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Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
The FPMT is an organization devoted to preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha and based on that experience spreading the Dharma to sentient beings. We provide integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility and service. We are committed to creating harmonious environments and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion. Our organization is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught to us by our founders Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche.
- Willkommen
Die Stiftung zur Erhaltung der Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) ist eine Organisation, die sich weltweit für die Erhaltung und Verbreitung des Mahayana-Buddhismus einsetzt, indem sie Möglichkeiten schafft, den makellosen Lehren des Buddha zuzuhören, über sie zur reflektieren und zu meditieren und auf der Grundlage dieser Erfahrung das Dharma unter den Lebewesen zu verbreiten.
Wir bieten integrierte Schulungswege an, durch denen der Geist und das Herz der Menschen in ihr höchstes Potential verwandelt werden zum Wohl der anderen – inspiriert durch eine Haltung der universellen Verantwortung und dem Wunsch zu dienen. Wir haben uns verpflichtet, harmonische Umgebungen zu schaffen und allen Wesen zu helfen, ihr volles Potenzial unendlicher Weisheit und grenzenlosen Mitgefühls zu verwirklichen.
Unsere Organisation basiert auf der buddhistischen Tradition von Lama Tsongkhapa von Tibet, so wie sie uns von unseren Gründern Lama Thubten Yeshe und Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche gelehrt wird.
- Bienvenidos
La Fundación para la preservación de la tradición Mahayana (FPMT) es una organización que se dedica a preservar y difundir el budismo Mahayana en todo el mundo, creando oportunidades para escuchar, reflexionar, meditar, practicar y actualizar las enseñanzas inconfundibles de Buda y en base a esa experiencia difundir el Dharma a los seres.
Proporcionamos una educación integrada a través de la cual las mentes y los corazones de las personas se pueden transformar en su mayor potencial para el beneficio de los demás, inspirados por una actitud de responsabilidad y servicio universales. Estamos comprometidos a crear ambientes armoniosos y ayudar a todos los seres a desarrollar todo su potencial de infinita sabiduría y compasión.
Nuestra organización se basa en la tradición budista de Lama Tsongkhapa del Tíbet como nos lo enseñaron nuestros fundadores Lama Thubten Yeshe y Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
A continuación puede ver una lista de los centros y sus páginas web en su lengua preferida.
- Bienvenue
L’organisation de la FPMT a pour vocation la préservation et la diffusion du bouddhisme du mahayana dans le monde entier. Elle offre l’opportunité d’écouter, de réfléchir, de méditer, de pratiquer et de réaliser les enseignements excellents du Bouddha, pour ensuite transmettre le Dharma à tous les êtres. Nous proposons une formation intégrée grâce à laquelle le cœur et l’esprit de chacun peuvent accomplir leur potentiel le plus élevé pour le bien d’autrui, inspirés par le sens du service et une responsabilité universelle. Nous nous engageons à créer un environnement harmonieux et à aider tous les êtres à épanouir leur potentiel illimité de compassion et de sagesse. Notre organisation s’appuie sur la tradition guéloukpa de Lama Tsongkhapa du Tibet, telle qu’elle a été enseignée par nos fondateurs Lama Thoubtèn Yéshé et Lama Zopa Rinpoché.
Visitez le site de notre Editions Mahayana pour les traductions, conseils et nouvelles du Bureau international en français.
Voici une liste de centres et de leurs sites dans votre langue préférée
- Benvenuto
L’FPMT è un organizzazione il cui scopo è preservare e diffondere il Buddhismo Mahayana nel mondo, creando occasioni di ascolto, riflessione, meditazione e pratica dei perfetti insegnamenti del Buddha, al fine di attualizzare e diffondere il Dharma fra tutti gli esseri senzienti.
Offriamo un’educazione integrata, che può trasformare la mente e i cuori delle persone nel loro massimo potenziale, per il beneficio di tutti gli esseri, ispirati da un’attitudine di responsabilità universale e di servizio.
