through the FPMT mandala when a beloved teacher travels from center to center, and this summer, that joy followed His Eminence Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche across Europe. From late May through early August, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche journeyed from center to center, teaching, listening, and sitting with students old and new — and everywhere he went, the warmth of family feeling was unmistakable.

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche at the FPMT Center Muni Gyana in Sicily. June 6–7, 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson.

The tour opened in Italy at Manjushri Lotsawa (May 29 – June 2), where students gathered in person and online for a hybrid presentation of Kamalashila’s Stages of Meditation — a fitting beginning, grounding the tour in the very foundations of the path. From there, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche traveled to the FPMT Center Muni Gyana in Sicily (June 6–7) for teachings on the Key to the Middle Way, and stayed on for a few more precious days, offering an intimate question-and-answer session on June 8, an evening conference on June 9 and the oral transmission of the Uttaratantra on June 10. Students who had waited months, some years, to sit with H.E. Serkong Rinpoche again found themselves welcomed back as though no time had passed at all.

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche at Nalanda Monastery, France, June 29, 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson.

On June 29, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche paid a special visit in France to Nalanda Monastery, offering two teachings in a single day. The first explored the inseparability of conventional and ultimate truths in sutra and tantra, while the second turned to the heart practice of generating bodhicitta and exchanging oneself with others, drawn from Lama Chöpa Lamrim Verse (LC 90–95). It was a day that moved seamlessly from philosophical depth to the tender, practical work of opening the heart — exactly the kind of teaching that stays with students long after they’ve left the room.

Dr. Alexander Berzin at Insitut Vajra Yogini. July 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson

By early July, the tour had carried H.E. Serkong Rinpoche to Institut Vajra Yogini, France, where he taught on Mind Training for Ultimate Happiness (July 2–4). Here, and at several stops to come, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche was joined by Dr. Alexander Berzin ——a long-time student and translator for the previous Serkong Tsenshap Rinpoche. Dr. Berzin is also the founder of Study Buddhism and the Berzin Archive. For the summer tour Dr Berzin supplemented the teachings leading review and Q&A sessions, offering his decades of scholarship and his own deep connection to the Serkong lineage in support of Rinpoche’s teachings. Then came one of the summer’s most joyful moments: on July 5, the community gathered in person to celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday — a day of prayers, laughter, and gratitude, reminding everyone present why this community exists.

From July 6–8, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche traveled to Paris to take part in the first Grand Europe Monlam, a deeply moving prayer festival held alongside His Eminence Ganden Tripa and Their Eminences Sharpa Choeje and Jangtse Choeje. Together, these senior lamas led three days of prayer dedicated to preserving the Buddhist teachings, and dedicated to all those who lost their lives across Europe during the First and Second World Wars, through epidemics, through conflict, and under countless other circumstances. Prayers were also offered for all those currently unwell, and for peace and benefit to spread to all beings everywhere.

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche, and Dr. Berzin at Centre Kalachakra, France, July 2026. Photo credits by Centre Kalachakra’s Facebook Page.

The tour continued at Kalachakra Center (July 8–12), where H.E. Serkong Rinpoche offered a deep exploration of Compassion and Emptiness according to Chandrakirti’s Entering the Middle Way, with Dr. Berzin again lending his support as teaching assistant, before making the final stop at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa in Italy for two consecutive programs: Chapter 22 of Clear Words (July 26–29) and Jewel of the Awakened Heart (July 30 – August 2) — once more supported by Dr. Berzin’s presence and guidance.

H.E.Serkong Rinpoche at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, July 2026. Photo by Rommy Johnson.

On August 9, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche kindly offered online teachings to the entire FPMT community as part of the Global Mani Retreat. The teachings focused on bodhicitta and the seven-point method for developing bodhicitta. H.E. Serkong Rinpoche based his teachings on Maitreya’s Sublime Continuum (Ratnagotravibhaga) — a rich and generous close to a summer of teachings.

On August 9, H.E. Serkong Rinpoche kindly offered online teachings to the entire FPMT community as part of the Global Mani Retreat.

What made this tour so special wasn’t only the depth of the Dharma offered, though that alone would have been enough. It was the reunions in doorways and courtyards before teachings began. It was long-time students who had organized these very same programs years earlier, welcoming Serkong Rinpoche home again. It was newer students, some meeting Serkong Rinpoche for the very first time, discovering the ease and warmth he brings into a room. Across six centers and ten weeks, old friendships were renewed and new ones quietly took root — a reminder that no matter the language spoken or the border crossed, we are all part of the same family.