Il nostro obiettivo è quello di creare contesti armoniosi e aiutare tutti gli esseri a sviluppare in modo completo le proprie potenzialità di infinita saggezza e compassione.
La nostra organizzazione si basa sulla tradizione buddhista di Lama Tsongkhapa del Tibet, così come ci è stata insegnata dai nostri fondatori Lama Thubten Yeshe e Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Di seguito potete trovare un elenco dei centri e dei loro siti nella lingua da voi prescelta.
- 欢迎 / 歡迎
简体中文
“护持大乘法脉基金会”( 英文简称:FPMT。全名:Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition) 是一个致力于护持和弘扬大乘佛法的国际佛教组织。我们提供听闻,思维,禅修,修行和实证佛陀无误教法的机会,以便让一切众生都能够享受佛法的指引和滋润。
我们全力创造和谐融洽的环境, 为人们提供解行并重的完整佛法教育,以便启发内在的环宇悲心及责任心,并开发内心所蕴藏的巨大潜能 — 无限的智慧与悲心 — 以便利益和服务一切有情。
FPMT的创办人是图腾耶喜喇嘛和喇嘛梭巴仁波切。我们所修习的是由两位上师所教导的,西藏喀巴大师的佛法传承。
繁體中文
護持大乘法脈基金會”( 英文簡稱:FPMT。全名:Found
ation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition ) 是一個致力於護持和弘揚大乘佛法的國際佛教組織。我們提供聽聞, 思維,禪修,修行和實證佛陀無誤教法的機會,以便讓一切眾生都能 夠享受佛法的指引和滋潤。 我們全力創造和諧融洽的環境,
為人們提供解行並重的完整佛法教育,以便啟發內在的環宇悲心及責 任心,並開發內心所蘊藏的巨大潛能 — 無限的智慧與悲心 – – 以便利益和服務一切有情。 FPMT的創辦人是圖騰耶喜喇嘛和喇嘛梭巴仁波切。
我們所修習的是由兩位上師所教導的,西藏喀巴大師的佛法傳承。 察看道场信息:
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In the lam-rim, there’s some advice on how to get up early in the morning without being overwhelmed by sleep. Before getting into bed the night before, wash your feet while thinking of light. Try it; it works.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
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The Foundation Store is FPMT’s online shop and features a vast selection of Buddhist study and practice materials written or recommended by our lineage gurus. These items include homestudy programs, prayers and practices in PDF or eBook format, materials for children, and other resources to support practitioners.
Items displayed in the shop are made available for Dharma practice and educational purposes, and never for the purpose of profiting from their sale. Please read FPMT Foundation Store Policy Regarding Dharma Items for more information.
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FPMT Community: Stories & News
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Rejoicing in the Meridian Trust’s New Website
For more than three decades, the Meridian Trust has been using film and video to document Buddhist teachings and traditions around the world. The UK-based organization has collected an archive of more than 3,500 hours of footage, including rare recordings of the generation of Tibetan lineage holders who first went into exile. Meridian Trust was founded by Geoff Jukes, a long-time British student of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and manager of some of the biggest names in the British music industry.
Screenshot of the Meridian Trust’s “category” section of their new website.
Now, Meridian’s precious and inspiring content is reaching an even wider audience with their new website. Director of Projects Kaska Phuntsok and Administrative Director Emma Lewis have been working with Copenhagen-based web developers We Add Motion to transform Meridian’s film streaming site.
The new site hosts Meridian’s historic film and video archive as well as new content. The team has spent the last two years editing almost forty years’ worth of Dharma materials—eighty-nine collections—jointly with the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. This content is now presented in a simple and clear way through easy-to-navigate categories, such as for culture and teachers, enabling visitors of the site to find what they are looking for (or perhaps didn’t realize they were looking for!) with ease.
Screenshot of the Meridian Trust’s website.
One video FPMT students might particularly appreciate is “Extracting the Essence,” which is two interviews with Lama Yeshe, recorded in 1982 and 1983. In the video Lama Yeshe tells his personal life story and how his involvement with Western Buddhist students evolved, including the development of the FMPT organization. Lama Yeshe also responds to questions about his personal vision for the future development and consolidation of Dharma centers in the West and gives detailed practical advice on how to extract the essence of Buddha’s teachings as they become integrated into our Western way of life.
About the new website, Meridian Trust writes, “The responses we have received so far have been heart-warming. We hope the result will delight Dharma students. We are looking forward to bringing more content into our translations area, continuing our filming work, and promoting the site, to bring the message of Tibetan Buddhism compassion and wisdom to a new audience.”
You can read more about the history of the Meridian Trust and its connection to FPMT in Vickie Mackenzie’s in-depth story, “Preserving the Past for Future Generations: The Meridian Trust Documents the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition as It Grows in the West.”
Visit the Meridian Trust online to watch videos and learn more about the video archive.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 150 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
- Tagged: buddhist videos, meridian trust
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Wisdom Podcast: Liberation Prison Project
Recently, host Daniel Aitken welcomed special guests Ven. Robina Courtin and Ven. Thubten Chokyi to discuss their work with the Liberation Prison Project, an FPMT international project founded in 1996 dedicated to supporting students around the world in prison who wish to study Dharma. Since its inception, LPP has helped thousands of prisoners worldwide connect with the Buddha’s teachings and develop a sincere practice of Buddhism.
Daniel’s conversation with Ven. Robina and Ven. Chokyi covers many topics, including the foundation and development of the Liberation Prison Project, how students provide support to prisoners through the project, and moving examples of prisoner experiences. They also talk about Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s book Enjoy Life Liberated from the Inner Prison; LPP’s Liberation Tibetan Calendar, Dharma Journey pilgrimages and other fundraising efforts; and the news that the Liberation Prison Project is looking for a new director.
Please listen now to this informative and highly energized conversation.
Learn more about the Wisdom Podcast and explore other episodes of the podcast.
For the past twenty-six years the Liberation Prison Project has been a lifeline for people in prison worldwide, who turned to it for Buddhist books and spiritual advice in an effort to find meaning in life when everything else was lost.
- Tagged: liberation prison project, prisoners, ven. robina courtin, wisdom podcast, wisdom publications
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Our April 2022 e-News is Now Available!
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with a picture of Lama Tsongkhapa that Rinpoche likes very much, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, February 2022. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Welcome to the April 2022 edition of our e-news! This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing including:
- News of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s recent activities
- Links to new video teachings from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- Rejoicing in our 2021 Annual Review which is now available
- News about offering food to the monks of Gyudmed Monastery
- Opportunities and changes within the FPMT organization
And much more!
Please enjoy this month’s e-news 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.
Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email inbox.
- Tagged: enews
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi attending the inauguration of the Maya Daya Clinic at Karuna Hospital on March 5, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Maya Daya Clinic, established in 1992 at the foot of Kopan Hill, is one way Kopan Monastery has been actively serving their local community. At that time of inception, there was very little medical care in the area, with doctors and pharmacies only accessible in Boudhanath, a forty-five-minute walk away. The aim of the clinic was to provide basic healthcare for the local population, with a doctor and nurse available three days a week and regular access to medical supplies at the clinic’s pharmacy. In the years since then, the clinic has benefited thousands of local patients as well as the monks and nuns of Kopan and of other monasteries.