The Autumn Tour

H.E. Serkong Rinpoche’s Autumn Tour

The journey doesn’t end here. H.E. Serkong Rinpoche’s teaching tour has continued this autumn with an ambitious itinerary spanning Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Wales, Austria, Belgium, and Spain — nearly three months of Dharma activity stretching across the continent. We invite you to read more about his schedule on H.E. Serkong Rinpooche’s website

We warmly invite students and friends throughout the FPMT mandala to join H.E. Serkong Rinpoche wherever this autumn tour brings him — whether gathered in person in a familiar teaching hall or joining from home across a screen. Wherever you are, there is a place for you in this circle. 

With grateful thanks to Rommy Johnson for this report. 

We offer congratulations and thanks to all of the FPMT centers involved in making this tour a success and benefit to so many who received teachings along the way! 

Foundation for the Preservation of the 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.

The News Roundup is a digest of short community highlights from FPMT centers and individuals around the world, as part of our ongoing effort to nourish the “family feeling” and bring back the “News Around the World”  and “News in Brief” sections previously featured in the print Mandala magazine that so many of us have missed! This list of stories is not exhaustive, —just a sample of all the great activities happening in the FPMT family worldwide. 

We hope that reading these highlights will inspire you to rejoice in the family feeling and good works happening in our global FPMT community!  If you would like to share photos or details from your center, we would be happy to include them in the upcoming edition.

Holy Objects  | Prayers & Practices | Milestones | Compassion in Action | International FPMT Family

Holy Objects

Volunteers repaint the stupa under the guidance of artist Jampal Hyolmo at Kadampa Center. Photo courtesy of Kadampa Center’s Facebook page.

(Australia) Tara Meditation Centre’s ongoing stupa project received blessings and gentle advice from Geshe Tenzin Zopa during his visit to the center. He offered encouragement for the construction of the World Peace Stupa in Tsum Valley. 

(Italy) – the Italian group linked to Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, “Stupa Onlus ” was able to fundraise the restoration of twenty-seven old stupas in Ladakh. —a significant effort to preserve these precious holy objects. We rejoice in this collective work for the benefit of all.

(Netherlands) Maitreya Instituut Loenen received a kind donation for its new stupa from Prabin Buddhacharya, a Newar prince from Nepal. The gift includes special materials and objects from sacred places, including white lime from the Swayambhu stupa in Kathmandu, bodhi leaves from Bodhgaya, stones from the Himalayas, a statue, and a vajra.

(Spain) O.Sel.Ling Centro de Retiros has completed the restoration of its Kadampa stupa. We rejoice that this precious holy object has been renewed and preserved for the future generations.

(US) Kadampa Center is repainting and refreshing its precious stupa, originally built in 2013. Community fundraising and volunteer support are making the work possible, with the restoration overseen by the artist who created the stupa, Jampal Hyolmo. We are grateful in everyone helping to renew this precious holy object.

Prayers & Practice

Sangha at the 2026 national Guru Bhumtsok practice at Langri Tangpa Centre, Australia. Photo courtesy of Langri Tangpa Centre’s Facebook page.

(Singapore) Amitabha Buddhist Centre offered a special recitation of the Sutra of Golden Light on September 20, dedicated to pacifying wars and natural disasters, following the advice of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. 

(Australia) Tara Institute  continues its weekly recitation of the Sutra of Golden Light. The total has now reached 3,108 recitations, with students also committed to ongoing daily recitation dedicated to peace and prosperity throughout the world and the long life of our precious teachers. 

(India)  Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre Delhi received a teaching on the Sutra of Golden Light from Venerable Geshe Dorji Damdul on September 8. We rejoice that the community had this opportunity to receive teachings on this precious practice.

(Canada) Lama Yeshe Ling Centre gathered online on September 5, to recite the Sutra of Golden Light, creating the causes for peace in the world and in our own lives. 

(Nepal and Malaysia)  Kopan Monastery, Kopan Nunnery and Chokyi Gyaltsen Center observed the first anniversary of the parinirvana of the 104th Ganden Trisur Rinpoche Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin on September 26. Heartfelt prayers were offered for Rinpoche’s swift return so that he may continue to spread the Dharma and benefit sentient beings, leading them toward the ultimate goal of enlightenment. 

(Taiwan) Jinsiu Farlin began a forty-nine-day Dharma Assembly for the Protection of the Nation and the Pacification of Disasters by the Medicine Buddha on September 7. The collective practice includes prayers for peace, an end to war, freedom from disasters and epidemics, and the well-being of people of all ages. 