With the need for basic medical care in the local area now well covered by other clinics and pharmacies, Maya Daya Clinic, in cooperation with Karuna Hospital, is taking the next step in its development. The clinic will serve the local community by providing free dialysis to those with chronic kidney disease in a comfortable environment. This is an incredible achievement for Kopan Monastery to be able to offer support to the local community in this way.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche visiting the new dialysis wing of Karuna Hospital, Maya Daya Clinic, March 5, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
With the slogan of “Compassionate care to all beings suffering from ailments,” Karuna Hospital started its service in 2019 in Kathmandu with a twenty-four bed capacity. In a short amount of time, the hospital has provided many specialty services in the areas of neurology and neurological surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, child and maternity care, urology and nephrology, plastic surgery, and orthopedics. The hospital, which is operating at international standards, is well equipped to handle most serious cases with a dedicated team of specialist doctors and trained paramedical staff. The Maya Daya Clinic is now part of the extension of Karuna Hospital and is able to benefit from this excellent modern facility.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major public health problem worldwide and is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. CKD is a newly recognized public health problem in Nepal. The estimated prevalence of CKD is around ten percent in urban areas of Nepal. This number is expected to increase as the major contributing causes for CKD, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, are increasing at an alarming rate across the country. It is estimated that almost 2,900 Nepalese develop end stage renal disease (ESRD), requiring renal replacement therapy (RRT) every year. Dialysis is part of RRT and is essential for patients suffering from ESRD. The cost of supporting the treatment of ESRD patients undergoing dialysis is 2,500 NPR (about US$21) per session, which can add up to 15,000 NPR to 20,000 NPR per month (about US$123 to US$165).
With more than twenty percent of the population of Nepal falling below the poverty line, it is impossible for many to afford this expensive though lifesaving treatment. In time, thanks to the leadership of Kopan monk Ven. Sangye Tenzin, this new clinic will be entirely free for patients with the help of government funding for treatments.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche attended the recent inauguration of the clinic on March 5, 2022, and offered a statue of Buddha for the front of Karuna Hospital. Rinpoche also designed a beautiful image of Shakyamuni Buddha with mantras for the clinic (seen in the image above).
Please enjoy this video of Rinpoche visiting Maya Daya Clinic, the new dialysis wing of Karuna Hospital, which will be managed by Kopan Monastery:
Kopan Monastery continues to offer valuable support to the local community, and this new phase for Maya Daya Clinic is the latest in their social service and healthcare efforts. Rejoicing in the generosity of others is an easy and powerful way to participate in acts of charity. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche so often says, it also creates “limitless skies of merit.”
You can read about how Kopan Helping Hands offered crisis relief at the start of the pandemic.
FPMT.org brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe as well as from students, teachers, and others in the FPMT community. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
- Tagged: kopan monastery, maya daya clinic
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Offerings in front of the Tara altar in the Losang Dragpa Centre gompa, Malaysia, 2022. Photo courtesy of Losang Drakpa Centre.
Pik-Pin Goh, director of Losang Dragpa Centre (LDC), the FPMT center based in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, read the recently published advice from Rinpoche on the uncountable benefits of Tara practice and was inspired to share how LDC has been doing overnight Tara practice. Here’s what Pik-Pin wrote:
We are proud to announce that this year marked the tenth anniversary of our “Overnight Praises to the Twenty-one Taras” event. Our former resident teacher, Geshe Tenzin Zopa, initiated the first overnight recitation of “Praises to the Twenty-one Taras.” And since 2013, this night of community practice has become an annual event.
We organize the event in the first quarter of the year, usually before Losar. There is an abundance of extensive offerings, including packets of blessed rice, set up at our Tara altar. With the practice and offerings, LDC members can accumulate immense merit and purify negativities, removing any obstacles that may come up for the year.
The event begins at 10 p.m. and ends the next morning at 7 a.m. There are four sessions, each two hours long with short breaks in between. More than a hundred people attended the first and second sessions. And at least ten people attended the whole night.
At each overnight event, participants recite “Praises to the Twenty-one Taras” at least 108 times and offer tsog using the Tara Purification Night sadhana. Thus over the last ten years, we have collectively accumulated 1,080 times of recitation, and the virtues collected have been dedicated to the long life of our gurus and the success of FPMT centers and world peace. In addition, we also do a monthly Tara puja, where twelve recitations of the praises are done by about twenty students.
During the pandemic, the overnight Tara practice has been done over Zoom with extensive offerings, but only a few people, in the gompa, Losang Dragpa Centre, Malaysia, 2021. Photo courtesy of Losang Dragpa Centre.
In 2019, we were honored to have more than twenty Tibetan Sangha from various traditions in Malaysia attending in person in the LDC gompa. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions have not deterred us from organizing the overnight Tara practice. We successfully did the event on Zoom in 2021 and 2022, with overwhelming participation, including friends from Indonesia and Australia.
All the virtue collected for organizing and participating in this special Tara practice is dedicated to the long life of our gurus and the swift fulfillment of their holy wishes. All the challenges, including mental sinking, faced during the recitation, may they purify our past negative karmas and remove obstacles from our practice in cultivating the fifth perfection, concentration, and achieve the state of calm abiding.
Auspicious Rice Jar offering in front of the Tara altar in the Losang Dragpa Centre gompa, Malaysia, 2022. Photo courtesy of Losang Drakpa Centre.
You can learn more about Losang Dragpa Centre by visiting their website.
Find more resources to support your Tara practice in the Foundation Store.
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from 150 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
- Tagged: 21 taras, losang dragpa centre, tara practice
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Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche near Lawudo Retreat Center, Nepal, 1970. Photo by Terry Clifford and courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
We are so pleased to share FPMT International Office’s Annual Review 2021: Sharing and Preserving the Dharma in a Changing World. The year 2021 continued to bring many uncertainties, fears, threats, and changes to the world in which we live. As evidenced by this year’s online annual report, despite the challenges, we continued our work to help fulfill the wishes of FPMT’s founders Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. This includes activities such as offering access to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s precious teachings, helping keep the international community connected and informed, providing guidance and structure to our affiliates, facilitating charitable giving to many worthy initiatives, and disseminating the Dharma around the world.
Please join us in this overview of some of our more notable accomplishments as an office and organization this past year. You will also find new valuable advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche for the entire organization, an inspiring and personal letter from CEO Ven. Roger Kunsang, and a photo gallery of some of this year’s many activities and achievements.
Please view our 2021 annual report and join us in rejoicing in another year of helping to actualize Lama Yeshe’s and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wishes for the FPMT organization and the world.
Please note, the FPMT Annual Review 2021 is available only online:
fpmt.org/fpmt/annual-review
FPMT International Office is Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s office and works daily to achieve its mission of “preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice, and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha, and based on that experience, spread the Dharma to sentient beings.”
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Dr. Giorgio Armato.
Dr. Giorgio Armato, 74, died at home in Genoa, Italy, on January 21, of cancer.
Dr. Giorgio Armato graduated from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in Genoa, Italy, and specialized in oncology. He met Lama Zopa Rinpoche in 1975 and spent many years at Kopan Monastery in Nepal. Among his many achievements, he first built an emergency room in Kopan itself and another at the foot of the hill. He then built a small three-story hospital there, thanks to his own work and donations from friends.
In his practice in Genoa, Giorgio helped and cared for the poor and needy, and he went on missions to offer surgical operations in Zaire, Burundi, Madagascar, Guatemala, and Nepal.
Friend Ven. Siliana Bosa shared, “Giorgio was very devoted to Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and he loved Kopan. He had a strong connection also with the Catholic church and often, during his summer holiday, went to Africa with a Franciscan organization to do surgical operations in areas of great conflict.”
Dr. Giorgio Armato at Kopan Monastery, Nepal, with Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup, his sister Graziella, a doctor, and a nurse, 1999.
“He put others before himself and helped many people with acupuncture and gave all the offerings he received to people in need. Giorgio had a good sense of humor. Because of his broken English, he would say [the Italian word] ‘allora’ every few words, and so in Kopan they called him Doctor Allora. His main practices were Medicine Buddha and Vajrayogini, which helped him to face the last months of his sickness with serenity. He actually told me that he was not afraid to die, so he had a peaceful departure,” Ven. Siliana said.