(Australia) Langri Tangpa Centre welcomed students from around Australia on September 5–6 for the national Guru Bhumtsok or Guru bumtsog practice. This powerful practice, offered every two years, was led by Geshe Rabten from Atisha Centre, Geshe Tsultrim from Chenrezig Institute, Geshe Choden from the Tibetan community and Geshe Tenzin Zopa. There were 110,000 tsog offerings with extensive prayers dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the fulfillment of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s holy wishes, the actualization of his unmistaken reincarnation, world peace, and those affected by recent disasters. We deeply rejoice in this meaningful collective practice.

Milestones

2026 TDSS Students and facilitators at Kalachakra Centre, September 2026. Photo courtesy of  Kalachakra Centre’s Facebook page.

(India) Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program students have completed their first year of study. We congratulate the students on this milestone and wish them success as they begin their second year.

(France) Kalachakra Centre hosted the Teacher Development Service Seminar (TDSS) Europe Course from September 23–26, facilitated by Andy Wistreich and Annelies van der Heijden. Sixteen people attended, supported by volunteers who helped make this an harmonious and meaningful experience.

Compassion in Action

Students and speakers Andy Wistreich and David Midgley at the 2026 Planetary Crisis Summit, Nalanda Monastery, France, September 5–6, 2026. Photo courtesy of Nalanda Monastery’s Facebook page.

(Italy) Yeshe Norbu Appello per il Tibet raised funds through its Helping Hand initiative for the recent Nepal emergency, the Rasuwa floods of August 26. A team of monks with nursing training and volunteers from Kopan Monastery has begun providing essential support to more than 300 families who lost their belongings. The team will continue distributing essential supplies and hopes to reach communities in more remote areas. We are grateful for this compassionate response.

(Italy) Centro Thubten Kunkyen introduced Tibetan Buddhist meditation to teenagers during the 2026 Festival of Languages at the University of Naples L’Orientale. The students responded positively to the experience. We rejoice in everyone who took part and hope this first encounter with the Dharma will become a meaningful seed for the future.

(France) Nalanda Monastery hosted the 2026 Planetary Crisis Summit on September 5–6, bringing together around thirty people in the gompa and more than forty individuals or groups online. The summit explored how wisdom and compassion can help us face and hopefully reduce the effects of climate change. 

(Italy) Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (ILTK) hosted on the latest week of September the annual Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIM-MID), in celebration of the center’s 50th anniversary. The gathering brought together ordained members of different religious traditions to reflect on and share their spiritual paths. A wonderful interfaith opportunity for meaningful dialogue, mutual understanding, and shared reflection on spiritual life.

Geshe Tenzin Tenphel, resident teacher at ILTK, and Venerable Raffaello Longo with participants from different traditions at ILTK, September 2026. Photo courtesy of ILTK.

International FPMT Family 

The FPMT Global Mani Retreat continues to bring the international FPMT family together to practice, create the causes for peace, and support the long life and activities of our precious teachers.

On September 12, Geshe Thubten Sherab led the group practice, encouraging students to contemplate deeply and connect with the practice from the depths of their hearts. Detailed visualisations were offered during the Mani mantra recitation, giving this extended period much meaning and filling it with compassionate light.

On September 19, Ven. Robina Courtin led the group practice and reminded students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice that even one kind thought can immediately purify the air energy and eventually manifest as good health in the physical body and mind, as they are inextricably connected.

On September 26, Kabir Saxena led the Chenrezig sadhana, with an introduction of Dr. Nick Ribush. Kabir Saxena’s dedication ended with a heartfelt wish for FPMT to continue to flourish and benefit others.

The final Chenrezig group practice session will be led by Ven. Lhundrup Jamyang on October 11.

Upcoming Major Teaching: Khandro Tseringma Rinpoche will offer the final teaching on October 25.

Closing Session on Saturday November 7– Details to come!**Running in tandem with these main sessions are Chenrezig Group Practice sessions offered in Spanish and Italian; as well as in English for those in North American time zones.** Please check our Facebook page for all upcoming opportunities. 

Join the FPMT Global Mani Retreat, a precious opportunity to gather in unity, generate collective merit, and deepen our community connections. The mantras we recite together until November 1 will be offered at the conclusion of the retreat for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Discover more about the Global Mani Retreat

We Want to Hear Your Story! 

These highlights are sourced from the social media, newsletters, annual reports, websites, and WhatsApp groups of FPMT centers, projects, and services. If you would like to share your news and highlights with the wider FPMT family, we would be so happy to hear from you! 

In addition to these highlights, please also read longer community news stories and news from around the world!

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.