Ven. Lucia Bani shared, “Giorgio has been a dear Dharma friend for many years and for many years he was my sponsor. Giorgio was a man of few words but many actions. He was honest and sincere, and totally dedicated to help others. He was an example of great strength especially for how he faced his illness and death. He never complained, remained serene, and had a mind always ready to ask, ‘How are you?’ Giorgio had a meaningful life and left with great dignity and courage. What a wonderful gift!”
With thanks to Dr. Giorgio’s sister, Graziella Armato, for providing details for this obituary.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche requests that students who read obituaries pray that the person mentioned finds a perfect human body, meets a Mahayana guru, and becomes enlightened quickly, or be born in a pure land where the tantric teachings exist and they can become enlightened.” While reading obituaries we can also reflect on our own death and impermanence prompting us to live our lives in the most meaningful way. More advice from Lama Zopa Ripoche on death and dying is available, see Death and Dying: Practices and Resources (fpmt.org/death/).
To read more obituaries from the international FPMT mandala, and to find information on submission guidelines, please visit our new Obituaries page (fpmt.org/media/obituaries/).
- Tagged: giorgio armato, obituaries
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An Update on Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar
Maitreya Project Trust Director Virginia Roche with His Eminence Ling Rinpoche during a visit to the Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar property, October 2021.
Ling Rinpoche blessing the Maitreya Project land as Virginia Roche explains the project to him.
The creation of Holy Objects for World Peace is an important aspect of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s vast vision for the FPMT organization. As part of this, Rinpoche envisions the creation of many statues of Maitreya Buddha, the future Buddha, around the world. Currently, there are two separate projects to build large Maitreya Buddha statues in India, one in Bodhgaya, Bihar, and one in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
We are pleased to share some news and causes for rejoicing from Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar, including an auspicious visit from His Eminence Ling Rinpoche in October and news of some new initiatives that will benefit the local community.
In October 2021, while His Eminence Ling Rinpoche was in Kushinagar as a special guest of the Indian Prime Minister Modi at the inauguration of a new international airport, Lama Zopa Rinpoche invited him to visit the Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar site. Virginia Roche, Maitreya Project Trust director, made the necessary arrangements for this special visit. While on the premises, Ling Rinpoche offered special prayers and pujas in the gompa, and received an update from the director about the entire project, its history, challenges, and current situation.
When asked for advice about the project, Ling Rinpoche expressed that the most important thing to be done to actualize the project as soon as possible is to help the local community in any way that could benefit them. This is the same advice offered by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The director was also able to receive valuable advice from influencers, government administrative officers, and politicians. Inline with the advice received, the following initiatives are being pursued:
Kopan Monastery monks blessing the land at Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar.
Weekly Income Generating Program for Rural Women: Social Enterprise initiatives that could help rural women earn a livelihood.
Vocational Training for Men: To reskill or upskill unemployed male members of the local community and teach them a trade like carpentry, painting, bricklaying, and plaster work; and also support and facilitate placing them in jobs and eventually to also provide them with jobs within Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar when construction begins.
Education for Children: To make progress in local higher education and encourage good job placement, it is important for every individual to know English. Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar would like to facilitate English courses to students and adults wishing to learn this important language. There are other NGOs that offer such programs. So the idea is to either align with and request them to deliver these learning programs or for Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar to provide them through volunteer programs.
Local Evening Clinic: To provide evening doctor consultation and treatment to local poor and needy individuals in and around the project site. Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar is in the process of shortlisting doctors who could visit at least two times a week for a few hours initially to offer consultation and treatment to the sick and needy.
Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar Meditation Center.
Since 2018, the following highlights have been completed:
- Completion of land fencing for 250 acres
- Construction of gompa/ meditation center
- Construction and completion of site office
- Construction of three guest accommodations
- Construction of bathing rooms and toilets for large gatherings of over 100 visitors
- Planting of 15,000 trees in Kushinagar
- Purchase of vehicles for site
Map of the Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar site.
Of course, along with the causes for rejoicing and forward movement, there have also been quite a few challenges as well. Director Virginia Roche remains optimistic that the obstacles faced should be expected given the magnitude of this project, which is being built on the land where Shakyamuni Buddha showed the aspect of passing away. She shares, “One of the lead officers on the assignment of this project was a student of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, and if it wasn’t for him and all his struggle, the project would not have even come this far. I would really like to express my deep gratitude to all students and benefactors. Thank you for coming this far.”
You can learn more about the Maitreya Projects and read stories in particular about the Maitreya Buddha Project Kushinagar on FPMT.org.
To learn more about the incredible holy objects of FPMT and offer support, visit the Holy Objects Fund page:
fpmt.org/projects/fpmt/holy-objects-fund
- Tagged: holy objects, maitreya buddha, maitreya buddha project kushinagar, maitreya project, maitreya project trust, statues
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Please Enjoy Our March 2022 e-News!
Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Pokhara, Nepal, December 2021.
Welcome to the March 2022 edition of our e-news! This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing including:
- An update on the long life puja offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on March 11
- Teachings and excerpts from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- Rejoicing in new holy objects created for the success of FPMT and all beings
- A list of new resources available in the Foundation Store
- News about opportunities and changes within the organization
And much more!
Please enjoy this month’s e-news 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.
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Pokhara, Nepal, December 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Losar Tashi Delek!
Happy Tibetan new year to all our dear friends!
With love from Lama Zopa Rinpoche and everyone at FPMT International Office.
Read more about Losar, the Fifteen Days of Miracles, and what practices to do during this auspicious period, which begins on March 3 this year!
The Liberation Tibetan Calendar 2022: Year of the Water Tiger 2149 is now available. Many thanks to the Liberation Prison Project for continuing to produce this calendar, which also supports the work of the project. A limited view of the calendar is always available on “Dharma Practice Dates” as a courtesy to FPMT students around the world.
We Invite New Friends for the New Year
Friends of FPMT supporters have complimentary access to our online study programs like Discovering Buddhism, Heart Advice for Death & Dying, and Basic Program, downloadable materials from FPMT Education Services, ebooks from Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the Mandala Magazine e-archive, the 2022 Liberation Calendar, and more.
We’re hoping to welcome at least 108 new Friends during these fifteen merit-multiplying Buddha Days. Learn more about the Friends program and giving levels.
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from 150 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
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Telo Tulku Rinpoche looking through Nalanda Monastery Workshops’s catalog of silicone tsa-tsa molds, Moscow, Russia, November 2021. Photo by Nima-Handa.
The Tsa-tsa Workshop, an educational project of Ganden Tendar Ling Center, the FPMT center in Moscow, Russia, has been teaching the tsa-tsa making practice since November 2019. Center director Andrey Lomonosov shared the following update on the workshop.
At the beginning of 2021, a community from Kalmykia asked us to help make tsa-tsas for the construction of a temple complex in the village Ketchenery. Kalmykia is a republic in Russia where Buddhism is the primary religion. Ketchenery is special because it is the birthplace of Geshe Ngawang Wangyal (1901-1983), who played a key role in introducing Tibetan Buddhism to the West. In 1958, Geshe Wangyal established the first Tibetan Buddhist Dharma center in the United State, where leading Western scholars such as Robert Thurman, Jeffrey Hopkins, and Alexander Berzin studied. The temple complex that is being built in Ketchenery is on a site that His Holiness the Dalai Lama personally chose and consecrated when he visited Kalmykia thirty years ago.
Image of temple complex planned for Ketchenery, Kalmykia
For the construction of the temple complex, it was necessary to produce 10,000-12,000 tsa-tsas by the end of 2021. Local residents make tsa-tsas from clay, but it is difficult for them to make a large amount without the help of others. At the beginning of 2021, we began making tsa-tsas for Ketchenery as group practices on weekends.
Making tsa-tsas in Ketchenery, Kalmykia, Russia, May 2021. Photo by Nima-Handa.
In May 2021 by the blessing of Telo Tulku Rinpoche—who is the Shadjin Lama of the Kalmyk Republic (Head of Kalmyk Buddhists) and the representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Russia, Mongolia, and Commonwealth of Independent States countries—a group of eight volunteers led by Nima-Handa, the coordinator of the workshop, went to Ketchenery to make tsa-tsas on site. It took eighteen hours to drive from Moscow to Ketchenery by car. The volunteers brought with them all the necessary equipment—silicone molds, plaster, paints, as well as books that the Ganden Tendar Ling Center presented to the villagers. During one week, the volunteers were able to make about 1,500 tsa-tsas. It was intended for them to stay longer and make more, but, unfortunately, due to the outbreak of the pandemic in the village, the volunteers had to return to Moscow.
Telo Tulku Rinpoche looking at tsa-tsas, Moscow, Russia, November 2021. Photo by Liana.
In Moscow, we continued to make tsa-tsas for Ketchenery. In September the directors of Ganden Tendar Ling decided to rent a special room for the workshop that allowed people to make tsa-tsas not only on weekends but on other days as well. Every week around twenty people engaged in making tsa-tsas in our workshop.
On November 28, Telo Tulku Rinpoche visited the workshop to consecrate the next batch of ready-made tsa-tsas before being sent to Kalmykia. It was a great honor for the volunteers to receive Rinpoche in the workshop. We talked in detail about the process of making a tsa-tsas from plaster and showed him all of our tools and materials. Rinpoche was very pleased with our success and noted that this is a real contribution to the revival of Buddhist art in Russia, lost during the years of repression in the last century. Rinpoche recommended that next year we should travel to Kalmykia to train local residents in the practice of making tsa-tsas.
By the end of 2021 the total quantity of tsa-tsas sent to Kalmykia exceeded 3,000 pieces. We were very happy to make our contribution to fulfilling the wish of His Holiness Dalai Lama to build a temple complex in the village Ketchenery in Kalmykia. Our special thanks to Nalanda Monastery Tsa-Tsa Workshop, which supported us in learning the practice of making tsa-tsas.
Telo Tulku Rinpoche with Tsa-tsa Workshop volunteers, Moscow, Russia, November 2021. Photo by Nima-Handa.
To learn more about Ganden Tendar Ling Center, visit their website:
https://fpmt.ru/
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from 150 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.
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February 2022 e-News Now Available
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Chandragiri Hill Resort, Nepal, November 2021. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
We are pleased to share our February e-News with you!
This issue features news, updates, resources, opportunities, and causes for rejoicing including:
- A long life puja being offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche on March 11
- Teachings by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
- Resources for your practice on Losar and Fifteen Days of Miracles
- Information about this year’s Merit Box collection
- New FPMT Masters Program offered in two locations
- Opportunities and changes within the FPMT organization
And much more!
Please enjoy this month’s e-news 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.
The FPMT International Office e-News comes from your FPMT International Office. Visit our subscribe page to receive the FPMT International Office News directly in your email box.
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Translate*
*powered by Google TranslateTranslation of pages on fpmt.org is performed by Google Translate, a third party service which FPMT has no control over. The service provides automated computer translations that are only an approximation of the websites' original content. The translations should not be considered exact and only used as a rough guide.One must practice with the bodhisattva attitude every day. People can’t see your mind, what people see is a manifestation of your attitude in your actions of body and speech. Pay attention to your attitude all the time, guard it as if you are the police, or like a maid cares for a child, like a bodyguard, or like you are the guru and your mind is your disciple.